Posts filed under 'Infrastructure'
(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
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
Air India Rage
We’re all used to reading about air rage. Passengers get drunk or angry or just plain lose control, and start fights with other passengers and the cabin crew. Air India (the nation’s state-owned airline) has improved on this.
Recently, on a flight from Sharjah, the pilots mixed it up with members of the cabin crew. According to reports, it came to a mid-air fistfight. Over Pakistan. There’s something symbolic there…
“At one stage,” says IndiaTVNews, “the cockpit was unmanned, as the crew was busy fighting outside.”
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I really hope someone got pictures. Ahem. (Trying to be professional here.)
This is a reminder that India’s infrastructure problems include not just the physical plant, but also some management and training issues. This incident comes on top of a pilots’ strike on issues of pay. For now, the people involved have been “derostered” until an investigation is completed.
Add comment October 4, 2009
Indian Ports – Muddling Through Somehow
In fiscal 2008-09, India’s twelve major ports handled only 2% more cargo than the year before. (That compares with 12% growth the year before.)
Perhaps it’s just as well. At 530 million metric tons, the major ports were running at just over 100% of their capacity. That, and the relatively unsophisticated cargo-handling, means it takes a ship 5-7 days on average to unload at one of those ports. In Singapore, it takes 6-8 hours.
Once the material is off the ship, the problem’s not over: there’s a rail bottleneck. So getting the goods inland takes time, too.
The government has major plans to improve the ports, but a recent assessment by ICRA, a credit rating agency, doesn’t think they’ll make their targets. It’s taking too long. (But ICRA also thinks cargo volumes won’t grow as fast, so service might improve anyway.)
Perhaps the longer-term solution will come from some subset of the 200 or so ports controlled by the States, which already process more than a quarter of India’s sea-trade. Unlike the 12 major ports, whose tariffs are set by a governmental authority, these port can set their own prices. The state governments have less funding to develop their facilities, so a few are inviting in private sector investors, including foreign-owned companies. One example is Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd, 54.8% owned by a unit of the Danish company AP Moller-Maersk A/S, which operates Pipavav, a port in Gujarat.
Infrastructure is perhaps the single biggest obstacle in India’s rapid growth path. Ports. Airports. Power. Water. Roads.
Yet, I’m more optimistic than I sound. We’ve been talking about infrastructure shortfalls for decades, and yet India’s managed positive economic growth year after year. India’s always been particularly good at workarounds and muddling through.
Add comment September 21, 2009
