PMI Chennai chapter - my first meet

Hi all,

Yesterday, I attended my first PMI chapter meet in Chennai. The guest speaker was a PMI member from Swiz who spoke about ITIL. This subject was totally new to me but, thanks to some coffee before the meeting and the pictures/cartoons in the presentation, I managed to stay awake.

What was more interesting was the chapter updates especially on the upcoming national PMI Conference.
http://www.pmi.org.in/conference2012/default.asp

I am planning to attend, are you?

Story continues

Hello world!
Story world is back. After long ordeal, I have managed to renew this domain.

Will keep you all posted...

The OTP hurdle

I am sure you must have already read on this subject of RBI introducing OTP requirement for IVR based transactions since feb. Under this rule, when you call a company and like to make a phone purchase, you have to get an One Time Password from the credit card company to complete the transactions. The experience so far for me personally has been terrible to say the least.

History of CC payment security goes like this;

1. Just credit card number & name
2. Credit card number, name and expiry date
3. CVV number gets added
4. Pin for internet transactions
5. OTP for mobile

Has RBI gone too far? I think so. Mobile transactions would have definitely dipped without a doubt. No need for stats here. Remedy?

Well, first question is are mobile payments any extra unsafe compared to online ones? If not, why this step? If this step is deemed necessary, why not use the same pin that is used for internet payments?

These are questions in everybody's mind. No answers around for now. RBI is experimenting we hear. CC security is a global concern so banks are coming up with innovative solutions like cards with displays that show their OTP every minute. Since this keeps changing like VPN token, can be considered secure. Right now, the biggest issue is OTP is not just extra step but is a tough step. Banks have different procedures and for my card I just dont get the OTP on time. I keep sending requests and after the 3rd or 4th time I get 4 responses together from my bank giving me 4 OTPs!!

Credit cards are losing their sheen with debit cards becoming easy to get and cheaper to maintain. Many are holding on to one just for the comfort of online payments. Will be interesting to see how CC industry comes out of this...

My early days with Android

These were the kind of errors I suffered at the hands of dear blackberry. I say dear because, as a concept, I still like BB and the way it does email is plain great. Now, I have moved to android and I am very tempted to say that I have 'upgraded' to android. Thats because, now I can do so many things I couldn't do with dear BB. The list is big - Now, I can use wi-fi and with ease. Now, I can spot my location on google map with amazing accuracy and search around. Now, I can download podcasts like my favorite BNET. Now,  I can listen to radio while responding to emails which one can never do in BB. Now, I can choose from a bigger market of apps. Now, I can watch youtube vidoes with stream beautifully when on wifi. Now, I can browse news and other sites and view them in HD. Now, I can do photocall my home in one click on my mom's picture. Most of all, I can have addictive games like angrybirds and have fun!

Android is not flawless and no market is. Although one has to tread a little carefully, this has got a great future. I do not see Iphone becoming common phone in India like US or other markets. It is still the delicate darling that is not for people like me. I definitely see android becoming a big hit in India in the coming months as sub 10 k phones have started coming up on the platform. Did I mention that nokia is doomed without one single android phone? Yeah, thats understood...

Its ma bell again (twit-style-post)

The US telecom industry seems to have come one full circle. It all started with the ma bell that became hundreds of small companies and now it is back to the ma again - well, almost. Verizon continues to fight but at&t's effort to acquire t-mobile is out right atrocious and anti competitive. Also, like the banks of US, we might end of creating entities that are just 'too-big-to-fail'. This is not good for customer's who hate at&t and hence are with t-mobile. If regulators are awake, they certainly wouldn't approve this move.

Will Pepsi's campaign payoff?

World cup is a big event in general and the cricket world cup, that too in the sub-continent is just huge. But, advertising during this season is always a gamble because it depends on too many factors. This world cup needs the home teams to do well and that seems to be happening so far. Flights to chandigarh are packed and getting expensive by the minute. Amongst the people gambling are pepsi, hero honda, nokia( or should I say Nokia N8? Thats seems to be the only worthwhile phone they have made in recently times) airtel, aircel, etc.

