I just discovered that DRIVEU has been adding a ₹15 charge for insurance, to every booking I make, without my ever asking for it. This is how my conversation with their customer service representative went down.
Do leave your comment below: am I overreacting, or is this bad behaviour on the part of the service provider?
(In my defence, it as been a rather long day for me and the last thing I was expecting at the end of it was to discover a scam like this.)
India has diplomatic relations with North Korea, even though it has provided nuclear weapons technology and nuclear warhead missile technology to Pakistan.
China and the US have given tons of military technology and money to Pakistan, but never any nuclear weaponry.
We also have great relations with Iran. Lots of trade and bilateral relations. The average Indian has warm fuzzy feelings about Iran. That's another country whose nuclear tech is with Pakistan, whether directly or through NK.
What complicated diplomacy we have.
@[717349107:2048:Mitali Kalra], @[100044226949684:2048:Serena Williams] hosts her website https://www.serenaventures.com/ on wix.com. You have chosen the platform for http://samafoods.in/ wisely.
Why is it called cloud computing when we still pay for virtual machines 24x365? The billing is hourly compared to hosting providers, but most cloud compute instances still spin 24x7.
When do we start paying for the actual amount of CPU, memory and IO/storage we consume? It's what Sun was promising in 2002 with Grid Computing. Yet it's 2019 and we still use virtualisation, with all resources (processor, memory, storage) reserved. Where is the innovation we were promised?
Anything sacred is inherently useless. You can't pose questions to it, or about it.
Sacred Games is useless. Now the RTI has become unfit for the purpose it was created, because it has become sacred.
इसलिए कह्ते हैं, atheism for the win!
बहुत बढ़िया reporting
What if I like Sacred Games season 2.
Will society accept me?
The new NMC bill lowers the entry barrier to becoming a health professional who can prescribe Schedule H drugs. Having studied community health in the early 2000s with various NGOs, I am not debating if certifying VHNs and CHS workers is a good thing. We do need more doctors, and with RMPs around, the rural (and urban poor) healthcare market is already not being served by MBBS doctors.
However, what's gone down in the US with "medical marijuana prescriptions" or prescription opioid abuse (See Hasan Minhaj talk about it on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkhMfgOT9Xs) is terrifying.
Pharmacies are rather loosely controlled in India. You can obtain most Schedule H drugs without a real prescription. As evidenced in this news article, unlicensed pharmacies abound (yeah!), and even licensed ones sell unlicensed drugs (double yeah!). Lakhs of medical professionals (not doctors) will soon have the power to legally prescribe medicines. So even if the government tightens up pharmacies, the prescription supply can potentially ease out if the new professionals aren't very careful or ethical.
If you see the Patriot Act episode linked above, you will learn that pharma companies aggressively market addictive substances to medical professionals. These new professionals will be targeted by some of the largest corporations in the world that are eyeing a rapid expansion of the 1.3 billion people consumer base in India.
Executive Summary: 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝘂𝗴 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀, 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲. 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗸𝗶𝗱𝘀. 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 (𝗮𝗻𝘅𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀, 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱, 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱, 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲).
It's independence day today. So why not try to get an entire computer for free. You have the freedom to try your luck 😉
Just how is someone supposed to run a viable business with such volatility and decline in the exchange rate? Wish we had the luxury to shut shop and wait this out. The shocking thing is that no one even wants to talk about the exchange rate or the downturn. Earlier they gassed about $1=₹40, now they're gassing about a $5B economy. Gassing doesn't cost money. But operating a business, giving INR quotes with three months validity when the ₹ is in a free fall, costs a lot of money.
Does Manipal do meaningful medical research? Asking for a friend.
This was last year. Where should we take the caravan next? Any suggestions for overnight van camping near Gurgaon. Perhaps near a lake where we can safely try out our boat.
Kavin. 2018.
बाहर से कोई अन्दर न आ सके
अन्दर से कोई बाहर न जा सके
No. Not funny. Not funny at all. But damn scary for sure.
