Going by the way things are turning out, honeymoons could soon be spent on the moon — unless your sweetheart scoffs at Aliens, Star Trek, Evolution and others of their ilk. And a kiss in the moonlight (not advisable, zero gravity sucks) will leave a crater in your pocket. Just a spin in space, aboard the Virgin Galactic, will set you back $200,000.Founded by Sir Richard Branson in 2005, the company — the first-ever commercial spaceline on earth — has been offering stargazers a seat on its SpaceShipTwo (SS2), a suborbital spaceplane designed for tourism. The itinerary is enough to make your jaw drop: from a spaceport in New Mexico, USA, the jet-powered mother ship — White Knight II — will take off like any other plane. After scaling 15 km, the SS2 will ignite its engine and passengers will be thrown back in their seats as it soars into space at 4,000 km/hr — four times the speed of sound. The SS2 will carry six passengers and two pilots at a time (no space for stewardess, sorry), and there will be one flight a week initially and two flights a day later. There will also be a three-day pre-flight training to help you bear the sight of a world upside down.As of now, 529 people have signed up for the two-hour ride, which includes five minutes of experiencing weightlessness. There are half a dozen Indians among them, mostly residents of the UK and the US. If rumours are to be believed, the stars who will rise further in the stardom sweepstakes include Stephen Hawking, Tom Hanks, Ashton Kutcher, Katy Perry, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. However, Branson and his two kids will be the first passengers on SS2's maiden voyage in December 2013. "Going into space is a hard business," says Branson. This could well be the final frontier for luxury travel. The day isn't far when you ditch the beaches of Tahiti and fly into outer space for an even tan. US-based Space Adventures, which uses a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, has so far sent seven people into space for $20-35 million each. Among them was investment manager Dennis Tito and entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari. (If you are not a million-dollar baby, watch The Big Bang Theory. At the Comic Con last week, a fan of the TV sitcom won a free trip to space aboard the Lynx Orbital Space Plane).The sky is no longer the limit. Boeing is getting into making passenger spaceships. The Hilton has a design ready for a lunar hotel with 5,000 rooms. Britain's Excalibur Almaz is offering a four-month trip to the moon. The Japanese are eyeing a huge solar farm and a German firm has come up with space travel insurance.And, best of all, Playboy and Virgin plan to set up an intergalactic entertainment destination or, in other words, a strip club in space. So if your honeymoon is done and dusted, don't get spaced out. Just get rich and fly high!(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 30-07-2012)
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BenQ, provider of digital lifestyle innovations, celebrated the official expansion of the GW Series on 19 July' 2012. GW Series is the essential line for home and work with unparalleled audiovisual experience. The existing VA LED monitors – from the EW Series, home entertainment enjoyment monitors featuring full multimedia connectivity, to the BL Series, corporate monitors designed to provide ergo solutions, completed its VA LED monitor lineup with the 2012 launch of the GW series. These are available pan India, from 21.5" to 27" screen sizes and ranging from Rs. 8700 to Rs. 19990. The new line that is Microsoft Windows 7 certified includes three different models with different connectors: GW (D-Sub; DVI-D); GW/M (D-Sub; DVI-D; Line-In; Headphone Jack); GW/HM (D-Sub; DVI-D; Line-In; Headphone Jack; HDMI). The GW/M and GW/HM models are also equipped with built-in to perfect the audiovisual experience without the hassle of connecting to additional audio devices. Operating system instantly recognizes the monitor Connection of GW Series to a Windows 7-equipped computer, making setup effortless."With this addition of GW Series we assure you a fun filled visual experience specially for movies and pictures on large screen" Says Rajeev Singh, country head & general manager, BenQ India.BenQ Corporation is a leading provider of networked digital lifestyle devices, with strengths in product design, visual technology and mobile technology including digital projector, LCD monitors, laptop PCs, Netbooks, LCD TVs, digital cameras, storage devices, mobile phones, storage media. The BenQ Group is currently comprised of 16 companies that operate independently while sharing resources and leveraging synergies among them.
