Health issues in Urban city

We all are familiar with this popular saying that  "Health is wealth". But seems like nowadays in this fast moving urban environment we are running after wealth of money and we are ignoring the wealth of health.

As in most of Indian cities, people in Pune too, are eating more but doing very less to burn their extra calories. Obesity is one of the major challenge in Indian cities. I remember my grandfather saying me that he hardly use to see so many people with belly 20 years ago, but now people with belly are a common sight. High level of sugar intakes in urban cities is one of the major causes of it on the diet side, further aggravated because of sitting jobs as a techie in their cubicles in front of PCs or laptops. Stress of workplace along with not so great physical health is putting the urbanites at a risk for various kinds of health ailments.

One other commonly known fact about any typical urban city is air pollution. Air pollution level of pune is also very high at 61-90 ug/cubic meter. This is in same league with cities like Bangalore, Mumbai & hyderabad. Air pollution increases heart diseases. It is not just the lungs and lower respiratory tract, the cardiovascular system is also affected. The largest contributions to urban air pollution include motor vehicles (cars, bikes, buses, trucks, etc) , small scale manufacterers , coal fired power plant, and increasing deforestation. Air quality guideline as suggested by World Health Organisation (WHO) of PM10 is 20 micrograms per cubic metre as annual average. Pune is atleast 3 times to 4 times of this.Then we have water pollution and many other issues affecting health.

A study shows that air pollution can cause a lot to us w.r.t. lives & health.

Now the questions is what we can do about it. I can just say 4 basic points

• Prevention :- 
• Diet control, physical work, yoga, exercises, healthy food, etc
• Clean water, Mask in roads, etc
• Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan by our Prime Minister is one very important step in this direction.
• Earlier detection of diseases
• Earlier diagnosis of diseases can really help, as earlier detection will help control and stop the disease much easily.
• Delayed diagnosis and absence of proper action can convert a normal disease into a lethal one.
• Cure & care
• After diagnosis and finding of any disease one need to take care & cure of the disease.

For a good diagnosis and care, finding a good hospitals in Pune is also very important. Wrong diagnosis can cause a diseases birth actually or worsen the situation. So one need to check private hospitals in pune as well as private clinics in pune.

Infant Care

I was very happy with the news that I will be a father soon. And then started the care for 9 months. In excitement, we started planning for baby names, future plan, thinking about the way he or she may look, etc. We were blessed with a baby who was born on 22nd September 2014. At that moment I thought that now its all fun and I can play n enjoy with my baby. Once I was back home with my baby I realize that the care is not just over after 9 months. And the intensity of care is going to increase. Sharing my learning as a father which I came across as time passed by. Now my baby is close to 7 months old and has started crawling.Few times I have visited Pediatricians in Ahmedabad to get a better understanding of my child needs.

Learning in first week:-

• Wash your hands before touching the baby. I found it hard to do it again and again. Hence I started using sanitizer.
• Handle your baby sensitively especially take extra care for neck & head.
• Don't play with your baby like a doll. E.g. Jumping with baby or running or tossing baby up in the air. Don't even try, you will have a furious mother looking at you like never before.

Learning in three month:-

• Diapering your baby is not easy and I learned it hard way. Whenever he will have a bowel movement or diaper is wet, before you start make sure you have everything ready with you. E.g. next diaper which you are going to make your kid wear or where are you going to throw the old dirty diaper, etc.
• Too much Usage of Diaper can cause diaper rash. So don't make baby diaper 24/7. We typically only used diaper when we are outside home. If you have to use diaper, try to frequently change them as soon as bowel movement is done. Let the baby go not diapered for some time. In case the rashes are there for more than 3 days, it could be a fungal infection. 
• For Diaper rashes lasting more then 3 days I contacted people practicing Pediatrics in Ahmedabad and they guided me well, along with some more information on child care.
  • 
• Umbilical cord falls off in close to a week or so.
• Naval heals completely in a less than a month - In our case they applied some liquid ; I don't remember the name though. Few doctors recommend rubbing alcohol, while some recommends leaving the area alone. For this contact you can contact the pediatricians in Ahmedabad