Old employees are typically stereotyped as foggy, lazy and argumentative. But my experience with the Railways tells me that it is these people who are a treasure trove of knowledge and process information. They can get things done, solve problems. I've seen so many retired employees being asked to provide their expertise when software is being developed by/for the Railways.
Why is age a factor when retiring people? Why not merit and performance? This is ageism.
Metro train drivers are at an eternal suicide watch and terror alert. They have no other work.
If we invest more in mental health, so many pointless jobs in this world would get eliminated.
I was looking for another pic when I came across this 😍
यार वोह ज़माना बीत गया जब बाप अपने बच्चों को बताते थे कि बेटा बड़े होकर कौनसा पेशा अपनाओ। नहीं तो हम भी अपने लड़कों को constitutional lawyer बनाते। फिर उनके बयान और दलीलें सुन कर हमें भी बुढ़ापे में फ़क्र होत।
Almost a century has passed yet people continue to make a fool of themselves by consuming cigarettes, thereby endangering themselves, those around them, and their current and future children.
करना कुछ नहीं air pollution के लिए। वाहवाही बटोरने हाज़िर।
Intense. Do NOT piss off this bird.
This happened to me yesterday:
Me: Hello
Caller: Hi I am calling from Uber. I would like to talk to you about an Uber for Business account for your organisation.
Me: (standard response to telemarketers) How did you get my number?
Caller: Lolz we are Uber we have everyone's number.
Me: ठीक है ठीक है। Will this be cheaper than regular Uber?
Caller: No. But if you open an Uber for Business account then all your employees can use Uber and you will get one consolidated bill with credit limit and post payment.
Me: All of our employees already have Uber. I mean, who doesn't, right? They even have a work profile with their official email IDs. When they travel with the work profile, the Uber receipt gets forwarded to our expensing system which autoscans the receipt. Someone reviews the expense report and reimburses the employees. Now, if someone misuses Uber for Business and racks up a large bill, you will nevertheless invoice us and we have to pay you. Later we have to run after the employee and recover money from them. Already my accountant is त्रस्त in life.
Caller: (after a long pause) Give me your official email address, I will send you a nice presentation about Uber for Business.
Me: It's in my work profile, ख़ुद ही ले लो। हाथ कंगन को आरसी क्या। Also, is this telecalling job what your parents send you to B-school for?
Uber तो गई।
Celebrating @[610191751:2048:Bindhumalini]'s award, and through her voice, celebrating Khusro.
और बाज़ार से ले आए अगर टूट गया
साग़र-ए-जम से मिरा जाम-ए-सिफ़ाल अच्छा है
The less you have, the less you stand to lose. Simplify your life. चचा ग़ालिब always has the best advice.
Oh my god oh my god oh my god. I cannot contain my excitement. Our dear friend Bindhu has won the National Award for her song.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XM-N6uJgzD8
https://open.spotify.com/track/39Zvq6GL0cSQoVNtMf9Vzg
This is the song. Please listen. I'm super excited and even then this song transported me to another place, another mood.
What wonderful news ❤️. I can't believe that just a few days ago we were strolling around Jayanagar eating Corner House ice cream and mini idlis. Such a simple, down to earth person. And a national star.
I told you all to go listen to her on Spotify. Why won't you listen 🤷🏽♂️
Every time my metro card runs out of balance, I feel so proud.
So vain I am. And so naive. More money to DMRC. Less to Uber and IOCL. And the world will suddenly be a better place.
Sweaty, irritated young guy walking down the middle of the road, yelling into his phone, "अच्छा तो Mount Abu चलते हैं"
He is every guy who has ever rounded up a group of friends for a road trip 😂
In other surreal news, the Taliban advocates peace, encourages dialogue, says it has nothing to do with Kashmir, and goes on to admit that "war is not the answer". 🤯
Oh look. They made her fairer. Now she's ready to be accepted by India.
