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How to select the right Mutual Fund?
Friday, April 26, 2013
Airtel India's unprofessional customer service
Recently my broadband connection became unstable and I have been facing frequent disconnections. I logged a service request on April 23rd. A support staff called me on 24th morning. I wasn’t at him, was at work, and he didn’t visit my home. He told me there was some jumper issue at the Airtel end and he could fix it and everything was all right and he was closing the issue. I came home in the evening and checked and saw the issue to be recurring. So I logged a second complaint on 24th evening. Next day I got a call from another technician. This time he offered to come home and check. He came in the evening. Checked my modem and told me there was nothing wrong with the equipment at my end. I had rechecked with him if anything was wrong at my end, he confirmed that it was probably a cable related issue at the Airtel end. He did some reconfigurations using my laptop. He left saying the issue was sorted out.
It was fine for some time after that. Now on April 26th I started noticing the issue again. I called the customer service a third time. The customer service representative checked the previous history and told me that the disconnections were because of a faulty modem at my end. The technician who had assured me that my modem was all right had updated the issue saying it was a modem problem. So much for professionalism and customer service ethics. I am still waiting for my issue to be resolved.
It is really irritating when Airtel just closes off your first couple of complaints without even attempting to solve the issue.
#airtel #airtelin #airtelindia
@airtel @airtelin @airtelindia
Monday, July 06, 2009
Gladiators at Center Court
Who thought someone could match Federer in sheer class? Yesterday Federer could only outlast Roddick and not outplay him. Roddick proved to be the better player, with a bigger serve, with fewer errors and all in all in better control of the situation.
Who thought someone could come out with services which turned out to be mysterious even for Federer? The same Federer who could return with ease the bazooka like serves from the 6 foot 10 inches tall Ivo Karlovic in the quarter finals, whose serves used to be a terror for lesser mortals. Given, Roddick's been known mainly for his serves, but then so far we haven’t seen anybody holding those many service games against THE Federer.
Right from the start Roddick was in an elevated state. Everything went his way starting with the toss, and then the first game, first set and so on. It was amazing to see him coming up with big serve after big serve and then following up with volleys which didn’t let Federer come anywhere near a break point. It was amazing to see Federer not being able to convert all five of his advances to the net in the first 2 sets. Too many, far too many for comfort, unforced errors from the champ’s racquet. Federer was clearly tensed from the word go, and it was evident in his game. He could never come out of that all through the match, and he mentioning the word ‘crazy’ multiple times in the post match interview was not at all a coincidence. His head would have been literally spinning on seeing those extraordinary replies, from the spirited American.
Volleys were rare. It was more of a serving competition. Break points were rare too. The very few and far between 15-40 score lines were rapidly cleared with 2 consecutive aces. Aces were the norm. How can somebody continue to send down aces, as if factory generated, even after toiling on the court for a good 4 hours is still a mystery to me. One could always predict an ace and be bang on the prediction no matter which of the two was serving at crucial points. It was bewildering to notice the stats that Federer was ahead with a 1 to 1.5 ratio in terms of the number of aces. It was Roddick who seemed to be sending down all the aces. Or it may be because we are so used to seeing Federer The God that we aren’t amused much when he pulls out one of his routine tricks. 50 aces in a championship final and still not being advantaged because of them speaks volumes about your opponent.
Full points to Federer for coming back from 2-6 down the second set tie breaker. Reminded of his come back from 2 sets down in his French Open match against Tommy Haas. But then these days you can trust Federer to do these magical come backs if the opponent is not Nadal.
Federer has elevated the standards of not just his game, but the competition’s standard too, so much so that his opponents have started becoming too good for himself. He showed the world so many new things which are possible. And now he sees his opponents closely following him on those so far untrodden paths and at times bettering him in emulating his own tricks. May be we can set aside the discussion about the greatest player ever, and admit that this is the player who has raised the standard of the game so much that there is no distinction among the best of this sport any more. Its only about the sides from which they got up from their beds on the given day.
Roddick wished, worked hard, wanted, toiled, played, elevated his game and over all deserved to be the 2009 Wimbledon Men’s single’s champion. But Destiny’s child was around to deprive him of that. This year Federer won because - It was written. If The Architect appeared on the Center Court and uttered the following words to Federer at the end of the match, I wouldn’t have been particularly surprised , as the rest of the events yesterday afternoon were as much real and believable – “Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you, inexorably, here.”
