you are hacked

Hackers all over the world have more classified information regarding the Government of India, than top officials, who themselves have limited access.
More than 100 email accounts of embassies and government offices have been hacked by spies and hackers.
This is just the tip of the iceberg as experts feel that almost 50 per cent of the official documents on various networks are considered stolen.
“When the security system of a country can be cracked, then, you can very well imagine how safe an ordinary Internet user is,” says a hacker.
With the growth of Internet users, there has been a corresponding rise in the number of hackers. Movies like Die Hard 4 and Swordfish have inspired many hackers to break into government systems. While many do it for the thrill involved in it, some commit serious cyber crimes.
It’s not only government websites and email accounts that are being hacked. Private e-mail accounts are also not safe.
Recently, Priyadarshni, a student from Kanpur, got to know from his friend in Delhi, that his friend was getting Spam messages from his ID. After talking to a networking expert, Priyadarshni came to know that his email had been hacked and all his personal information was deleted.
At present the major problem faced by Internet users is ‘personality theft’, (identity theft) or email and profile hacking.
Vivek, an ‘ethical hacking expert’, said, “We are curious to know what is happening around the world so we intrude into private networks, but people misinterpret our method of learning and term it as a criminal activity.”
Explaining his technique of hacking, he added, “Our most important tool is social engineering. We have a formal chat with the users and exploit their trusting nature to get their personal information. Then we send a link and if they accept it, they are in our trap.”
Most hackers install spy ware on computers they want to hack and keep getting information every time users log in or log out.
Vivek said, “Hacking are a dangerous community and one should be very cautious. One should never chat with unknown users and should not give personal information on public sites like Orkut.”
Appin Security group director Rajat Khare said, “Hackers are of two types - the ones who do it for fun are called Skript kiddies and the others are professional hackers, who hack for financial motives. They steal data and corrupt computers. They are hired by big organisations.”
He added, “Most Internet users are not aware of online threats. They go and click on unknown links and see e-cards and get trapped. Service providers are not to be blamed for hacking. So one should always check email ID, links and hypertext before clicking.”
Ankit Oberoi of the Hacking Truth said, “Break-ins can go virtually undetected. Major corporations and government security departments have acknowledged that hackers are out of control. Some companies are too fearful to join networks because of this.”
“Companies are not inclined to report breaches in security as it denotes a poor image and highlights their vulnerability. Clients demand security. Billions of dollars are annually spent on protection devices. Others are utilising the expertise of former convicted hackers to fine tune and update their security features. It is a case of befriending the enemy in order to learn more. These hackers come out of goal with a ready market for their expertise, and great financial rewards,” added Oberoi.
According to Mini Watts, a marketing company, more than 117 crore (1,173,109,925) people use the Internet and at any given time more than 1-5 crore people are using the Internet.
So, millions of Internet users are vulnerable to cyber crimes. According to rough estimates, over 5,000 websites were defaced in 2006 and nearly 2,450 from Jan 01, 2007 to May 15, 2007.

How is a hacker?
Computer experts
Spy agents
Company officials
Students and research scholars

HOW TO KEEP A CHECK ON HACKING

Change your password regularly

Don’t display personal information for public viewing

If your computer is hanging then press Ctrl+Alt+Del and go to task manager and check whether there is any strange file as such IP SEACH. Exe, ISAS.Exe is open. If there is any such unusual file then there is a chance that you are hacked.

Do not click on links, hyperlinks and e-card before checking it many times. Do not give any personal details on public profile or while chatting

Programs like Trojan install malicious software while under the guise of doing something else

