Voter Registration Drive

As elections are on the way, we see the problems around us. Especially in Pune where I am in, I hear form many people that they would like change. But then, most of them also don't have election voter ID card or if they have it, it is from their old address and they will not be able to vote this time unless they travel long distance back home.

So, we decided to set up some voter registration drive with the help of few volunteers and currently it is planned that we do this for every weekend in and around Pune.

If you would like to volunteer for such a cause, please contact me and I will be more than happy to coordinate and organise. It does not has to be every weekend. Even one weekend for 4-5 hours would be good.

Prime Minister Relief Fund - Accounts

After all the unfortunate incident at Uttarakhand (UK) and the ongoing effort to provide donations and other benefits, I saw several posts and also in news paper that PM has called for contribution to the relief fund.

So, I checked for past history and this money was utilized. Here is the link to Audited version of the expenses. Do check yourself too.

http://pmindia.gov.in/pmfunds.php

Here is the table copied from the link about.

Year	Total Income (Fresh contributions, Interest Income, Refunds)	Total Expenditure (Relief for Riots, Flood, Drought, Earthquakes, Cyclone, Tsunami, Medical etc.)	Balance
2008-09 (A)	353.49	216.31	1611.62
2009-10 (A)	185.11	120.26	1652.83
2010-11 (A)	155.61	182.31	1625.64
2011-12 (A)	200.79	128.41	1698.00
2012-13 (A)	211.41	181.52	1727.79

 A = Audited

It looks like fund received more money than actually spent. I am not sure whether we had less disaster in the country or we have more generous people. But something surely missing (and fishy)

Any knowledgeable person would like to share insight about it would be great.

Blackberry z10 discount deal

Saw in the news paper that blackberry in India is having discount of up to 11,000 INR for the exchange offer.

At first I thought that it is as lucrative as the deal for SamSung. But on further research it does not seems to be that good.

• It is not standard 11 K discoung. It is upto 11K. So, if you return blackberry curve, you may only get 3K discount
• The price of the base blackberry itself is very high
• If you deduct 3K from 37K, the phone is very costly even at 34K. 
• Galaxy Note 2 was 27K after 10K discount

Here is the related news.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/blackberry-launches-exchange-scheme-for-z10-offers-discount-up-to-rs-11000/403426-11.html

I doubt that in the long run, blackberry will be able to sell more phones.

Also, I am not convinced about paying more for blackberry services when you can get all your email and chat on unlimited internet (EDGE) for 150 Rupees.

The ROI seems to be not just there.

Even though I have used blackberry for more than 10 years, I have moved to android phones. Even 10K simple phone from Micromaxx is much better than what is offered by blackberry.

Last Rites for Alta Vista next week

One time favorite search engine of my early days of software engineering is going to be shutdown next week.

There was no google at that time and we are just amazed at what we could find quickly. Of course, after google, things have changed and I hardly look into any other search engine.

I am not sure if the altavista code base was used to build the search engine for Yahoo :-)

Anyway, for all those people like me who have used it in the past, may feel a little nostalgic for a moment but we are not going to miss it for sure.

India Budget 2013

After long time, I am looking forward to Budget 2013. Not that I have any high expectations considering what is the current situation in India especially Maharashtra. But because this will set the tone for how government will be elected in 2014.

Considering how in Rail budget, UPA states were given preference compared to Non-UPA ruled states, should I expect more for Maharashtra? 

Flexible Display

Future is going to be very interesting if electronics were little flexible. Well, software was very flexible for quite some time. This time, it is the hardware.

There is quite a lot of possibilities. Input using gesture or voice and output in flexible ways will drive future development.

As for software engineers and thought leaders, field of Information Technology provide lot of opportunities. But this will only be available to those who are ready to think beyond what is normal and ready to take some risk.

LieStrong ... l

Today, I was shocked to hear what Lance Armstrong confessed. It is not because of surprise but because he accepts and sometime defends his position.

I do remember Mohammed Azarudding being banned for his involvement in scam. And like any other corrupt politician, he is now a member of parliament. He was most admired cricker at my home at that time after Kapil Dev. Sachin was not yet where he is now. Ajay Jadeja  was another cricker in similar scam.

Such cases are rare compared to all other people who play sincerely. But then, this guy created charity and kind of became motivation for so many cancer survivors.

