Follow your heart

Follow your heart

Move on, India!!

The verdict on the longest standing legal dispute is finally out! It may not be the end of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case but at least some beginning towards a definitive end. And in my opinion, I am sure I am not alone here, the verdict is a mature one reflecting the changing attitude of the Indian legal system and mindset but at the same time the verdict could also be seen as a desperate attempt to try do a balancing act.

Mobile Number Portability: What it means to you and me!

From November 1, 2010 India will roll out Mobile Number Portability or MNP the service that will allow mobile phone subscribers to change their service providers even while retaining their existing numbers. What this could mean to the subscribers? Will it be as sweet as it sounds?

Everyone is excited that Mobile Number Portability or MNP the service that will allow every mobile phone subscriber in this country to change a service provider without changing the existing number will finally be made operational from November 1 this year. So, in case you are not satisfied with the plans offered by your present mobile phone service provider, you can choose another service provider and continue to retain your existing number. Cool na! But is it that simple?

Well, to begin with I am not too sure if this MNP will be as smooth as it looks on paper. Even as an end user none of us can simply turn our backs to the technology and the implementation process involved in the MNP roll out! After all, if there are any technical glitches (there are already signal jams all over!) it is only going to affect us, the consumers!

Questions galore
There are many questions that come up if I were to change my service provider.

1. To begin with, where do I start? Do I go to the new service provider and ask for portability? Or do I approach my present service provider?

2. Do I have to submit all those documents and proofs again to the new provider?

3. Can I get the MNP in the proposed 4 days time? (Come on, you want me to believe this?!)

4. And if there is a delay, do I continue to pay for both my existing provider and the new provider as well?

5. The MNP is restricted to only one circle now (that is the state where you live and have your mobile connection now). So technically it will be impossible for me to retain my number if I were to move to a new state, right?

6. Most of us practically look at the ‘unknown’ mobile phone numbers when we receive calls and the first few numbers can actually tell you the service provider with which the number is registered. With MNP, this ‘tracking’ facility might be difficult for an end-user! The number will be the same but the provider might be someone else! I believe the lawmakers will have something to do with this!

7. And for those people who want to quickly try out MNP with all service providers, here’s a word of caution! You cannot change your operator before 90 days from the date of signing the papers. In other words, just like some of those investment linked insurance policies, you have a lock-in period of 90 days or 3 months before you can jump to the next service provider!

So as they say every coin has two sides and MNP is no exception! However, technology has the knack of coming out with effective solutions very quickly but considering India’s current telecommunication infrastructure drawbacks I am not too sure if the MNP roll out will be as sweet it sounds, at least in the first few years!

Reelection blues: Ohio bans outsourcing IT projects to India

Yesterday it was the higher visa costs for H1-B and L1 categories largely used by Indian firms and today it is the ban on outsourcing of Ohio’s state IT projects to India and other countries. Even as India Inc cries foul calling the Ohio bill as ‘discriminatory’, and a ‘trade barrier’, NASSCOM, India’s IT lobbying group warns of more such ‘election rhetoric’ by other US states. After all, come November, Ohio’s Democratic governor Ted Strickland is seeking a reelection. He is the same governor who fought hard to get TCS, the Indian IT giant to set up its 1000-seat delivery unit outside Cincinnati. In fact, Strickland who was once seen wooing Indian companies now says that “outsourcing job does not reflect Ohio values”!

That said, Ohio is not the only state to get into this ‘come election, stop outsourcing’ mode. Typically, most US states have come out with anti-outsourcing laws every election season to face the hostile voters. California tried one such law way back in 2004 and even New York, Connecticut, Washington, Missouri, Florida and a few other states had tried to do it.

The Indian industry is fuming at this latest move by the US State of Ohio and has been putting increasing pressure on the Indian government for taking retaliatory measures against American companies wanting to do business with India.

India Inc has sought the support of the government of India to talk tough on this issue when US President Obama visits India later this year. NASSCOM will be leading a delegation to the US later this month and looks to raise up this issue with the concerned officials there.

Beauty is nothing without brains!

Global Indians: The Story of Lakshmi Mittal

Steel rules his life. Steely determination, steely willpower and a steely ability to override every crisis, no matter how daunting. Lakshmi Niwas Mittal’s life story showcases success, strength and sensitivity…

In the Forbes World Billionaires 2010 list steel mega mogul Lakshmi Mittal’s name figures as the fifth richest man on earth. Fortunes of the man who slipped to number eight position in 2009 list from fourth position in 2008 list (Recession has played its role here too), appeared to have staged a strong comeback this year. But if what one has read and heard about Mittal is true, then he has probably taken this slide in his stride. His famous line has always been. ‘Everyone experiences tough times, it is a measure of your determination and dedication how you deal with them and how you can come through them.”

