Musings 'n scribblings of a philanthrope ..

A train of thoughts and writings on development, technology and the economy focusing on the socio-techno-economic-cultural surge of developing economies to regain and partake in leadership of the world. Written by George Easaw, member of the faculty of Business Administration of Allliance University, Bangalore, India. (This is purely an academic site, no commercial use is allowed. Photography rights lie with the respective organisations). Mention credits as needed.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

The Metro man - E. Sreedharan ..

THE METRO MAN - E SREEDHARAN- FINALLY HANGS HIS BOOTS (from the Internet, 4 year old message) ..

A legend hangs up his boots On the last day of this month . Finally, Elattuvalapil Sreedharan has been allowed to retire, at the age of 79. A man who built the Calcutta Metro, Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro. But he is best remembered for re-building in just 46 days the Pamban bridge which in 1963 was blown away by a cyclone into the sea.

Here is a man who is honest to the core, brooked no nonsense and set an example for others. A true leader who walked his talk. He truly deserves the Bharat Ratna. Now he is going to Kerala to fulfill the dreams of Mallus "The Kochin Metro "

India has much gratitude for this great engineer. He is known as the The "metro man of India". He is quite a sensational project manager, who almost always gets the project completed on time or before schedule. He fought all the delays caused by bureaucratic red tape, corruption and lack of funds.

Sreedharan's willpower has moved mountains. He is not just a dreamer but also a builder, but most of all, one who has dedicated his achievements to every Indian. He stands out as a legend in Indian Engineering history. His major projects being the Delhi Metro and the Konkan Railways.

This 75+ year-old Managing Director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation only desires the progress of his country. He wanted Delhi to have a world-class metro rail project to change the meaning of urban transport in India. And he did it.

The Konkan Railway project came to him in his retirement. It was a challenging task----760 km of rail tracks from Mumbai to Kochi through the rugged hills of the Western Ghats. This project was found as not feasible, by the British engineers in pre-independence era. But for Sreedharan nothing was impossible.

Environmentalists protested, politicians said it cannot be done and the project ran short of money.

Sreedharan raised public bonds to finance it, taking everyone ahead.

Kiran Bedi explains why Sreedharan is worthy of the title: "He is not in his 40s or 50s, but he is in his 70s, a time when we normally retire. Sreedharan has given the best metro concept for the railway of the country with integrity, vision, with commitment and with remarkable professional skills. There is no other person better than him in this category."

Sreedharan insists he does not have any special skills to get the best out of people. "I always found that people cooperate if you work for a good cause," he says.

Sreedharan studied in an ordinary school & college and later on took his civil engineering degree from a govt engineering college from JNTU. But he went on to become the boss for hundreds of IIM, IIT graduates!

People still wonder what really makes him tick at 80 while a young man in his 20's struggles to begin his day at 6 or 7 in the morning. Sreedharan's day starts at 4 am, meditation and Bhagwad Gita.

He reaches office at 9:30 am and gets straight to work. In the evening, he usually takes a long walk with his wife Radha and allots time to his family of four children. He used to set up reverse clocks to show impending deadlines to his project members during Delhi Metro construction phase.

The message of the Gita: To act, without desire for the fruits of the action gave him the courage to act.

A plate placed in his Kerala office read as: 'Whatever to be done, I do. But in reality I do not do anything'.

India says thank you sir.

Government of India may or may not award him the Bharat Ratna. But for the countless millions that have travelled on the Pamban bridge, Kolkata Metro, Konkan Railways & Delhi Metro and for the knowledgeable public he is already a Bharat Ratna - a real gem of the rarest variety.

Let's all recommend his name to Govt for award of Bharat Ratna. Please share this message. Each one to at least one.
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Sridharanji is the first employee of the Govt of India to be retired at the age of 79 years instead of the usual 60 years. He was such a great asset to the country. JNTU Kakinada (formerly Govt College of Engineering Kakinada awarded an honorary doctorate on Sreedharan in 2012).

Three years after retirement he was asked by the Secretary General of the United Nations last year to join as a member of the Secretary General's High Level Advisory Group on sustainable transportation. (click here for the link)

Zoom cars - a new concept of self-driven rented cars in Bangalore

Zoom cars, the power of IT in coordinating between owners and customers
Zoom cars, a good way to commute in these modern times ..

