Shopping vegetables in Bishkek - RESPECT

It is summer here in July. Went to buy some salad leaves. I don't speak Russian. So, the routine is like select the item and show signs to the vegetable vendor. An old lady had some shop on the street-side and I purchased some tomatoes from her.

The last time I was here, Tomatoes went for about 250 SOM's per kilo. It was winter then and tomatoes had to be imported into Bishkek. Since it is a land locked country, items go through multiple customs payment, so they were quite expensive.

Now that the summer is here, they have grown tomatoes locally presumably due to which prices have fallen to as low as 20 SOM's per kilo. I did not know that, so I gave a 100 + 100 SOM's. The lady was quite nice and sort of told me it is too much and took just 20 SOM's and gave change.

So, here is what I conclude: She was honest.The vendor sitting adjacent to me took the cue and showed the rate in a calculator. Usually,vendors or taxi drivers tend to take advantage of foreigners and over charge them. But in Bishkek, I found the Vegetable vendors quite honest.

RESPECT

This country is relatively new and they have their issues. I am sure such honesty will take them forward and in a couple of decades from now, they will do very well.

Amazing how connected we are

Google talk enabled me to call India from Bishkek (for that matter from anywhere in the World) for 0.02 USD per minute. My credit ran out while I was on call. I went back to Google for re-charge. Google had stored my card number, so I had to just click a button and the account was instantly recharged. I got an e-mail and received SMS regarding the credit card payment in my mobile phone with Indian number. The SMS got sent to the Indian number and then got routed to the roaming connection in Bishkek; all almost instantaneously

Amazing how connected we are... The Future looks bright and well quite inter-connected

Bourne Legacy and Oslo

I have been keeping with Movies recently. Watched Bourne Legacy a couple of days back. The movie revolves around the Bourne character without actually touching the character. Matt Damon I read had some issues with the Director Gilroy or the script or whatever. The lead actor Jeremy Renner who acts as Aaron Cross is actually quite good and I liked him much from the movie 'The Hurt Locker", where he plays the role of a bomb specialist working for the US Army.

I am a big fan of the first two Bourne movies. It is fast, action packed and quite thrilling.

However, I did not find the latest movie as good. IMDB rating summarizes that somewhat well. Bourne Ultimatum scored a 8.1 vs. the Legacy film which scored just 6.7.

There was a time, I used to be up to date with the top rated movies, both commercial and art films. Nowadays, time is not there. It is important to watch movies to keep up with the trend and also learn about different cultures.

Watched the movie Oslo sometime back. Good, practical film. Having living in Scandinavia for sometime, I liked the movie and sort of understood the movie quite well. I can associate with the Scandinavian talk quite easily; given that I lived there during formative stages of my life.

Disappointed with the Aussie cricket

I really thought Aussies had their cricket worked out and it is the Indians who are bad in managing transition. Remember the days when Aussie cricket asked Ponting to walk out of the team and Indians hung to the age old seniors. When the Indians failed in Australia and England, I was quite critical of the Indian team management.

Now, looking at the way Aussies are loosing to England and other teams, I see that transition management is quite a challenge which even the Aussies have not really worked it out.

BCCI seem to have managed it better. I read somewhere that it was the team lead by Srikanth who screwed it up. Now, the new selection committee headed by Sandeep Patil seems to have done quite a good job.

I really like Dhawan followed by Kohli and Jadeja. I am now developing a liking for Dhoni as well; the way he takes on people. Although I am not sure taking things one-on-one till the last ball is really the way to go in a team game. But then, when the team mates are not really doing that well and it comes to Dhoni to handle it one-on-one and he comes on top to save the team; it is simply remarkable.

Reservation policy and its impact on Indian Rupee

Just learned there is reservation policy in IIT's also and there are plans to introduce reservation for faculty in IIT's (fantastic... way to go).

Interacted with friends and colleagues. A score of even 95%+ is not adequate to get admission in good colleges. General opinion among the studying population is to borrow money from Banks and go abroad to study. At least the admission process is well laid down. SAT score is SAT score.

It costs about 60-70,000 USD to study abroad. Why pay the approx. 10-12,000 USD management fee to private owned colleges, which are anyway not at all good.

Hey, wait a minute, did I read that Rupee is under pressure. Why won't it be considering that lakhs and lakhs of people travel abroad to study converting Rupee into foreign currencies for doing the same. 

How this reservation policy and lack of good quality educational systems has impacted this country is a subject absolutely worth researching. I know it has century long history etc., it is worth spending 2-3 years to research and write a book on this subject.

