In less than 48 hours, Apple’s iPhone, one of the most hyped and awaited gadgets of the 21st century will be launched.

The iPhone combines Apple’s runaway hit iPod music player with a cell phone that includes a browser and e-mail software as well.

The quad-band GSM phone also plays video and features a 2 megapixel digital camera.

                            Eager fans lined up to buy iPhones at Apple store
                                    on 5th Ave in New York City on Thursday 

Reviews in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required) by its technology guru Walter Mossberg and in the New York Times by David Pogue have given the iPhone high marks.

Although both reviews are comprehensive, we found Pogue to be more objective. You see, Mossberg has a tendency to go weak in the knees when it comes to anything Apple. 

After playing with the iPhone for a couple of weeks, Pogue writes in today’s NYT:

As it turns out, much of the hype and some of the criticisms are justified. The iPhone is revolutionary; it’s flawed. It’s substance; it’s style. It does things no phone has ever done before; it lacks features found even on the most basic phones.

Even though Pogue does not spare the iPhone the criticism it deserves, he’s impressed too:

But even in version 1.0, the iPhone is still the most sophisticated, outlook-changing piece of electronics to come along in years. It does so many things so well, and so pleasurably, that you tend to forgive its foibles.

The Journal’s Mossberg and his colleague Katherine Boehret  are equally effusive about the iPhone:

Our verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is, on balance, a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer. Its software, especially, sets a new bar for the smart-phone industry, and its clever finger-touch interface, which dispenses with a stylus and most buttons, works well, though it sometimes adds steps to common functions.

Mossberg, a long-time fan of Apple products, is clearly bowled over by the iPhone:

It feels solid and comfortable in the hand and the way it displays photos, videos and Web pages on its gorgeous screen makes other smart phones look primitive. 

People have already started queuing up at Apple’s stores to be among the first to get hold of this hot product when it launches on Friday evening at 6PM.

A quick glance at Craigslist (of people offering to stand in line for those too busy to do so) reveals the tremendous interest in iPhone.

In an e-mail interview with Mossberg, Apple CEO Steve Jobs focuses

Yesterday, we did something unusual.

We traveled over 330 miles (about 520 KMs) to New York City just to watch a new movie.

But then Sicko is not just any other movie.

Made by the controversial documentary filmmaker Michael Moore (of Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine and Roger & Me fame), Sicko is a wake-up call to America.

A well-made movie in the Michael Moore tradition of taking up controversial themes, Sicko takes a close look at an extraordinary American tragedy – the plight of the 50 million uninsured people in U.S.A. as well as the harsh treatment of those lucky enough to have insurance by the callous health insurance companies.

At a macro level, Sicko addresses the question of what American society has turned into as a result of the unabashed worship of mammon by the health-care industry.

Blinded by unhealthy greed and abetted by corrupt and uncaring politicians, the health-care industry in America - which includes primarily health insurance companies, hospitals, doctors and pharmaceutical companies - has brought about an American tragedy that is literally causing painful misery to countless people every day.

In America, sick people who are uninsured routinely put off treatment for their ailments because they can not afford the astronomical fees charged for even minor problems. Eventually, for many of these sick people the situation only gets worse and may even end in death.

As Moore mentions in Sicko, a person unfortunate enough to have two of his fingers cut off while working had to make a difficult choice – to reattach the ring finger  or the middle finger. The unlucky individual opted to have the ring finger attached because it cost $12,000. To have the middle finger reattached would have cost him an astronomical $60,000.

Unlike in India where government hospitals are fairly widespread (but provide shoddy treatment mostly) in cities, small towns and villages, in the U.S. there are no state-run hospitals.

The point that comes through in Sicko is accurate – If you are uninsured, have no money and fall sick in America, you are well and truly SCREWED.

Using interviews and case studies, Moore compares the sorry healthcare situation in America to

A vibrating condom marketed by the state run Hindustan Latex Limited is raising the hackles of some Indian politicians.

Politicians on both the Left and the Right in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh are sounding off their irritation on the Crezendo condom that it’s actually a sex toy.

