Desicritics Category: BizTech: Consumers

Terrorism - What's Under The Surface?

Uma Ranganathan — Fri, 5 Dec 2008 01:45:43 EST

There is a good and a bad side to almost everything, when you think about it. Maybe this is part of life’s complexity, it occurs to me, especially in times of adversity. However, given the incalculable loss in human lives, destruction of property, and other resources could there be anything good about the fiesta of destruction on which ten young men from across the seas recently embarked, in which over 200 lives were lost and so much havoc was caused?

I look at this way. These are events, no matter how horrible, which give the rest of us a chance to think things over, to start life afresh, to wake up to changes that are crying out to be made. When you look at it in this light, at least you get the feeling that the lives which were snuffed out were not lost in vain. That the people who died, did so in order to give the survivors a chance to live differently, to improve their circumstances. One wishes there could have been another, less painful way but since we are so slow and so unwilling to open our eyes to reality perhaps this is the only way left to jolt us into waking up.

So what is it we really need to wake up to? Is it to the need to subject our already restricted lives to even more control? More policing? A huge announcement by one of our daily papers asks us to serve as the “eyes and ears of the nation” by reporting suspicious happenings wherever we go, pertaining not only to terrorist activities but to any “ills that plague society”. Just think of some of the possible repercussions if such a movement were to come into effect! Should we emulate countries like Israel (whose young visitors to India are so unpopular on account of their aggressive and crass behavior) - or the U.S. which so many of our fellow citizens have been citing as a prime example of a country which has fended off terrorist attacks since 9/11? Really? We should invade and destroy countries which we have convinced ourselves are the source of our problems and even risk the danger of nuclear war to make a point? Do we really think that military might or that turning India into a quasi police state is going to ensure us the health, wealth, safety and happiness we are all looking for?

Or could it be that events like the one we’ve recently witnessed are a call for us to wake up to, and address the gross inequalities in the world. Is not the violence which we are subjected to so often, ranging from city murders to wars, to acts of terrorism, inviting us desperately to redress the injustice and crazy distribution of wealth and the fact that there is a serious breakdown of values wherever we look, a dissolving of whatever it is that holds the community of human beings together? The horror which is unfolding before us everywhere, is it not begging us, among other things, to give back to the people who are slogging their ass off for the country, at a very concrete level, their dignity? Among others, our farmers, without whom we would not survive more than a few weeks at the most, the workers who put up our buildings, bridges and other constructions, or the coal miners who risk their lives to keep our electrical circuits running?

The lone terrorist to be caught alive following the recent onslaught – Mohammed Ajmal Kasab - according to newspaper reports, comes from a poor family in Pakistan. There are two reasons that seem to have motivated him to become a terrorist. One is, that his best friend Fayaz Ahmad who he believed was innocent, was killed in an encounter three years ago, by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. The other is that his father persuaded him to join the LeT in return for money, in order that the family back home might survive.

As long as there are people starving in the world, as long as a large number of deprived human beings continues to be not only confronted with existential problems but is simultaneously forced to watch crass indulgence by sections of the population, who ignore the basic needs of the poor, we can be sure of by being plagued by rebellion in various destructive forms since that is the only way apparently, in which the poor can make themselves heard. It is not enough to blame the criminal minds making use of the poor – be they slimy, mealy mouthed, manipulative politicians or hate filled, power hungry maniacs who brainwash and train frustrated youngsters to blow up public facilities and kill large numbers of people wherever it may be, leaving a trail of blood and gore behind them.

As far back as 1972 the disastrous consequences of our consumerist attitude and crazy way of life, was documented in a book called “Limits to growth”, published by the Club of Rome. Sadly, over thirty years later, when wars are actually being fought over oil, over water, and other natural resources in short supply, when the effects of the lopsided growth around the world is known to be leading to violence and destruction, we are still thinking in terms of the sort of growth which can only lead to further destruction and are hardly giving a thought to measures we need to take to save our resources and to use them in a way that benefits the maximum number of human beings in the world.