Talking about pepsi's campaign specifically, it just stuck me like a bolt today that I haven't heard about coke in a long time. Pepsi has roped in all the cricket stars and launched a massive campaign this world cup season and especially the ones like helicopter shot featuring Dhoni are attractive. Now, what remains to be seen is how effective this campaign in raising the volumes this summer. Even if volumes pickup, I am not sure how it can be linked to this campaign as it can be due to factors like the heat of the summer itself, 4 state elections which is going to lead to considerable money in people's pocket. Well, as far as I am concerned, no campaign is going to make me drink cola... 

Enlightment at Sarnath

Sarnath is a place near Varanasi famous as a Buddhist site and archeologically significant town. Wiki will tell you about this in more detail but, I had an experience of a different kind here that I wanted to share here.

The story

First of all, this is not a travelogue and nor did I go there as a tourist. As a tiny deviation from a business trip, I went there without much interest really. Although this is one of the places I remember reading in history books at school (the other being Sanchi), I did not remember anything about it other than the name. Today, I came to know that  this is place where Buddha made his first sermon after enlightenment. The hotel suggested that I take an auto rickshaw which would cost me only about Rs 150. But, as usual, I did something unusual. I took  a cycle rickshaw half way to Sarnath where I had hopes of taking a bus. To my surprise, I didn't find any and I just couldn't convince myself to take an auto rickshaw which was already stuffed with four or more people. So, I hired another cycle rickshaw and I knew it is going to be a long journey (6 km) in this mode of transport. After a while, even I started feeling tired being exposed to the sun all along and was wondering how  the guy on the wheel managed it. Thankfully, he started halting in shady places and we started chatting. I offered to buy him a cup of sugared curd sold in one of the shops but he declined it and preferred to be busy with his cell phone. I was not totally surprised since I know about the reach of cell phones in the hinterlands - also Varanasi is a busy town and not a village. The rickshaw had a shade-maker  but that would only cover the passenger from the sun and not the driver. I pointed at another rickshaw and asked him why wouldn't he get such a cover done. His response was that it would cost him about 5000 and he couldn't afford to do so. I asked him if he knew about any companies that would finance such a thing and the response was a blank look. After I explained to him in my half-hindi that there are such companies, I asked him if he had a voter id and he answered in affirmative. I told him that there is a company whose office is nearby and I can show him the same during our return and he immediately said that they wouldn't give him any money. Soon, we reached Sarnath and I was looking at things in a different light now.

The Question

The question in my mind is if Nokia can reach him, if colas can reach him why can't banking reach? Perhaps, the answer lies in the fact that the above are tangible products whose benefits are there to be seen whereas banking is still one of those things where one has to keep saving for a really long time to see any benefits. This incident only highlights the fact that the unreached financial market is still huge although there are number of banks and other financial institutions. 

Here is what I think the government should do:

1. Create a distinct number for itself from which it can SMS people. It should develop the capacity to send messages in local languages and the from number should clearly say indicate that it is from the government of India

1. Through such ID, government can instantaneously promote whatever it wants to (political messages should be kept out) such as new schemes launched

1. Government should do something like EPF to promote savings and financial awareness. For instance, let rickshaw guy pay an RD of 10 rupees a day or 100 a week and as long as he or she does not close it prematurely, the government should add a bonus amount in the end. Now, how to target this for the poor? For now, government can use available ids restrict number of accounts to one and put a cap on total amount also so that the interest to do fraud comes down. One UID is launched, government should use that mechanism to give this targeted encouragement to savings

Finally, if you visit Sarnath, don't miss the archeological museum. One statue of Buddha in preaching pose is a master piece that makes one slow down in this world of hurriedness. Gotto go! Bye!