The Italian bubbly

Prosecco and its rivals. Read about what you will probably sip over the next 3 days.

Does history really repeat itself?

Looks like it, just read this.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everybody the best of times in the days and the year ahead.

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Tangentopoli Rosso!

A collection of recent corruption scandals in Italy. This time from the Left of the political spectrum.

Le veline and le letterine!

The New Yorker magazine takes a look at the current government in Rome and how much of it is an extension of popular TV.

दूध का दूध और पानी का पानी!

If you were asked to invest in a company called 'Buco Nero' (black hole in Italian), what would your response be? Mighty suspicious. Unless you were the grand-daddy of investment like Citigroup.

An excerpt from Time magazine, 4 years ago:

As Parmalat expanded globally in the '90s, so did its network of bankers and financial advisers. Ferraris (Parmalat CFO) was one of them. For Citigroup, Ferraris scored what were seen as two coups: an early version of the securitization program — by which the company's receivables were packaged as debt instruments and sold to investors — and a retainer to advise Parmalat in the acquisition of Beatrice Foods in Canada, a transaction valued at $310 million. Ferraris also laid the groundwork for a complex financing scheme through a Delaware company called Buconero, the Italian for "black hole," which Citigroup set up for Parmalat in 1999। Buconero loaned a total of $137 million to a Swiss subsidiary of Parmalat that then distributed the money to other Parmalat companies. Buconero received a guaranteed return of almost 6%, plus a total of about $7 million in fees for Citigroup.

Yesterday, Parmalat founder Callisto Tanzi was sentenced to 10 years in prison for this securities scandal of 2004-05 in the iconic milk company that he founded and built. It remains to be seen if he actually steps into prison.

Action items

For a start, the Governmant of India has introduced legislation to modify terror laws and create a national investigation agency. The news channels, on the other hand have come up with a code of conduct during violent crises. The key issue, as always, is enforcement. How will it work on the ground and how long will it take to train and equip the police in every part of the country?

Update: As expected, Amnesty International objects to the proposed laws as being too draconian.

GM crops - to be or not to be

This is about an argument that has been running for nearly two decades now. What are the real pros and cons of genetically modified crops? Are they good or bad for India and its farmers? Do they produce allergens? The Health minister is set against and the Science and Technology minister is all for it. अब आगे!

What are you cooking today?

Have you got today's dinner menu approved by the others in your apartment block? Here's why you should consider it:

Italy: Cooking odours give integration a bad smell

Rome, 15 Dec. (AKI) - Pungent Middle Eastern and eastern cooking odours are now the most frequent cause of quarrels between immigrants and their Italian neighbours, according to a new survey by the National Association of Apartment Building Administrators (Anami). A total 27 percent of quarrels in the country's apartment buildings now arise over cooking smells and the number of disputes is growing, the survey found. The majority of complaints are over the spicy aromas from curries made by Asian immigrants from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.Chinese and North African dishes produce the second largest number of complaints, according to the survey."These are not just based on skin colour, but represent a serious albeit grotesque problem," said Anami president Giuseppe Bica."If the reek of frying garlic and chili pepper used to make Italian dishes or the odour of broccoli is accepted within apartment buildings, why not the smell of chicken curry?"He said a distinction needed to be made between the daily cooking smells of households, and the more pervasive and constant odours from restaurant and takeaway kitchens.Italian law makes this distinction, Bica said. "Immigration is a reality in Italy and daily life needs to take account of this."

387 in the 4th innings

There were plenty of doubts voiced about the necessity of England's Test tour at this time. Cricket can never be a total healer but a record cricket win guided by the country's favorite Mumbaikar can surely put a smile back on many faces. The news channels finally have something fresh and exciting for another cycle.

November is not September!

Arundhati Roy, in Outlook, looks at all the elephants in the room, in the light of 26/11 in her usual ballistic style. Deserves a read in full, whether you agree or not.

The Tiber in spate

The sight of the Tevere or Tiber in full spate in Rome is a rare sight. But the incessant rain of the last few days filled the river to the brim and flooded the northern parts of Rome. Here is how it looked this morning at the Ponte Palatino and the Isola Tiberina. Notice banks where people usually walked or biked are completely submerged and so are parts of the Isola.

The obstinacy of the BBC

Two weeks have passed since the Mumbai attacks, metres of footage have been shown on TV and reams of evidence published, yet for the BBC, the terrorists are still 'suspected militants'! Presumably, when the sole surviving terrorist is tried and sentenced by the law, he will be know as the 'convicted suspected gunman'. But, of course, the 7/7 attacks in London were by bombers and terrorists.

The (im)maturity of the free market

A casual search of any news website suggests at least 100 articles on job cuts over the last 3 months. While this may seem logical in times of a recession, how will it help emerging out of it? As more people lose their steady income, their spending will be drastically cut. That in turn will further exacerbate the downturn leading to more businesses laying off or folding up. Where does that end? In that context, perhaps, bail outs such as the one for Wall Street and that being approved for GM, Ford and Chrysler (primarily to contain job losses) do make sense, Considering that these decisions are being taken by the most conservative (laissez faire) of American administrations, this may well be the New Deal of the 21st century.

Do we need this Test series?

The England Test cricket team is back in India after great persuasion. But frankly, do we Indians need a cricket tour, by anyone for that matter, at this time? Police and security forces will have to be mobilized (300 commandos, 1000 policemen!!!) just for cricketers' protection while that of ordinary citizens remains compromised. Of course, the fans will get even more shabbier treatment in the name of security. We could have done without this tour, much as England's decision deserves applause. It is a needless diversion when real serious issues have to be tackled.

Cricket, Inequity and Obama

Ian Chappell, former Aussie cricket captain and journalist, comments upon the post-Mumbai situation in world cricket. He sums the cricket world's dependence on India's huge market and the consequences as :

'Test cricket is shaping up as a mirror image of an Indian society that is often described as being made up of the have lots and the have nots.'

'The one big difference between the world situation and that of cricket is the lack of any leader with the potential and charisma of an Obama looming on the horizon in cricket.'

Perhaps, this is the moment to re-organize the lopsided priorities of all cricket playing nations who cannot manage a sport played by less than a dozen nations at the highest level.

From Minnesota to Jaisalmer

If there is one area where India does way better than even the world's most powerful country, it is counting votes. There are elections virtually every year (including 5 state assembly polls in the last 10 days) but thanks to vote machine technology, the results are out barely in a few hours. The same will happen on Monday when the next set of results come in. This in a country with big diversity in terrain, education, language and its people. Contrast this with the situation in two single seat congressional elections in the USA:

'Franken Camp's Claim: The Hand Count Is Over -- And We're Up By Four Votes!' and 'Ballot ruling favors Stivers'.

Can someone help!?

While trying to figure that out, go through Jaisalmer.

America's most important ally

Christopher Hitchens, famous agnostic, author of a highly critical book on Mother Teresa, comes out in support of Mumbai.

Acqua alta

Venice was deluged by sea water as the levels rose to their highest in more than 20 years. Take a look at the pictures and if any of you did visit La Serenissima during these days, hope you are dry!

To do list

A national security expert has listed 26 action items. All of them deal with issues within the country and the complexity of policing and securing it. A good place to start and if the Prime Minister's announcement of stationing a battalion of NSG commandos in the 5 major cities is followed up with immediate action, one item can be ticked off right away. 'Mumbai 26/11' should be treated as 'New York 11/9' and the response should be equally bold and decisive.