What is scarier than the terrorists is the fact that not enough people even now, seem likely to wake up to the urgent need for us to change the way we relate to each other in the world – politically, economically, and most significantly in the realm of personal relationships, which is where all transformation really begins. The fact that so many of us go through life like self satisfied zombies, indicates that by and large we are not leading happy lives, that we lack genuine fulfillment – because otherwise we would be longing to share our joy and to extend the sense of fulfillment to others – not to cut ourselves off from the world as we have done and to live in our own separate cocoons without caring about the rest.

Today I am wondering, who are the real terrorists? The people we think of as terrorists? Or is it all those who hold the world to ransom with their greed, their hunger for power, their exploitative attitudes? Are the real terrorists the men and women who have been seduced into joining criminal organizations in order to feed themselves or their families, or is it people who have unfairly amassed wealth and power and who now refuse to use it for the common good, to bring about a society which is peaceful and democratic in the true sense of the word?

Colas and Religions

Suresh Naig — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:03:35 EDT

What’s the similarity between Colas and religions? I posed this question to one of my friends and regretted later, for he had given a long lecture, instead of a short answer. Though he started only with a short answer, soon he got into the mood to expand the answer. While I felt it was long, never have I felt it was impertinent and hence I am sharing it here.

His one line answer for my question was, ‘both are useless, and that’s why they need powerful marketing strategies to thrive.’

Colas are not staple food for the mankind to survive and at best it can be qualified as an accompaniment. So also the religions, which create emotional bonding between people, yet it cannot qualify for strong emotions such as love and compassion.

Colas, though positioned as accompaniments with main course of food, soon people were made to feel that Colas are the main course and the food as accompaniments. Colas are so versatile they can go well with “masala dosas” and also with Kentucky fried chickens.

Many of the religions and its customs though started as a part of cultural need as demanded by geographical and climatic conditions, soon acquired the propensity of inevitability among the people. Many customs are either redundant or unnecessary.

Colas have created brands for the convenience of their customers, while religions have branded their customers. Colas come attired in different shape of bottles and colours, while the customers of religions come in different attires. Some with huge turbans, some with beards, some with marks on their forehead and some with incision marks.

Religions have originated from East and conquered the West, whereas Colas after conquering the West corrupted the East. Colas have become indispensable with break-fast, with lunch, with dinner, with alcoholic drinks and with supper.

Religions have become indispensable in every sphere of life from birth to death. It may be birth, christening, initiation into education, marriage or death. The invisible hands of religion are felt everywhere, and in the absence of one, people were made to shudder.

With Colas, one can switch brands with ease, but with religions it is deterred. A brand ditcher is ditched by everyone. First by the alienated religion and later by the alien religion.

Marketing wars of Colas and religions are mostly similar – decent and ethical. At times it can turn nasty and bloody. A brand of Cola would buy all the empty bottles of another brand and destroy it, creating a temporary vacuum in the market, which is filled by the competitor’s Cola.

Religious marketing would at times stoop to the level of denigrating the other religion, for its benefit, triggering a bloody bath. However, the marketing of both Religions and Colas are not without benefits, since it creates employment opportunities for so many persons and the money generated out of it is awesome.

He concluded with his usual punch. ‘The other day a market researcher came knocking at my doors, when I told him that I don’t drink any Cola, he diligently recorded it. Whereas when an enumerator came to my house for my voters ID card, threatened me that I would never get my voters ID card, if I said that I didn’t belong to any religion.”

Home Economics

Blokesablogin — Wed, 1 Oct 2008 09:34:54 EDT

When I grew up in the tight, socialistic 70's in India, I understood the value of a Rupee. Rs.1 got my cycle tyre puncture fixed. One masala dosa was Rs.1. One sheet of fool's cap paper for my mid term test was 5 paisa. A milk ice-cream was 15 paisa. One Kg of rice was Rs.2 in the ration shop. A handloom cotton sari was Rs.15. Gold was Rs.150 a sovereign. Father's salary was worth one sovereign of gold.

