DesiReflections

Shri Narendra Modi promised creation of smart cities during his election speeches. After becoming Prime Minister, he has started this initiative and he seems to be very serious about the whole concept.  I shall try to explain the concept, in fact if it is implemented properly,  it may transform not only the area where Smart City is developed but also the entire nation. May be in future you may see this kind of Smart City in India  How it was started In the year 2008, IBM, the technology leader, came up with the concept of smart city as a part of smarter planet initiative. Smart cities can benefit citizens, businesses, government and more importantly to the environment. The idea spread like jungle fire, South Korea, China, UAE invested heavily on research, finding various modalities, infrastructure and the governance related issues. Smart cities have come into being in various parts of world. So far China is ahead in the race, Tianjin knowledge ...

From last three four years, I feel anguished to read newspaper headlines that how killing is taking place in the name of religion. I tried to read holy scriptures of almost all major religions and could not find substantial material which encourage it's followers to fight with people of other beliefs or religions. But still followers of every organised religion are fighting with the followers of other religions. Even if with not other religions then within their own faith but of a different sect. This is what exactly we are witnessing in Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Pakistan as well as other parts of globe. Is there any way out ? Many people have recently tried to find out an answer outside the ambit of organised religions. Sunday Assembly of London, Houston Oasis are few initiatives by people who have a dream to make this earth a better place to live and their tribe is growing very fast. Sunday Assembly is largely top down movement, atheist churches are sprouting from the groun...

On an invitation from Indiblogger, I reached Cecil Court Building  in Colaba area yesterday. It was for experiencing a newly opened mobile showroom  Univercell. The building also have iconic Regal Cinema and always attracted slightly  niche and hap crowd. So the brand has deliberately chose the place where right kind of footfalls are available. place is to choose and enjoy Better shopping experience Univercell is already a popular Mobile store brand in South and Cecil Court showroom is their foray into the most potential Mumbai market. When most of the mobile brands are available  online for sale then what is the logic behind opening a showroom where high rental cost and salaries of sales force will churn out most of the profit margin, this question cropped in my mind before entering in the store. Once I was inside the store, I realised that the kind of experience is available for customer in the store, it will help the consumer to choose better. St...

Yesterday, I had an occasion to meet and listen to Y.P. Singh at Indo American Society, the man who fought with system while staying in it. An IPS officer of 1981 batch , he was a fighter from the beginning , during his stint, he dealt with high-profile cases like the   US-64 scam and the Panna-Mukta oilfield   deal. But he was  at odds with the powers-that-be all the time because his investigations uncovered uncomfortable facts, which he was not willing to conceal, at any cost. To prevent him from disturbing the status quo, he was shunted to insignificant postings while his contemporaries received accolades, medals and promotions. In his resignation letter to the secretary, Union ministry of home affairs, Singh said, 'Despite being one of the most outstanding officers of the country, I exist, debilitated and belittled, like a living corpse.' US-64 scam became public in 2001, about 2 crore people, mostly middle-class Indians, lost money. It did not happen...