Here it is, your daily dose of humour. Read the article till the end. Ridiculous.
https://in.mashable.com/science/5490/how-vedic-mathematics-helped-isro-to-perfect-chandrayaan-2-launch
I haven't studied the vedas. But I did suffer an entire course on vedic maths. In high school I was very interested in and good at maths, and would study anything with the word maths in it. What a fraud the whole thing was. Those were the days before the Internet. After finishing the course, I remember going to public libraries and searching up vedic maths to find out if it was at all something genuine or not.
The teacher would read us a shloka and tell us that on the surface it sounds like a prayer to a god. But many sanskrit words have multiple meanings, so if you use the alternate meanings of words and some imagination, you could find equations and figures hidden in the shloka. I told him that effectively you are fitting existing theorems into shlokas, not finding any new theorems from the shlokas. The teacher wasn't used to this much logic, and got perplexed. I nevertheless topped the course rather easily, solving problems in the final exam using both vedic algorithms and regular algorithms, cross checking my work.
The amount of stupidity we Indians will indulge in, in search of a glorious past. Especially when we already have so much to gloat about without having to resort to subterfuge.
BSE Sensex is at a three month low. Three month. What kind of pathetic, scared, gutless investor gets terrified by a three month low? I have no money in the stock market. I have no appetite for external risk (betting on other people's companies, actions, decisions). But if you can't handle such simple ups and downs, maybe don't be a market investor.
Governments come and governments go. The Sensex has steadily risen. Just buy some good ELSS funds, and forget about them for the next decade or two. The only thing that might ruin the Sensex party is climate change. Nothing else really matters in the long term.
Yesterday the Sensex fell by 1%. Just 1%. A state got cleaved in two and then vanished into thin air, yet the sensex fell by just a percentage. And all the media outlets are going bloodbath, bloodbath on D Street.
Long and tedious, but it has answers to a lot of questions I have. Yet to read fully.
There was a discussion somewhere about the AAP's work on education in Delhi. @[728586498:2048:Prakash] was upset that he pays a lot of income tax to the government, yet receives very little in return. Besides, plumbers and other helpers have been giving him a hard time with their tantrums. I wrote a long response, and @[773224539:2048:Sherebanu] wanted it turned into a separate post. Here it is:
1) There are certain things that are considered fundamental rights in law. In 2018, the Himachal HC reiterated that "Water and electricity supply form a part of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India". Any government is within its limits to provide those services and items that the law considers essential to life, for free or at a subsidised price. These items include education, food, healthcare, roads, traffic signals, pedestrian crossings, footpaths, water, electricity, etc. Have you noticed that not just humans, even animals use roads. I've seen dogs use pedestrian crossings to cross the roads, once they learn that a zebra crossing is a safer place to cross from. Should we start taxing our four legged friends too?
2) The assumption that only the middle class pays taxes is a fallacy. This image https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DyTgTubUUAAjMHK.jpg will show you that only 17% of the central government's revenue comes from personal income tax. 21% comes from GST, 4% from customs, 7% excise, 21% corporations - all these are consumption driven. Do you think only the middle class consumes? Every time a poor child buys a packet of biscuit, or his father consumes desi daru, the government makes money. Simply because you pay income tax doesn't mean you are the only contributor of tax to the government.
3) You say you pay taxes but get no benefits. Let's look at the Delhi government's typical breakup of revenue and expenditure: http://bsmedia.business-standard.com/.../1488999991-4992.jpg . The highest expenditure is on education, which you may believe you do not benefit from. However, this head includes both school and higher education. So if you know someone who studied in DU, GGSIPU or other such Delhi based universities, there's your benefit. Also, if you employ someone who was educated at a government school in Delhi, and that person now uses their education in order to serve you, there, again, is your benefit. Do not forget that quality school education for free means that you do not indirectly have to pay for the school fees of the wards of your domestic servants and office/factory staff.
4) The RTE act dictates that private schools need to provide free education to the poor. Only those private hospitals that are built on government subsidised land need to provide free/subsidised healthcare to the poor. Guess what, almost every private school and hospital in Delhi is built on cheap land from the government. Isn't education/treatment of a few people fair rent?