We got new clothes once a year for Diwali. If grandma or an aunt gifted us with a length of cloth, we got new clothes for Pongal or our Birthday. Hand me downs was a common and honored thing to do within the family. We went to aunt's house to watch TV, once a week. Aavin flavored milk was a salary day treat to us kids. The softy ice cream was a whole rupee! The vegetable vendor gave free coriander, curry leaves and green chillies when we bought Rs. 5 worth of vegetables!

Then came Asiad '82 and the craze of the color TV. No one wanted to play hopscotch or jump rope anymore. Everyone was glued to the TV and the colorful pictures within. Then came Eureka vacuum cleaner with its salesman. I doubt anyone who bought that stuff ever used it! I remember my mother buying it and had to pay it off over 10 months but never used it even once, except on the day the maid chose to take the day off or was ill to work. My brother and I found the actual sweeping with a broom and mopping with a mop a lot easier and faster. And neither depended on electricity! LOL! Life was never the same anymore.

Refrigerators, Sumeet Mixies, idli grinders became the staple consumer goods in every South Indian middle class household. Soon, our home became cluttered with stuff- cots for us kids (we used to sleep on the floor on mats), a sofa set, a dining set! Until then, we had small "modas" and ate sitting on the floor.

Coming to America in the early nineties was not all that much of a cultural shock as India had already set her course in consumer spending with liberating the economy. Initial credit card holders had no clue how to pay it off! They thought they were given free money! When they realized that they had to pay heavy interest, they "disappeared"! Those early days of credit were quite funny.

My frugal heart kept spending to a minimum in an otherwise consumer-spending America. Even then, I faithfully kept a "pocket account book" detailing every cent I spent, just as my grandfather who was an accountant had taught us over a hot summer break. My husband laughed when I asked him how much money we had in the bank. He said, there is more than enough and not to worry about it. But I had to ensure that I never overspent. After about 6 months of keeping accounts, I realized that he was right. My household expenses were a tiny fraction of his salary. Most of his salary went directly to pay the rent, the car insurance, phone bill, feed his 401 K and the rest into savings.

We could put 20% down on our home. Even kids did not really affect our budget. Again, hand-me-down clothes and cribs made life easy. Garage sales were great places to buy good furniture for a fraction of their cost. Public schools ensured free education.

When Mr. Bush sent us hefty checks in the mail last May, I asked my husband why they sent checks when they had a huge debt as it made no sense to me. Of course, we put it toward paying off some mortgage while several others went shopping (as it was intended for). That ill-thought out effort cost the government $100 billion not too many months ago. Today, Congress refused to "give" $700 billion to the effort of saving banks.

We have a saying in Tamizh that says that you cannot measure a cubit with nothing in your hand. That is precisely what these "great" investors have been happily doing: investing in "nothing"- the ultimate play in Maya theory!

We have people who chose to buy homes they could ill afford. We had banks who were more than willing to "loan" these folks money to buy these overpriced homes even if their monthly payment was not affordable to them, because we, in the US have what is called "interest only" loans: you pay only the interest each month, never mind the principle! In other words, you are building no equity in the house. And if your introductory interest rate went up, you could not pay the interest even. Ha!

Then, to make matters worse, these chaps who had these mortgage papers, bundled them up and "sold" them to another entity, an investment group, who had MBAs and their ilk, who "played" with other people's money (maybe the home owner himself/ herself!) and ensured they got paid astranomical sums for doing such a "risky" thing like taking the responsibility of other people's money! They did not really check to see if the mortgage papers that were in their hands were indeed worth the paper they were printed on. Ha!

Suddenly, one day, everyone wakes up and sees that the child on the street cried out that the emperor was naked! Ha!

There is doom and gloom everywhere and no one seems to know how it is going to affect everyone. One thing is for certain: Our days of eating out are done for, for now. Forget the occasional flick. Anyways, we don't do Starbucks. So nothing to "cut" there.

People are crying that there will be greater unemployment. People cannot afford to buy homes. And we start over.

If Americans quit buying a lot of junk that they do not need and stop overcharging their credit cards, there is hope still. Knowing the underlying puritanical streak, still evident in the genetic makeup of this land, if it finds expression in the coming months, much of this dizzy, lingering effects of the Reagan era, can be brought back to ground reality.