 

Learning in six-seven months:-

•  Sleeping : Initially sleeping duration of a baby is close to 16 - 18 hours and it slowly keep on decreasing to close 12 -13 hrs for a six to seven months old child. 
• Once your baby starts crawling try to make sure that you block few things which baby can be hurt with. E.g. In my case I had electric switches at the lower part of the wall. I have got them sealed. Also I have moved my bedding from bed to the ground to reduce the chances of baby falling from a height.
• My UPS and inverters were exposed, I have got a new cover for them. Basically try to make your home - child safe.
• Check with your Child Specialist about the diets which needs to be changed. I discussed with Child Specialist in Ahmedabad and I have slowly started giving my baby a variety of food based on need which is slowly changing / improvising his digestion.

 

I am still going through this awesome journey of fatherhood. I will keep updating whenever I get chance.

 

Happy Fatherhood !!!

Dental Services & Care Needed for Children

I have a small kid of age approx ~7 months. Now he is having a lot of teething sensations. This made me to do some study to understand the Do's & Don'ts w.r.t. Dental care for children.

First thing is what are name for different type of teeth we have.

The teeth shown in the above diagram is of an adult. Many may wonder if there is a need to take care of infant's teeth (referred to as milk teeth by many) which anyways will fall off.  And to make sure that my kid has a nice smile, his teeth also needs to look good and care needs to be taken from childhood itself. As a parent, its my responsibility to be aware & take care of the dental care, precaution and services needed.

Many might be first time parents (especially male) similar to me and may not be aware of few of the below facts

1. First teeth normally appear when baby is close to 6-8 months
2. Front 4 teeths - 2 top & 2 bottom are the first to appear
3. By 3 years, most of the infant teeth ( aka milk teeth) have already come. Typically 20 in number

Baby teeth are very important for many reasons. They act as guide to adult teeth. They make child look good and helps in speech along with biting & chewing food.

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) suggests that an infant can go within six months after the first tooth comes out. Early child care is often neglected in our country. I will suggest you to refer the below pics to understand when to go to dentist. Just  get your kid to open the mouth and check atleast once in a week to help gauge health of the teeth.

Healthy teeth & Gums

chalky, white spot on the tooth near gums. This could mean start of gum decay. Show it to Dentist.

Brownish-yellow discolouration or cavities. Visit Dentist Immediately

Advanced decay of teeth. Visit Dentist Immidiately

I am not a dentist, but I want to be aware of different aspects of my child, Akshaj's health. Dental health is one of the most ignorant areas by Indian parents and I don't want to be part of those. Lets be more aware and careful.

Good Dentist for Kids in Ahmedabad are listed here.

If you are not kid, then also don't shy away from dental services. I recently got my Root Canal done by taking Dental Services in Ahmedabad and I am happy to take it early rather than delay it & aggravate the condition. Dental specialists in Ahmedabad are available in plenty. Same is the case with other cities also. 

Take care of your Dental health.

Happy Smiling !!!

JiFi - A Easy Social Banking - A New Initiative In India

I came across JiFi today in one of social meets by Indiblogger (More details below). JiFi is a new social initiative from Kota Mahindra Bank. As soon as I came to know that you can use twitter & Facebook for this account all kinds of thoughts started pouring in.

• Will I as a customer use social accounts for banking?
• Will it be secure?
• Is it just a new channel for banking?
• Is it just to get the new generation to banking?
• And many more...

What Features are offerened by JiFi  ... Are they Positive or Negative?