A common belief is that virus are spread by anti-virus companies

Viru bana hero

The Nawab of Najafgarh was back on the centrestage yesterday as the International Cricket Council chief Malcolm Speed unveiled the Twenty20 trophy and announced the sponsors of the tournament.
Virender Sehwag, who had been missing from the scene ever since India’s debacle at the World Cup, will be playing in the Twenty20. He was the only player present at the ICC chief’s press conference as all the others are currently away for the Natwest series in England.
The ICC may not recognise tournaments organised by the Zee-backed team, said Malcolm Speed. “We cannot give recognition to any domestic league or private promoter without the consent of the board.”
However, the ICL has not approached the ICC so far, Speed admitted. He said ICL’s matches would not enthuse the audience. “I don’t think a domestic league with retired players can make it big. They cannot be a match between two nations so the ICL will not be able to generate passion,” added.
"What is being proposed by the ICL is a six-team event for about three-four weeks, featuring some provincial players, apart from some retired cricketers. Now you have to be careful to draw a comparison, for you know that an India-Pakistan Test series would draw millions. It's about domestic cricketers and retired players and you can't really make a comparison," he said.
The ICL does not meet the criteria of the ICC for grant of recognition.
“Whenever a private promoter applies for the recognition of a tournament there is a procedure by ICC. First, we see if the match is held for the development of the game or for a charitable purpose. Second, who would be the players and whether the players are contracted to the parent board. Then the time and place of the matches and whether anti-corruption measures have been put in place to run the tournament,” Speed said.
“The ICC will have to see whether the ICL has got the approval of the BCCI. We cannot give recognition to any domestic league or private promoter without the consent of that country’s board. So far we have not been approached by the ICL”.
Manager, media and communications of the ICC, Brain Murgatroyd, said, “The ICL is good for the game as it is promoting cricket but to get a recognition from the ICC, it needs consent from the BCCI.”
The vice-president of the ICL, Gaurav Seth, said, “At present we are only a domestic league and our aim is to promote domestic-level cricket. We will be very big in the time to come as many international players have shown their interest in ICL.”
Pradeep Agarwal of the Delhi and district Cricket Association said, “The BCCI is the parent body and will always dominate the game. The ICL is saying they want to promote the game then why are they taking away our skilful players? If they really want to do something for the game, then they should pick up young talent and train them.”


20-20
The ICC unveiled the trophy of upcoming twenty20 world cup tournament
Twelve teams will be playing 27 matches for 14 days in South Africa starting from 11 September.

Vrooming in uneven speed limits

The increasing number of road accidents in Delhi are not the result of over-speeding and rash driving alone. Lack of proper signage; varying speed limits for different category of vehicles on the same road; absence of clearly demarcated lanes and lane-changing zones, and the deadly cocktail of slow-moving vehicles such autos, and fast-paced cars add to the traffic hazards faced by commuters in the city.
The lack of proper traffic management leads to thousands of minor accidents, besides, over 1,500 fatal accidents each year. “Delhi does not have clear road signs to help the drivers navigate through the city. Also, slow-moving vehicles are pushed into bus lanes which is highly dangerous, forcing two-wheelers to zig-zag between deadly Bluelines, ” says Chand Nigam, a frequent traveller who finds the contrast between the traffic management in developed countries and India’s capital city quite appalling..

Speed limit
On most of the roads, the speed limit for light moving vehicles (LMVs) is 50 kmph and for heavily vehicles it is 40 kmph. But the Delhi police only collect challan after vehicles cross the 60 kmph mark. The traffic police are silent on issues like how drivers should change lanes. “How can a bus travelling at 40 kmph go to the right lane to take a right turn when the speed limit for cars is 50 kmph?” questions Vipul, a commuter.
“If one changes lane at a faster speed than permitted, he is booked for overspeeding and fined. Even if we do have lane changing zones in Delhi, I have not seen any till date,” said a traffic policeman near Mayur Vihar.
When asked about how a car from NH 24 could go left from Nizamuddin crossing with buses on the left, in the absence of lane changing zone, a traffic official replied, “It is a driver’s personal responsibility to be cautious on turns. One should go slow as all vehicles move at different speed. There are signboard carrying cautions such as ‘go-slow turn ahead’ or ‘merging traffic ahead.’ Every one should be careful when there is merging traffic.”
Ankit Singh a resident of Noida Sector 36, who was recently fined for changing lanes, said, “I am new in Delhi and the traffic system is very confusing. There is no uniformity of speed limits. Cars coming from the DND flyover are allowed just double the speed of cars coming from other areas so the point of merging is an accident-prone zone. I was fined Rs 600 last week for changing lanes, but there are no signboards explaining about lanes.”
DND
The situation is even more senseless at the Delhi-Noida-Delhi toll bridge (DND) as the speed limit for LMVs is 80 kmph and just 40 kmph for heavy vehicles. “We have four lanes for different categories of vehicles. The extreme right lane is for the fastest moving vehicles, next lane is for fast moving cars, third lane is for heavy vehicles and the last lane is for scooters and bikes. Our speed limit is set by Indian Road Congress (IRC), which is 80 for light vehicle and 40 for heavy vehicle,” said Niranjani Pahariya, manager Public Relations, DND Flyway.
But there is no board on DND Flyway, which gives information about the lanes. Smitasya Pandey of JNU, who owns a DND Flyway silver card, said, “I am very cautious when I am on DND as a number of fatal accidents take place here. Even I am not aware of the categorisation of lanes on DND. No one cares about the speed limits and lanes here. Overspeeding and changing lanes is common on DND. Drivers need awareness classes as everyone gets a driving licence and no one even checks the traffic knowledge of the drivers.”
Indian Roads Congress Secretary General V K Sinha said, “There are many things that are kept in mind before setting speed limits (and lane changing zones). The condition and width of the road is the primary factor. There are different speed limits for different categories of vehicle because impact of accident of heavy vehicle is massive so their speed limit is slower is than light moving vehicles.”

