Guest-blogger on Terrorism in India
My fellow IIM alumnus, Venky Venkatraman, keeps an interesting blog at venkyvenkatraman.com We’ve decided to occasionally guest-blog, i.e., my posts will show up on his blog as well, and vice-versa.
I was intrigued by his take on the terrorist attack on Mumbai, and a comparison with the destruction in New York. Here’s his 7 Dec 2009 article:
26/11 vs 9/11
Last week I was in Bombay exactly 1 year after the terrorist attacks of a year ago (26/11). I made it a point to visit VT station and the Taj Mahal Hotel (site of two of the terrorist attacks).
VT station was its normal, bustling self. The only signs that anything untoward had happened there was that there was one armed military person behind a stack of bags at one entrance, a few other armed policeman loitering around and strangely enough a bunch of metal detectors at the various entrance and exit points which hardly anyone bothered to walk through. No signs any bullet holes or any indication of any kind of memorial to those 50 odd people who had been killed at this location last November.
The Taj Mahal Hotel (across from the Gateway of India monument) looked exactly the same as it did prior to the terrorist attack of last year which had left several sections of the hotel on fire. The only changes that I saw was the side walk around the Taj was cordoned off and at the main entrance, one had to go through a metal detector and bags were also scanned separately. On walking around inside, I met a Commander Ramamurthy who told me that he was a consultant to the Taj (presumably on security matters). I asked him about any memorial that might be present to remember those dozens of people who had died in the terrorist attack. He directed me towards the Golden Dragon restaurant where most of the killings had taken place and to the adjacent area where some of the terrorists had been killed. However on going to these locations, I could not find a single indication of bullet holes or more importantly any memorial to the tragedy that had taken place at this hotel.
Bottom line – after the terrorist attack of 26/11/2008, people in Bombay had just cleaned up and resumed business as usual at all the locations that had been hit. India had not invaded Pakistan to capture or kill the terrorists (who are clearly based out of there) and so no war had resulted which could have thrown the whole region into a turmoil. But despite this, no further overseas based attacks had taken place a year since 26/11 either because security in Indian cities had been improved so much or just sheer luck or that Pakistan itself was now in turmoil with the home grown terrorist creating havoc there or a combination of all of these.
Compare that to the attacks on NY City of 9/11/2001.
Add comment March 16, 2010
Growth and inflation in Asia
IMA Asia’s notes always provide a useful perspective, given that Asia is likely to be the region that will lead the world out of recession. What they’re saying now is that “2010 is set to be a bumpy, complex and challenging year for global markets and the MNCs that serve them. “
They forecast 2010-2012 will be another 2-3 years of adjustment in Europe and North America. “We see no reason to lift our US forecast from 2.2% for 2010 and 2.8% in 2011.”
But Asia’s already growing to the point of inflation pressures. Says IMA Asia: “the outlook in Asia [is] improving with the prospect of strong demand growth by mid-2010 and rising inflation due to shortages of materials, skilled staff and shipping capacity.”
- China’s GDP growth forecast is 9.7% for 2010 and 9.4 % for 2011. Its inflation (measured as CPI growth rate) is only 4-4.5%.
- India, though, is looking at inflation as high as 15% in 2010 and 9% in 2011, off of a GDP growth rate of 7.5-7.8%.
With such a mismatch in the prospects of two major regions, the uncertainly is “reflected in wildly diverse outlooks for commodity markets.” Forecasts for growth in global oil consumption this year range from 120,000 – 1,400,000 barrels per day, with the price by early 2011 either close to US$71 or $100 .
Fasten your seat-belts.
Add comment March 10, 2010
Do-Not-Call me, Dish Network!
Dish Network called me. Yet again.
My numbers have been on the US National “Do Not Call” registry since mid-August 2008. Enough time, one would think, for the idea to sink in and for the numbers to work their way through the system. Instead, I’ve received perhaps a hundred calls from Dish Network. The conversation predictably goes like this:
Them: Hello ma’am, this is “Someone” calling from “Somedum Corp” for Dish Network. (From the accent, I can tell the call is from an Indian call center. I feel bad for the youngsters who are doing their jobs. So I’m polite.)
Me: I’m not really interested, and you know, my number is on the Do Not Call registry.
Them: I’m sorry Ma’am, I didn’t know.
Me: But I say this every time you guys call. How is it still on your list? Please take my number off the list.
Them: Yes Ma’am, we don’t make the lists, ma’am. I’ll tell my supervisor.
And, predictably, there will be another call. The record was the day they managed to call three times within 4 hours.
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So I searched the Internet a bit, and found the FTC sued Dish Network in March 2009 for violating DNC norms. In Aug 2009, two of its authorized dealers settled with the FTC. The case against Dish itself apparently continues. I presume for the present, nothing prevents them from moving on to new dealers and new violations.
I also found that you can get yourself placed on Dish Network’s Internal Do Not Call list. (Apparently a national registry is just too impersonal. Though the impersonal registry was able to instantly confirm that my numbers were indeed still registered.)