• It Invites user to either join using Facebook or Email (Positive)
• Kind of self subscription
• Better than other self subscription as details to be entered is much lower
• Doesn't make user feel so much reluctant to join
• Invite makes consumer feel better than just subscription
• No Minimum Balance (Positive)
• With no minimum balance, initial entry barrier is removed
• No Interest Bearing Account (negative / neutral)
• This will make user not keep much money in this account
• It makes user feel it as just a transnational account 
• No Interest and fears of web/social security of the money will make user have hiccups of using of the account
• Its more closer to P2P Banking.
• Looks more like Airtel Money / Eko with use of Twitter as a new channel

Social Banking through Twitter  (neutral / positive)

• Transaction details are in Direct Messages and not public twitts. So privacy is there.
• For security concerns, if user want they can disable or delink the twitter account.
• It's easy, just tweet to ‘@kotakjifi’ with the corresponding hashtag for your request 
• E.g. #JifiBal for balance Inquiry
• Referals (Positive, great opportunity for Kotak Mahindra Bank)
• Usage of Referal was one of the obvious things to use, if going social
• Kotak Bank is trying to leverage a positive network effect of already existing Facebook & Twitter networks.
• Adding Reward points will attract consumers to refer others in their network
• Loyalty Club (Positive)
• Addition of loyalty points will help increase loyalty.
• Consumers have to read between lines here - Social Points is not same as transaction points.
• Social points is more for discounts in lie of indirect advertising or marketing done by user.
• Transaction points are actually for usage of the JiFi service.
• Mobile Apps (Neutral)
• Launch of mobile App is just one more thing done by the bank. Most of the banks have mobile apps, so its not any new great differentiation.
• Kotak Money Watch (positive for 1 year )
• One place to manage your various financial assets
• Its free for just one year, so user may be concerned with those fine prints.
• Debit Card
• Similar to other banks.
• Liability is lesser as you just carry transactional money and not your complete bank with you
• You can use other banks for funding also (Positive)
•  You can fund your account online through Net Banking or a Debit Card transaction from your other bank account(s) or handover a cheque to our executive at the time of account opening.

Overall it looks a good deal ... But I am really concerned with the fine print of "Free for 1st year" for few of the features... If it goes Airtel Money way later on charging transaction fees to user it won't succeed... If no transaction charge, Indian users may still use it.

For More details on KotakJifi

Why Venture into Social Media for Banking by Banks?

It was a well thought move by Kotak Mahindra bank. Following are the advantages which it will get

• Social Media marketing offers a better targeted advertisements
• Social Media provides a better customer insight thanks to all the technology - cookies / Analytics.
• Cost Effective way of Brand Building.
• New youth (potential new account holders) . It can't be ignored. Its necessary for survival. To stay relevant & grow for long term they need to attract the new Gen Y. Approx. 20 million youth have joined higher education last year.
• Improvisations:- Social conversations about bank products and services can be used by banks to identify the pain points, trends, delight areas, etc . This will help to reduce the pain points and increase the areas of delight.
• Word of Mouth Publicity.
• Improved Customer Experience & customer engagement
• Reduced costs - Paper, employee, etc
• Reduced queue in bank branches & ATMs
• Increasing the channels available to acquire & maintain customers
• Also its a known Fact that more Engaging customers are more Loyal customers.

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Recently, I participated in the launch event of JiFi by Kotak Mahindra Bank in partnership with IndiBlogger. More details about the event be

When & Where?

Location: Bangalore
Sunday March 23, 2014 - 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM

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The Venues

Bangalore
The Biere Club
20/2, Vittal Mallya Rd
D Souza Layout, Ashok Nagar

Event was great. Atmosphere in The Biere Club was really happening, all the bloggers were in great energy. I also met few of the unknown folks as this was my first IndiBlogger Meet. There were many events like a songs by the bloggers, pics, twitting and many others.... 

Guess the Guest seemed an easier one, as Chethan Bagat was the guest... I believe the most guessed second possibility was Arvind Kejriwal, else he would have made all of us do BLOG DHARNA :-). Chethan tried to host the show well, but seems like he was not in great mood or all the blogger wanted to move things fast.

Once JiFi was introduced, we felt it was a great concept and is adding a differentiation to Kotak Mahindra Bank in already commoditized banking sector. I really like the media Ads for JiFi which were really thought of and focused well.

After all the nitty gritty and Q&A about the product, It was an open house and people were having a nice lunch. During the exit, we were given a nice IndiBlogger T-shirt.