I am not sure if the American Law or the society has any punishment for cheating. In India of course, Azarudding became a Member of Parliament. Him being so called minority might have helped. Even though he is no minority in Hyderabad. I guess Jadeja was not so luck in that sense. But he gets lot of invitations from TV. In fact, those who something wrong are more liked by media.

Over all, I hope not to see any more such people whom I admired in the past.

In the article on firstpost.com about LieStrong, I was also shocked to see so many support statements and comments for him being honest. I guess liars cannot oppose liars. Kalyug hain bhai Kalyug.

Aadhaar is No Aadhaar ( आधार - निराधार )

कहना बहुत कुछ हैं पर आज की बात मैं आधार तक ही सीमित रखता हूँ ।

जब आधार की घोषणा की गयी बहुत सारी बातें हमें बताई गयी । मुझे जो सबसे ज्यादा याद हैं कुछ कारणों से वह यह की कुछ भी हो ये राशन कार्ड की तरह नहीं होगा ।

एक सप्ताह पहले मेरी सोसाइटी में किसीने हमें बताया की आधार का एक कैंप लगा सकते हैं सोसाइटी में । हमें प्रसन्नता हुवी की चलो कुछ अच्छा हो रहा हैं की सरकारी काम बिना कुछ किये हो जाएगा । मेरी खुशी कुछ पलों के लिए हि थी । हमें बताया गया की आधार कार्ड एक ऐसे कंपनी ने यहाँ करने के लिए जा रहें हैं जिसका आधार से कोई रिश्ता ही नहीं । और यहाँ भी बताया गया की इस के लिये 'पहुँच' की अव्यशाकता हैं इस लिए हम इसे स्वयं नहीं कर सकते ।

मुझे लगा की यहाँ तो मेरा अधिकार हैं की मैं आधार कार्ड मुफ्त में बिना किसी के सयाहता के ले सकता हूँ ।

मैंने आधार के वेबसाईट पर देखा ... जैसे कहा गया वैसे पूरी तरह से नहीं हो पाया ।

जिसको आधार कार्ड बनाने किए लिए अनुमति दी गयी हो वह सब तरह से अपना काम नहीं कर पा रहे हैं । एक स्कूल जहा मैं गया था आधार कार्ड के लिए वह बंद हो गया था जब की वेब साईट पर उनका नाम और पता था ।

जितने फ़ोन नंबर दिए हुवा हैं उनमे से अस्सी प्रतिशत लगते ही नहीं । ऐसे लोग पे करवाई होनी चाहिए  :)

 आधिकारिक तौर पर तो वेब साईट बताता हैं की इसके लिए अनुमति दी गयी हैं बड़ी बड़ी सरकारी बैंक को । लेकिन इन बैंक ने निजी लोगो को यह कॉन्ट्रैक्ट दिया हुवा हैं । यह निजी कंपनियों ने इसे अपने तरह से इसका उपयोग कर रहे हैं । कहा करना हैं और कहा कैंप नहीं करना हैं इसके लिए वह तरह तरह से सौदा कर रहे हैं । इनके बारें में कोई जानकारी आधार के वेब साईट पर नहीं हैं ।

इन सब में ज्यादा पारदर्शिता लानें में लिए मैंने नंदन निलेकनी  जी को ईमेल भी लिखा हैं जिसका कोई अभी तक तो जवाब नहीं आया ।

सरकारी तौर पर कारपोरेशन से कुछ हो सकता हैं इस से भी ज्यादा प्रयास करना चाहिए । यहाँ प्राइवेट (निजी) कंपनिया काम कर रही हैं और सरकारी जगह पर कतार चार चार घंटो तक हैं । उनको और ज्यादा करने दिया नहीं जा रहा या नहीं करना चाहए ताकि निजी कंपनियों को ज्यादा लाभ हो पता नहीं । सरकारी सांठ गांठ नया तो नहीं हैं ।

एक अर्जी तो दी हैं कैंप के लिए सरकारी दफ्तर में ... देखे आगे क्या होता हैं ।

और हा ... यह अब राशन कार्ड से भी बत्तर हो गया हैं ;-) उसके लिए 10 रुपये शायद देना पड़ता था और सरकारी अफसर उस के लिए भी डरता था। अब निजी कंपनिया , सरकारी लोग और नेता सभी इस का बड़ा लाभ ले रहे हैं और किसी को पता नहीं की इसके बाद इसका उपयोग क्या होगा ।