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Oatmeal: Start your day with a bowl of oatmeal porridge. Oats are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, potassium, folate, niacin, calcium and soluble fibre. Almonds and Walnuts: While all nuts are healthy, almonds and walnuts provide nutrients like plant omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E and magnesium. Have them in between meals. Red Wine: A glass of red wine can improve ‘good' cholesterol, thanks to the catechins and reservatrol (flavonoids) in it. Tomatoes: Tomatoes are rich in beta and alpha-carotene, lycopene, vitamin C, potassium, folate and fibre. Luckily, we all eat loads of it.Soymilk: Drink flavoured soymilk straight from the pack. It's rich in isoflavones (a flavonoid), B-complex, niacin, folate, calcium, magnesium, potassium and phytoestrogens. Spinach: Remember Popeye's favourite food. Well, it should be yours too. Rich in lutein (a carotenoid), B-complex, folate, magnesium, potassium, calcium and fibre, have it as a soup, as part of a salad or try palak paneer.Papaya: A bowl of papaya is enough to give you much-needed beta-carotene, vitamins C and E, calcium, magnesium and potassium. Black or Kidney Beans: Stir in some beans and give salads or soup a nutrient boost. And of course there is the all-favourite rajma. Beans are rich in B-complex, folate, magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, calcium and soluble fibre.Oranges: An orange a day can keep the doctor away, too. Orange juice is a rich source of vitamin C, folic acid and B6, folate and fibre. Dark Chocolate: Can't resist some dark chocolate? Fear not. A truffle a day can lower blood pressure, but choose one with 70 per cent or higher cocoa content. Its rich in reservatrol and cocoa phenols (flavonoids).Fish: Salmon and tuna are rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids. So next time you dig into a grilled salmon, not only will you be doing your palate a favour but also your heart. Brown Rice: Time to give up polished rice and replace it with brown rice rich in B-complex, fibre, niacin, magnesium and fibre. Stir in a few chopped veggies (broccoli, carrots, spinach) for a healthy meal. (CLICK TO VIEW "BEAT THE HEAT" An Infographic to find some cool ways to avoid heat exhaustion) (Photo Credits: Ritesh Sharma; MODEL: Neha Saini)(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 02-07-2012)
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Satyabrata Mohanty has an unusual designation: head of mixed asset investment. “This was the new designation given to me seven months ago,” Mohanty says with a smile, referring to Birla Sun Life’s effort to bring rigour into the process of fund management for its MIP (monthly income plan) and balanced funds, which involve taking asset allocation calls or deciding the mix of equity and debt in a mixed fund portfolio. The new structure appears to be working well. Birla Sun Life MIP II Savings 5, co-managed by Mohanty and Nishit Dholakia, has topped the charts in the hybrid monthly income category. MIP as a category of funds is unique as it attempts to make monthly dividend payments to investors by investing in both debt and equity instruments, though it is mandated to invest only 10 per cent in the equity element. This works well in a bearish market and the fund’s NAV takes a smaller battering. The Birla Sun Life MIP II Savings 5 fund has not missed a single dividend since its inception in May 2004. “We keep a buffer of up to 1-1.5 years of dividend,” says Mohanty. This cushions monthly payments because the payout strategy reserves a part of the returns from the best months for the worst months. In turn, the investor gets regular dividends. At the end of 2009, the fund’s NAV was well above its par value (Rs 10) at Rs 16.35. The duo managing the fund attributes its success to minimal exposure to equities when the going was bad in 2008. “Around September 2008, we had close to zero exposure to equities,” says Mohanty. “We increased our equity exposure only after February-March 2009 when equity valuations were cheap.” Currently, Mohanty and Dholakia have parked 3 per cent of their portfolio in equities, which is fairly diversified across sectors: consumer non-durables and banks are the top two sector holdings. “As a rule, we pick stocks that are dividend yielding — at least more than that of Nifty,” says Mohanty. As of December 2009, money market instruments of IDBI Bank, UCO Bank, ICICI Bank and United Bank of India were among the fund’s top holdings. Almost all the debt assets were parked in the highest-rated securities (sovereign or AAA-rated securities). Another interesting aspect is that Birla Sun Life MIP II Savings 5 has topped despite grossly under-performing the benchmark Crisil MIP Blended Index last year. It gave a return of just 1.6 per cent as compared to the 13 per cent returns of the index. But over the past three-year period, it has outperformed Crisil’s index, giving an annual return of 12.4 per cent, as compared to the index’s 7.8 per cent. “We will under-perform [other MIP schemes] in a bullish market and outperform them in a bearish market,” says Mohanty. “Our target is to give the fixed deposit investor an option to earn more. While over the past three years, our fund has given double-digit returns, the challenge is to continue doing so.” muthukumar dot kailasam at abp dot in(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 15-03-2010)