FALL OF RUPEE: IMPACT ON COMMON MAN AND THE IT INDUSTRY

With the depreciation of a currency, the cost of living essentially goes up in that country or region(s) substantially; for the simple reasons that, more money has to be paid for the imports and the exports will fetch lesser returns than before, with a falling currency. Its GDP[1] is greatly influenced. Its EXIM (Export-Import) on goods and services that reflects its economic health gets adversely affected by the depreciating currency, because exchange rates impact the manufacturing/production costs of products and indirectly their prices as well.

The Rupee Vs Dollar issue has been a cause of concern for the common man more than the IT companies relatively. Whenever the rupee depreciates, any effort by our central bank (the RBI) to control the slide, results in a higher inflation. In fact, with dollar being the reserve currency of the world, the United States intelligently transfers inflation to other countries. A higher inflation impacts the lives of the common man impacting his day to day activities vividly. In contrast, with the depreciating rupee (as against the dollar), the exports tend to increase, even though the margins are lesser than before. India’s IT industry is the highest exporter of software products and services and the falling rupee helps that part of the IT industry that works on dollar based transactions in presenting positive quarterly results and an impressive balance sheets. On the other hand, the other part of the IT industry that services Indian firms and deals in rupees will be impacted by the ensuing high Inflation. So the impact is of mixed type.

Whenever the rupee depreciates against the dollar, the following phenomena are common. A higher demand for dollar due to lesser availability; a reduced demand for the rupee due to its easy availability (a heated economic situation); infusion of more dollars into the market by RBI to stem the slide, results in the reduction of FOREX reserves which is dollars; a higher infusion of dollars into the market by external investors (investors from outside the country) there by further depreciating the rupee.  Any effort to fix the above phenomena, almost always results in a higher inflation.

Through macroeconomic studies, the behavior of an economy as a whole can be studied effectively. Macroeconomic theories relate the phenomena of GDP, unemployment, and inflation. From a macroeconomic point of view any volatility in exchange rates (for ex. rupee Vs dollar) can drastically impact these macroeconomic parameters as discussed below.

From the perspective of a common man:  The original version of Okun's law[2] states that a 3% increase in the nation’s total production would lead to a 1% decrease in unemployment. When there is inflation, it affects the common man in terms of his purchasing power. Prices will increase and with increase in prices people will find living tough as their disposable incomes reduce. The problems of a wage-price spiral – price rises can lead to higher wage demands as workers try to maintain their real standard of living. Higher wages over and above any gains in labor productivity causes an increase in unit labor costs. To maintain their profit margins prices are increased. The process could start all over again and inflation may get out of control. In a theoretical world, a 2% wage increase during a year with 4% inflation has the same net effect to the worker as a 2% wage reduction in periods of zero inflation.

Depreciation of the rupee as against the dollar directly impacts the remuneration, the various loans and interest rates, the monthly grocery bill, the cost of luxury goods like Cars, Smartphones etc the vacation expenditures, the dining cost and last but not the least, the increased surcharges and taxes on various fuels like Petrol, Diesel, Kerosene, LPG etc. With a major dependency on imports for its energy needs, the Indian government is forced to increase the prices of fuel, also increasing surcharges on the fuel to fund its governance and the various development programs. The depreciation of the rupee has considerably affected the price of the edible oil in a big way, as we import nearly 60-70% of our requirement. FMCG, or Fast Moving Consumer Goods, such as soaps, detergents, deodorants and shampoos, of which crude oil is an input, are more likely to become more expensive. High raw material costs (since most of it are imported paying more rupees than before) will result in a higher retail prices for the common man.

The investment towards foreign education will be impacted directly with a depreciating rupee. One has to spend more rupees to send the same amount of dollar’s to their sons/daughters. The education loans also tend to become costlier. When the cost is in dollars and the borrowing is in rupees, students may fall short of funds as the loan may be based on the initial loan agreements. Vacations abroad have become costlier too for the same reason.

Property costs have gone up because of a depreciating rupee. Due to heavy inflow from NRIs to invest on properties (with dollar fetching more rupees), the increased demand has lead to increased property prices. Inflation can also cause a reduction in the real value of savings - especially if real interest rates are negative[3]. Many pensioners who are on fixed pensions will find it impossible to handle the effects on inflation.