share ur privacy with Lime Wire

Aman Wahal, a music aficionado, has been able to build a library of Pink Floyd videos and songs, ever since he hooked on to Lime Wire.
Against piracy laws
Like Aman, there are millions of music freaks who download their favourite songs, videos, games and books from Lime Wire and the best part is that it comes at no extra cost. Though the piracy law prohibits such downloads, it's a rave, more among the youngsters. "It's fun. I download lots of stuff. Now there is no dearth of music," Aman, in Kamla Nagar says.
These sites guarantees free of cost service to their users, but the music companies are not happy with the website.
"Online piracy has become a menace. According to an estimate, more than half of all the music acquired by customers is unpaid and most of it was downloaded from Lime Wire. The government across the globe have to enact watertight laws to protect the industry. We are fighting tooth and nail to protect copyrights. We have already initiated various legal proceedings," said Neeraj Kalyan, vice president, T-Series.
Blocking wont help
"Most of the uses of these sites are under 30 years' of age. Many of them have never purchased a CD and many may never do so. The industry has to target this particulargroup, as this is the group on which the pirates survive," he adds.
However, some companies are taking a prudent view. "Honestly, I think that shutting down websites will not help. It’s time to actually reflect on creating new revenue models around digital entertainment content. Consumers now have massive computing power and publishing power and they cannot be stopped from distributing content," quips Alok Kejriwal, CEO and founder of Games2Win.
Cheaper sofwares
Bhawana of Aditi Computers, Dial-a-Software Partner of Microsoft says, "Users below 30 usually go for pirated software and share it with other fellow mates. Microsoft is planning to bring cheaper software so that they can curb piracy."
But for the youth Lime Wire is a boon. Kshitiz Singh, 21, a student of IIT Kanpur says, "Morally they are wrong, but the prices of original stuff is so high that one has to resort to illegal P2P (peer to peer) downloads. I hardly care about piracy. I simply need to be updated. In Lime Wire users are vulnerable to virus."
Even Abhimanyu Singh, manager Business Development (North), TravelOrg Holidays feels the same who uses 'Aries'. He said, "The best part of P2P is that one can download various videos as official websites does not allow so. Sound clarity of downloaded song is awesome. I can also share anti-virus software from other users so Aries is a blessing for me."

What is Lime Wire?
Lime Wire is popular software that enables Internet users to swap music, pictures, videos, documents and programs. Lime Wire has become a pain in the neck for many leading entertainment companies as a user can download a pirated version of latest game, software, books, music and movies.

Is it really free?
Lime Wire does not guarantee virus protection. Naturally, anti-virus companies benefit from the site.
Virus, as most of the time, can hit you computer, leaving your system completely damaged.




How to download?
Lime Wire Basic comes for free.
Lime Wire Basic version 4.14.8 can be used on:
Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, ME, 2000, XP.
Solaris/Sparc 2.6, 2.7, 2.8
Solaris/Intel 2.6, 2.7, 2.8
Compaq Tru64
FreeBSD
IRIX
HP-UX 10.20, 11
AIX 4.3.x
Linux Redhat 6.2, 7, 7.1
Linux Caldera
TurboLinux
Mac OS Classic 8.1, 9.X
Mac OS X 10.2.6 or later
Mac OS X Server
LimeWire is written entirely in Java so before installing Lime Wire install Java.
System Requirements: 256 MB RAM and a live connection to the Internet. Lime Wire Advance version of Lime Wire, Lime Wire Pro come for $34.95 for 1 year.


Is it really free?
Lime Wire does not guarantee virus protection. Naturally, anti-virus companies benefit from the site.
You computer can be hit by virus, as most of the time, your system is completely damaged.