Whenever I walk to Koramangala Sony Signal bus stop, I inevitably have to pass through a vacant plot of almost 20 cents of land, prime location, but lying vacant for the past six years, as I know. After the BMTC bus depot on the way to Sony signal junction, on the left hand side is this plot of land.

About two years back when a group of students from Alliance University hostel in Anekal campus came home as they were about to leave the University having finished their course, they all came in a Zoom car. Naturally out of curiosity I asked them whose Ford car it was. I also saw the emblem of Zoom cars by the side. I was really surprised when the students told me that it was a self-driving rented car first time in the country being implemented in Bangalore and spreading like hot fire.

Let me tell you I am talking about the car waiting yard at Sony signal junction in Koramanagala, Bangalore- the new kid in town, the new car renting concept of Zoom cars. Zoom cars was founded by David Back and Greg Morgan in Bangalore in 2012 and spread across the country in the 14 cities of Bangalore, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Mysore, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Pune, Mangalore and Vizag. The firm now has 2600 cars of all types, from small sedans to SUVs. At a basic rental charge of Rs 70 an hour, it is convenience for people. Click here to go to their website

The Sony Centre junction, Bangalore facility has been fenced by barbed wire and one can see lot of cars, mostly Ford and Honda Cities, Mahindra and occasionally a Mercedes or Toyota, parked there. There is a gate for entry and a security cabin where there used to be no activity except during morning times when customers come to check and take out the vehicles.

The model works like this, you go to a car parking area, spread across the city of Bangalore , now spread to almost 28 cities in the country. You pick a model of car you want, make sure it has no dents etc , if so report and after completing formalities of the paperwork and a caution deposit, take the car and return it after use to the nearest car parking shed near to your destination and pay up. Thus we find for the customers, it is convenience as he does not have to come to the original place from where he has rented the car to return it, saving him time and money. The concept has picked up fast in the city of Bangalore and now has an average of almost 3000 rides happening in a day across the country.

The company now has about 15% of 2600 cars owned by outside parties and rented to the company. Called the Associate Ownership model, the owner will maintain the vehicles but Zoom cars has the resources of waiting space and networking the client or customer with the company, helping the customer choose whichever car they want. As per the new model the company plans to put in place, they are moving out from the car ownership model to the 100% associate ownership model, or effectively moving from a B-C model to a C-C model.

The company plans to have 10,000 cars through this model thereby spreading the reach of the company to more towns, cities and geographies.

All this co-ordination happens with the help of great IT infrastructure and software. Cadabra is a new tool whereby the associate owners can trace the customer who is driving their car, the condition of the vehicle, where is it at any point of time and the manner of driving by the customer. If the owner is not satisfied with the manner the car is handled by the customer, the owner can even remotely lock the car through the app. The driver is not expected to drive above a speed of 125 kmph. After one violation, the second violation will entail a heavy fine taken from the caution deposit and forfeiture to use the company cars in future.

As how one sees it, the Zoom cars concept has many advantages.

1. it helps to separate car ownership from car driving.

2. it helps to reduce congestion on the road as the cars need not come to the point of origin from the drop off point as in earlier models and instead can be dropped at the destination waiting place, saving fuel, time and congestion on the roads.

3. in the associate ownership model, which the company is aggressively pushing through, car owners can make extra money in case the cars are not used for a fixed period of time by renting out to Zoom cars

4. the car maintenance , under the associate ownership model completely shifts from the Zoom cars company to the original owner (similar model also exists for the Ola and Uber models of taxi services in the country)

5. it reduces the overhead expenses for Zoom cars, thus reducing their renting charges on customers as they are acting just as mediators in the network of customers and car owners.

6. Customers get to feel and experience new cars before they plan to buy a new car. This can result in automobile manufacturing companies offering new and latest models to the company at attractive rates and terms

7. If the car meets with an accident, the customer-driver is penalised with not more than the amount of caution deposit. This makes it attractive and less risky for customer-drivers

Some innovations that can be brought to the system include :-

1. door to door delivery for loyal and safe customers for an acceptable period of time

2. no caution deposit for premium customers

3. corporate tie-up resulting in attractive and low fares, doing away witth caution deposit in some cases

4. with longer mileage driven in Zoom Cars vehicles, customers should get cars at lower fares

5. customers can avail of Zoom points which can be redeemed by them later

6. the present free kilometres for each driving plan can be relaxed to unlimited distance to attract more customers, as is given by the competitor Voler.