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Confession time: I hate exercising. Except for taking the steps instead of the elevator to our second-floor office, I do absolutely nothing else. It's not as if I haven't tried. Every time I see a new outfit that would look great on a slimmer version of me, I hit the gym. But I lose interest really fast. While walking on the treadmill or spinning makes me yawn, yoga puts me to sleep. So it was with some trepidation that I went for my first Zumba — a dance-based exercise — class. And here's the surprising part… I loved it. Zumba is an exercise in disguise. There are no workout machines with little dials monitoring heart beat and calorie burn, no exercise bikes or weights. Just an enthusiastic instructor bellowing "shake your booty" into the microphone even as she sways, swivels, twists and jumps to Latin music and encourages the class to follow. FOOTLOOSE ZUMBA'S RAPID-FIRE MOVES STRETCH THE CALVES and WARM UP HEAD AND SHOULDER ROLLS CAN LOOSEN THE NECK (BW Pic by Ritesh Sharma) And follow they do. From college-going teens to their aunties and uncles, everyone shakes and turns and sweats it out. And the best part — they do so with a smile. "We have so much fun. I dreaded going to the gym but I really look forward to the Zumba class," Pallavi Jain, a Delhi University student, informs me while wiping sweat off her face. She claims she has lost weight in the three months that she has attended Zumba classes. "What's more, I have tried some of the steps I have learnt here at parties and they are such a hit." Now that's killing two birds with one stone. The Zumba fitness craze began as an accident in the early 1990s when Colombian celebrity trainer Beto Perez forgot his usual music and had to improvise around the music he had in his car — traditional Latin salsa and merengue. The class was a huge success and Perez realised he was onto something big. Since then, Zumba's infectious, dance-infused blend of movements set to Latin and global beats has spread to 125 countries, with certified Zumba instructors working at thousands of locations worldwide. India alone has hundreds of instructors, not just in the metros, but also in smaller towns such as Jaipur and Secunderabad.Zumba (Spanish slang for buzz like a bee) is a total body cardio and aerobic dance workout. "It's a moderate form of exercise, and anyone can do it. It's an overall workout great for general fitness," says C.J. Suarez, senior group exercise manager at Fitness First India. A typical 60-minute class incorporates elements of merengue, salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, and hip-hop, and features exotic rhythms set to high-energy Latin and international beats. ZUMBA'S DANCE-INFUSED BLEND OF MOVEMENTS HAS SPREAD ACROSS 125 COUNTRIES While head and shoulder rolls warm up the upper body and loosen the neck, rapid-fire footwork stretches the calves and strengthens the ankles. Latin dance's sultry moves also target your hips, firm up your abs and tighten your thighs and butt. And all this to Shakira, Beyonce and Lady Gaga's vocals.Fitness exercise routines are sometimes woven in. "While 70 per cent of the choreography and music is provided by the company (Zumba), we experiment with the rest," explains Suarez. So don't be surprised if you hear Bhangra or Bollywood music or throw air punches, moving arms and shoulders and engaging your upper and lower body. Some instructors such as Delhi-based Zumba trainer Sachin Shaniya even include yoga postures for cooling down the body."It's important to come down to the pre-exercise position by stretching and doing relaxing moves. The aim is to increase your stamina and not to tire you out," says Shaniya.While your dance moves may not be of the Jhalak Dikhla Jaa calibre, you will burn some serious calories. While dancing to Latin beats and chart-topping mixes, you'll torch between 600 and 700 calories per hour. The choreography consists of varied intensity levels that match the music's pace and type of movements, so Zumba challenges muscles, builds strength, and increases endurance. It also improves balance, tones muscles, reduces body fat and lowers blood pressure. Classes generally begin with a low-intensity song (for warm up), followed by one of medium intensity and two really high-intensity songs, before going back down to a low intensity song (for cooling down). There's a simple principle behind Zumba: have fun while getting fit. So what are you waiting for, get up and join the party.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 02-07-2012)