He should know what he is talking about. After all he could have chosen to remain the scion of a prosperous steel industrialist comfortably pursuing a placid life of pleasure and work without making the humungous and indigenous effort of discovering new frontiers. Instead, at the age of twenty-six. he decided to roll up his sleeves, jump into the fray and leam firsthand all about the making of steel, and more importantly, the marketing of it.

His Story

In 1976. young Mittal had been sent by his father to Indonesia to finalize the sale of a land Sr Mittal had bought a few years ago to build a steel mill, but had changed his mind since.

Dead man listening!

Enjoyed this commercial. Simple and funny.

Superbug from India?

The new buzz in the medical fraternity in India, UK and around the world is about the Superbug that is claimed to have emanated from some hospitals in India. So what is this Superbug all about? Simply put, a superbug is a bacterium (acquired during the patient’s stay in a hospital) and which has resistance to antibiotics that are used to treat it. In other words, Superbugs cannot be cured with any antibiotics being used today. The latest in the list of Superbugs is called NDM-1 or New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, which is reported to have first surfaced in 2008 in a Swedish patient who had contracted it while staying in a hospital in New Delhi for cosmetic surgery.

Research on NDM-1 Superbug

According to a recent study carried out by Timothy Walsh, a scientist based in UK and co-authored by Karthikeyan Kumaraswamy, an young Indian research scholar and published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal , the new NDM-1 Superbug could be resistant to even carbapenems, the world’s most powerful and reserved class antibiotics and is prevalent in India. The NDM-1 Superbug could cause multiple organs in the body to fail and even prove fatal when it combines with other bacterial strains.

The new Superbug NDM-1 has now been identified in around 50 patients in UK who have had recent medical treatments (most, not all) in the Indian subcontinent. The researchers who made the study have pointed out the presence of the Superbug infection is widely prevalent in most of the hospitals in Chennai and Haryana and in a few places in other parts of the country, in UK, Pakistan and Bangladesh. This has given fresh lease of life to claims that India could be the source for these Superbugs. And the worst part is that, as it is claimed the Superbug has already begun to spread to other patients in UK. The NDM-1 could jump across different bacterial species and could turn dangerous.

No facts, only malicious campaign against India

The claim about the possibility of this disease emanating from hospitals in India has obviously not gone down well with the Indian medical fraternity, who refuse to buy it. In fact, this allegation is seen more in the perspective of a move to tarnish India’s smart progress of becoming the world’s medical tourism hub! Indian scientists claim that such Superbugs can flow from any part of the world and hence it is nothing but only a malicious campaign to destroy the burgeoning medical tourism in the country. Moreover, some scientists have dismissed the study as too small to derive at some major conclusion as this!

Time to cure India’s medical woes!

Whether or not this study or future studies prove anything for or against India, it is an undeniable fact that India has no policy in place on antibiotics or infection control in its hospitals. Neither is there a system in place that makes it mandatory for hospitals to keep a registry for hospital-acquired infections. This lack of transparency and tough health care regulations in the country has put India in a weak position to scientifically defend the allegations of the source of NDM-1 Superbug.

Globalization has brought with it immense opportunities and health hazards. And if India wants to retain the momentum and progress on it and become the fastest growing medical tourism hub in the world, there is no doubt that the country should introduce tough health care procedures and put safety measures and good infection control systems in place in the hospitals. Whether or not the study results prove India as the source of the NDM-1 Superbug, it is high time the country spruces up the health system. The current situation also calls for the Indian and international medical fraternity to study and develop a new antibiotic development that could counter these Superbugs.

Cute ad!

I loved this one. Enjoyyy…

How to kill sports and make money!! Ask our politicians

You know what! Politicians in India are everywhere except in the place where they are originally intended to be: in politics! Take sports for instance. There are many sports federations operating in this country like the rich and the famous BCCI, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), and the lesser known federations like the Taekwondo Federation of India and The Tug of War Federation of India (TWFI) to name a few. And almost every sports federation is influenced either directly or indirectly by the politicians (cutting across party lines) or by their ‘trusted’ aides at the national and regional levels. And at a time when sports in this country have become huge money spinners, it is only too obvious for politicians to not miss another opportunity to make money!

Consequently, barring a few popular sports, sports in general in this billion people country continue to suffer with no marked improvement in international performance till date courtesy mismanagement by those politicians interested only in exploitation! The infrastructure is poor and there is no attempt to identify and nurture young talent, and complete lack of innovation in management. And nothing will change till the day these corrupt politicians and their trusted men stop ruining sports in the name of running it. The system needs a complete overhaul.

Politicians at the helm spoil sports

According to Clean Sports India, an organization that aims to free the sports management from the politicians of this country and hand it over to former sportspersons, many politicians are refusing to step down and continue to hold on to important positions in the various sports federations for decades together for reasons best known to them. Many of these politicians do not have any knowledge or experience in how the game is played or managed. The dismal result is for everyone to see. Just one Olympics gold medal in a country with a population of 1 billion people!