In my non scientific estimation, middle class Americans waste about 30% of their income (imagined and real) on unwanted things. They over eat, over buy, over stock, over spend, over indulge that results in much ailment which leads to huge medical insurance payments. If they just cut that out, they will be able to "afford" more. Learning to live within their means is a lesson everyone can learn, starting with the Americans who have the world's largest consumer debt.

I hope the young in India who have a huge disposable income on their hands as their education, food and stay have been taken care of by their parents, learn the value of saving and not frittering away their income on superfluous things.

Consumer Review: Reliance BigTV

Aaman Lamba — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 06:25:12 EDT

The television distribution space in India has stratified into a clear demarcation between the large cable providers, smaller players, and the satellite TV providers. The monopoly of DishTV was broken first by Tata Sky, and now by a few more entrants, notably Sun TV and BigTV. With the Direct-to-Home or DTH market predicted to expand five-fold, this is a lucrative space and competition will only heat up.

All too often, however, companies tend to become complacent in the midst of competition, especially those who believe their position impregnable. DishTV, with a close to 50% marketshare, has been going through similar complacency despite the new competitors. its customer service levels have dropped to unbelievable levels and it has not kept pace with the other players in adding new channels, services, etc.

I faced the brunt of this disrespect for customers myself when my smart card went on the blink. There had been technical issues earlier, but this time the company seemed to not be particularly interested in addressing the problem. Repeated calls to the call center met with a jumble of reasons/suggestions, with the final suggestion being the purchase of a new smart card. I decided I would switch providers and looked at the options before deciding to try out the new Reliance BigTV service.

I visited the nearest Reliance WebWorld and perused the available packages. The options were quite interesting and well-priced, costing Rs. 2190/- for a whole year's service, including installation. There was a good set of add-ons, besides the well-stocked base package. The technology was also reasonably up-to-date, using MPEG 4, which enables the provider to either provide more channels or increase broadcast quality, which should be useful as more channels move towards HD transmission in India by next year.

The manager did caution me that demand was high for the BigTV service, and that there might be a delay with installation. I bought the package and booked a work order with the call center. After a few days however, there was no update or phone call to confirm installation. I became a regular caller to their call center, calling at least once a day, and registering innumerable complaints, all of which entered the 'solving' state but did not progress further. The call center itself was well-serviced, with minimal wait times and mostly courteous agents.

Matters reached a head when I had not received an installation call for over 10 days. The call center had no contact details for the technical team, and no evident escalation procedure. I found numerous online complaints on the same issue and began to wonder if the company had launched too soon with insufficient trained installers. A conversation with the Corporate Communications head provided little assurance, except the request to send in an e-mail. I did so, and for good measure, copied Anil Ambani.

Voila! I received a call from the installer the next morning asking when could he visit and complete the installation. The process itself was seamless, the installers evidently well-trained and technically adept. I learned that demand had indeed outstripped supply, and the company had had to bring in over 400 installers to meet surging demand.

The service is very good. The set-top box provides component video output, though no HDMI. The channels are very clear, and the selection guide far better than that provided by either DishTV or Tata Sky. There is an array of Hindi and regional cinema channels showing quite new movies, free for the first five months. The box tends to hang every once in a while, especially when flipping through channels fast, but nothing that a restart won't fix.

Reliance BigTV seems a formidable competitor, if they can get their distribution and installation challenges worked out. Indeed, they can easily provide bundled TriplePlay (telephone, broadband, satellite), if they chose to do so, and the regulator allows.

The Fall of Capitalism

Blokesablogin — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:21:04 EDT

When the USSR fell, all the headlines screamed the Fall of Communism. Today, after a week into the mess that is Wall Street, the high priest of Western-style capitalism aka globalization, there is not a single headline that says so: Fall of Capitalism. Interesting observation, don't you agree?

Last month, a friend of mine emailed me a talk given by a Chartered Accountant (CPA, US style) and I promptly emailed him wishing that he wrote a book on the subject. He promptly emailed me a copy of his book published more than a year ago titled Global Imbalances and the Impending Dollar Crisis, published August 2007.