Hindu Nationalist

Read the news today that BJP has put up hoardings with Modi's photo and the Statement "I am a Hindu Nationalist". Indeed, the statement has a religious tilt. Such a statement could potentially back-fire and certain segments of BJP such as Yaswant Sinha certainly do not prescribe to adoption of the religious view. Instead, they believe that BJP should fight purely on the dire economic situation Congress party has brought this country to.

Modi, though known as an efficient administrator, is definitely a Hindu Nationalist as proclaimed. This combination is so ingrained in him that it will not be possible to separate the two. So, you either get both or nothing.

I am quite impressed by Arvind Kejrwal, but his party is just taking off. It will take about 10 years for him to expand his party across India and reach to the National level. What to say but India is a very big and complex country.

Congress on the other hand is doling out free stuff and Finance Minister comes out and says that we will take extra ordinary initiatives to collect tax so Fiscal deficit can be managed. Also, Congress projects itself as the face of Secularism. Congress criticism of BJP as a communal party won't have the same sting now given that BJP itself projects the "Hindu Nationalist" tag line.

So the game is set and the positions are getting clearer. I for one am quite keen to see how the people will vote.    

AAM AADMI PARTY in Bangalore

Received a mail from Aam Aadmi Party stating the following:

1. The party has collected donations of 3.28 Crores against the supposed target of 9.8 Crores (14 Lakhs per assembly set x 70 seats) for running in Delhi election
2. That they have volunteers in 20 out of 30 Districts in Karnataka 
3. A team is getting formed in the State of Karnataka 
4. AAP will use the money to purchase office equipment, printing of pmaphlets etc, venue charges and SMS charges
5. AAP will not use the money unlawfully for electoral mal practices such as horse trading, black money, bribes etc. 

In my opinion, there is nothing in what AAP says one can really dislike

AAM AADMI PARTY strategizing well

The Politicians smartly ignored the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement and even heckled IAC members to first get democratically elected and then make changes to the system instead of hunger strikes. Arvind Kejriwal took the bait and formed the AAM AADMI PARTY (AAP) and is now fighting assembly elections in Delhi.

In my view, he is bringing in professionalism in political establishment by:

1. Stating upfront that no corrupt person will represent the party 
2. Identifying young and educated representatives as the face of the party 
3. Brought in transparency in funding AAP's election activities; vide donation received directly from the public. Approx. 80 Lakhs is collected each month from thousands of volunteers over the Internet using online payment facilities. The names of the donors and amount donated by them is there for everyone to see 

Now, he has smartly:

1. Raked up the high electricity bill in Delhi and seeks to highlight the politician - business men nexus and how common man is paying more on this account
2. Obtained the support of Auto Union and has obtained their consent to put up AAP posters. Government is now exercising the right it has to regulate advertisements in Autos through some Act (i.e.) in an effort to stop AAP from using Auto's for advertisement. Auto Union has now gone to the High Court and obtained a stay order. The good thing for AAP is that they are in the News, Government is on the defensive and most auto owners will definitely vote for AAP; given that the existing political establishment is trying to curb their rights; the very rights AAP is offering to protect 
3. AAP supports trade union workers in Bajaj Auto and seeks higher wages for them 
4. One of its members "Santosh" has been knocked over by a car recently and suffered serious injuries; allegedly due to political vendetta. She is now doing alright. Now, AAP has started the campaign "I am Santosh". It is nice and catch. 
5. Sought to increase the 15 Lakh budget for election expenses; so far the current dispensation spends extraordinarily high amount per constituency but does not account the same correctly. Thus, they were least bothered about the 15 lakhs limit. 

In my opinion, AAP is going about this quite smartly. For the first time, a bunch of smart and educated people led by Arvind Kejirwal - IIT educated - is taking on the existing political establishment very systematically.

I am a keen observer and indeed I want AAP to succeed. Say, they win the election; it will be interesting to see how they perform and govern differently. I hope that AAP brings in professionalism and honesty in governance; really turn around; use the tax payers money more efficiently. One such demonstration, people would not go back to elect corrupt politicians. The movement will slowly spread to other States.

Interesting times ahead... AAP should win; that is the key

Reservations in IIT

Just learned that about 50% of the seats in IIT are allocated as per the following quota allocation:

1. 15% quota for SC
2. 7.5% for ST 
3. 27% quota for OBC

Fortunately, this allocation is not yet implemented for the faculties

Read in the news today that students produce fake caste certificates to subvert the reservation system and IIT's verify veracity of the caste certificates. Great going guys. First argue that Sun is revolving around the Earth and try to create a theory to explain Sun's position. The theories will get complex and complex; in the end the theory will never explain accurately the Sun's position coz. the assumption underlying the theory is fundamentally wrong.

