[EuPhOrIa]

This thread has become dormant for quite long time. We were upto lotsa quality stuff and ideas. I was expecting lotsa more ppl to come and contribute on this therad. Out of thousands of junta, there will be lot of ppl who feel for the country n for the cause.

Let's not let the ideas die out just for nothing.

I exhort all junta to drop in here n go thru' the questioner and if it really appeals you, plz contribute by filling it up.

What happened to mission "piracy"?? Of late, in baroda lot of raids in all the co. n cyber cafes for pirated copies of MS office n other softwares. Lots of cafes have been shut off and they expect only 20% cafes to survive with that unaffordable exhorbitant pices of original software.

I hope they'd come up with better soln which of course wud eradicate piracy to an extent but without letting hoi polloi suffer coz of that.

I am just wondering if it's the activity nationwide and it has something to do with influence from world business and political fraternity!!

[j0]

Yes Ritesh, the thread has been dormant way too long... it's been getting a little re-shuffled to suit the purpose better.

But as far as piracy goes, I've personally decided that as long as there is a legal option available I won't indulge in it.
My PC doesn't run any pirated softwares in anycase, and with the non-functioning of my Kazaa it relieves me of any responsibility I might have had in perpetuating piracy...even if it is only because of forced circumstances that sadden me greatly.

As far as cybercafes and VCD waalas go, well I know we all love the Rs 10/hour surfing and 10 rupai ka movie...but these guys quite truly are petty crooks.
Their entire business enterprise is illegal...I'm all for file-sharing, but to have these god-damned middlemen who have close to zero investment and only profits to reap is something no one should encourage.

About this cybercafes being closed down being a nationwide phenomenon, I actually don't see them sprawled all over the place here like they are in Gujarat.
I think this State is better regulated in such matters, and since everyone is so politicised here...action on any matter is immediate.

But that isn't always a good thing. We had 4 strikes last week, and there's another tomorrow... the minute the attack on Ram Janmabhoomi took place, we had a procession out by the BJP...even while the Communists were having a "general-ly" strike, since life is just so boring for them otherwise.

But as there are two sides to every coin, the utter stubbornness of the Malayalee can be channelised in useful directions. This happened when there were huge protests about chemical dumping by some companies(Coke included I think) in the Periyaar River which is the lifeline of the State.
Action was swift ...55 companies got shutdown.

I learnt of this at a Kerala Management Association annual meet where they felicitated a man who apparently had done great things for merging ecology and the corporate in this state.
Strangely enough the KMA would next proudly announce that they managed to pressurise the government into re-opening those 55 violating factories. And that this was testament to the potency of the organisation.
In the midst of the subsequent applause I wondered if these companies had been made to comply with stringent eco-safety standards.
I forwarded this query later at the dinner, only to find out that some of them had done some token compliance...but no one was unduly concerned about it.
I got this suspicious feeling that since the KMA is filled with close, eminent Keralite businessman, whether this supposed victory for Industry against the unreasonable Malayalee was a victory for anyone other than those sipping their whiskey there.
I'll leave the benefit of the doubt, up to you.

Back to piracy...
The sooner that we get stricter in regulating all this , will a genuine market for these products come into existence, and with that a change in customer culture where hopefully the customer will be able to negotiate a reasonable price for all these goodies.
As I've made mention before, there should be low compliance costs and higher non-compliance taxes.
Everything's economics after all :smile:

[zango]

I just made a reservation for flying Air Deccan on Sunday - made the payment thru Citibank. Due to some technical problems, citibank debited my account for the ticket but didn't send these details to Air Deccan. Air Deccan asked me to talk to Citibank to have the matter sorted out.
So, I call Citibank - and they tell me that the transaction did happen and that the money was debited from my account. Now, maybe due to a technical fault at their end, the transaction did not register on the backend (whatever that means) and that the details were or were not registered at Air deccan (they surely did not reister at Air Deccan's site yet) - and it may register as late as end of the day tomorrow.

Now, in the meantime - what do i do? Do i go ahead and book another ticket? Citibank is asking me to take my Citibank statement to Air Deccan to show them that the transaction did occur - and that I should be issued a ticket. How would Air Deccan believe that? And moreover, why should I have to undergo the hassle?

This sucks! I believe we allow too much leeway to our corporations - it is time we did something about things which people take with a "Chalta Hai!" attitude.

PS: I know - even I may let go of this issue if things are sorted out between Citibank, Air Deccan and me... but these are problems we face as customers in India today. I have already threatened them of legal action of going against their "Terms of Service" on phone - and it appears that they will pursue this matter - but the resolution will take 24-48 hours.

[donB]

hmmm random musing before i get cut off from the net for a month, any movement or idea needs an icon that makes it an instantly recognisable figure to the ppl. sort of like a brand ambassador. Every party product or movement has one.

[j0]

Most of it is already in the works, will be meeting Girish tomorrow...we'll try to put a timeline on when exactly things should get underway.
I have a date in mind...let's see if we can get it all together by then, we'll need a little more focus on this from the committed lot.