Except they want your full street address. I can see what would follow. Junk mail. Who knows, perhaps some hardworking earnest person will even show up right at my door with “Ma’am, I am representing Dish Network.”
They did provide a phone number to call, and I’ve done so; the automated system claimed to have placed my number on their list. Now let’s see if the calls stop.
Excerpt from Dish Network's Do-Not-Call Policy (color added)
I’m not exactly optimistic. Their own policy (revised May 2009 and available as a PDF here) suggests that the recent call should never have happened; I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve asked their Representatives to remove my number from their list.
Dish Network, if you’re listening, Don’t Call us, we’ll call you. Maybe.
Add comment February 24, 2010
Indian Curry Powder
Years ago I saw an interesting if unclear-on-concept product in Japan: Indian Curry Powder, illustrated with a Native American in a feathered war-bonnet. In those days, Japan had a fairly insular culture, and India didn’t have a high profile internationally; in Japan especially it was not well-known.
Things have changed a lot since then.
So it was with some surprise (and, let me say, delight) that I saw the product recently in a Tokyo supermarket. Here, for your amusement: Indian Curry Powder.
Add comment February 14, 2010
Doing without Paypal
If there was one single thing I’d emphasize in doing business in India, it would be Check The Regulations. Despite the liberalization, India still has a ton of them.
Paypal (or, maybe, its clients) just learned the hard way.
India doesn’t have a freely convertible currency. Paypal’s just discovered that it isn’t actually authorized to transfer funds cross-border there. Until the Reserve Bank of India and Paypal resolve whether it complies with all the regulations, Paypal abruptly put parts of its India service on hold.
Here’s what Anuj Nayar said on their blog: “I’m writing to let you know that personal payments to and from India and transfers to local banks in India have been suspended while we work with our business partners and other stakeholders to address questions they have about the service. During this time, customers can still make commercial payments to India but merchants cannot withdraw funds in Rupees to local Indian banks.”
The India business – small but fast-growing – isn’t sure how long it will take to resolve the issue; at the very least, some months. Meanwhile, to judge by the comments on its blog, many users have been left with financial issues to resolve.
Paypal is wholly-owned by Ebay, which entered India in 2004 by acquiring Baazee.com. However, the Ebay India site doesn’t use Paypal; it has a similar but independent method called Paisapay. Until recently Paypal did accept financial transfers into and out of India.
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(I’d say this is the international business equivalent of “Read The **** Manual” except that the “manual” in this case is hugely complicated and would probably occupy very many phonebooks…)
Add comment February 12, 2010
(Don't) Drive in India
Someone sent me a funny-but-true piece on driving in India; it’s attributed to Coen Jukens, ostensibly an employee of the Dutch software firm Baan, who spent a couple of years in Hyderabad. I couldn’t find anything more on Jukens, so I don’t know if the attribution is correct or not. Baan (later acquired by Infor Global Solutions) opened its Hyderabad office in 1998. The earliest version of the article – which has disseminated across the Internet – seems to be from the year 2000.
In the ten years since, I doubt the article has become any less accurate – except that the speed of traffic in all major cities has slowed to a crawl during much of the day. (The picture below was taken in Delhi.)
I stand by my book’s recommendation – expats and visitors to India should not attempt to drive there. Hire a car with a driver instead, read the article, and be not daunted.
Keep Distance...
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DRIVING IN INDIA by Coen Jukens (2000?)
I visited Mumbai recently and agree with the observations about driving. For the benefit of every Tom, Dick and Harry visiting India and daring to drive on Indian roads, I am offering a few hints for survival. They are applicable to every place in India except Bihar, where life outside a vehicle is only marginally safer.
Indian road rules broadly operate within the domain of karma where you do your best and leave the results to your insurance company.
The hints are as follows:
Do we drive on the left or right of the road? The answer is “both”. Basically you start on the left of the road, unless it is occupied. In that case, go to the right, unless that is also occupied. Then proceed by occupying the next available gap, as in chess.
(The rest of the article is under the jump…)
1 comment February 3, 2010
Bt Brinjal and the Great GMO Debate
India’s considering legalizing genetically modified brinjal – the vegetable otherwise known as eggplant or aubergine. (Or baingan or kathirikai.) It’s a popular vegetable in Indian cuisine.
In October 2009, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) recommended approval for transgenic eggplants that would resist the shoot borer, a major pest. (It doesn’t protect against bacterial wilt, a different major pest.) The main US player, naturally, is Monsanto, through the Indian company Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co (Mahyco).
[Edited to Add: On Feb 10, 2010, the government put Bt Brinjal on indefinite hold. There were some reports of planned 180-day rat studies instead of the usual 90-day ones.]
There’s been a storm of protest. Activists, farmers, and political leaders are upset. Some have actually called it poison.
Minister for the Environment Jairam Ramesh has asked for further investigation and public input, while Minister for Food and Agriculture Sharad Pawar is pushing for its introduction.
Meanwhile, the Chief Ministers of the three largest eggplant-producing states have said they do not intend to grow Bt Brinjal. (West Bengal, Orissa and Bihar together account for over 60% of India’s eggplant production.)
