Gaydon’s offering to the light weight packed up sportscar world, the Vantage with a V12 in its hood, is up for grabs in the North American continent. Specifications and details have already hogged the limelight and are going to stay there for long as this little thing packs in a pretty powerful punch. With a mighty 6.0L V12 reworked to produce gobblesomes of torque and power tipping at 420lb-ft and 510bhp respectively, and with a tiny shell derived from the ‘regular’ vantage and put on a very selective diet, expect some neck craning forces.

The huge engine is showed into the tiny engine bay behind the front axles for a near perfect 51:49 weight distribution and to cool it off, designers took to the chisels and started making holes in the bonnet. Thus you get an extremely chiselled hood and splitters and diffusers et al around the exterior bodywork while the interior and body in all try to act like supermodels by being all the more lighter. They achieve this by being made from a lot of carbon fibre and light weight aluminium yet stay Arnie strong by utilising modern manufacturing methods. Aston has also carefully packed in an electronic nanny that caresses you in varying amounts based on how thrilled you want to feel like throwing this little baby around a track called the Dynamic Stability Control Button.

      Sticker shock appears to be around $179,995 for the car with the all exclusive carbon black edition retailing for about 15 grand more. A limited run is expected, so, if you’re interested in this British Monster, then write out that check and hand it over to your manager to secure a deal right away once bookings open!

Popularity: 1% [?]

With an overwhelming public debt to GDP ratio of 190% on one side and the resignation of its eight month old Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has fractured the bones of Japan. The reason cited by the ex-PM was his inability to deliver on the election promises and on grounds of alienating the electorate. However, behind the scene reason is failure of the former Democratic Party government to move a hated US military base off the island of Okinawa.

Despite decades of stimulus the Japan economy is not expanding; and for expanding Japan’s economy one needs to deregulate its Post Office. It is an huge employer however the massive market share it possesses suppresses innovation and competition in the financial successor.

Japan is under a pile of boulders, and the problem of ageing population common in the west has started spreading its wings even in the Land Of Rising Sun. japan has to change to stay in the path of development or else the adage “Rome was not build in a day” will be “Japan was not build in a day, and neither destroyed in a day”.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Their Romance was once considered to be true, and was often touted as an Ideal Relationship. But after being together for 40yrs Al Gore and Tipper Gore have finally called it a quit.  AL gore, who became quiet famous as the next US president quoted along with his wife Tipper that, "This is very much a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration".

The couples became very Iconic and famous for their love story, as a couple who met and fell in love in the high school. The Chemistry between the couple was never doubted in their relationship that stretched for decades. The couple also have four Kids, whom they raised while living a Public life.

There have been no confirmed reports for now, as far as the reasons for their break-up is concerned and the couples have asked for privacy.  AL gore who received Nobel Prize for his contribution to Global Warming, had earlier in his life mentioned Tipper as his perfect soul mate.  Tipper earlier campaigned alongside AL gore for his Presidential candidature. Reports from the close friends suggest that the couple have separated peacefully, and that they hope to stay as good friends in future.

Popularity: 1% [?]

A Research institute based in Stockholm has published a study which reveals that when the governments across the globe were working overtime to save their economies from slipping into a deep recession, the defence industry across the globe was actually going through a period of boom, thanks to an ever increased spending on defence by the same governments.

According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the total military expenditure saw a near 6% growth in 2009 when compared with the defence expenditure incurred by the governments in 2008. It’s believed that the top spenders including USA, China and India see military spending as a strategic choice to bolster their standing in the global arena. The study also shows that the Asian countries and the countries in the Pacific spent more when compared with their counterparts in the west. The findings also suggest that the defence industry might find itself under an increased pressure in the time to come.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Hon Hai Precision, the parent company of Foxconn Technology is the world’s largest maker of consumer electronics. But that’s not the news. Foxconn - which makes a range of products for manufacturers including Nokia, Apple, Dell amongst others has been in news in the recent past as two of its factories located in China reported 13 suicide attempts in the past one year.

In the aftermath of the crisis, the company has come in for a severe criticism over the welfare of its employees. Stung by this rash of suicides, Foxconn Technology announced a 30% pay hike for its assembly line workers.

Apple chief Steve Jobs defended the conditions at the manufacturing sites of Foxconn saying that the factories were not a “sweatshop”. Foxconn is the Taiwanese maker of Apple’s iPhone. In an interesting move, the company hired counsellors and brought in Buddhist monks to help workers and is training its medical staff to provide emotional support its workers.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Football fans, whether or not you make it to South Africa for the FIFA 2010, here’s the latest manner as to how you can feel the action on the field a little more realistically. Just dab on some Sky+HD Eau De Stade- a new limited edition unisex fragrance and its aroma will instantly help you drift to the football fields in South Africa.

UK-based high definition T.V service-Sky+HD, has launched Eau de Stade, a fragrance for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The fragrance is said to embrace the scents of South African football fields. Officially launched today, Sky+HD Eau De Stade has British pop star Rachel Stevens as its ambassador.

The perfumes developer Per John Bailey of The Perfumers Guild  described what went into the making of Eau De Stade . He said ‘Salty notes have been used to encapsulate the smell of the fresh sea breeze in Cape Town- known as the ‘Cape doctor’ – alongside woody, smoky hints to represent the nation’s passion for barbecues, and also Tagette, an essential oil sourced directly from South Africa’.

