the_unlettered_tellurian

Everyone is pouncing on hedge funds once again… some of the results of a simple google news search on “hedge funds”…

Hedge funds brace for redemption wave, cash high

Asia Hedge Funds, Among Worst Performers, Close at Faster Rate

Year-end redemption requests loom over industry

Hedge funds hit by wind-ups as markets bite

Hedge Funds Wash Out of High-Stakes Game

Hedge Funds Are Bracing for Investors to Cash Out

Hedge funds face loss of investors

Why does all this coverage and analysis have to be ex-post? Haven’t they done enough of that after LTCM? Couldn’t they do some ex-ante analysis this time around?

Georgia just cropped up in my radar because of the extensive media reports about its ongoing skirmishes with Russia. Very interesting events happening out there, but I was in a bit of a quandary because of my lack of understanding of the history and politics (yes, there is a difference between the two) of the country.

I needed something that is not-too-recent yet not-too-old. Got a bunch of pages on BBC that were put up starting 2005, and seem to have been updated regularly (wherever necessary) after that.

1. A profile of the country.
2. A fairly comprehensive timeline describing key events in Georgia’s history.
3. Kind of an FAQ on Georgia-Russia tensions posted on 10th May 2005.
4. Another FAQ-style article on Georgia-Russia ties posted on 30th April 2008.
5. A very brief article on how the Rose revolution happened.
6. An article, Power games in the Caucasus, posted on the BBC news site on 7th May 2006.
7. A news article, dated 22nd Dec 2006, on Georgia agreeing to pay more money for Russian gas.

These were enough to give me a basic idea of the country and its historic relations with Russia…hope it helps other uninformed souls too.

The grand old daddy of media has set his eyes on fresh territory. Rupert Murdoch plans to expand News Corp’s presence in India. He has announced plans to launch six regional TV channels within the next 12months at investments totaling $100 million.

More details available in this FT news item.