His premise was simple enough. He shows the ridiculous consumption of the US (consumer debt) factored with huge trade deficits. He explains the "Savings Glut" as described by Ben Bernanke and how Asian savings have fueled capital markets in the US as many Asians believed that they would get better returns from a "solid" bet like the US than their own countries. This prevented improved infrastructure in their own countries, rather supported US to improve Uncle Sam's. Uncle Sam built more homes than actually improve his bridges and roads.

My friend temporal from Desicritics referred us to a blog by Spengler; using the imagery of America being a huge casino. As much as that is quite valid, he errs in believing that the "locals" fund the casino. The Asians and others have funded it thus far. However, these very Asians saw the wastefulness of Wall Street and slowly removed their money from there. This has led to a severe crunch in available credit for the MBAs to play with and we are now seeing this "Crash".

The Japanese were happily buying homes, especially here in California, Southern California to be more specific and for the past few years, even they have stopped "investing" in the US housing markets.

Let us face it, capitalism promises a "higher quality" of lifestyle that is the greatest myth perpetrated in the world. Yes, it is true that more people are "enjoying" consumer benefits like Televisions and Computers today than ever before in human history.

However, when we see this "material prosperity" against the background of ecological stress and global warming, we need to revisit the "idea" of "higher quality" of life. Yes, the Ambanis of the world can afford to build multilevel fortresses and import their water supply from the Alpine region, but they still have to deal with the filth and squalor lining the streets of Mumbai when they go to their parties.

As for the outright swindling that was legitimized as salaries and bonuses in Wall Street for decades, much of it will be found safe in a Swiss account, no questions asked. Do check out the website www.transparency.org for greater details on how much of national wealth have been stashed away in tax havens around the globe.

The dumb taxpayer, is left with getting double whammed- once for "investing" and once again for "bailout". It does not matter where he or she is from. All these "international" investors have ensured that there is no "caste system" where money is concerned.

I am beginning to believe in a people's economy, aka black money.

Apple Loses Its Innovation Edge

Aaman Lamba — Tue, 9 Sep 2008 14:52:39 EDT

Steve Jobs belied the rumours of his demise and released an array of Fall season ensembles in his Let's Rock! event in San Francisco. Unfortunately, there wasn't that much to offer, and left the faithful yearning for the traditional 'one more thing', besides sending Apple stock price (AAPL) down over 3%.

When Steve Jobs introduced the original iPod to the world on October 23, 2001, not long after another fateful day, he proclaimed, "With iPod, listening to music will never be the same again!" He could not have been more right. The music industry has gone from a lingering distaste for online music delivery to serving up 8,500,000 songs on iTunes, and the iPod still holds 73% market share.

Yet after the iPod and its many iterations, there really hasn't been that much zing. Every innovation has seemed incremental, almost something that should have been there in the first place, and we are still locked into the scenic walled garden of iTunes. The iPhone, for all its hype, brought little revolution to the mobile marketplace - carriers still rule the roost in every country where the iPhone is available, and people still over-pay for more features than they typically use in any given week.

Today could have been different. We are used to expecting wonderful things from the last icon of technology. We would not have been surprised if he had sprung a time travel machine on us (the iTime?). The yearning for good news in a rather bad year perhaps raised expectations beyond what the ivory towers could purvey.

Yet, we perhaps knew there was little great news in store. The rumors that had leaked were not hinting at any large rabbits hidden away in the hat. Even more disquietingly, they were not stamped down like errant knaves from the castle bearing news of the queen's infidelity.

We got 120 GB iPods, a slimmer eco-friendly Nano, earbuds, the 'funnest' iPod Touch ever - lots of games and the 2.1 software update for the iPhone. The big news of the evening was the Genius function, which auto-recommends songs based on your selection, either in your library on in the iTunes Store. That's a neat feature, but not very different from what Amazon has had all these years, and one is surprised it wasn't already built in.

Jack Johnson wrapped up the evening, and while that might be a nice touch, it smacked of half-hearted innovation, like there was no sparkle left in the wand, or perhaps they need a new star. One hopes Mr. Jobs has many years of creative life ahead, yet, a company cannot be dependent on a single icon. Microsoft seems to be making the post-Gates transition well enough, and while it might be too soon to tell, there is no clear succession defined at Apple.

