The much applauded bourgeoisie who divided India

This Republic Day gave me an opportunity to watch some excellent documentaries about the Independence struggle of India. I knew most of the things about how India achieved independence. Honestly, I feel Hitler contributed more to the Indian freedom struggle than any of the idiots whose portraits adorn the walls of government buildings.

The Indian Independence was not fought out, it was rather negotiated across a table in plush British buildings in the mid 1940's.

There were two key actors in the division of the nation, both bourgeois. Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammad Jinnah. Both of them came from rich families, studied in the UK, had bourgeois habits and came to India at the most opportunistic moment with a hunger for power.

Mohammad Jinnah - Jinnah was only a second generation Muslim. His grandfather was a Rajput Hindu. His fore-fathers had been rich traders from Gujarat and he was another bourgeois who essentially pursued law because he saw a lot of money in it. This man became a part of the Indian National Congress, and did not wish for the British to leave, actually. The high nosed bourgeois thought that the British culture and educational system was needed for India.

He did not wish to join the Indian Muslim League initially since he considered it too muslim and did not suite his bourgeois style. Though later, he saw that he was not going to have any sway in terms of strength in the congress and decided to lead the Muslim League so that he would have an opportunity to wield some power. Further, when he saw that Nehru was going to have a greater sway, he started rooting for the need to protect the interests of minority muslims and started demanding for a separate state. He did not want sustenance, he cared less about the muslims still, all he wanted was the name tag of Prime Minister; no matter what the cost. The condition of Pakistan today and its long and brilliant political history is a testament to this fact.

Jawaharlal Nehru - His upbringing was steeped in great aristrocracy. Son of a rich Barrister, went off to London to study, he was a total wealthy elitist. Nehru's father was neck deep in politics and hence his induction into the same was no matter of great surprise. He was, what can only be called a complete British sycophant. He was another power hungry character, just like Jinnah, who had dreamt of getting himself to the Prime Minister's chair from the moment that the Independence of India became news. From the moment that Louis Mountbatten stepped on Indian soil and announced that he would be the last Viceroy of India, Nehru began his mission of shining Mountbatten's boots. I feel he worked more with Mountbatten than with the Congress during that period. When Jinnah announced the need for Pakistan, Nehru was equally certain that the need existed since the only other option was losing power or seat, as it is known now.

So essentially, for the need for a tag by the other two, this country was split up into three. As far as I can see, this has not helped the cause of anybody. Pakistan and India have been at war over Kashmir since 1948. Bangladesh is another kind of problem and China has been using Pakistan against India the whole time.

What a waste... All for the sake of power hunger.

Airtel 3G

The Airtel 3G plans that were released for Karnataka today seem to be meant for making people utilise the Mobile Number Portability. The plan, leaving aside a few packages which are themselves quite restrictive and with very low download limits (considering the speed on offer), is essentially at 30p/20Kb.

This translates to Rs. 1.5 for every 100Kb or in other words Rs. 15000 for each GB of download. I get unlimited download on the broadband from the same company for Rs. 2000 at a speed of about 2Mbps. Now, on the mobile they are promising 21 Mbps, we all know that nobody is ever going to get that kind of speed. The broadband gives me a best performance of about 300Kbps on a line which is supposed to be 2Mbps. By the same standards, though I am expecting more losses in speed on the mobile phone, one should get about 3Mbps speed at this above mentioned abominable rate.

For all the re-branding and new tunes. ads and everything, Airtel will not be able to acquire any clients at this kind of pricing. Unfortunately, the launch of Mobile Number Portability coincides with the 3G launch for Airtel, (probably they wanted it that way). This is only going to result in them loosing customers and not acquiring any.

The Government of India is a Sell Out

I always provide wrong information in almost all of the surveys and data collection forms that are presented in conferences and the likes. I do this primarily to avoid being spammed by various marketing agencies, whether on phone or email alike; since most of this data gets sold.

Every once in a while, there arises a situation when you cannot give fake information. These may include incorporation of a new company, giving a letter for a foreign national to make a business trip to India, etc. I am appalled to notice that the Government of India is selling information that would otherwise be deemed confidential.

Yesterday, my Private Limited got incorporated and within a few hours of that I got the following mail. Is the government just allowed to sell information in this manner to anyone?

Dear Sir,

Greeting from HDFC Bank !!!!


At the outset many congratulations for the incorporation of your new Company and we would like to welcome you to the world of HDFC Bank. HDFC Bank current account is designed to cater to your diverse & complex business needs. Now you can unlock the true value of banking with us, through a host of services and each one is a reflection of just how much we cherish your relationship with us.

I take this opportunity to give more details of the product and HDFC Bank.

