Saturday, November 30, 2013

Indira Gandhi International Airport - New Delhi

Finally, I got to experience the new Terminal-3 building and New Delhi due to a business trip. I was expecting a memorable experience as it does with India all the times. So for the better part, India is changing and now one can see the heavy investments (that's coming at a huge cost to the user ofcourse) in infra.


Here are some images I've taken at airport and once you get out of airport you can take a taxi right out at the terminal building. I got warned that during peak hours, the queue can be quite long and it may take an hour or so to get one. So being paranoid, I've booked a taxi/online reservation with merucabs. It's painful as it needs a Indian Mobile number but finally with few phone calls managed to get one. I was told there are some other operators like quickcabs, megacabs & easycabs but the recommendation was Meru. But trust me this is where things started to go give 'experiences'.

When I entered the taxi, it's like entering a vehicle which was just excavated from some desert. I could see 'sand' at the vehicle floor, then the seats are really dirty with lots and lots of dirt. I can understand why. These taxi operators/drivers tend to run without AirCon and within few weeks or months, the dust just adds up to the vehicle weight. I doubt they wash it periodically too.

Anyway, the hotel is not very far and the free way seems to be good. But wait.. there comes the "manual toll booth".. Where we ended up waiting for 15-20 min. And I can see vehicles making some huge u-turns as the contractors build the highway without any 'elevated exit'.

Hotel was nice and clean. No complaints but compliments only. On the otherhand the price we paid could have given us a Suit room in Thailand or other asian places. so "NO VALUE for Money".

The horrible part was the "traffic" and "pollution". Be it the dust or vehicular or noise or whatever.. One can name it and you can feel it. A five minute walk on the outside would definitely make you cough once, unless you are used to it.

I saw huge buildings and offices like Bharti Airtel, Ericsson, Nokia etc. But the worst part is these people can build buildings and invest billions but can't work with government to "create proper walkways, or approach roads".. So much for taking care of their own employees. Most of these places have no parking for visitors which adds up to the horror.

And on the road it seems the saying still goes true. "THERE ARE NO RULES ON INDIAN ROADS". So you can see a car slowly driving in the opposite direction of the highway, or taking sudden stops or turns etc. Also people trying to sell you cheap stuff like some beads or sun shades etc are maneuvering their way in the slow moving traffic.

Food is not bad and Delhi/surrounding areas offer wonderful food. Also, I am not surprised to see "chinese" food almost every where. Infact I saw more Non-Indian food than Indian food in entire Gurgaon.

Most of the people, I've interacted are well polished and professional. This is one change probably due to the high-end firms in Gurgaon, as I've a terrible scene at airport. A kid started to vomit at the airport while hundreds of folks watching. The parents (must be going on a vacation) are just watching and the horror doesn't stop there. They washed the kid with a bottle of water at the same spot.. :|

So it's a mix of good and bad experiences. Probably my next visit, I'd plan to visit some historic places around Delhi and post it..(Also hope to see some improvements in people, pollution & policies)





Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Strange enough, gov websites are not working as usual

Access Denied

You don't have permission to access "http://www.cpf.gov.sg/" on this server.
Reference #18.63cd4c17.1384824562.5921fac

that's what I am getting since this morning (8.30 onwards).. Not sure whether there is some mtce going on or is it my laptop/computer problem.. But the error message is the same across all browsers..

Saturday, November 16, 2013

World pay scale or salaries PPP adjusted

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17543356

Check it out and compare.. We hear grouses from IT engineers in India. For example, the most recent one from Economictimes here says India stood at 24th position but that's really a faulty method of checking. It says, that the data is PPP adjusted but I don't believe it is.

When checked with PPP (BBC tool /2012) India ranks at much higer place on an average. If I take 50,000 INR it puts in 10th position. This may be again faulty given this is across industries, and one may argue 50K is too high. But the fact is 50K per month CTC is quite a norm these days unless in call centers or some support functions.

Socialism vs Capitalism. India still dreaming that it can flourish with Socialist policies..

Source: Armstrongeconomics..

http://armstrongeconomics.com/2013/11/06/socialism-brought-home/


No wonder, India is in such a dire state. Even salt is sold at prices of $3/KG.. Problem is still many Indians believe "capitalism=evil". If we ask the same guys to share their assets or even offer some help, then the reality comes out. The mindset is simple, "everyone else should give and share" but not me.

Like the workers always fight and destroy their own company properties for "better pay" because 'cost of living" went up. Who caused the problem? It's not the company they are working for but the outside forces. Also majority of people put the "wants" ahead of 'needs'. Like sending to private schools, going to private hospitals etc. One may say the quality is the issue, but when we are paying taxes and can't afford (point is affordability and choice) why can't one question and get the entitlement?

Anyway, I have little hope that one day India will overcome these issues. As more and more educated people coming to rule this country, the worse it is becoming. because they are not god fearing, law abiding (they know how to bypass it) and smart folks but doing only for their own benefit..

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An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama’s socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama’s plan”.. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A…. (substituting grades for dollars – something closer to home and more readily understood by all).
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. Could not be any simpler than that.
Here are possibly the 5 key points about such an experiment:
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.