7. expand marketing efforts to more corporates and bring flexible mobile apps

8. offering complimentary destination stay for Zoom Prime customers can attarct more customers

These can ensure that more customers are attracted and the existing customers do not go to new competitors .

Since the present customer base are the youngsters and members from corporate offices, often in the less than 40 years age group, marketing should be directed to attract more of this age group.

Witnessing the growth of this model in Bangalore, one can say with conviction that this model of car ownership and driving is here to stay in the country. We will see many new entrants in this area in the coming years, even car manufacturers eking out to this area to spruce up their sales. This is a very good model for electric cars to be rolled out to the public to have an initial feel, before actually buying those new models.

George.. (with inputs from students of MBA sem IV Alliance Ascent College, Bangalore, Operations stream)

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Why is Vodafone running scared ?

World's top mobile operator from China, 847 m, Nov '16...

Is Vodafone, with 470 million subscribers, the second largest telecom company in the world after China Mobile with 847 million subscribers, ahead of third largest Airtel with 347 million subscribers, running scared of Indian telecom companies ? In the Indian market of approximately 1020 million mobile subscribers, Airtel presently holds 25% of the market, while Vodafone is the second with 19% market share and Idea Cellualr with 17% market share is the third major player. Between them they control 61% of the Indian market ..

World's second largest mobile
service provider, 470 m,
Sept '16

Is India too competitive and open for the world's number 2 player ? Does running out of fear and being intimidated, help Vodafone in the long run in sustaining its business across the different geographies of the world in any way ?

There are news that Vodafone's India wing may be looking to merge with one of the frontrunners in the Indian telecom space in the wake of fierce competition from new entrant Reliance Jio, reports Mint.

World's third largest mobile
service provider, 347 m,
Sept '16

Vodafone India may be looking to merge with either Mukesh Ambani-led Jio or Idea Cellular. Industry experts feel a merger with the latter is more likely.

Vodafone is making it very clear that it is not cut out for heavy competition in India, the second largest global telecom market. The only foreign major telecom company in India, which initially came in with lot of funds could not stand the heat of internal competition and is it running away ??

Sad !! Finally persistence is what pays in India. 👍👍

Indian telecom industry is maturing faster than any co. from any other country of the world, a good sign ! In comparison US' largest telecom provider Verizon is 17 th largest service provider at 144 million subscribers, followed by AT&T Mobility at position 18 with 133 million subscribers ..

Reliance Jio for the first time in the world gave voice telecomunication free for all its subscribers, totalling 50 million plus subscribers and are targetting about 120 million plus in three months by March 2017, by when India would have got 1,100 million telecom subscribers (mobile and landlines) in comparison to China's total of 1,285 million telecom subscribers in 2012 (later figures not available)....

India is the only country in the world where voice telecom is offered free of charge by all service providers and only data is charged .. Even Chinese telecom has not matured as fast as how Indian telecom has matured, even though China continues to supply almost 40% of all smartphones and basic mobile phones sold in the Indian market..

New opportunities and challenges bring more innovations, applications and great value for the customer as also for the market, on costs, value and features..

Indians have always excelled when put in a disadvantaged and challenged position, when from nowhere ingenuity and cost innovation used to take preeminence and alow them to fly skyward, The coming days the world will definitely see many Indian innovations bulldozing the world on top of the mobile Internet revolution now sweeping across the country ..

As the former US President Franklin Roosevelt has told,

Competition is found to be useful only upto a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off ..

Developing an atmosphere of trust and co-operation between India and China is what is needed as that will only help the benefits of telecomunication reach the common man ..

Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/franklind404172.html?src=t_competition

Monday, January 09, 2017

How to increase our own value - life of Michael Jordan ..

(This is an anonymous article from the Internet)

Michael Jordan was born in 1963, in the slums of Brooklyn, New York.

He had four siblings and his father's earnings were not sufficient to provide for the whole family.