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If you are wondering how to make your life extra sweet, add some honey. “Honey is the sweetest way to get your daily dose of essential nutrients. It is the most complete natural food and provides instantaneous replenishment of energy losses,” explained Dr Shashidhara G. of the Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine (IAIM), Bangalore, at the recently concluded Pollinator 1 – The Bee Festival – at the Hyatt Regency, Chennai. However, like all good things, it should be had in small doses (See ‘Sweet Dose’). Here’s why a spoonful of honey daily is going to make your life sweeter and healthier.Honey is a natural sweetener with loads of antioxidants. At the same time, it is free of fat and cholesterol. What’s more, it is the ideal fuel for burning our body fat stores while we sleep due to its 1:1 ratio of fructose and glucose. Honey reduces fat accumulations in our cardiovascular system. “It is much better than refined sugar, which has no nutritional value and promotes obesity,” says Shashidhara.It’s rich in several vitamins and minerals, making it a healthy option. It contains vitamins such as B6, thiamine, niacin, riboflavine, pantothenic acid and certain amino acids and minerals, including calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc.If you are planning to lose weight, mix a spoon of honey with some lemon juice and warm water and take it as a wake-up drink every morning on an empty stomach. It mobilises the extra deposited fat in the body, allowing it to be utilised as energy for normal functions and purifying the blood as a result. The same tonic can be had after an oily meal as it helps with digestion. Honey has a healthy Glycemic Index (GI), meaning that its sugars can be gradually absorbed into the bloodstream to result in better digestion.The antioxidants in honey help in strengthening your immunity.A spoon of honey mixed with hot water is a good cure for cough.Applying honey on a burn relieves pain and heals the wound faster with minimal scarring.Honey is a great natural source of carbohydrates, providing strength and energy. Its natural fruit sugars, fructose and glucose play an important role in preventing fatigue during exercise and are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. Further, it helps maintain blood sugar levels, in muscle recuperation and with glycogen restoration after a workout.Honey has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties that makes it a natural antiseptic.Have some honey with milk for your natural beauty treatment. Not only is it healthy, it’s supposed to make your skin smoother.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 20-08-2012)
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Can’t think of what exercise will bring your weight down and keep you fit? Go walking. It’s a whole-body exercise, and if you walk briskly for a good 45 minutes, you’ll get a worthwhile workout as long as you stick to it three to four times a week.But then, summer gets in the way. And perhaps even the monsoon. Our favourite parks turn to slush and the danger of slipping becomes very real, that’s if we’re able to move at all. In fact, you might even say that there are a mere three or four months when one can walk or jog happily in most parts of the country.You could always swim, but unless you have a heated pool and some sunlight protection, it can’t be your year-round exercise either.One option: you could walk at home. But walking on a treadmill can get boring. Also, poorly made treadmills can cause injury, and the good ones cost the earth. Of course you could go to the gym. Or you couldn’t, because you are too lazy to.An interesting walk-at-home option is to pick up a guided walk DVD and use that any time you can’t do the real thing. Indoor walk-ing, interestingly, needs little space. Just where you’re standing and a couple of feet all around. Walking instructor Leslie Sansone, for example, has dozens of walking programmes on DVD, available for an average of $10. Typically, the programmes have four basic moves that anyone can do: knee lifts, kicks, step-togethers and kick-backs. Then there are minor squats, lunges and plies, interspersed with walking in short intervals. And before you know it, half an hour is up and you’ve covered the miles the programme says you have — anything from 1 to 5. The more difficult programmes involve resistance bands or light weights. These are particularly nice because you can start off without the props and add them when you want to step up the challenge. There are also easier walks for older people and for those with specific problems. Some walks include jogging for a better cardio workout. Some are designed for weight loss, and some for general fitness. In her DVDs, Sansone keeps talking to motivate you; something you will just have to get accustomed to as there’s no music-only option. Sansone is a prolific instructor, but there are several others, such as Denise Austin. As protection, make sure your movements are cushioned. Good shoes, and perhaps on a wooden floor or a folded-over yoga mat will help protect your knees.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 20-08-2012)