Robert X. Cringely's proclamations aside, the synergy between Disney, Pixar, and Apple has not yet materialized into any grand design. The iPod may continue to outsell the competition, and the iPhone draw admiring eyes (though not many buyers, at least in India), but without a steady stream of ground-breaking innovations, Apple can all too easily slip back into the shadows of the tech-media space it occupied for many years in the first twilight of Steve Jobs.

Affordable Health Care For the Poor

Shantanu Dutta — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:47:15 EDT

The other day there was a commotion in the office. An electrician having lunch suddenly collapsed and fell unconscious. He was rushed to a near by hospital where tests revealed that he had brain hemorrhage as well as blocks in his arteries. That hospital didn’t have the expertise to deal with this and after putting him on a ventilator rushed him to another hospital which had neuro surgeons and cardiac surgeons on staff.

Meanwhile, the office scrambled to arrange money for the lowly paid electrician which could be given to his family as a loan for this treatment. And the staff scrambled to take an offering which could be given to his family as a gift.

Another person's liver has failed and needs a transplant. His wife came forward to donate but the cost of the treatment is forbidden. He was forced to sell his house to pay a deposit to the hospital.

A third case I remember is that of a man in an Uttar Pradesh village, dismantling his house – literally brick by brick, so that he could then sell the bricks and settle his relatively modest hospital dues.

To put things in perspective, we need to know that “the poor have to increasingly resort to taking debt or selling assets to meet costs of hospital care. It is estimated that 20 million people each year fall below the poverty line because of indebtedness due to health care. This is worrisome given the fact that more than two-thirds of the country’s population is already either poor or living at subsistence levels.”

With the government virtually fading out of the health care sector under the guise of promoting public-private partnerships, finding alternate options has become imperative. With health insurance seemingly the only viable option to meet health costs in the future, it seems important that the penetration of health insurance be increased. And several variations be explored, including micro insurance.

This is never going to be easy in the unorganized sector. For instance, how do you provide health care to handloom weavers, who are among the poorest segments in this sector? There are 6.5 million of them scattered across the country and are not always fixed in their occupation or location. There is a scheme in operation for them, operated by the Union Textiles ministry. But progress in enrolling members is slow. And there are many more segments of the population that are far more unorganized than textile workers.

If the product is properly customized and the premium subsidized, the government will discover a huge market for health insurance. Currently the penetration of health insurance is estimated be 0.02 % or less of GDP.

Like any other nascent industry in the country, the insurance industry is having to cope with its teething troubles. One of the main ones being the inadequate regulatory norms within the industry. The unethical norms in hospitals which routinely over charge insured patients and the inability of the insurance companies to ensure rationalization of tariffs and fees charged by the hospitals are issues not yet resolved.

The variation in hospital bills and the variations in tariff between the metros and non metros are astounding and this disconnect raises the insurance premiums which are then recovered from the customer. In a nascent industry, this will further act as a disincentive to newly entering customers.

Photo Essay: Worldwide Photo Walk, Bangalore

Tanay Behera — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:47:06 EDT

Last Saturday morning offered perfect weather for going out and capturing a few moments of Bangalore city through camera clicks. I, along with other shutterbugs, made full use of this opportunity as we participated in the Bangalore leg of the Worldwide Photo Walk. The Photo Walk was held to mark the release of Adobe Lightroom, a photography software application developed by Adobe. Bangalore was the only city in India where this was talking place, apart from the other 192 cities across the world.

There was no planned agenda for the walk and it was quite informal. We all started the event at around 7:30 A.M. from Mayo Hall, one of the prominent landmarks in Bangalore. Then we clip-clopped on the Residency Road. On our journey we were free to capture anything and everything in our camera lenses.

I was in a mood to make some bio-scopic compositions, even though I was walking down a road heavily masked with glitz shopping malls. Bangalore's old memories are fading very fast, both in the physical environment and in the social atmosphere. That's a logical outcome of economic growth, so better capture those in pictures before they are reduced to dust.