5) My company employs a number of blue collar workers. I have a very healthy relationship with them. I also use the services of various kinds of handymen. I don't have horror stories to tell like you do. You live in Delhi, I live in Gurgaon, the world doesn't change that much in this short distance. Perhaps if you started treating workers with more respect, they will respect you back. That is all I can say. If you feel that the poor are blackmailing you all the time, perhaps your attitude to what is fair wages for their work is what needs to change.
I want to further elaborate on point (3). People believe that private education and healthcare are the best and cheapest. But that is not true. Almost every good higher education institution in India or abroad is publicly funded. So why can't public schools be equally good? In the US, they are. On the flip side, the largest private healthcare system in the world exists in the US. And we all know exactly how rotten it is.
The government can do an excellent job of providing high quality universal education and healthcare that is also very cost effective. In Delhi, Kerala, and many other states, this model is very successful. Now, we need to have 100% of our citizens educated and healthy. There is no alternative to that. If a government run model is the most cost effective, then what else will fund it but government revenues (taxes+others)?
And when we fund the free education and healthcare of others, we directly benefit in many ways. First, we are surrounded by healthier, more educated people. Who doesn't want that? Second, since education and healthcare are the biggest expense heads in most families (apart from rent, transportation, energy and food), making these heads free helps keep wages low. Who doesn't want to keep wages depressed? (Incidentally, the AAP is also chipping away at transport and energy).
Finally, when we pay for the education and health of our employees and their families through taxes, we actually spend less than we would if we included their expenditure on education and healthcare into the wages we give them. You may employ a maid, a driver, a car cleaner, a gardener, a cook and a security guard. When their wages include these expenses, all these wages rise. But when these expenses are met through your taxes, you only pay proportional to your income and your expense on taxable goods. As you age, your income falls, and you start living on your savings. Your expenses on goods and services falls. Your expense on wages rises, as you need more and more help around you. But the help is now cheaper as many of their expenses are being met through taxes, which you don't pay as much. Who is paying more taxes? As of this budget, the super rich are paying more. Those who consume more fuel are paying more.
Sigh. Economics is fun.
ज्ञान। ले लो। और अभी भी वक़्त है। छोड़ दो। Hero(ine) नहीं बनोगे cigarette पीकर। सिर्फ cancer से मरोगे, सड़ सड़ कर।
Why is chess gender separated? https://www.quora.com/Why-are-there-male-and-female-chess-competitions
In Gurgaon district, there are about half as many girl chess players as there are boy players, across age groups.
Announcer at sports event: "All the childrens. Please lish-ten."
बचपन की याद आ गई 😂
Praise from the Congress for Ravish https://www.livemint.com/news/india/ravish-kumar-showed-mirror-of-reality-to-those-in-power-rahul-gandhi-1564757752436.html, after all his criticism for them during UPA2 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8sX-QkDqoqI https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h0AqgNbvToU . This is called grace.
Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.
लीजिए। बारिशों में गुडग़ांव भी खूबसूरत हो लिया।
Living near trees makes you happier than living next to green spaces (grass and shrubs). Green spaces make you happier than living in concrete jungles.
Yeah, if you didn't experience that for yourself already, now there is research to tell you that.
So, the next time you meet a friend of yours who moved to the mountains or to Goa, or turned into a farmer, don't ask them why they did it. They are wiser and more perceptive of what makes them happier, than you.
https://www.citylab.com/environment/2019/07/urban-tree-canopy-green-space-wellbeing-research/595060/
This image conveys so much. Read the full research here: https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2019/08/02/trust-and-mistrust-in-americans-views-of-scientific-experts/
People trust scientists the most. Then come the military, followed by school officials and religious leaders. The media and business leaders don't even make it to 50%. Politicians bring in the rear.
As a business leader, how do you win the trust of the public, your customers, employees and vendors?
Poetic. Written like a classic. Please read.
This is the kind of bullshit that reverses centuries of advances in healthcare.
No, each life form does not exist in harmony with its environment. Tell that to anthrax. Or the bubonic plague. Each lifeform tries to maximise its own gain. Usually that involves symbiosis with some other lifeforms.