Wearing skirt. No entry

Katrina Kaif’s knee-length skirt raised a storm at the Khwaja Moinudeen Chishti's of Ajmer, but Akshardham Temple in Delhi is leaving nothing to chance. It has not only banned skirts but also burqas and lungis for good measure!
While temples in the city have no problem with devotees wearing skirts, at Akshardham, where almost one lakh visitors come every week, the dress code is enforced vigorously. The spokesperson of the temple, Janak Dave, said, “We should maintain the dignity of the temple so shorts and skirts are not allowed as these look awkward. We have banned burqas for security purposes as no place is safe and we should be careful from our side. So far as lungis are concerned, not many people know how to tie them properly and many times, it does not look decent.”
A visitor was piqued at the strange dress code. “Why have they banned lungis? I cannot understand this. India is a secular country and a temple cannot ban a particular dress,” the visitor said without revealing his identity.
The temple says it insists on a dress code so that the sensibilities of visiting devotees are not hurt. Dave however, added, “We provide pitamber (yellow wrapper) at a security deposit of Rs100 which is refundable. The attire is available at the security check of the temple. Pitamber is traditional wear, which looks perfect for a place like a temple.”
Interestingly, Akshardham in London also disallows shorts or skirts shorter than knee length but it permits burqas and lungis.

Dressed to trouble
Bollywood star Himesh Reshammiya kicked off a controversy when he visited Khwaja Moinudeen Chishti wearing a burqa to avoid attention. But the shrine committee gave a clean chit to the singer, saying burqa was a respectable dress and there was no need for Himesh to tender an apology.

Another Bollywood star Katrina Kaif was forced to change her clothes for a film shoot at the same shrine as her skirt offended the sensibilities of the Dargaah staff.

Mast hindi mein gali do...

This is one area where Hindi rules! Your Spam filter is set up to check obscenities in English but allows free access to the good old Ch*****, B**** C***, M** C*** in Hindi to your mail box.Multi functional mailboxes are not equipped to filter abusive words or obscene slangs in Hindi or any of the Indian languages as most administrators filter only English words. Even foreign companies, eager to sell their Viagras and adult websites, are resorting to obscene Hindi words to reach out to the curious netizens.
According to rough estimates, pornography alone accounted for 2.5 billion daily emails sent in 2006, equating to 4.5 daily porn emails per person. Most of these mails have subject lines containing obscene words to catch the attention of the reader.
“These Spammers are true geniuses. They are geeks of the networking and coding world. They use modern technologies and latest software to trap the netizens. Now they are using Hindi to reach mailboxes. Spams are generated to earn money and not only are they irritating, but once you start downloading from these sites, they can be fatal for your system,” said Winson Fernandis, a software engineer in Virtual Wires.
“In India there aren’t many restrictions and even Spam filters are not effective.
Most of the servers accept English as their basic language so the filters are not able to keep out foul words in foreign languages. This is why Hindi or vernacular scripts easily slip through the word filters. For instance, a word like VIAGRA is blacklisted and every filter traces it and sends the mail to the Spam folder, but these Spammers are so smart that they write the same word in different order like V1aGra or V*I*A*g*R*a to escape the filters”, he added.
IACM director Ravinder Goyal said, “All the development of software and technologies is done abroad so English is the processing language. That is why most of the mail filters cannot trace Hindi slangs. At the server level, one can identify such Spam by making a private domain where there is an option to get protection from it. But at an individual level, it is not that effective. Gmail has a strong filter as compared to Yahoo and Indiatimes. A user can manually get his mail protected from Spam but it can create problems as many times, safe mails get into the Spam folder,” Goel added.
“Mails are marked as Spams on the basis of subject, sender, receiver, word and size of the mail. English is accepted globally so mails in any other foreign language are not marked as Spams. But users can manually mark unwanted words as “report Spam” and the mail containing such words would be automatically sent to the Spam folder,” said Rajveer, a software developer.
Sharad Natani, a management student, said, “I receive more Spam than normal mail. Now Spammers are using Hindi slangs. Earlier I use to check every Spam and my Spam folder was always full. I have formatted my computer twice because of it.”