A depreciating rupee and the accompanied inflation also have resulted in more people looking for opportunities abroad for various obvious reasons. This will lead to increased brain-drain.

From the perspective of the IT industry:  In contrast, for the IT industry, the depreciating rupee has helped in increased revenues but also with an increase cost to attain those revenues.  IT companies that generate a major part of its revenues from the US based projects will benefit majorly because they generate more dollar revenues. At the same time, with increasing operating costs, Sales and Marketing expenses, R&D and Salary costs offshore, IT companies will face more problems due to increased attrition rates that could thwart the very foundation of their business. IT industry as a whole is forced to prey on the available talent pool, attracting them with bulky (also tricky) pay packages. This has also resulted in reduced margins.

Additionally, the depreciating rupee is impacting potential upcoming IT contracts and could impact onsite costs and international hiring plans. IT BPO (Business Process outsourcing) business are also facing the heat as any increased revenues due to the depreciating rupee also leads to increased local wages. Outsourcing firms in the US have started to renegotiate the terms of some of the potentially renewable contracts.

            The increased pressure from the Indian government to stem the depreciation of rupee, the IT industry may also be forced to reserve dollars. Loans get tougher for the IT companies with high interest rates. This impacts the overall margins that are very much required to stay afloat in the short/long run. Recruitments in IT firms may have to freeze during times of high inflation, resulting in a higher unemployment rate. Firms may have to cut down on incentives and other perks for the employees. Also frequent restructuring could add to higher cost and reduced margins further enhancing the unemployment rates.

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[1]  GDP measures the value of all final goods and services (output) produced domestically over some given interval of time

[2]  Okun's law (named after Arthur Melvin Okun) is an empirically observed relationship relating unemployment to losses in a country's production

[3] Negative Interest rates is assessed as Deposit rates minus loan rates  (D.R – L.R < 0)

Why not have a new foreign policy - "All Weather Friends"

Somehow I was following up on the news going around related with India-Japan-China-ASEAN ... Then somehow I got this India's foreign policy related thought in this "IT" Brain... He he ...was surprised myself....Anyhow...just putting it down...

I believe its very important for India as a nation to have few "All Weather Friends". We have definately seen that for every nation ups & downs are there. Today India is in upwards trend....we may be downward sometime...similarily some other nation...so we need to have a group of friends who help you & you help them back...in all weathers....

1> Have atleast 1 "All Weather friend" in every regional unions of nations
The reason I am saying that, no nation should be able to get a whole regional union against India if we get a strong friend in all groupings. At the same time, it gives us extra soft power to push for some resolution against our adversary or those which can benefit India economocially, militarily, or strategically. I will put just one nation which I think will be most prefered in each category. At the end we can compile a list of most prefered friends and then India can work more closely with them.
List of Group/unions which I can think of
a> African Union consisting of 53 African states. The only African state not in the AU is Morocco.
In AU, South Africa will suit India the best. South Africa & India has literally no conflicts. There is a large group of South Africans of Indian descent. Mahatma Gandhi, spent many years in South Africa, during which time, he fought for the rights of the ethnic Indians. Nelson Mandela was inspired by Gandhi. Also They are close in various forums like IBSA.

b. ASEAN is a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia. Economically, culturally, militarily as well as strategically its very important for India. Also all members of ASEAN also form East Asia (EAS) also, to which India is also part of. ASEAN is one where India & China are competing for influence.
In ASEAN, Vietnam will be my Pick. As its Anti-china, miltarily capable & share some good history with India along with economical benefits. Also both are members of Mekong-Ganga Cooperation. Both India & Vietnam are already helping each other.

c. Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG) comprises the Persian Gulf states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. For India, its very important. More than 50% of the oil consumed by India comes from the Persian Gulf countries[181] and Indian nationals form the largest expatriate community in the Arabian peninsula.
Here I will put Qatar as most favoured. Saudi Arabia are more pro-pakistan as compared to India. Also one of the reason for Qatar is that we already have a landmark defense pact was signed, under which India committed its military assets to protect "Qatar from external threats".

d. Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) + Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Here I will put RUSSIA, India & RUSSIA have a time tested friendship + there relationship is win-win situation in defence area.

e. Union of South American Nations is an intergovernmental union integrating two existing customs unions: Mercosur and the Andean Community of Nations, as part of a continuing process of South American integration. It is modeled on the European Union.