Just a decade ago, anyone could walk down the narrow alleyways and sip a cup of coffee or tea for one rupee or so. But today rusted locks adorn the entrance doors of these neighborhood tea/coffee houses. The once sleepy get together places have given way to a cosmopolitan shopping juggernaut.

Something is definitely lost, for a few its for the better, while for the rest, its for the worse. The city's populace is no longer nostalgic about the remnants and with an urge to modernize fast, the Government and the builders have gutted the city's very soul.

Bangalore and traffic jams are synonymous. The intensity of the blockage varies with the time period of the day. Even though the day had just started, there were long queues of two-wheelers parked near the road.

Construction sites are a common sight but what really adheres to one's vision is the vibrant life visible on the streets. Like this one, a cobbler mending and polishing shoes, sitting on a tiled pathway by the side of the road, enjoying the cacophony of the traffic in front of him.

Today, the city that is bursting at the seams is home to people from so many different strata of life, each seemingly a different world of its own. Some enjoy food in the elegant and refined restaurants that have mushroomed in the cities and some are happy with the food that a make-shift stall owner provides.

Who cares as long as its food?

This way the walk continued and many eyes in the traffic were settled on me and few of my fellow shutterbugs. Since there were few foreigners in our group, the autowallas thought that we were tourists, exploring the city over the weekend and approached us with invites to take us on a paid tour of the city. It was around 11 A.M. that we finally decided to put an end to the walk. All of us gathered in the Mocha restaurant where many had late breakfast amidst passionate discussions about the snaps that each had taken.

All in all a refreshing way to spend four hours of a weekend, walking down the narrow streets and capturing life in pictures. By the way, were these snaps, Ok?

You can check the photos taken by all the participants in the event here.

Public Services and the Public Sector

Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:11:28 EDT

There seems to be an inherent assumption that public services such as hospitals, police, roads, infrastructure, garbage collection and so on and so forth have to be provided by the public sector as well, soup to nuts. And this is what bugs the heck out of me.

Recently, at a club for technology, public sector and business executives, a minister came in to talk to us about how the public sector is responding to globalisation. Incidentally, this is a great club, you get to hear some great people and meet even better people. Quite a lot of my knowledge of the public sector provision and senior government workings comes from this wonderful institution, but this time it was a bit of a rambling speech.

What it boiled down to was that globalisation was hitting public services with change on a very dramatic basis while the public sector delivery model was clearly not up to the mark to keep on supporting this. So what he is pushing the public sector to be more risk taking, more entrepreneurial in public service provisioning.

Now, nobody actually objects to public service provision, not if they do not understand what a nation - state is all about. It is about common values, language, culture, geography, history and yes, even public service provision. The fact that there is just one currency note type across the country and everywhere that note is accepted and that it needs public service to make sure that it is fine means that public services are required.

Same with the concept of universal public provision with the post office. In other words, this is a provision which means that the state has to make sure that a letter posted in one part of the country will get to another part of the country, irrespective of the distance travelled, deliveries will be made on regular intervals and so on and so forth. What is actually required is different from country to country. But it is there. Here's a fascinating discussion over what to do with this provision and how to standardise it across Europe. But most importantly is that how do you fund it?

And this is my problem, if the government run public sector does not know how to handle it or provide that public service provision, then instead of trying to get all risk takers and corporatist about it, just put in a regulatory model overseeing the service provision and farm that out to the private sector. Why press the public sector to get excited about this?

Now this is at variance with what is actually happening on the ground. See here for a fascinating story. The private and voluntary sectors are providing a stonking £80 billion of puiblic services, 6% of GDP and I quote:

A government-sponsored study by DeAnne Julius, the economist, revealed on Thursday that those sectors supply a third of public services – everything from National Health Service treatments to bin emptying, IT, back-office functions and RAF pilot training. The market is worth £79bn, employs almost as many people as the NHS and accounts for 6 per cent of gross domestic product, making it a larger industrial sector than pharmaceuticals, automotive or electricity, gas and water. It also has considerable potential for further growth both at home and abroad, the study is expected to conclude.