In absolute numbers
1978 - An e-mail Spam is sent to 600 addresses.
1994 - First large-scale Spam sent to 6000 newsgroup, reaching millions of people.
2005 - (June) 30 billion per day
2006 - (June) 55 billion per day
2006 - (December) 85 billion per day
2007 - (February) 90 billion per day


Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group estimates that 80-85% of incoming mail is "abusive email", as of the last quarter of 2005.
According to Sophos, the major sources of Spam in the second quarter of 2007 (April to June) were the United States (the origin of 19.6% of Spam messages), followed by China (8.4%) and South Korea (6.5%). When grouped by continents, Spam comes mostly from Asia (35,2%), Europe (28,5%) and North America (24,2%). Overall volume has increased 9% in the last year

Poor vs mighty Soren

For over a decade, the family of Shashinath Jha has been fighting for justice. Anger and grief against his murder, allegedly at the behest of former Union Minister Shibu Soren, kept them going.
Today, much of the adrenalin is gone, as the family of the then PA to Soren grapples with the implications of the Delhi High Court judgement yesterday, acquitting Soren of all charges. The former minister had earlier been convicted and sent to life imprisonment by the lower court.
The Jha family lives in a non-descript house in Vijay Enclave on the outskirts of Delhi. The two daughters, Kavita (21) and Preeti (18), have been homebound as each time they step out unidentified men follow them. The family has spent close to Rs 12 lakh on the extended legal battle to get justice. The High Court acquittal for Soren has come as a body blow to them.
Shashinath’s brothers, Vijaynath and Amarnath, while planning to move the Supreme Court against the acquittal, blame the Central Bureau of Investigation for its failure to prove the case in the high court, while the lower court had sentenced Soren to life imprisonment.
“What is the use of the CBI when they are always moulded according to the needs of politicians? In three months, the CBI changed three advocates and they were never ready for the case. We sent many written applications to the CBI to provide protection to my family as we get threats regularly. But they are always busy serving the criminals rather than favouring the victims,” said Vijaynath.
“Hemant Soren, Shibu Soren’s son, said publicly that he paid Rs 50 lakh to save his father. I was shocked when all of a sudden we were called for the hearing as the main list and supplement list of High Court didn’t have our case.”
He added, “The High Court only focused on the skeleton and gave their judgement on its basis. It did not even consider our other evidence. It was not a fair trial. We will move the Supreme Court.”
“When a government official is found guilty he is not allowed to enter the office premises, but here RK Anand was present in every hearing. His junior Ajay Kumar took me to his residence Dharbhanga house, Chatarpur, Satbari road and tried to bribe me. He asked me what would we get by having him hang,” said Amarnath Jha.
Shashinath’s daughter Preeti said, “When I asked Shibu Soren about my father before Diwali in the year 1994, he said “tumhare papa upar chale gaye hai” (your father is no more). We are living under a threat, I secured good marks in the secondary school examination, but now I have to do my further studies through correspondence as unknown men follow me whenever I go out. Even my elder sister Kavita left her job due to insecurity. Our future has been spoilt due to this case.”
“Every one suggested that I should send my grand daughters to the hostel but we are still alive to take care of them. I will not let the killer of my son get away so easily. I have been ill for the last five months, but even then I attended all the hearings,” said Priyamvada (86), mother of Shashinath Jha.

“This judgement of High Court has violated the judgement of Supreme Court. The High Court didn’t consider the statement of Preeti but as per Supreme Court even a statement of a baby should be taken seriously. In Priyadarshini Mattoo case, there was no eyewitness, but even then Santosh Kumar Singh was sentenced. We had 47 witnesses but the High Court didn’t considered any,” said Amarnath.
On one hand, the High Court is saying that the skeleton is not that of Shashinath and on the other, it wants to hand it over to us for performing the last rites. Till now only Mukesh Baba of Jharkhand People Party helped us, even he got many threats from the goons of the minister. By now we have spent more than Rs 12 lakh in this case, we are still hopeful that SC will favour the truth. We want to see whether the poor gets justice. But if we are deprived of the justice then we will finish the matter in our own way,” said Amarnath.


UNANSWERED QUESTION OF JHA FAMILY.
Why skeleton was the main issue behind the verdict
CBI inefficiency in the case
Involvement of RK Anand
HC violation of SC and session court verdict
Why No security is given to us