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Twenty-six-year old Priyanka Sachdev was getting married in three months and wanted to lose at least 8 kg before the big day. While she was reasonably fit — being regular with her walks — she wasn’t really thin. “A friend suggested boot camp (an intense military-inspired workout). It was severe, but it made me shed the extra kilos,” says Sachdev who continues to do boot camp thrice a week to keep fit.Having met her and heard her story, I decided to give it a try. Sachdev had warned me that boot camp was intense but she did not emphasise enough just how strenuous it is. So it was with a false sense of bravado that I walked into a gym and enrolled for boot camp. Over the next hour with each laboured breath I questioned the sanity of my decision as every muscle in my body was pulled and pushed to breaking point. Consider this: 600 metres of rowing, 30 jumps and squats on the stepper, 30 pull-ups using a TRX suspension belt, 30 push-ups alternating with lifting a 3-kg ball and then walking while holding a 5-kg kettlebell in each hand (my instructor cheerfully suggested I carry a 12-kg bell in each hand, but as I needed all my strength to lift a single bell, he grudgingly reduced the weight). By the end of 45 minutes, my ears were ringing and I could barely feel my legs.And just when I was wondering how people ever managed to keep up with this intense training, I was informed that since I’m wasn’t the fittest of the lot, I was being treated with kid gloves. For those with intermediate to advanced levels of fitness, the gloves come off.So what exactly is boot camp? “It’s a group activity that combines traditional calisthenics and body weight exercises with interval and strength training designed to push the participants harder. It bears a resemblance to a military boot camp — tough, rugged and hardcore,” explains Wanitha Ashok, a Bangalore-based fitness expert. Adds Abhishek Das, a fitness expert with Delhi-based FitnessFirst: “Boot camp workouts are efficient because you work your entire body — heart and muscles — by going from one exercise to another with little or no rest. It’s the fastest way to lose weight.” The workouts involve calisthenics-like push-ups, jumping jacks, crunches and other body weight exercises. Props such as TRX bands, kettlebells and dumbbells are also used.Most boot camps are group exercises and done outdoors. However, there is no hard and fast rule, and the workout can be done just as easily indoors in a gym and with an individual trainer. Boot camp DVDs are also available, but it is best to work out with a trainer as you may hurt yourself if you are on your own. Plus, DVDs cannot tell you how to vary the workout for maximum results.Boot camp traning is for novice exercises and fitness enthusiasts alike.And why do people put themselves through this extremely strenuous exercise regime? Simple, with upwards of 600 calories burnt per hour, it is one of the fastest ways to lose weight. “As it targets all the muscles at one time and most of the exercises are compound exercises, the calorie burn is quite high. The activity further boosts metabolism and a person can burn calories throughout the day. Teamed with a sensible diet, it’s a surefire way to lose weight,” explains Ashok.Moreover, it is considered fun as the workout is varied, and since you are perpetually on your toes, you don’t have time to get bored. It is also highly motivational because it is a group activity, with all the people working towards a common goal — to lose body fat, increase cardiovascular efficiency, develop strength and get fit quickly.While boot camp training is suitable for novice exercisers and fitness enthusiasts alike, as an individual can work at his own personal level and intensity, it’s not really meant for the average couch potato. “A general boot camp is quite intense so it’s recommended for people who have been involved in some kind of fitness activity in the past. It’s apt for people from intermediate to advanced levels,” says Ashok. “It can be done by women, men, children, and even senior citizens. The programmes can be designed according to the needs of the group. It can be sports-specific, for general fitness or for weight loss. But people above 35 should go through a health screening before taking part in a boot camp,” she adds. Moreover, boot camp should be done only three times a week as the body needs rest to recover from the strain.But one thing is for sure, if you are willing to challenge yourself and push your body just a little bit more every time, a boot camp workout will ensure you lose the extra flab and are fighting fit.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 20-08-2012)
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