BBMP to kill Bangalore Dogs

A 2 year old boy was killed by stray dogs and now BBMP has approached the court to get the approval to kill Bangalore's stray dogs. One reason why this move has been taken is because the Animal Birth Control (ABC) plan has not shown any major changes in the population of dogs.The population has actually doubled over the last 5-7 years.

With stray incidents of Rabies also being reported, culling the dogs seem to be the only option for BBMP. But there are important questions that BBMP has to answer before they go ahead with this plan.

1. Why didn't the ABC plan work the way it was supposed to?

2. How are the dogs going to be killed? Will there be any proper process in which the dogs are put to sleep in a way that animal rights activists will find acceptability?

Airtel's pathetic customer service and poor customer handling - a classic example

Here's an email that I sent to Airtel for a few mistakes that they committed. But what was interesting was, the mistakes were committed by the outsourced partner's customer care executives but they were not as grave the corporate Delhi Office's highly incompetent, ignorant and 'careless' email which arrogantly says, "we don't care about you". Glad we have MNP now.

Here's my mail - For privacy reasons, I've taken off personally identifiable pieces of information.

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1. I have 99808 xxxxx for about 4 years now with a credit limit of Rs. 2000 with the billing email id (xxxxxxx@gmail.com) with no defaulting whatsoever! After joining Company X, I requested for an add on number, 99009 xxxxxx with billing email id (yyyyyyyyyyy@gmail.com). After one month, I request combined on the parent account 99808 xxxxx billing to ensure easy payment.

Mistake 1 – The accounts were combined but the main account became the child account and my bills were sent to child account email address yyyyyyyyyyy@gmail.com. Why?

Mistake 2 – My online account was disabled and I was not informed (I lost my online settings and the past e-bills). Who will take responsibility of this?

Mistake 3 – My credit limit was reduced to Rs. 500 and I was not informed while I continued to be under the impression that the credit limit on the main number was 2000

Mistake 4 -  Airtel tries to fool me that it was my mistake that since my usage was low, the credit limit was brought down from 2000/-. I asked why wasn’t I explicitely told about the reduced credit limit, he had no answer.

Mistake 5 – Many emails to 121 id are not been replied to, e.g., Req. no. 102201113628

Mistake 6 – You barred my outgoing on my cell 99808 xxxxx on which I was supposed to have Rs. 2000 credit for a Rs. 500 credit limit and then did not even have the courtesy to advise a few days in advance about this potential barring.

Mistake 7 – When I called TOLL-BASED customer service three days ago asking why I my phone was barred without any warning, I was treated like a cheap customer and the kept singing, please pay-up for barring to be taken off.

I also need help to confirm the billing plan I'm on.
==========================================
Here's the well thought of reply from Airtel -

Dear Customer <<No courtesy to check customer's name. Helloooo, BPO's are maturing faster than you can pull my name out>>,

Thank you for writing to Airtel.

This is with reference to your e-mail, where in, you complained regarding the multiple issues like credit limit enhancement and delay in Free CUG pack towards your Airtel account (phone) number 99808 xxxxx.

Please be informed that the above mentioned accounts belong to corporate category and hence, we request you to get the same pack activation request initiated from your company’s authorized signatory in turn, to activate the pack towards the account in question

Furthermore, Credit limit is a derivative of your mobile usage, billing pattern and account transactions. The same is assigned automatically and is dynamic subject to your billing pattern.<<Even if this was a policy, it does not make sense, so, if my bills went to lets say 3k, they will increase by credit limit to may be Rs. 3.5k and the next month when I make calls worth Rs. 200, they will subsequently bring this down to Rs. 250 and not keep the customer informed. Ironically, for the last 4 years of my corporate life, my bills have been going up and down, never ever did the credit limit reduce or increase as they say in their reply. But anyway, let me give them the benefit of doubt and accept that the credit limit goes up and down automatically without they considering it necessary to inform me, at least through an SMS.>>

You may send us an e-mail directly at airtelpresence@airtel.in  towards the concern highlighted<<Another joke, and wait for one month to get a reply, and that too a half baked one from a person who has a selecting listening disorder>>.

We assure you the best of our services. <<What a joke to include this as the signature as they chose to ignore the remaining questions, just like an Ostrich with it's head under the mud expecting that no will see it....>>

Regards
Manoj Ramdhar
Airtel Customer Services
Bharti Airtel Ltd.