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Jay Ho!
In the given circumstances, general elections 2009 have produced probably the best result one can hope for. Like the recent state assembly elections in Delhi, Gujrat and MP, voters continued the good trend of electing governments based on their previous developmental policies, rather than based on cast and creed politics.
The fact that this is the best result becomes obvious, when we consider the alternatives. Here are some could have been scenarios.
1. BJP with absolute majority: India will be walking right-bound (or backwards, whichever way you want to look at it) for at least five years in foreign relationships, energy generation, communal harmony etc. Merchants of deaths, culture police gangs, anti valentine day crusaders etc will be roaming our streets freely.
2. Lalu+Mulayam+Paswan gathers 60+ seats and are an integral part of the government: All development work, i.e. the ones which squeeze through the stubborn blockage of these parties, will be concentrated in UP and Bihar, not to mention the personal gains these leaders are going to make for themselves. Whichever govt accepts the support of these parties will be subject to constant arm-twisting from them. Just imagine opportunists like Lalu or Amar Singh deciding our foreign policies or developmental roadmap.
3. Mayawati getting 60+ seats and third front getting simple majority: We will have the honor of being ruled by Behan Mayawati. But then we already had the honor of being ruled by Humble Farmer Deva Gowda, so this prospect might not match in shock quotient. If she becomes the PM, no points in guessing which state will prosper and whose bank accounts are going to go through the ceiling. If she could make all these assets by looting, oops ruling, just a single state, just imagine who will be the wealthiest person on earth in a couple of years.
4. Jayalalitha sweeping TN polls: Instead of DMK, it would have been AIADMK mistaking portfolio allocation meeting for fish market, employing the same tactics of bargaining.
5. Deva Gowda and sons getting enough seats for bargaining: Or stretch that even further and think of a scenario where they get enough seats to bargain for the PM's post. We will see Kumaraswami getting into five different pacts with five different parties to have coalitions of one year tenure each. He will switch his partners five times within the five year term.
So lets just be thankful about the small mercies that come our way every once in a while.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Interesting battlefields
Bangalore South - Captian G.R.Gopinath- Independent
Aviation czar Captian G.R.Gopinath has decided to contest parliament elections as an independant from Bangalore South constituency."I am plunging into active politics due to the dramatic events and developments over the last six months in the country and the world over such as the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, global recession, economic slowdown in India and unsavory incidents in Karnataka."
"My three-point agenda is to fight terrorism, which is impacting our life in terms of safety, security and economic activity; communal violence and divisive forces, which are rearing their head again, especially in Karnataka after the BJP came to power; and socio-economic development of the country, particularly, infrastructure that is holding up the pace of growth."
"I am not joining any political party as people are disgusted with their functioning. As candidature is decided on the basis of caste, community and ulterior considerations, I have decided to be on my own. Even their manifestos and election strategies are driven by the interests of industrialists and business houses."
Captain Gopinath hails from Gorur in Hassan district, about 250 km from Bangalore. He has turned down support from SP, JD(U) to back him.
Result | |||
Sr | Candidate | Party | Votes |
1 | ANANTH KUMAR | BJP | 437953 |
2 | KRISHNA BYRE GOWDA | INC | 400341 |
3 | PROF.RADHAKRISHNA | JD(S) | 30045 |
4 | CAPT. G.R. GOPINATH | IND | 16383 |
5 | NAHEEDA SALMA S | BSP | 4621 |
Mumbai South – Meera Sanyal - Independent
Meera Sanyal - country head, ABN Amro Bank is contesting on an independent ticket from South Mumbai. Sanyal hopes to bring about a change she truly believes in."I have decided to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections from South Mumbai. I have been associated with community development programmes and policy reforms for a long time now and feel that I can bring about some positive changes in our system by participating in the election."
Asked if she had approached any political party for its ticket, Sanyal said "I did not look at all towards any political party to stand as its candidate. I found it difficult to align myself with their ideologies."
"There is no shortage of talent in our country but there is a vacuum of leadership." "We demand that our corporate leaders be honest, we demand the best from them. Then why should we accept anything less from our political leaders," she asked.