So the minister and the actual situation on the ground are totally different. And something that I like. Now you might quibble over whether or not the garbage collection is a public service or not but hey, the British public has agreed to do so (and I agree with that) and has outsourced it to private provision while making sure that the service delivery is purchased by government. Neat, no? and as you can see from the article, they are trying to sell this model across the world. Shame the minister did not know about this.

Technorati Tags: Outsourcing, United Kingdom, Public Sector

The Apple iPhone 3G: How Steve Jobs Fooled Me

Sakshi Juneja — Sat, 5 Jul 2008 03:45:12 EDT

Undoubtedly the iPhone is one of the sweetest inventions in recent times. Well at least in my books. And I wouldn't be wrong in stating, countless others share the same view. Released on 29th June 2007 (in the US), in matter of weeks the world was gripped in its craze. I remember constantly eyeing eBay iPhone sellers, looking for that 'one' perfect deal. The temporary trauma that came along with my iPhone package still lingers - let's just say I still have nightmares about paperweight iPhones.

All that was then, the iPhone is now old news. What is in the news however is its rejuvenated version – the iPhone 3G.

The 3G model is yet to be released (a week from now to be precise) and I know tons of folks who can't wait to get their hands on this beauty. Yours truly included, I mean after all it does fall within my "all things sexy" category.

Besides all the new features such as the two colour options (Black/White), 16 GB option, 2 megapixels camera, 3G wireless technology, GPS mapping, App store and Microsoft Exchange, the most attractive bit of all is its marketed price; $199 for 8 GB model & $299 for 16 GB model. Now when converted into Indian rupees, the amount sounds easy on the ears and the pocket.

But if you go by this report you will realize things are not always what they seem, especially good things.

The iPhone 3G will cost Rs 20,000 in India - the costliest in the world.

The iPhone 3G will be free in the UK as it's subsidised by O2, a service provider; it's 1 Euro (Rs 70) in Germany, again subsidised by T-mobile and costs US$ 199 (Rs 8,557) in the USA, thanks to AT&T. The phone costs US$ 350 (Rs 15,050) in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines. It is not available in Dubai. [Link]

And if like me you too are thinking of purchasing this baby for a lesser price via the ever-enterprising eBay or requesting your chacha's wife's grandfather's cousin's grandson to send you US-made maal – well then, my darling, you are in for a disappointment.

US buyers will have to purchase a service contract with AT&T before leaving the store; you cannot buy it online. The phone has to be activated within 30 days or the buyer will be penalized. You cannot cancel the two-year contract with AT&T. Either a cancellation fee of 175$ (Rs 7,525) will be charged or the phone has to be returned.

And for my buddies in US of A who are jumping with joy (and mocking us poor souls back home) thinking about the dream figure; here's a news flash for ya.

(Only) if you're "upgrade eligible" (log into your AT&T account to see if you are), you'll be able to buy the new iPhone for the discounted price of $199 for the 8GB version or $299 (INR 8,584.86) for the 16GB (INR 12,898.86) model. (AT&T is somewhat vague about the eligibility criteria, although your credit history and the time remaining on your contract are factors.) You'll also have to pay an $18 "upgrade fee."

If you're not eligible for the discount, you'll have to fork over extra for an "early upgrade"-$399 for the 8GB iPhone 3G or $499 for the 16GB model. Ouch.

AT&T also says that a "no-commitment" (read: no contract) iPhone 3G will be available soon, at $599 for the 8GB version and or $699 for the 16GB handset. Pricey, but hey- no two-year contract.

Unfortunately, AT&T won't offer the new iPhone on a prepaid basis, at least not at launch. [Link]

Ha Ha Ha.

On a serious note though, personally speaking, shelling Rs. 20,000 on an officially purchased iPhone isn't much. In 2006 I had bought an unofficial Sony Ericsson W900i for 25 grand and it didn't have half the features present in the 3G iPhone. Also when you compare it to high-Nokia models currently in the market, the price of an iPhone is comparatively quite low.

So it only seems wiser to buy an official piece, the only drawback – can you wait for another 3 months?

(*Picture Source : Apple Inc)