Positive side of fuel price hike

It has been a long time since I wrote anything. Now I’m back with my random thoughts. One of the most discussed topics nowadays is the increase in fuel prices. I want to share with you the positive side of the fuel hike. You may wonder what is positive in the price hike which is affecting every common man. I want to share the small amount of positivity I found in this.

With the increase of price in petroleum products people tend to use the fuels more judiciously so that rise doesn’t affect them much. Few people having cars and bikes may use public transport more instead of their own vehicles. This will in turn control pollution and also traffic problems in the cities. The price hike may inspire many people to explore a way to end the dependency on fossil fuels i.e. look towards renewable or alternate sources. Even though a lot of research is going on these things, the regular increase in cost will make more people involved in the research and more focus on that. I feel that , government should reserve some percentage of revenue which it gets from heavy taxation on the fuels for funding the research for alternate sources of fuel, so that we make earth greener and a beautiful place to live.

Why mobile brands like Karbonn, Micromax, I-on etc are cheaper than Nokia, Samsung...etc?

Mobile handset business is on its high in recent years. We find new mobile brands entering market every day and more than 90% of phones offered by new companies are dual sim phones. They provide handsets at a cheaper rate than the older brands (like Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericson etc...) and hence are attracting the consumers. But, I was wondering how do they manage to give mobile phones at lower cost? Here are the few facts which I felt may be the reasons for the lower cost.

1.       Quality of the parts and finishing of the handsets:  This is not a major reason as most of the cheaper phones come with a warranty of 1 year or more ensuring good quality.

2.       Advertisement:  The advertisements given by the top branded manufacturers add up to the mobile cost. Nowadays, cheaper brands have started giving advertisements but not in a large scale.

3.       Size of the company: Newer entrants have less number of employees and offer lesser salary to them compared to top brands.

4.       Service and support: Top brands set-up exclusive service centers in major cities which is an extra burden on them. Even though newer brands provide service, they just make agreement with local repair shops and call them as authorized service centers.

5.       R & D: Newer brands don’t concentrate much on research and development. This is very important in terms of making the phones more userfriendly. Even though these phones have all good features, they lack userfriendliness which is one of the reasons which makes them cheaper.

These are the reasons which I found out. If you have few more information to share with, please do it in the form of comments.

Corruption is not totally bad.......

 

 Nowadays we are hearing the word “corruption” more often in TVs, newspapers etc. I feel that I need not tell what corruption is as you all know it. Corruption is considered as major hindrance in the economic development of the country and in eradication of poverty. I feel it is not as bad as it is depicted. You might be surprised by reading my opinion on it. You will know it why after you finish reading this article. One form of corruption is taking bribe to do some work. Bribe is very low in lower levels and is more in higher levels. But, the person who takes bribe doesn’t keep it stocked with him always. He has to spend it. He may spend it buy some things or build a home or commercial buildings. He may also invest that money in some business if he is higher level (more bribe). Building home or other building gives job for many people (from contractors to low level workers) so that they can earn more. Even investment in any business will create many jobs. This in turn contributes to the economic development of country. Wait, there is still more! Government creates various agencies to curb corruption such as vigilance wing, lokayukta, CBI etc. this means more people are employed.  As corruption cases increase new courts have to be established which also creates employment.  So, all sorts of employment will eventually lead to eradication of poverty. Some people contribute a part of their unlawful earnings to temples and other spiritual organizations. Most of these organizations contribute to the society in the form of various programs for social and economic reforms. So, after reading this, can you say corruption is totally bad?

Finally, I want to make it clear that I am not supporting corruption through this article, but I am showing the positive side of this menace.

Can we save tigers just by saving them?

You might be confused by reading the heading, but it has some meaning. Recently tiger census was carried out in India and we came to know that only 1411 wild tigers are left in India. Then everybody started to think about tiger conservation. Many NGOs and some other organisation started to create awareness among people. Can we conserve tiger by just increasing their numbers? Each wild tiger requires about 100 sq. km of dense forest cover for its survival. India has just little more forest cover(suitable for tiger) than what is required for 1411 tigers. So the number 1411 is justifiable as even if more than 1 tiger is born and exists in a 100 sq.km area eventually only one will survive. So our first preference should be to conserve and increase forest cover suitable for tiger habitat and not just increasing tiger population. We should also think of conservation of other species which serve as food for tiger. Government is trying to do this by announcing many forest areas as "tiger reserves" but it should be done more intensively. I hope now you understood the relevance of the confusing heading.