Exclusive Benefit's for the HDFC Bank Account holders:-
• Payable- at par cheque book facility
• Free inter-city fund transfer across our network.
• Free online real- time Net Banking.
• Free collection of outstation cheque, payable on HDFC Bank locations.
• Huge savings on Bank charges.
• Cash pick-up at a nominal cost.
• 24 -hour phone banking access
• Business Debit Card
• Finer FX rates, Customized FX solutions & Telegraphic transfers
• CMS (Collections, Disbursements, At Par, Demand Drafts in large volumes)
• Free DD, Pay Oder.
• Free RTGS / NEFT
• Zero balance Salary Accounts with salary up load solutions.
• Payment gateway services.
• E-net Facility for TAX payment.
• Merchant Services (EDC Machine)
• Net banking – Manage your accounts from anywhere any time.
• Phone banking – Talk to a phone banking agent for all your queries.
• Mobile banking - Access, transact & inquire about your account
• InstaAlerts – Get account updates on mobile or e-mail.
• Term loans, OD, CC , Property mortgage

• Loan – Auto, home, Personal
• On-line tax payment.

In today's fast-paced world, your business regularly requires you to receive and send funds to various cities in the country. HDFC Bank Current Account gives you the power of inter-city banking with a single account and access to more than 819 cities and 1765+ branches.From special cheques that get treated at par with local ones in any city where we have a branch, faster collection of outstation cheques (payable at branch locations), free account to account funds transfer between HDFC Bank accounts to Free inter-city clearing, our priority services have become the benchmark for banking efficiency. Our country is going to become a great production and trading hub in the map of world, Bank shall definitely participate in the same , With the motto to provide fastest International banking services to our Importers, exporters and all other business houses.


Request you for an appointment to discuss about our Key account product for Newly Incorporated Companies. Please feel free to contact me or Mr. Nagaraj on +91 9164404753 for any further clarification.

Thanks and Regards.

Shabeer. P.

Manager
HDFC Bank Ltd.
Bangalore.
Mob: 9379185775.


HDFC Bank declared 'Best Private Bank in India' in the Euromoney Private Banking Survey 2010.
____________________________________________

Disclaimer:
"The information contained herein (including any accompanying documents) is confidential and is intended solely for the addressee(s). If you have erroneously received this message, please immediately delete it and notify the sender. Also, if you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this message or any accompanying document is strictly prohibited and is unlawful. The organization is not responsible for any damage caused by a virus or alteration of the e-mail by a third party or otherwise. The contents of this message may not necessarily represent the views or policies of HDFC Bank Ltd."

Ok Ok. Private Limited companies are public entities and therefore, the information might have been available to the bank.

I had a similar instance last year when an associate from Europe had asked me to send a letter across to him, so that he could procure a business visa to come to India. The day that the letter was submitted to the Indian Embassy in Brussels, the same day I got a call from HSBC asking if I wanted a forex account. This is extremely confidential information is it not?

I feel the Indian Government is selling out every single piece of information that they get. Can this be allowed? Is there no way of addressing this?

Why Winter Froze Over? (2)

I just got some links from the net on the winters caused volcanoes. Just putting them up in addition to the post that I had written yesterday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_winter

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/iceland-volcano-eruption-brings-tourists-colder-us-winter.php

http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/stothers_02/

Why Winter Froze Over?

Usually, I do not write pieces such as this, but well...

The winter this year has been unusually cold and there has been mountains of snow piling up everywhere, one is tempted to ask the staunch proponent of global warming to do a naked dance in New York, just so that they realise that it ain't that warm at all.

Just before writing this post, I did a short search on what most 'Experts' have written about the same. I found a lot of wind speed, ocean currents, solar activity, arctic sea ice concentration,etc.

The actual reason for the cold winter is an unpronounceable volcano. Eyjafjallajökull!

In the earlier part of 2010, this volcano blew up in great fashion and hit air travel, to and from Europe for about a month. The eruption was a massive one, which sent tonnes of ash and gas into the stratosphere.

In the year 1991, Mount Pinatubo in Philippines had erupted much in a similar manner, which is the second largest volcanic eruption in recorded history.

"The effects of the eruption were felt worldwide. It ejected roughly 10 billion metric tonnes (10 cubic kilometres) of magma, and 20 million tons of SO2, bringing vast quantities of minerals and metals to the surface environment. It injected large amounts of aerosols into the stratosphere – more than any eruption since that of Krakatoa in 1883. Over the following months, the aerosols formed a global layer of sulfuric acid haze. Global temperatures dropped by about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F), and ozone depletion temporarily increased substantially"




This is a point that was also debated by Mr. Nathan Myhrvold, in the book Super Freakonomics. He describes the effects of the Pinatubo eruption and also proposes, inducing SO2 into the stratosphere as a possible solution to global warming in the future. Large volcanic eruptions are known to have the potential to bring down global temperatures. The effects of the same tend to last a few years. This is a proven fact.

Therefore, the next few, at least couple of winters, will remain rather cold before things normalise and the global warming groups can start creating a fracas again. Though, there is agreement in the scientific community that this might not be last that we have seen of the Icelandic volcanoes and Katla, the big brother of Eyjafjallajökull, and also the largest of the Icelandic volcanoes might be getting ready to blow up. In the past 1,000 years, all three known eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull have triggered subsequent Katla eruptions.