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IBM likely to dole out $1000 bonus to Indian staff

Being big has its own advantage. Imagine 100,000 employees in IBM's Indian office taking home a $1,000 stock bonus each in June, when the Big Blue completes a 100 years in business. While this has not been looked favourably by other multinationals as their employees ae likely to expect goodies that MNCs may have to dole out without choice.


Such moves intensifies the already heated battleground in India. India giants like Wipro, Infosys and TCS will feel the pressure to retain their top talent who are constantly looking fo greener pastures.

However, there are IBMers too who are looking forward to move, so the battle is sometimes not ust with the giants outside but an internal giant inside too, 'attrition due to unhappy work'. Even if they stay back to collect this payout and move out before 2015, they won't be able to cash it out. Its a give and take relationship afterall.


On the payout point, the top executives are likely to miss the bus as this isn't the reason for which they are part of the Big Blue. It is also likely that there will be a performance benchmark which has to be exceeded to grab this goody.

Bangalore to lose Infosys magic to Pune

Thanks to the apathy of successive Karnataka governments, the company has decided to shift its operational base to Pune. Within a year, its Pune campus will surpass the Bangalore headquarters both in terms of employee strength and the built-up area.a

Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India. The tag has been the city’s pride. But now, it is about to be robbed of the tag — blame it on the apathy of  successive state governments. Over the years, the netas had been busy getting land allotted promptly to their kith and kin at throwaway prices. And companies like Infosys Technologies, the mascot of Indian infotech industry, had been kept waiting for the land it needed for expansion.

Infosys made several representations to successive governments, seeking land near Sarjapur Road, but got nothing apart from bundles of assurances. The company waited quite some time, expecting the state to grant it land for setting up a second software development centre in the city. But in the end, it ran out of patience and shifted expansion plans to Pune.

Now, Infosys, though headquartered in the city, will have its largest operational base in Pune. Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, T A Mohandas Pai, human resources director, Infosys, said there had been a shift in the focus of the company, which was once synonymous with Bangalore. “In another 12 months’ time, Pune will have more seats/employees than our Bangalore campus,” he said. Even the Infosys-Pune campus would soon become bigger than that of Infosys-Bangalore.

But why would a Bangalore-based company choose to strengthen its base in Pune? After all, Bangalore is the information technology (IT) capital of India. An IT industry source said, “The move has got nothing to do with the cost factor. Blame it on Karnataka’s political indifference and bureaucratic laxity in land allotment and registration.”

Pai said, “It is easier to get land in Pune than in Bangalore. For three years we tried in vain to complete the land registration process in Bangalore. Now, we have more land in Pune than Bangalore. Honest people can’t work in Bangalore.”

Asked whether the shift in Infosys’s focus would affect Brand Bangalore, Pai made no comment. But IT industry sources painted a grim future. According to them, the political situation in the state is making IT companies change perception about Bangalore as their preferred base. The “corrupt” leaders and the “lethargic” bureaucracy have frustrated India Inc time and again. So, the companies have decided to shift base. “Giants like TCS and Wipro have kept Bangalore out of their major expansion plans. HCL is looking at centres like Chennai and Pune. The semi-conductor industry, too, is shipping out of the city to Noida and Pune,” rued a source.

Bureaucrats, when told about the bleak scenario, chose to keep mum. One among them, who has recently served in the infrastructure department, said, “There are so many conflicting signals sent out by our political bosses that we prefer to adopt the wait-and-watch policy.”

TK Kurien to lead Wipro's IT Business, he's the new CEO

The company said that its third quarter sales rose to Rs. 7,829 crore against Rs. 7,732 crore in the second quarter, a rise of 1.25 per cent.

The company's third quarter profit rose to Rs. 1,319 crore against Rs. 1,286 crore in the second quarter, a rise of 2.5 per cent.

The results are largely seen in line with expectations.

The company said that the IT Services added 36 new clients in the December quarter. The company added 3,591 employees in the December quarter.

Read more at: http://profit.ndtv.com/news/show/wipro-earnings-in-line-tk-kurien-appointed-ceo-137157?pfrom=home-Business&cp

Wipro to help Indian Police - to bring about Crime and Criminal Tracking System (CCTNS)

Lets admit it, some of Indian Police’s way to handle things may not lead to the right clues and evidences and if a system can be implemented to get rid of this limitation, then that’s exactly what Wipro is doing for Indian Police.