Will there be another cold war ????

                           
NOTE: The things I have written here is my personal feeling and it might not be perfect and true in all respects.   

Cold war is a very popular term which means war with 2 countries without direct involvement of military or weapons, but in terms of economic competition, political conflict and many other ways which always builds tension between two countries. Whenever we think of "cold war", the first thing that comes to our mind is cold war between USA and USSR (Russia) after the World War II. Today there is no such cold war between those countries and possibility of it beginning again between them is very scarce. Still there is a possibility of cold war, this time not between USA and Russia, but between two emerging super powers India and China. The developments in the past few years have made me feel that there is a possibility of such cold war in near future.

Here are the few reasons why I feel there would be a cold war.

* China is indirectly questioning India's right on Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh by terming both regions as disputed land. Recently China didn't grant visa to an Indian army official giving a reason that he is from Kashmir. Similarly, India is indirectly questioning China's right on Tibet by giving shelter to Dalai Lama and supporting them to form a democratic Tibetian government in exile.

* Both India and China are trying to control government in Nepal so that it is favourable to them. Because of this Nepal has failed to elect a prime minister successfully even after many rounds of elections. 

* There is a doubt on China funding Pakistan for its fight against India and also to the naxals.

* China hackers are attacking networks of Indian security agencies. India is also suspecting that high end technological products imported from may be used for spying against it.

* India and China are competing to build an oil and gas pipeline with Iran.

There are still many facts which are creating tension between the two countries. But, out of all these differences both countries are extending each other the hands of co-operation in many fields which is a positive step towards avoiding future cold war. I wish both huge economies of the world get rid of all their differences and move together to become super powers of future out-performing the US and European countries.

Funny ayodhya tweets

Finally ayodhya verdict after a long fight of 60 years. I don't want to comment about the verdict, but I want to share with you some of the funny tweets I came across half an hour before court decision.(they might not be exact same as they were posted but meaning is same)
* Karnataka government is acting as if Ayodhya is in karnataka.
* Some people are more tensed for ayodhya verdict than their exam results.
* Suresh Kalmadi is now relieved as medias attention turned from him towards ayodhya.
* Tv anchor is screaming on top of his voice to say stay calm.
* We are not worried how people will behave after the verdict but about the medias behaviour.


NOTE: This is just for fun.

Save your fingers from mobile phones

Almost all the gadgets of the present day require use of fingers (specially thumb) for their operation. The most frequently used gadget today is the mobile phone. Since the mobile phones now have variety of features in them we may boast of having entire world in our finger tip. Quoting a saying in Kannada “ಅತಿಯಾದರೆ ಅಮೃತವೂ ವಿಷ” the extensive use of anything will be harmful. Even though there is dilemma about whether mobile radiations affect human body or not, there is no doubt in the fact that excessive use of mobile affects our fingers. The problem is severe with the use of non-touch screen phones. The excessive use of thumb for different operations like messaging, browsing, playing etc. will result in a problem called blackberry thumb syndrome. Blackberry thumb is a type of repetitive strain injury which is caused due to high stress on fingers and is similar to carpal tunnel syndrome. It is advisable and easier to prevent it in earlier stages rather than in advanced stages which may require surgery. Early symptoms are smaller itching or pain in joints when you use your mobile for extended duration. Preventive methods are using a touch screen phone if you can afford, as many cheaper touch screen phones are available nowadays. Otherwise you can reduce the use of your present mobile phone by avoiding typing long messages and make use of shortcuts wherever possible. Giving rest to your fingers is very important when you feel finger is strained. You can release the strain by dipping your fingers in warm water for few minutes. Massaging the finger or doing some exercises may also prove useful. I hereby request all mobile phone users not to spoil your fingers for just few minutes of fun.