Extreme Billionaires...

Nine days into his trip, the marketing master, who turned a gang of Quebec street performers into a live entertainment powerhouse and amassed a $2.5 billion fortune in the process, put on a two-hour Web show featuring him in space and celebrities Bono, Salma Hayek, Shakira and Al Gore on Earth. He returned to solid ground this week. (For more on Laliberté, see "Billionaire Acrobatics.")
Bored with the ordinary hobbies of everyday life, billionaires have embarked on adventures and extreme endeavors only a tycoon can afford. They craft million dollar boats for a single race, journey thousands of miles in hot air balloons to set world records and develop rockets to create their own space agencies.
To prepare for his space mission, Laliberté spent five months in Russia's Star City practicing simulations, learning Russian and undergoing intense cardiovascular training to get in space shape. He also studied how to read and work instruments on the shuttle and space station; although he had no official duties during the mission, he needed to be able to lend a hand to Russian cosmonauts in case of an emergency.
Virgin billionaire Richard Branson is creating his own private space agency. His nascent commercial orbital travel company, Virgin Galactic, will start carrying passengers out of Earth's atmosphere for $200,000 per ticket in 2011. Total flight time: 2.5 hours.
Branson has broken records on the sea and in the air. In 1986 his motorboat "Virgin Atlantic Challenger II" broke the speed record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean in three days, eight hours and 31 minutes. A year later he became the first person to cross the Atlantic in a hot air balloon. He was the first to balloon across the Pacific Ocean in 1991. He failed in his quest to be the first to circumnavigate the globe by balloon when Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones completed the journey in 1999.
Roger Penske got his adrenaline boosts from extreme sports before he earned his ten-figure-fortune. Prior to building his massive auto empire, Penske raced for a living. In the early 1960s, Penske competed on both the Formula One and NASCAR circuits, winning Sports Illustrated's Driver of the Year award in 1962.
He retired in 1965 to focus on building his Philadelphia Chevrolet dealership. Today Penske Corp. controls Penske Auto Group, plus trucking and logistics companies. The billionaire is still in the racing game; Penske Racing, with more than 300 wins, is one of most dominant teams in the history of auto racing.
Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison and Swiss biotech tycoon Ernesto Bertarelli are gearing up to race each other in sailing's prestigious America's Cup this winter. Already, the battle on land has gotten ugly. Two-time winner Bertarelli ignored Ellison's request for a rematch, instead picking an unknown Spanish club as his next challenger. Ellison sued for the right to race. The legal war lasted two years. In May, a New York Supreme Court judge ruled Ellison would get his shot on the water. The race will take place off the shores of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates in February.
Ellison supporters claimed Bertarelli attempted to skew the rules of the America's Cup to his own advantage, while Bertarelli's camp accused Ellison's team of spying on his race facilities. Bertarelli's racing team, Alinghi, posts cartoons on its Web site showing Ellison's boat sinking under the weight of legal texts and the tech titan trying to buy the America's Cup trophy over the Internet.
Ellison has spent more than $100 million on his quest to join the ranks of Ted Turner and William Koch--two other billionaire winners of the America's Cup. Cable mogul Turner won in 1977, while the Koch Industries heir and head of Oxbow captured sailing's biggest prize in 1992.

Steven Bertoni
Guy Laliberté has taken his act on the road. On Sept. 30, the billionaire founder of psychedelic entertainment group Cirque du Soleil blasted into space aboard a Russian rocket. Cost of the ride: $35 million.
His trip, organized through American exploration outfit Space Adventures, lasted 12 days, including a nine-day stay at the International Space Station. Laliberté used part of his time in orbit to promote his clean water charity One Drop, and the rest garnering international media attention, hamming it up in front of cameras wearing a red foam clown nose.

In Hyderabad, Traffic Starts following on India's Longest Flyover...

Mon, Oct 19 09:47 AM
Hyderabad, Oct 19 (IANS) Access to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad, about 30 km from the city, is set to become smoother and faster with India's longest flyover being thrown open to traffic Monday.
The 11.633 km long PVNR Expressway, named after former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, connects the Mehdipatnam area in the city to the Hyderabad-Bangalore national highway (NH 7) en route to the international airport.
Built by Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) at a cost of Rs.4.39 billion, the 17.2-metre-wide four-lane elevated expressway starts at Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital at Mehdipatnam and lands at Aramghar Junction on NH 7 to join an underpass.
The airport-bound traffic will proceed further to get on to the trumpet interchange, providing faster access to the airport.
HMDA officials say the facility would cut the travel time to the airport by 30 to 40 minutes. Presently, it takes 45 minutes to one hour for a person to reach the airport from different points in the city.
The project, work on which was launched after the foundation stone was laid for the airport in 2005, has completed one-and-half year after the airport launched commercial operations.
The PVNR Expressway, which encompasses 327 spans, was delayed due to various reasons including financial constraints over the last one year.
It was last scheduled to be inaugurated on Oct 2 but was put off in view of the death of chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who had laid the foundation stone for the project.
Chief Minister K. Rosaiah will inaugurate the Expressway Monday evening, fulfilling the long felt need of air passengers.
In a move aimed at ensuring fast and smooth traffic on Expressway, the Hyderabad and Cyberabad police have prohibited entry of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, all types of goods vehicles and slow-moving vehicles.
Since the down and up ramps are yet to be completed, the motorists will have to be careful while getting on to the Expressway as they will not be able to get down before covering the entire distance. However, median gaps have been provided at three points as a temporary measure for emergency U-turns.
Officials said a speed of 100 km per hour was envisaged on the Expressway but for light motor vehicles the speed limit will be 60 kmph. According to HMDA chief engineer Vivek Deshmukh, sound barriers were being installed at five points to reduce traffic noise pollution in residential and hospital zones.
The project was also mired in a naming controversy. Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), the powerful Muslim political party in the city, and various other Muslim groups had opposed naming the Expressway after Narasimha Rao as they blame him for demolition of Babri Masjid at Ayodhya.
After the death of Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash Sep 2, these groups demanded that the project be named after the late chief minister. However, the state government ignored this demand.

Mathura Rail Mishap: 16 killed, many trapped...

Wed, Oct 21 09:44 AM
At least 16 people were reportedly killed, over a dozen injured and several others believed to be trapped in a mangled carriage after two trains collided on Wednesday morning in Mathura city in Uttar Pradesh, officials said.
The accident occurred when the Goa Express rammed into the stationary Mewar Express from behind at an outer signal, some 55 km from Agra. About 50 people are believed to be still trapped in a mangled carriage of the Mewar Express.
Senior railway officials, including divisional railway manager (north central zone) R.M. Tripathi has reached the site to monitor rescue and relief operations.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today announced an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh for the next of the kin of those killed in the train mishap near Mathura. The seriously injured passengers would receive Rs one lakh while those with minor injuries will get Rs 10,000, she said. She has also ordered a probe into the accident.
Several trains on the route have been diverted.
In Mathura, UP Agriculture Minister Laxminarain Choudhry also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the next of the kin of the deceased besides a job.