Here I will make Brazil as the preferred choice. Most of the foreign policy stands matches with Brazil also both countries are already discussing in IBSA forum.

f. Arab League is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia.
I will prefer Egypt here as potential All weather friend for India. India & Egypt are also founding members of NAM and both have supported each other.

g. North American (NAFTA) Not sure whom to pick...Canada / US / Mexico....Not sure....U ppl suggest....

i. Pacific Islands Forum is an inter-governmental organization that aims to enhance cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean.
Here, I will prefer New Zealand. One of the reason not to choose Australia is that ppl to ppl contact between two nations doesn't seem to be converging. I didn't choose Fiji as its suspended now.

j. The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 member states[8] which are located primarily in Europe.
here I will prefer, France. Yes, you are right. France, Russia and Israel were the only countries that did not condemn India's decision to go nuclear in 1998.[164] In 2003, France became the largest supplier of nuclear fuel and technology to India and remains a large military and economic trade partner. India's permanent member aspirations in the UN Security Council have found very strong support from former French President Chirac and more recently by the current French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

k. Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is an international organisation with a permanent delegation to the United Nations, with 57 member states.
Iran :- It has proved already that it regard India as friend when it saved India when it was in a mess from Kashmir Issue being adopted in OIC. I hate to say that India voted against them for nuclear. I wish India build that relation ship back & informally apologise to Iran who has always been our friend. Strategically, Its also neighbour of Pakistan and it will help us.

2> Try to be "All Weather friend" with countries with lot of Ethnic Indians
Here my picks are
a> Mauritius :- Majority are from Indian Origin + its already very close friend.
b> Not Malaysia :- Wont be an all weather friend for sure...they somehow dont like India, I feel. But we need to be friend, not all weather though. Malaysia most of the times take anti India posture. So wont pick it
c> Singapore :- Strategically + Economically. Lot of PIOs are there
d> Caribbean (Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago) :- Miltarily + strategically not very important. But has huge Indian Origin presence.
e> Fiji :- Lot of PIOs are there. Miltarily + strategically not very important. But India needs to be friend to protect Indian Origin people.

3> Strategic allies + Misc
My Picks here are:-
Israel :- Lot of military training & execution can be learnt from them. Nice to be on ur side rather than against you.
Tajikstan :- India already have troops stationed there + Energy security in Central Asia.
JAPAN :- It has money + technology, India has market. Both are threatened by China. Win-win.

4> All Neighbours except Pakistan + China India needs to be close to its neighbour and somehow break the China's "String of Pearls" in Indian ocean

List of All weather Friends I propose :-
1> South Africa
2> Vietnam <>
3> Qatar (CCASG, Gulf)
4> RUSSIA (CIS, EAEC)
5> Brazil (South America)
6> Egypt (Arab League, African Union)
7> New Zealand (Pacific Islands)
8> France (EU)
9> Mauritius (Indian Oceans, PIOs)
10> Singapore (EAS, ASEAN, PIOs)
11> Israel (Miltarily)
12> Tajikstan (Energy, Military)
13> Iran (Energy, OIC, Militarily)
14> JAPAN (Strategically, technology)
15> SAARC countries except Pakistan


Optionals
Carribean (Optional, PIOs)
Fiji (Optional, PIOs)

What do you guys think of new Policy "Make All weather friends" ....Once we have good number of All weather freinds Enemies will have to think before taking some mischeievios steps...I know India is self sufficient, but in this world its very important to link and form strategic alliance...

But India should keep this policy secret & not reveal it...

Battles I see around me !!!

Well, I see more of battles going around our world in different sphere from cultural to technological to ideological to political ....