Supreme Court did put up a fight and managed to include "Creamy layer" definition within the allocation. But hey, how do you identify the "Creamy layer" amongst the OBC's? Yet again, the logic of Sun revolving around the Earth...

The Constitution was amended to enable this reservation. Fantastic job by the Government in taking this country apart, brick and brick....

Dollar is all time high today crossing Rs. 61. I wanted to increase RAM in my computer and the spare parts guy warned me upfront that the RAM prices are incredibly high. That's how I am affected

Micromax Canvas 4 priced at 17,999

Ok guys, the news is out. Micromax Canvas 4 is priced at 17,999. Specs are as follows:

1. 5.0-inch HD (720x1280) display. 
2. Powered by 1.2GHz quad-core processor 
3. GB RAM 
4. 16GB internal storage
5. 13-megapixel rear camera 
6.  5-megapixel front camera
7. Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean
8. Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and Micro-USB
9. 2,000mAH battery
10. New cover worth Rs. 3000, which will allow users to operate the phone even while the cover is closed

Already have a LG phone; damn thing is slow and stuttering. But what to do, paid some 17,000 for that just over a year back. Have to live with it for some more time before buying a new phone

Personally don't believe in junking things unless they are fully used. Why burden the environment...

Eagerly awaiting Prometheus - 2

Watched Prometheus film in theater when it released. I was quite impressed with the trailer and the concept per se.

Earlier, enjoyed the Alien series as such and specifically the Aliens (1986) film, where a bunch of Space Marines land and take on the Aliens. Also enjoyed the original Predator film with Arnold it it. The Aliens vs. Predator never did have the same charm though

In Prometheus, specifically I enjoyed the way the engineer (woken up from stasis) evaluates when David speaks in the Engineers language and presumably seeks assistance from the Engineer to provide longevity to Peter Weyland. Then, he touches David and possibly thinks that this mechanical robot is much lesser intelligent and possibly less interesting than the genetically engineered biological forms the Engineers are trying to create. May be due to the strength and capabilities of David or due to inferior nature of David, the Engineer decides to take his head off.

The key is what David says to the Engineer is not known and the reason underlying the Engineers action (i.e. for ripping David's head off) is not known either.

In Prometheus 2, I am keen to see how the Engineer's World will look like. I presume the movie will not take Shaw and David to the Engineer's World, but instead they will re-directed somewhat where a family of Engineers are there. Else, designing the full world per se will make things a bit more complicated to explain. Also, it will be interesting to know why or if the Engineer's engineered humans and why that dark liquid was invented and produced by the Engineers. Why does the Engineer take off with the dark liquid presumably to Earth?

Lots of unanswered questions...

Caste system in college admission

My cousin scored 1150/1200; comes from a very middle class family. The admissions are on and people who scored lesser than her - but belonging to Backward Caste, Most Backward Caste, Schedule Caste etc. - get admission in good colleges while she is waiting outside (as I write) for her chance to evaluate the available options. The Politicians keep allocating more and more percentage of seats to different castes and keep including different communities under more and more disadvantaged castes for vote bank politics. This is plain injustice for those who come under "General Category". 

I am ok with allocation as long as economically disadvantaged are given a chance to study. But people under Backward caste are not always backward. A classmate of mine in 12th standard belonged to Most Backward Caste and he came to school in Chauffeur driven car. While, I  belonging to General Category came from a very middle class family and drove to school in a cycle. I never did well in school, so personally did not get affected by the caste system. But my MBC classmate would have had access to a better school to many of his counterparts who did better in school but belonged to General Category.

Supreme Court - the upholder of justice in India - raises this issue regularly and asks the politicians the basis on which somebody is termed as disadvantaged, but no proper response is provided and present method of allocation continues. Now, the political establishment wants allocation in the prestigious IIT's and IIM's. The politicians should ideally focus their efforts on establishing a foolproof mechanism to identify economically disadvantaged in the society. Given that developing this mechanism is hard work, they have opted to take the easy route.

It is just a question of time before the Tipping point is reached and those (a significant percentage of the population) under the General Category revolt and the tide turns. 

I don't believe in no caste and for that matter I don't believe in no religion either. Just plainly try to look at things for what they are. This whole electoral politics is really harming this Nation. People who deserve good education don't always get access to good schools. This scenario reminds me of the Fountainhead story by Ayn Rand. Ayn Rand will be devastated to see what's happening in India. This inefficient allocation has to end. I am sure it will; just because it is so illogical.

Micromax Canvas 4 is unveiled tomorrow

Micromax Canvas 4 is unveiled tomorrow. Eager to get confirmed news about the specs and price point. The initial news is that it will have quad core processor, 5 inches HD display and the price point will be around 16,000. In my opinion, the price point for that specs is a very good deal.