Why the controversy?
3 comments January 25, 2010
Terrorists and India's New Visa Requirements
If you have an American visa (or a European one), you can visit most countries free of visa requirements.
India’s not one of them. Almost all foreigners need visas for India. (Citizens of five countries qualify for 30-day visas-on-arrival.) In fact, India has a whole bunch of visa categories: Tourist, Business, Journalist, Conference, Transit visa, Entry Visa, Employment, Student, Missionary, Research, Sports. Recently, thanks largely to a single terrorist, the rules were tightened further.
India had always given long-term multiple entry tourist visas to foreigners who wished to visit the country regularly. Thousands of visitors took advantage of it, including people who used it essentially as a business visit visa.
David Coleman Headley allegedly used it for a more nefarious purpose – to research potential targets in Mumbai ahead of the horrendous terror attacks on the Taj Hotel, the Oberoi Hotel, and a major train station among others.
The Indian government will now prohibit a visitor – even one with a multi-year, multiple re-entry visa – from returning in under two months. Exceptions may be permitted with an advance itinerary – if for instance your travels take you into other countries and back through India for two or more short stays. However, if the total period exceeds 90 days (or 180 days, depending on the visa), then the two month gap becomes a requirement.
The government is also becoming stricter about the de facto use of tourist visas for other purposes – like business.
People with Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) or Person of Indian Origin (PIO) status do not need to get Indian visas, no matter what nationality they have.
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We’ll all get used the the new visa rules eventually. But meanwhile, the first, very public, evidence of the visa inconvenience showed up in the Indian press. (more…)
Add comment January 14, 2010
Virus-Warriors in Chennai
Oftentimes, Americans talking about outsourcing offshoring have stories of clueless youngsters with incomprehensible accents. I’ll admit that I’ve encountered inefficiencies and poor training; my experience as a consumer hasn’t been all good. One airline managed to give me four mutually exclusive answers to the same question…
But that’s not what I want to write about today. Today, it’s kudos to the Microsoft security people based in Chennai.
My computer had been colonized by the Alureon CT trojan, or actually rootkit . I didn’t even know: Norton Internet Security, (which is what I had) doesn’t see it, let alone block it. Then one day, someone suggested downloading Microsoft Security Essentials. It found Alureon CT, cleaned the computer, and then suggested I restart the machine. I did. And within minutes, Alureon was back. (Norton still showed nothing amiss.)
Rinse and repeat.
The infection explained some weird things that had been happening – like search hijackings, where clicking on a link took me someother-place.com. I’d attributed it to my computer aging and becoming incompatible with updated search engines. The thing is insidious; it keeps very quiet, but it can steal passwords and make your computer part of a network outside your control.
I also found that getting rid of Alureon was Not Easy. Someone on one forum opined “formatting and reinstallation of the operating system is the only sure way…“
Someone else suggested opening a support file with Microsoft. “Start here – https://support.microsoftsecurityessentials.com/ and select the link that says I think my computer is infected and then select the support option for phone (or email if phone is not offered for your region).”
6 comments January 8, 2010
Does Haagen Dazs Head Office Know?
There’s an update at the bottom of this post.
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When Haagen Dazs, the super-premium ice-cream company owned by the US corporation General Mills, recently announced it would be opening its first store in India in New Delhi, they probably weren’t ready for the internet sh*tstorm that was about to descend.
Someone sent me an article from a Times of India blog. The Haagen Dazs ice-cream franchisee in Delhi decided on a grand opening that involved a special preview for international travelers: “Access restricted only to holders of international passports.” Those international passports did not apparently include Indian ones; when the blogger’s friend “Ramit” tried to enter, he was turned away.
It’s already up on Boing Boing, one of the internet’s most influential blogs.
Foreign companies do sometimes make mistakes in their assessment of Indian markets and consumers. It’s usually carelessness or cultural obtuseness. This time, though, the problem seems to be home-grown. The franchisee is Indian; the location is Indian; and the man reportedly denied entry is Indian.
The embarrassment is truly multinational. The internet knows no borders.
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For companies, it suggests that apart from avoiding self-inflicted wounds like this one, it also makes sense to have a corporate policy for dealing with any issue that is likely to capture the public eye. There’s no such thing as far away.
Between blogs, social media, and people willing to “boost the signal”, it is impossible to *contain* such problems. They have to be responded to, and defused.
Right now, apologies would be good. And maybe some explanation: What was the man thinking?
There isn’t anything on the websites of Haagen Dazs, or of General Mills, as of Dec 15th, anyway.
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Followup: An article in India’s Economic Times, says the local manager claims it was all a mistake. The banner was supposed to imply that the ice-cream would be bringing a European flavor to India (though the brand is a US one.) And apparently Ramit was excluded not because he was Indian, but because the store was too crowded. Tempest in a teacup or frantic damage control? Difficult to tell, but better than nothing.
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2nd Followup: Anu Bhatia, of General Mills India, sent us this response (click on “read more”)…
4 comments December 16, 2009
