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5 LIKELY INDIAN STORIES IN 2006

PTI | ByArun Kumar/Neha Mehta/Princy Jain/Mayank Tewar/Shreevatsa Nevatiai
Jan 01, 2006 11:23 AM IST

A year back, anyone who said the Sensex would near 10000 would have been a laughing stock. Now, it?s likely to cross that before the 2006 Budget. Gurus think it can hit 15K this year. But once it crosses 12K, it?ll be volatile and subject to sharp ?corrections?. The next trigger up? A possible decision on FDI in retail. The Reliance demerger could provide a short-term correction. Is it sustainable beyond 10K? That depends on government action on infrastructure, global liquidity and interest rates.

SENSEX ON 15K HIGH

HT Image
HT Image

A year back, anyone who said the Sensex would near 10000 would have been a laughing stock. Now, it’s likely to cross that before the 2006 Budget. Gurus think it can hit 15K this year. But once it crosses 12K, it’ll be volatile and subject to sharp “corrections”. The next trigger up? A possible decision on FDI in retail. The Reliance demerger could provide a short-term correction. Is it sustainable beyond 10K? That depends on government action on infrastructure, global liquidity and interest rates.

MAGIC OF NANOECH

Nanotechnology fields poised for quantum leaps are nano-electronics and nanosensors, says Science Advisory Council chief C.N.R. Rao. And it’s all happening in Bangalore. R.A. Mashelkar believes that work on carbon nanotubes being done there is of global relevance. A.K. Sood’s IISc lab is working on nanotubes to be used inside the body as sentinels against a heart attack or to power a pacemaker. The interaction of nanowires with biomolecules would be another area to watch out for.

HOLLYWOOD CALLING

Aishwarya Rai will play the Roman Mira in Doug Lefler’s epic The Last Legion, co-starring Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley. She plays an Indian character in two other international projects, Jagmohan Mudra’s Provoked and Paul Mayda’s Mistress of Spice. Salman Khan will romance Ali Larter in Willard Caroll’s Marigold. Drena De Niro’s Karma Confession and Holi stars Sushmita Sen. And there’s Mira Nair’s film of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Namesake, starring Tabu and Irfan Khan.

TERROR TACTICS

If 29/10 and the Bangalore shootout made 2005 bad, 2006 might be worse. Intelligence agencies say there’ll be a strategic shift by terrorists. They will increasingly enter India through Bangladesh. It’s easier, and unlike the Kashmiri, the Bangladeshi does not stand out in a crowd. Experts believe terrorists will use a shock-and-awe strategy rather than going for a large number of human casualties. Many suicide bombers may already be in the country, awaiting instructions.

LEAPING INTO THE NEW YEAR

It may not feel that way, but the world is slowing down. It took a second longer to complete 2005. Just before midnight GMT on New Year's Eve, one second was added to humanity's official record of time.

IPODS FOR 5K

Nokia’s N91 — the ‘iPod Killer’ — is coming to India. It’s optimised to give you a soundtrack to your life, with a 4GB hard drive to store 3,000 songs. Though a steep Rs 35,000, N91 will let you talk, listen and hum — simultaneously. In a crowd of growing competition and falling prices, companies may have no choice but to slash prices. So if the iPod has been on your wishlist, but out of reach, then it might slip under the Rs 5,000 mark. Nokia the serpent might just let you bite that tempting Apple.

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