If you've never studied science or been on the inside of a science lab, don't talk science. Then you come across as another pseudoscientific bullshitter like Jaggi and Ravishankar.
दिल्ली peoples plizz attend and get copious ज्ञान
And of course Arvind Kejriwal had to gloat 😂
Kudos, Ravish Kumar. बहुत सही।
Was driving around town when I saw this guy riding this souped up bicycle. Requested him to pull over so I could take some pics.
The kid riding it is a delivery boy. He got his bicycle converted into this electric bike in Sector 32, Gurgaon. Cost him ₹10,000. Gives him a range of 80km, at a top speed of 30km/hr. Has a head light and phone cradle+charger built in. Accelerator is on the right grip. Brakes are the standard bicycle brakes.
If anyone calls this jugaad, I'mma come over and slap you. This is ingenious. Brilliant.
I took a photo earlier today, and Google Photos worked its magic on it after a while. Here it is. Yes, this is from Gurgaon. I was out for a walk and I saw these. Had to stop, hang up the call I was on, and take a closer look. My friend tells me these are Rain Lillies. Enjoy.
Nilay: Dad, you know how really good friends greet each other by showing the middle finger, right?
Me: No! 😳
Nilay: So we were watching the eighth graders do it to each other. They are so cool, right?
Me: No! 😡
Nilay: Dad! Stop being so dad.
Is the Delhi government publishing any meaningful data about their work on electric supply.
Publishing actual data helps replicate this model in other states. कड़ी मेहनत and साफ नियत can be found, but the process to follow also needs to be published.
Also, I'd like to understand how the electric supply companies became cash flow healthy inspite of huge capital expenses on transformers and cables. Has the theft of power been dramatically reduced? If so, how? And by how much.
Every time I see a largesse by a government, I have a lot of questions. The high court has already declared electricity to be a basic need like roads and water, so I'm not against free electric supply. But its my tax money, so the economics need to be known.
I wish we would stop sharing pics like these to signify breaking stereotypes. I have immense respect for Sai Paranjpe, but it's 2019, we really should not be celebrating tobbaco in any form or manner. Smoking may have been used in the past as a symbol of liberation, but it is an obnoxious habit. Smoking is bad. Smokers are to be avoided because they give you cancer. Yes, it is that simple. Passive smoking kills. The children of a smoker are eight times more likely to be smokers.
The new stereotype is that if you are a smoker, you are liberated. From your gender, your caste, your social position, your parents, whatever. Bullshit. If you are a smoker, you are dying, you are a public nuisance, and you should be called out and ostracised. Not celebrated in any form or manner for smoking.
If Anbumani Ramadoss were still the health minister, it would likely be a crime to share this picture on social media. But even UPA2 undid his good work. Smokers are back in the movies, and on television. Smoking in public areas is on the rise in spite of the extant laws and supreme court orders. The तेंदूपत्ता farmer lobby and ITC continue to control government policy. People continue to have work meetings and discussions over a सुट्टा, so those of us who don't smoke are still forced to passively smoke if we want to further our career/business.
When I invite my friends for a party but there is no booze or non veg food.
अब पछताये होत क्या जब चिड़िया चुग गई खेत
Me suddenly feeling awesome because I've only always used @[106797992735597:274:Zomato] for food delivery, never even tried Swiggy or Uber Eats or anything else.
AAP: We have done good work in Delhi and we have awesome ideas for the future. So people will reelect us.
BJP: We're gonna repeal Article 35A and then nuke Kashmir. What Delhi elections?
Me, showing Nilay how people send religious forwards saying "जो send करेगा उसका 3 घंटे में काम पूरा होगा"
Nilay: What if you're pooping? Three. Hours. Later. 💀
This is why we cannot have nice things.
Not sure if interesting or random.
पहचाना?
कभी कभी अपने शहर में भी tourist बनना चाहिए
#kids @ Ugrasen Ki Bauli
These two monkeys are super stressing me out.