So just though to list them out and may be add some opinions on them...

1. Battle of Sex:-

• Male vs Female :- Perhaps the oldest one and the one which will last till the either of the last men or female survives in the planet. Latest one was in the Indian parliament. The battle of Supremacy.

• Heterosexuality vs Homosexuality ? Bisexuality :-Well the battle between homo's & hetero's are own. Its more kind of civil war for the acceptance of homo's as part of our society. Now or later we have to accept them. Well what about Bi-Sexual ?? Seems like its more like a third front of our politics, can mix with any side without any problem. The battle of Acceptance & Inclusion.

• Man + Woman & Eunuchs "The Third Gender" :- Well different world or cultures were not sure where to place them in the order of the society or within clan which they wanted to establish. Anyways leave past... A court once said eunuchs are technically males and which blocked one of the eunuch from becoming Mayor as it was booked for a women as part of reservation in the Indian System. Though this battle is silent, but lets ask ourselves - Do we have to wait for someone to take up arms or demand for the right of equality for the opportunities or let us forward our hands for their acceptance in the society as equals. I never say give reservations or anything. I just want equal opportunity based on Merits. Mostly I have seen them begging in trains or earning by dancing or earnings when new baby's are born. But I believe this angle is largely untouched and taken least seriously. The only good thing is that they have started to take things on their own hand by forming political party, better than waiting for us - "so called rationalists".

2. Battleground of Telecom :-

• Apple vs Google vs Microsoft (OSs) :- This is one heck of interesting battle to watch. With the advent of i-Phone seems like Google's Android as well as Microsoft's Windows 7 Phone series are all set for a war to be win the smart phones market. They have started wooing the carriers as well as manufacturers. Google is more after advertising revenue and revenue generating revenues, Apple with i-Phone already has the bigger advantage of first to the market with huge bank of application, lastly Windows 7 Phone last entrant with the least chance to become King. Best part, only the consumers are to gain with the battle in this field. This is the battleground of OS-Framework war within the Telecom.

• Nokia vs HTC vs Motorola vs Samsung vs RIM vs Apple (OEMs):- Nokia is no doubt the market leader in the smart phone segment. But lead seems to be in serious danger from the new entrant in the segments, like Apple and Google through its proxies (Motorola, HTC, Samsung). Motorola stopped all of its other platform and gave a complete push for one only, i.e., Android. Motorola's Droid has made a good name, interesting thing will be to see if it can turn around the company which brought Razr and how it performs after the spinoff. It has one of the highest paid ceo- Sanjay Jha. RIM is also increasing its market share at the expense of Nokia. Interesting part will be to see which of the OEM's goes for the Windows Phone 7 series and whether it will have the might to take on the established players and being the late entrant in the market. This is the battleground of OEMs within the Telecom.

• Verizon vs AT&T (Carriers :US):- There is already a commercial war in televisions between them. AT&T had i-Phone but with a bad network coverage in US, Verizon had good n/w coverage but no i-Phone killer. With the arrival of Android Phone's Droid + Devour, Verizon seems to be armed to take on AT&T. Now doubt, Verizon will have an advantage now with its vast 3G coverage area. But in reality, the battle will be win by the carrier which delivers the first effective 4G service in US. This is the battleground of US Carriers . Keep Watching.

• Airtel vs Vodafane vs Reliance vs Idea (Carriers :India):- Till now, it has been now only the price war and consolidation business with acquiring of spectrum and licenses etc. But the winner will be the one with improved QoS, coverage/reliability of n/w, security and performance. Price will be always a factor, with conscious Indian consumers, its always a tough job with the carriers with huge amount of pressure in profit margins. All carriers now know its a just matter of time when the revenue share will move more towards Value-added-services, basically, more revenues from data than voice revenues.This is the battleground of Indian Carrier's price war ;). Lets watch this local battle in our own country. ;)

Damn I am feeling sleepy now....Its 2 am... will continue tomorrow.... with the rest of the Battleground....

Till now only two I have covered: - Battle of Sex & Battleground of Telecom