Some of the key politicians who are holding high positions in the various sports federations across the country are:

Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, a Congress MP from Pune is also the Chairman of the OC of the CWG, which is under the scanner for corruption allegations and the head of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for almost 15 years now. He also holds the top position in the athletic federation for almost 20 years now. Despite the alleged corruption charges against him, Mr. Kalmadi has categorically refused to resign on moral grounds!

Another case of politician at the helm of sports affairs in the country is the BJP leader Mr. V.K. Malhotra. Presently, Mr. Malhotra is the chief of the Indian Archery Federation since 1979, vice-president of the IOA, and the chief of the General Association of Sports Federations in India. Following the corruption allegations in the CWG, Mr. Malhotra being an ardent opposition leader has been slamming Mr. M.S. Gill, the Sports Minister and the Delhi Chief Minister, Ms. Sheila Dikshit from the Congress for the CWG scam.

Interestingly, Mr. Malhotra is one of the 15 members of the Executive Board of the OC of the CWG, which is the highest decision making body of the OC.

Former Union Minister Mr. Priyaranjan Dasmunsi who has been in coma for two years now after he had a heart attack still continues to be honorary President of the Indian Football Federation!! And the Indian Judo Federation is headed by Congress leader Mr. Jagdish Tytler.

Yesterday, the Sport Ministry had de-recognized Hockey India (HI) which is backed by Mr. Suresh Kalmadi soon after his candidate the 83 year old Vidya Stokes who has been criticized by her critics as someone who has probably never played hockey in her life was elected the President of HI over former India hockey captain Pargat Singh. Despite the Ministry citing refusal to its guidelines as the sole reason for de-recognition, the move is seen by some as a retaliation to the defeat of Pargat Singh who is backed by the Sports Ministry. Also, the unopposed election of Mr. Ramesh Nambiar as Joint Secretary (though he resigned minutes later), who faces a pending CBI enquiry is another example of how rotten the system is!

Can exposes help clean up the system?

Of late ‘Indian sports’ has been hitting the headlines for all wrong reasons. In fact, there are more scandals than medals in Indian sports. This time it is the Organizing Committee of the Common Wealth Games (CWG) headed by Mr. Suresh Kalmadi and his team that is facing the heat. In the CWG case, the expose on the UK money trail, SMAM scam and the report by the Central Vigilance Committee (CV) pointing out to several irregularities, delays and widespread corruption in the Games’ projects could be only the tip of the iceberg with now every aspect of the game being looked on with suspicion.

But the question is whether the thrust provided by these corruption charges in the CWG could be of any help in cleaning up the system! Is it possible that either the government or the opposition parties pick up the momentum and see to that the system is cleaned up? If you go by the past records this might just not happen. There seems to be a sense of fear among many politicians cutting across party lines that digging too much into the murky deals and corruption charges could eventually make things turn against them! Such is the rot prevalent in the system! So the recent expose too might soon be forced to lose its steam and made to disappear and face the same fate as those numerous corruption exposes have met in the past.

IPL yesterday, CWG today but no effort to dig deep!

Personally speaking, it was right on the part of the Indian (Political) Premium League (IPL) board to expel Mr. Lalit Modi after serious allegations of corruption and irregularities in team auctions surfaced! But what about the others? Everyone out there knows how many politicians and bureaucrats could have vested interests in the IPL but they all have got away!

And now in the case of the (Corruption) Common Wealth Games (CWG) three ‘corrupt’ officials have been ‘identified’ and suspended! In a games, where more than 30 government departments are working together (in an uncoordinated way as it is said!) shouldn’t there be more accountability in the system? Why single out Mr. X or Y alone? Should also the Delhi Government and each one of those government agencies indicted in the CVC report be asked serious questions? The OC of the CWG will probably have new members on board replacing the suspended officials! Now tell me do you really believe that the new members with the same old chief and the same set of government agencies could bring in huge change and make the CWG a rollicking success? Heads should roll but what would be more pertinent is the political will to clean up things! Unfortunately, political will and clean image doesn’t go together nowadays.

National pride is about winning medals!

While the opposition parties have been using the CWG scam as one more important arsenal (till the next one surfaces) to embarrass the government, the ruling party(s) on the other hand has been playing the ‘national pride’ card to avoid the embarrassment due to corruption charges. How can holding the CWG games can become a matter of national pride or not holding it a national shame? National pride is not about spending millions in organizing sports but winning medals. For a country that is ranked a dismal 84^th in the transparency international corruption index, national pride should be about running a corruption free government, implementing a transparent process and ensuring accountability of every penny and spending in a logical way.

The Common Wealth Games has to go on but what is more desperate at this moment is to dig deep, clean up the system, get the politicians out of sports and put them where they duly belong to, in their own portfolios! Only this will save Indian sports!