He grew up in a poor neighbourhood. Exposed to mindless violence and heavy discrimination in the slums, he saw for himself only a hopeless future.

His father saw in Michael, a lost soul and decided to do something.

He gave Michael, who was 13 years old, a piece of used clothing and asked: "What do you think the value of this outfit would be?"

Jordan replied,"Maybe one dollar."

His father asked, "Can you sell it for two dollars? If you can sell it, it would mean that you are a big help to your family."

Jordan nodded his head, "I'll try, but no guarantee that I'll be successful."

Jordan carefully washed the cloth clean. Because they didn't have an iron, to smoothen the cloth, he levelled it with a clothes brush on a flat board, then kept it in the sun to dry. The next day, he brought the clothes to a crowded underground station. After offering it for more than six hours. Jordan finally managed to sell it for $2. He took the two dollar bill and ran home.

After that, everyday he looked for used clothing, washed and ironed it, and sold it in the crowd.

More than ten days later, his father again gave him a piece of used clothing, "Can you think of a way you can sell this for 20 bucks?"

Aghast, Jordan said, "How is it possible? This outfit can only fetch two dollars at the most."

His father replied, "Why don't you try it first? There might be a way."

After breaking his head for a few hours, finally, Jordan got an idea.

He asked for cousin's helpto paint a picture of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse on the garment. Then he tried to sell it in the school where the children of the rich study.

Soon a housekeeper, who was there to pick his master, bought that outfit for his master. The master was a little boy of only 10 years. He loved it so much and he gave a five dollar tip. 25 dollars was a huge amount for Jordan, the equivalent of a month's salary of his father.

When he got home, his father gave him yet another piece of used clothing, "Are you able to resell it at a price of 200 dollars?" Jordan's eyes lit up.

This time, Jordan accepted the clothes without the slightest doubt. Two months later a popular movie actress from the movie "Charlie's Angels", Farah Fawcett came to New York for her Movie promos. After the press conference, Jordan made his way through the security forces to reach the side of Farah Fawcett and requested her autograph on the piece of clothing. When Fawcett saw this innocent child asking for her autograph, she gladly signed it.

Jordan was shouting very excitedly, "This is a jersey signed by Miss Farah Fawcett, the selling price is 200 dollars!" He auctioned off the clothes, to a businessman for a price of 1,200 dollars!

Upon returning home, his father broke into TEARS and said, "I am amazed that you did it My child! You're really great! "

That night, Jordan slept alongside his father. His father said, "Son, in your experience selling these three pieces of clothing, what did you learn about success?"

Jordan replied, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

His father nodded his head, then shook his head, "What you say is not entirely wrong! But that was not my intention. I just wanted to show you that a piece of used clothing which is worth only a dollar can also be increased in value, Then how about us - living & thinking humans? We may be darker and poorer, but what if we CAN increase our VALUE."

This thought enlightened young Jordan. Even a piece of used clothing could be made dignified, then why not me? There is absolutely no reason to underestimate myself.

From then on, Michael Jordan felt that his future would be beautiful and full of hope.

He went on to become the greatest basketball player of all times.

Our potential is so great, and should not be viewed small & low only because of our status, looks or wealth. Even a diamond is just a stone before it has been polished. Keep improving yourselves, trying your best and striving ahead!

How can I increase my own value? I am finding it a very interesting thought.

(Anonymous - from the Internet .. )

Sunday, January 08, 2017

Dangal to create record today !!

Dangal is a bio-pic on the life of Mahavir Singh Phogat, Indian national wrestler who got both his daughters Gita and Babita train with discipline and dedication to become world class wrestlers by winning international medals and recognition. The film features Aamir Khan, Sakshi Tanwar, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Aparshakti Khurrana and others.

Aamir, hitting it big yet again ..

Aamir Khan's Dangal on the theme of women empowerment in the country is set to create records on the highest grossing movie in Hindi and Indian film history .. It has collected Rs 330.96 crore, till last evening, Saturday 7 Jan, 2017 (16 th day) and is all set today to cross the #1 so far, Aamir Khan's earlier film PK's lifetime collection of Rs 340.8 crore. Dangal collected Rs 10.80 cr on Saturday (yesterday).


