Across Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers

Dr. Prabha Kant Sinha, an alumnus, has contributed $2m toward setting up the “P. K. Sinha - Bio-fuel Research Centre” at IIT Kharagpur . The centre is already up and running and is engaged in researching the opportunities and challenges of Bio-fuel, such as, Bio-ethanol, Bio-diesel, Bio-hydrogen, Microbial Bio-fuels in the Indian context. Prabha earned his Ph.D. at MIT and B-Tech. at IIT KGP (class of 1970). He has been an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University until 1987.  He continues to teach sales and marketing leaders in executive education programs at Kellogg and at the Indian School of Business.  He has co- authored several books that include ‘ Building a Winning Sales Force’ . Prabha co-founded the sales and marketing  consulting firm ZS Associates in 1983 and is currently it’s Co-Chairman. Headquartered in Evanston, IL, the firm employs 1500 persons spread across offices located in many countries.  For his role in ste

For the World Cup, South Africa has used ten stadiums. My blog has already featured nine of those stadiums. Peter Mokaba Stadium is the last of those ten stadiums. Last but not in any order of merit. I simply started with Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, which is the southernmost of all stadiums  in South Africa. Then from Green Point I moved northward. Peter Mokaba being the northernmost it is the last in my series. Peter Mokaba was renowned for his struggle for emancipation of South Africa.The design  is inspired by the locally iconic Baobab tree, with the steel structure supporting the roof plane gathered together at each corner of the stadium and supported by giant ‘trunk' structures which accommodate vertical circulation ramps and service cores. It has a capacity of 42,000 spectators. [Photo credit: Official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup.]

This stadium was newly-built for the World Cup. Mbombela literally means 'many people together in a small space.' It has a capacity of 41,000. It has been a welcome addition to the region which otherwise did not have any major football stadium earlier. [Photo credit: Official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup.]

The stadium—built in 1999 and upgraded in 2010—has a capacity of 39,000. It is named after the Bafokeng people that live in the area. Located 12km away from Rustenburg city center, the stadium is just under half an hour’s drive from the famed Sun City. [Photo credit: Official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup.]

Built in 1906, this is one of the oldest stadiums in South Africa. Since 1948, it has undergone continual upgrades. It is the venue for both rugby and football and is the home to one of South Africa’s top rugby clubs, the Blue Bells. It has 43,000 seats. South Africa's national team, Bafana Bafana, achieved its first ever victory over a European side at this venue when they beat Sweden 1-0 in 1999. [Photo credit: Official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup .]

The Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg was originally built in 1987. It underwent a major reconstruction and upgrade that was completed in 2009. With its present capacity of 88,500, the reconstructed stadium is the most awesome soccer venue in the African continent. The design is inspired by the iconic African pot called calabash . When lit up at night it provides one of the most spectacular views of Johannesburg. The venue hosted the first match of the World Cup 2010 and will appropriately host the final match as well. [Photo credit: Official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup.]

This stadium was built in 1952 and has hosted many major football and rugby union matches. Bloemfontein natives are one of the most passionate fans of football and rugby. Earlier rugby used to be more popular but recently football seems to have overshadowed rugby. The stadium was refurbished for the FIFA World Cup 2010. During refurbishment the capacity was upgraded from 38,000 to 41,000 spectators. [Photo credit: Official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com ]