At the launch event Rachel described the fragrance as having ‘Smells of the Stadiums Nicely Trimmed Grass, Enviroment, South African Oils, Sweat of the Players & Much More.

Well it’s kind of funny to firstly have a T.V service launch a perfume and that too one which would smell of grass and ehh Sweat of the players, we aren’t really sure how many women will want to try it on, however with the football fever catching up, you can’t really say, several fans might want to buy it off the selves as this seasons football memorabilia.

Popularity: 1% [?]

In a move that sent its shares tumbling down by up to 15%, BP announced the failure of its "Top Kill Operation" which was expected to plug the Gulf Oil Leak after showing some Positive results earlier. With the operation being declared a complete failure and no further attempts being made in the same direction, BP is resorting to a temporary fix, which involves positioning a domelike cap over the blowout preventer and channelling the oil to a tanker on the Surface. Although the method only re-routes a major portion of leaking oil, it still isn’t a full-proof Solution. BP earlier had already made a similar attempt, but failed due to various technical limitations. Officials though have claimed that they have sorted the Technical glitches.

Investors have reacted very negatively to the whole incident, and shareholders of BP have expressed their discontent. To further add to the disappointment of its investors, BP further announced on Monday, that the Gulf Disaster had cost it close to $1 billion. BP has already lost close to a 3rd of its market Capitalization or about 35% of its listed share price, since the disaster struck six-weeks ago.

President Obama who is also facing intense pressure from the public and media for failing to lead in the event of this disaster is expected to meet the co-chairmen of an independent commission investigating the spill. Meanwhile BP continued to receive protests from the general public over its inefficiency in plugging the leak and in the process has received more than 30,000 claims.  The extent of damage and the amount of Oil leaked into the ocean is still to get an official figure, whereas reports have been confirmed that more than 125 miles of the state’s coastline have already been hit with oil.

Popularity: 1% [?]

In what may cast shadows of uncertainity over the future of Prudential CEO Tidjane Thiam, the American International Group has rejected Prudential’s bid to revise its earlier offer of $35.5billion to purchase AIG’s Asian life insurance unit.

The Prudential wanted to revisit the offer as its shareholders were opposing the huge price tag attached to the deal. The deal was being watched with close interest from several quarters as AIG hoped to use the proceeds of this deal with Prudential to begin repaying the $132billion it received as bailout from US Government Which currently owns close to 80% of AIG.

It is beleived that AIG is opposing a lower price because it fears that the Prudential shareholders might reject it again. If the deal does not go through, it would be a big blow to Mr. Thiam who took over Prudential an year ago. He has been severely criticized for attempting such a complex deal- The Asia insurance unit of AIG is bigger than Prudential in terms of market value.

Popularity: unranked [?]

The time has finally come for them to agree on this. Owing to a series of vehicle recalls by some of the biggest names in the automobile sector, it would be prudent to suggest that these companies start hiring people specialising in managing callbacks. The B-Schools can start an extensive course on the subject.

The latest in line of such rollbacks is a massive callback announced by Ford and Mazda for 2,30,000 vehicles made by their China joint venture. The companies will recall the 2,36,643 Focus cars made between August 2008 and May 28 of this year. This comes after a series of rollbacks announced by automobile majors in the recent past. Toyota leads the pack with two recalls- one in November,2009 and the other in January this year.Other big names including General Motors and Volkswagen have been involved in rollbacks as well. Looking at all this, it seems as if the season of callbacks is here to stay.

Popularity: 1% [?]

In an incident that sent shocks across the globe and received severe criticism, the Israel  forces dropped themselves from Helicopters on to the Convoy ship that were heading to the Gaza loaded with goods for aid and relief materials. The forces attacked the citizens onboard the convoy, and in the ambush at least 10 people were killed by the attackers and the ships were escorted to Israel docks.

Israel has later tried to back its action by saying that it was merely defending itself and further added that their soldiers’ lives were in danger after they were attacked with ”severe physical violence, including live fire, weapons, etc." The spokesperson for IDF Lt. Col. Avital Leibowitz said "we basically encountered a lynch,” and that ”We had to control this violence".

Leaders and Nations world over have condemned this act and termed it "Inhuman" and "disproportionate". The Nations a part of the European Union have asked for an Immediate Investigation into the matter and have also summoned their Israeli ambassadors.   Turkey expressed a deep discontent and has recalled its ambassador form Israel. It has also cancelled three planned military exercises with Israeli forces and called back its youth national football team that was scheduled to play in Israel. Middle East and Islamic Countries have strongly expressed their views against the action and Bahrain went on to term the attack as a "Barbaric attack". The Countries of US and UK have shown a rather diplomatic stance and asked for an Investigation into the whole event. 

The Convoy of ships was to deliver tons of food and other aid to Gaza to break a blockade imposed by Israel in 2007. With more than 80% of people in Gaza living below the poverty line, its dependence on Foreign aid is high and is the sole hope for a section of its population. The attack by Israel has definitely raised questions world over, and can result in Impositions on Israel and will make it difficult for Israel on Diplomatic grounds.

Popularity: unranked [?]