Aamir with Mahavir Singh Phogat (ext right) and daughters Gita (2nd from left) and Babita, Director Nitesh Tiwari (ext left)

Today when Dangal overtakes collections of Aamir Khan's earlier blockbuster film "PK" , Aamir will become a hero.. He is going to become the greatest icon in the Indian Hindi movie industry, in spite of some sections of the fundamentalist members of the society trying to isolate him..

Aamir Khan shows who is the real film maker in the country and the people of the country demonstrate with whom they are !

Aamir with Babitha (l) and Gita (r)

Try to watch it, if not done already ! 👍 By grossing 11 crores collection on sunday 8 Jan 2017, all over India, totalling about 345 crores, Dangal has become the largest collection movie in Hindi film industry ...

Starting with 3 Idiots, Taare Zamin par, Aamir has always concentrated on socially relevant topics and gave his all out to act in those movies, as realistic as possible. Was surprised to hear that Aamir had spent almost a year preparing himself physically for the film .. Nobody in the country can create such mass appealing films like Aamir.

The support by the freedom loving people of India have spoken for Aamir against the fundamentalists in the society (trying to pull the nation backward), trying to deride and isolate him .. Indians have always concentrated on the brighter side of humanity ..

ge..

Saturday, January 07, 2017

Goa is not its beaches and wine, it is the Goan fish curry rice ..

For me Goa is not beaches, it is the warmth of the people and the great sea food !

These are variants of the famous Goan fish curry rice, (some places it is called fish curry rice thali). the taste of which never fades from one's tongue.

Whether you have it from the top restaurants in Panjim, Vasco, Ponda or Margao or from the smaller ones near to bus stands and near town centres, the taste is really out of the world, which is special only to Goa. Even in Mangalore we cannot expect the same taste.

Having stayed in Ponda, Goa for almost fifteen years, and having worked in MRF Ponda and taught at the Goa Engineering College, the one thing I really miss of Goa is its famous fish curry rice, especially at the Goa Engineering College Farmagudi canteen .. !!

Then during the rainy season when you used to get a full bhangda along with the rice and fish curry, it was so tasty ..

The special taste of the fried fish comes from the frying they do in rawa which gives it a yummy and crunchy taste. Not forgetting the clams that get added at times..

george..

China's One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, one sided ?

The bigger picture ...

China has been very vehemently pushing its agenda of a "One Belt One Road (OBOR) Initiaitive" that connects eastern parts of Asia to Europe and then on to Africa, passing through all major countries , with the aim of promoting trade, co-operation among the countries in these continents.

A clear picture of who has annexed what ..

China's unique behaviour, do not know whether it accrues out of arrogance, ignorance or pride, has always been one-sided and favourable to China. Unmindful of whether the proposed project will be useful only to China as well to others, China has been trying to bull doze its way to India, the challenger to China into accepting it. China is well aware and knows that the route, also called the modern silk route, will bring great connectivity to China across these three continents, improving its reach, might and influence besides using it as an alternate escape and attack route in case of a US offence.

India has to be very shrewd and act with great tact into accepting this proposal from China, without falling into a great trap which is only going to improve China's access to the rest of the world. For the partial landlocked country, OBOR can vastly improve China's influence in the world.

Leaders, can they resolve the issues ?

India should be prudent enough to ask for its pound of flesh - normalisation of all points of concern.
1. An unconditional support to India's candidature in United Nations Security Council
2. a relook at Indo-China border and
3. return of Aksai Chin, Indian territory with China ..

Prof. Kishore Mahbubani of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS, Singapore proposes a new alignment and acronym, CIA standing for China, India and America in his upcoming book . Whether the acronym will thaw the cold relations between the top major economic powers of the world and lead to better global environment of peace and stability may still remain a distant dream.

One fact, China needs to understand is, the Communist party may have it's way unopposed and unchallenged inside China and its leaders remain unopposed. But the same may not hold true in its relations with other countries of the world. India growing in its influence and strength of economy is an inevitable global force China has to contend with.

Treat India as an equal with China and US, things will change. India may not lead the world militarily or by use of brute physical force, but by its vibrant economy and global influence, as has been laid down by Indian leaders, past and present .. India's advances in the unexplored territory on other planets should be reason enough for global respect.

george..