[estranged_gnrs]

Originally Posted by j0

I have a date in mind...let's see if we can get it all together by then, we'll need a little more focus on this from the committed lot.

If that was meant for me,then am surely guilty...but no explanations.
Coming to Zango's tryst with Citibank ,we indians as customers are a very gullible lot.We love to bargain with the roadside vegetable vendor even for 50 paisa but we will happily pay 25 rs. for a 10 rupee pepsi in a multiplex.
Ever thought about it? We as consumers are surely awed by the glitterati of the place and we think instead of creating a scene we should shell out the money.
Personally ,I have not done anything big as per my consumer rights but I have won a case against ICICI bank,when they put interest on my credit card bill and i wasnt even aware of my bill or the cycle( it was first bill!!!).I forced them to retract the charges.But its easy with credit card companies to fight,cos they are the ones on receving side.But when we are paying money and not getting desired result,we should ASK for it,or raise our voice in consumer forum.Its not a matter of 10 rs or 100 rs,its just that i cannot see myself being fooled by gimmicks.
A sincere request to all of you there,always inquire if you think price of a product is inflated and be aware of your consumer rights.Believe me,if u think you are being harassed as a customer,do give threat of the going to consumer forum..it works!!!
More on this..but later...
Rohit

[zango]

Originally Posted by estranged_gnrs

If that was meant for me,then am surely guilty...but no explanations.
Coming to Zango's tryst with Citibank ,we indians as customers are a very gullible lot.We love to bargain with the roadside vegetable vendor even for 50 paisa but we will happily pay 25 rs. for a 10 rupee pepsi in a multiplex.
Ever thought about it? We as consumers are surely awed by the glitterati of the place and we think instead of creating a scene we should shell out the money.
Personally ,I have not done anything big as per my consumer rights but I have won a case against ICICI bank,when they put interest on my credit card bill and i wasnt even aware of my bill or the cycle( it was first bill!!!).I forced them to retract the charges.But its easy with credit card companies to fight,cos they are the ones on receving side.But when we are paying money and not getting desired result,we should ASK for it,or raise our voice in consumer forum.Its not a matter of 10 rs or 100 rs,its just that i cannot see myself being fooled by gimmicks.
A sincere request to all of you there,always inquire if you think price of a product is inflated and be aware of your consumer rights.Believe me,if u think you are being harassed as a customer,do give threat of the going to consumer forum..it works!!!
More on this..but later...
Rohit

no not later - tell me more about this.
its been 3 days - and i haven't got my refund... i am getting pissed about this. first they tell me it will take 1-2 days to refund - then yday they said it would take 72 hours - and today they are telling me 6 days for a refund!!!
it is time i take them to a consumer forum and sue them for mental anguish as well.. teach thema lesson or two - maybe a big amount will ensure that they do not take the customer lightly in the future.

[estranged_gnrs]

OK,Zango...lead the way...if you go to a consumer forum in ur city,talk to them,ask them if they are ready to take ur case,do that .the case may stretch for long but it will be surely worth the compensation and the satisfaction of fighting for ur rights.and am sure it will come as a shining and leading example for all of us here.OR (but i think u must have tried this by now)Call them up,but not the call centre,directly to some big boss,or i guess sending an email to one of the big bosses sometiemes does the work too.

OR
Do not book ticket flights on net in future
Rohit

[zango]

Originally Posted by estranged_gnrs

OK,Zango...lead the way...if you go to a consumer forum in ur city,talk to them,ask them if they are ready to take ur case,do that .the case may stretch for long but it will be surely worth the compensation and the satisfaction of fighting for ur rights.and am sure it will come as a shining and leading example for all of us here.OR (but i think u must have tried this by now)Call them up,but not the call centre,directly to some big boss,or i guess sending an email to one of the big bosses sometiemes does the work too.

OR
Do not book ticket flights on net in future
Rohit

i did email someone at air deccan - for the refund.
i am not sure who to blame here - citibank for not carrying out the transaction properly - or air deccan for not refunding the amount yet. maybe both

as for booking tickets on the net goes, even tho the citibank transaction didn't go thru, i immediately booked a ticket again on air deccan, using ICICI bank this time - guess i can't let that go
btw - u coming to bangalore?

[zango]

http://in.news.yahoo.com/050711/54/5zb0q.html

my college friend was asking me about my plans for the future - i directed him to this thread
he asked me what i would achieve by doing this. he is currently in the UK and doesn't plan to return to India in the near term. I asked him why he didn't wish to return to india? He said, some of the reasons he didn't wish to return were same as why this thread is here. And he had his answer.

he did not however let it end there. he was of the view that i am a very small entity - who could not bring about a social revolution by himself. he referred to the likes of TN Seshan and Khairnar - both of which tried their hand at reforms and got burned. He asked me where I thought they were today. I was pretty sure that they were still doing pretty well for themselves, even while sticking to their principles. I told him so.

And i proceeded to search about Seshan - and found that he is starting a school called "School of Government" - sounds great - just the kind of thing you should expect from the likes of Seshan.