LG is releasing its Phablet Optimus G Pro. It will have 5.5 inch display and priced around Rs. 40,000. I am sure you see why I like Micromax...

Food Security Bill - This is such a disaster

First MGNREGA and now Food Security Bill. Ayn Rand will be devastated when she learns about such Government policies.

The departmental store owner near my house said that laborers in NREGA program work for just half a day and for the second half they go to sleep. Due to this NREGA program, it is difficult to find laborers in rural areas.

Now, the Food Security Bill. 67% of the 1.2 Billion population is entitled for 5 Kilos of grains for a subsidized price of Rs. 3 - Rs. 5 per KG every month. This is going to cost the tax payers 1.5 Lakh crore INR (approx. 25 Billion dollars each year). On top of that, rice price for the common man - in practice 90% of population will buy rice in departmental store - will increase by Rs. 10 - Rs. 15 per kilo. This food grains bought by government at a subsidized price from the market will rot and be eaten by mice since we dont have as many godowns required to store such quantities of food grains. There will be corruption all around, where the Fair Price Shop (FPS) owners will benefit greatly.

 And this program is passed by Congress vide an ordinance and not through the Parliament.

I really hope that people see through the nonsensical nature of this program.

God. This is such a disaster.

Sheila vs. Arvind

Read this article: Sheila vs. Arvind: The Fight the Nation is Waiting for

As a matter of fact, I also keenly want to see how this fight will end

Donation list of AAM AADMI PARTY

About 300 people donated to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today. Most of the contributions are made from India, and the interesting part is money is paid from many different States of India and not just from Delhi. In that sense AAP has Nation wide support.

The highest contribution for the day is Rs. 10,000 and contribution as low as Rs. 100 could be found as well.

If we take a mean value of Rs. 750, AAP as on July 2013 receives about about 2-3 Lakhs per day as donation in a day. As per their analysis, AAP received Rs. 80 Lakhs in June 2013.

Say they win Delhi assembly elections and do a world of good, I am sure more donations will kick in. The question is will they be able to maintain the quality of governance across the whole of India.

Keenly following the political scenario

The National elections are just around the corner. I am keenly watching the NDA vs. UPA battle. Country clearly is under distress.

1. Dollar is 60+
2. IT industry has sort of reached maturity stage
3. Cut off of Delhi university is 100% (i.e. the problem actually is lack of proper educational institutions)
4. Our best institutes are not in the top 100 universities of the World
5. So many court cases are pending 
6. Subsidy distribution is only increasing, burden is passed on to the tax payers; whereas investment in infrastructure and education is actually need of the hour. Heard, subsidized liquor is planned
7. My cousin got some 1150/1200 in 12th standard; very dedicated kid and comes from a very middle class family. She is not able to get admission in a good college. The caste system is hurting. People are who are supposedly from BC or MBC etc. can get lesser marks and get admission in better schools than her. Many of those will be better off financially than she is. She may have to pay "Donation", so she can study in a good college. I know many who travel abroad to study  
8. Talking about  going abroad to study, people buy dollars and pay millions of Rupees. This puts more pressure on our foreign exchange 
9. Taxes on Gold are increased to reduce people's appetite for Gold. This will again create black market for Gold and the underworld will become active on this account. People coming from abroad will be asked to buy gold, customs officials will check how much gold someone is carrying is his or her bag. Harassment for Indians coming back home 
10. Media is clearly hands-in-glove with the politicians; very disappointed with that 
11. The list goes on...

Despite all this, country is somewhat developing. Saw the news that we are putting our own Indian version of GPS. Mobile payment (IMPS) is up and running. NEFT / RTGS is fully operational and facilitates hassle free inter-bank payment. Banking sector is fantastic. AADHAAR is calmly and quietly spreading its wings. I believe most ills of the country will go away when AADHAAR is fully in place and used for service delivery. It will take a decade for it to happen. India is so big, decade is the minimum time period it takes to get any National level program somewhat implemented

I hope things improve post the National elections scheduled next year.

Also, am keenly following the AAP (Aam Aadmi Party). I hope they win the elections and start as a beacon of hope. It will take at least a decade for them to spread their wings across India. It is now said that Delhi is a 3 way election between BJP - Congress and AAP. Congress is definitely out. It is either BJP or AAP. I hope AAP wins.

Let us see how it goes...

Micromax Canvas 4

Micromax is coming up with Canvas 4. News is coming out that it is not much better than the Canvas 2 model and the new model is likely to be priced at about 17,000 Rs.

I say, the kind of specs proposed for Rs. 17,000; I will buy.

Bought Micromax Canvas 2 two months back. Works just fine.

My LG Optimus 7 stutters; Canvas 2 is very smooth

Look at this link for the specs