The politicians are seeking an immediate ban on sales of the Crezendo condom.

HLL officials claim that Crezendo has generated strong consumer interest, according to a story in the Daily News & Analysis.

Since its launch, Crezendo had generated considerable consumer interest and demand all over the country. It was launched in the wake of market surveys suggesting fall in condom use. A major reason cited for this was lack of pleasure in the use of condom and Crezendo was introduced as a pleasure-enhancer, [an HLL official]  said.

HLL say it has no plans to withdraw the condom entirely but may do so from the state of Madhya Pradesh.

When Mariane Pearl (Angelina Jolie) wails in agony after learning that her kidnapped journalist husband Daniel Pearl will never come back, it’s one of the defining and poignant moments of this fine movie.

So far, over the previous several days the visibly pregnant Mariane’s been an unusually controlled woman despite her anguish over Danny’s kidnapping.

But when Daniel Pearl’s boss returns home one night after viewing the tape of her husband’s beheading and tells Mariane that “Danny did not make it”, the controlled emotion transforms into helpless waves of anguish, sweeping the audience along on that tide.

Playing Mariane Pearl, wife of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl kidnapped and murdered by Islamic radicals in Karachi when on an assignment in 2002, Angelina Jolie turns in a powerful performance in A Mighty Heart that should be an eyeopener to Bollywood actresses most of whom can’t act even to save their lives.

For those worried that Angelina Jolie, the celebrity and the actress would overshadow the character of Mariane Pearl, rest easy because that has not happened.

The movie proceeds at a fairly brisk pace that keeps the audience engrossed at all times. 

Indian actor Irrfan Khan, who delighted us in Mira Nair’s recent movie The Namesake, charms us once again with a solid performance as the Pakistan Police Captain Habib investigating Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping.

Irrfan Khan’s sparkling performance in Namesake and now in A Mighty Heart reveal his prowess as

French food giant Groupe Danone will soon part ways with its Indian partner Britannia and launch products on its own in the booming Indian market, reports today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

Apparently, there has been tensions between the two companies over Danone’s plans to enter the market on its own.

By the terms of a 1995 contract, Danone had agreed not to launch food brands in India without the approval of the Wadia family, which owns 24.5% of the company. Nusli Wadia (grandson of Pakistan founder M.A.Jinnah) is Chairman of Britannia.

Danone owns 25.5% of Britannia, which is one of India’s biggest brands and the maker of a variety of biscuits (cookies).

According to the WSJ story,

Danone and the Wadias are in talks that could lead to an exit by Danone from the venture, according to people familiar with the situation. One of those people says an agreement could be reached within a month. A possibility is that Danone will pay the Wadias a fee to leave the venture.

Danone’s tensions with Britannia comes close on the heels of recent reports suggesting that all’s not well with its Chinese drinks joint venture Wahaha.

With its economy growing at well over 8% for the last few years, India is one of the promising emerging markets for consumer products companies worldwide.

Indian news media report that in their eagerness to get their kid into the Guiness Book, a doctor couple in the town of Manaparai in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu have allowed their 15-year-old son Dileepan Raj to perform a caesarean  operation.

The boy is studying in the 10th grade.

Several doctors were aghast when they were shown a recording of the operation by the proud parents, who were said to have been keen on seeing their son hailed as the “youngest surgeon in the world.”

Apparently, the operation was done at the Mathi Surgical and Maternity Hospital, owned by the parents.

The only silver lining in the horrid incident is that the 20-year-old mother and daughter are said to be doing fine.

The state government of Tamil Nadu has ordered an inquiry into the incident. 

If true, the operation would hardly be anything unusual.

After all, Indians do the oddest things to land a place in the Guiness Book of World Records. We remember an incident in the 1990s of a young boy aged six or seven driving a car over several hundred miles.

Next time you think of visiting India for a cheap heart bypass surgery or hip replacement, think twice. And then think again. You never know if it’s a doctor or a Guiness Book wannabe opening you up.

Update: The 15-year-old boy’s parents were arrested by the police on Monday, June 25, 2007.