The following in an except from TOI dated 16th Jan 2011:

The good news is that a complete overhaul is finally on the cards. Path-breaking reform, due to take off this year, could change the very DNA of the Indian policeman, transporting each from the 19th century to today. The ambitious project, to be rolled out across India, would result in digital filing of all FIRs and complaints; each would be typed into a national computer network. Insiders believe this would significantly improve the way police stations operate. Computerized complaints would become open to scrutiny, by complainants and senior officers. But would digitization of the interface between police and public make the state's law-enforcement wing cleaner and efficient?

Perhaps, but only if the entire revamp process were allowed to reach completion. The digitization of FIRs and all complaints is just the more public face of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS), a massive modernization drive meant to take Indian police into the IT era. The minister of state for home affairs Ajay Maken recently told the Lok Sabha that the project "aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of policing at police station level through adoption of principles of e-governance." It would include "creation of a nationwide networked infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled state-of-the-art tracking system around 'investigation of crime and detection of criminals'," he added.

Could the digitization process do more? Might it revolutionize the policeman, not just policing? Specific aptitude and language skills are undoubtedly needed to work a computer network, so it's a fair bet tomorrow's Indian cop will be an IT-savvy creature. But a senior IPS officer cautions against great expectations. "We cannot expect sweeping change — only a few constables would be doing the digitization functions in each station. But as we have seen with all other departments where computerization has brought about some degree of refinement we can expect some changes here too". The officer adds that it is difficult to "ignore the aspirational value of computers and networks" and it is reasonable to assume that policemen left out of the digitization drive would be keen to acquire the IT skills required to grow within the organization.

The new system will be implemented by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). NCRB director general N K Tripathi says the plans are staggering in scope and likely impact and "will bring tremendous reforms in totality, both beneficial to the police personnel and the system, not to mention benefits to the general public". He lists immediate benefits of a networked, net-savvy police force: "People will have better options for lodging complaints and will have a more transparent law and order machinery. FIRs can be lodged immediately on computer, so there would be no delay."

It is undeniable that CCTNS has enormous potential. It aims to create a computerized database for police any and everywhere in India. The network, planned as a secure pan-India structure, is expected to make intra-state and inter-state investigations more efficient and quick. Today, police forces in disparate states have no common platform to interact in real time. The result is fleeing criminals can move across state borders without expecting to be stopped. Tripathi says that may be yesterday. "That may not be so easy once the network becomes operational. The network would allow sharing of fingerprints and photographs. So two police stations at the extreme ends of the country would be able to co-operate real time in investigation," he says.

So how good is the new police 'brain'? IT major Wipro is in the final stages of designing the software. Wipro sent its techies to police stations around the country to understand the language and style of police records and how to file an FIR. Tripathi says this will be the basis of the software's most basic tools, even as the NCRB continues "final consultations with BSNL for providing connectivity to 20,000 sites around the country." These sites include 14,000 police stations and more than 6,000 senior police officers in 28 states and seven Union Territories.

The NCRP chief claims that Indian police are being readied and "capacity building by training has started in almost all states at district levels". A select group of inspectors and constables are also being trained but at least one senior officer admits no one is unaware that "the biggest challenge would be break the mindset of our policemen".

Months before its rollout, what's not to like about the new, improved, double-strength Indian police service?

Tripathi points out that "all stations would be connected and will have access to state and central servers", ensuring that crime investigation won't be bounded by states. The network would have an online digital fingerprints database. Tripathi says "Better detection itself is a surety for prevention". The network would also contribute to improving the police interface with other agencies. For example, the passport division could complete the police verification process quicker and issue travel documents in record time. "We are looking at it as a scalable model, so that in the future you can integrate intelligent transport system and real time traffic management etc into the network," says Tripathi.

It stands to reason that the project would boost efforts to reform the police force. "It will contribute in various ways to our efforts for police reforms. To begin with it will eliminate manual keeping of records and the burden on the police station will be reduced. At the same time records will be better maintained," argues Tripathi. "It will lead to better utilization of police forces. People will not be bogged down by maintenance of records."