Sanyal, who is on leave from the bank till May 15 to concentrate on her campaigning, said she would be contesting as an independent and her entire campaign would be self-funded and within EC's prescribed ceiling of Rs 25-lakh.
Result | |||
Sr | Candidate | Party | Votes |
1 | DEORA MILIND MURLI | INC | 272411 |
2 | MOHAN RAWALE | SHS | 146118 |
3 | BALA NANDGAONKAR | MNS | 159729 |
4 | MOHAMMAD ALI ABUBAKAR SHAIKH | BSP | 33799 |
5 | MEERA H. SANYAL | IND | 10157 |
Gandhinagar – Mallika Sarabhai - Independent
Danseuse Sarabhai has decided to fight BJP's prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani from Gandhinagar constituency as an independent candidate. Interestingly, her symbol is a harmonium. Sarabhai who will be contesting against BJP prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and Congress leader Suresh Patel, said that the issues included in her manifesto or action plan, as she calls it, are based on the outcome of her interaction with people in her constituency."I have interacted with over 1.3 lakh people and visited over 130 villages in my constituency. The points in my action plan are based on the inputs of people with whom I interacted during the campaign," Sarabhai told reporters. According to her manifesto, she aims to make politicians more accountable and bring transparency to the way they function.
State capital Gandhinagar is also known as the green capital, with the number of trees perhaps exceeding the voters. Housing the secretariat and the official residence of members of the cabinet, a sizeable chunk of Ahmedabad city and Sanand — where the Tatas are relocating their Nano manufacturing plant — now comes under the new limits of Gandhinagar constituency. Victory margin for Mr. LK Advani has remained more than one and a half lakh votes consistently for the last three terms.
Result | |||
Sr | Candidate | Party | Votes |
1 | L.K.ADVANI | BJP | 434044 |
2 | PATEL SURESHKUMAR CHATURDAS (SURESH PATEL) | INC | 312297 |
3 | RAKESH PANDEY | BSP | 5907 |
4 | DR.MALLIKA SARABHAI | IND | 9268 |
Pilibhit - Varun Gandhi - BJP
The only claim to fame of this grandson of an ‘unconverted Muslim’ grandfather and ‘legally converted Muslim’ grandmother, is his hate speech-ability.Result | |||
Sr | Candidate | Party | Votes |
1 | FEROZE VARUN GANDHI | BJP | 419539 |
2 | V. M. SINGH | INC | 138038 |
3 | RIYAZ AHMAD | SP | 117903 |
4 | GANGA CHARAN | BSP | 112576 |
5 | RAM NARAYAN SINGH | IND | 14246 |
6 | VIQUARUL HASAN KHAN | IND | 10777 |
7 | MASTER CHOTEY LAL GANGWAR | NCP | 4963 |
8 | KRISHNA ADHIKARI | CPI(ML)(L) | 3563 |
Thiruvananthapuram - Sashi Tharoor- Congress
The seasoned diplomat and former UN Under-Secretary General Shashi Tharoor was on Thursday (19th March) named the Congress candidate for the key Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat in Kerala. Tharoor is fielded against Ramachandran Nair, the current Thiruvananthapuram district secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the candidate of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF). Another formidable opponent is Neelalohithadasan Nadar of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).“I speak a simple Malayalam, not the high-flaunting literary variety. And I connect with people particularly well”
“I do represent the educated Indian middle class which has tended to abstain from politics. I have often argued in my writings that it’s a mistake for the middle class to abdicate this political space to others”
“I certainly come from a non-political background. In a parliamentary system, you can’t do an Obama so one has to find a party that embodies one’s ideals and beliefs. The Congress fitted the billing,”
53-year-old Tharoor has authored nine books, including ‘The Great Indian Novel’ and the bestseller ‘From Midnight to the Millennium’.
Result | |||
Sr | Candidate | Party | Votes |
1 | SHASHI THAROOR | INC | 326725 |
2 | ADV. P RAMACHANDRAN NAIR | CPI | 226727 |
3 | DR.A NEELALOHITHADASAN NADAR | BSP | 86233 |
4 | P K KRISHNA DAS | BJP | 84094 |
5 | M.P.GANGADHARAN | NCP | 2972 |
6 | AJITHKUMAR.K | AITUC | 1606 |
7 | JAIN WILSON | BSA | 457 |