Most notable was a fruitless effort early in his tenure to impose managed trade on Japan.

CNN: Election Watch

But without them, Mr Singh's round table seems doomed to be yet another fruitless effort to square the circle.

ECONOMIST: What peace process? Kashmiris are entitled to ask

Best Buy, another recent target of a founder-led buyout, announced Richard Schulze will return to the company as chairman emeritus, after his fruitless effort to put together an offer to take the retailer private.

FORBES: Early Gains Evaporate As S&P Record Chase Cools

Sure, the technology to digitize and store medical records has been around for like, forevah, but without standards, any effort would be fruitless.

ENGADGET: Digital medical records by 2015?