kharche se mukti

Private landline telephone users will no longer have to pay visiting charges to a company 'technician' for rectifying faults in their instruments.
Acting on complaint
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has clarified that landline customers of private companies need not pay Rs 100 to the technician who comes to repair a faulty phone. TRAI had earlier received several complaints that telecom companies were levying additional charges for rectifying faults.
"We got many queries from customers wanting to know whether there is any extra charge for repairing their landlines or for visits by technicians. Most of the queries related to Bharti Telecommunications. We issued a clarification that no company is allowed to charge anything extra from their customers," said Nripendra Mishra, TRAI chairperson.
Extra services
Airtel, who has been charging Rs 100 and more from the customers, insisted that the additional charges were for extra services. "We are fully committed to providing our customers with uninterrupted network availability and service delivery. However, at times, we are requested by customers to attend to problems and defects not attributable to the network and not part of the standard service bouquet such as PC reconfiguration, internal extension of wiring, damage due to movement. As a customer friendly organisation, we provide these services on an optional basis and at a nominal cost," a statement by Airtel said. It added that it had notified these charges to the regulator. "We have taken note of the TRAIs decision and communicated on the compliance. We shall be engaging with the TRAI to apprise them of complete details on these customer requirements and services," the company said.
Neha Singh, a young artist said, "My phone was not working for a week and I was charged Rs 100 by Airtel. I kept trying their number and every time my call was forwarded to some senior staff but all in vain. I even doubt the speed of the broadband connection that they provide, as it is very slow."
According to TRAI, the service providers are expected to maintain the quality of service. The interruptions and correction of such interruptions were matters relating to service and customers could not be charged for these.
"The customer does not choose the quality of material being used in the network by the service provider and is not responsible for the bad quality. The service providers are not supposed to offer any such plans, which prescribe separate charges for rectifying the defects. If any such plans are under offer the same may be withdrawn forthwith and report compliance to the Authority," TRAI said in an order on August 21.

Better get your own Conveyance

The pre-paid scheme at railway stations in the city has virtually collapsed, as the autowallas prefer making a fast buck and giving the much-hyped scheme a go by. Passengers have a harrowing time, as autowallas are reluctant to go by the pre-paid coupons.
“We don’t earn enough profit in pre-paid it is better if we get customers by our own,” said Akhlakh, an autowalla at Paharganj.
Autowallas ask for Rs 10 to 20 extra over the pre-paid coupons to provide instant service. Passengers with their luggage, who refuse to pay the extra amount, have to chase autos.
“I have to go to Munirka and I have taken the pre-paid coupon 45 minutes ago but no one inside is ready to go. Even the traffic police are looking helpless,” said Seema, who came from Lucknow.
The cops at the station, however, remain helpless spectators, while trying to help passengers. “I am helpless. No autowalla listens. There is a strong union. If I say something to one autowalla then another ten will come to me (physical assault). I don’t want to get indulge in this mess and if you dare then you can go. No senior officer comes here,” said constable Kishan Singh at Paharganj.
A senior citizen couple from Amritsar said, “These autowallas are ready to fight for any thing. You can see that we are sweating in this sun for more than 35 minutes, but there is no body to help us.”
Even visually challenged Rameshwar from Aligarh had to wait for 40 minutes after taking a pre-paid coupon. He even asked the pre-paid booth officers to refund his coupon, but he was sent to the traffic police in charge.
The staffs at pre-paid ticket maintain that it’s not their duty to check if passengers actually get an auto or not. “More than 250 trains come to New Delhi railway station. Each hour we have two trains reaching the station and hardly 50 to 60 autos are present at a time, so, how will they fulfil the need of the passengers,” said Nazim, pre-paid booth officers.
No taxis
The state of affairs is even worse for passengers, especially foreigners, seeking taxis. There is no service for pre-paid taxis. It was due to the demand by taxi drivers to increase the fare similar to the one they get at the airport. “The taxis drivers want fare equal to what they get from customers at the airport. The situation is very bad. Something needs to be done,” Nazim added.

new management guru

Management gurus who get fat pay packets often get tips from most unexpected quarters. Mumbai’s dabbawalas, who have been in the business for around 116 years, are turning into modern management gurus.
The dabbawalas, who got recognition after Prince Charles visited them, recently gave management students of the International School Of Business And Media (ISB&M), loads of tips on time and team management, coding system, supply chain and whole lot that gets them going.
Dabbawalas association president Raghunath D Medge said, “The USP of Dabbawala is their time management, coding system, supply chain, team management and low operating cost.”
Mumbai is divided into different zones and around 800 groups of dabbawalas delivers the lunch boxes by commuting on trains, bicycles and carts. Every dabbawalas has to carry 65-70 kg on their head to make sure no one remains hungry. For his efforts, every dabbawala, who is also a shareholder of his association, earns an average income of Rs 5,000 per month.
“Dabbawala got global recognition after the visit of Prince Charles and Richard Branson with them. We don’t even know proper English but we get invitation for lectures from all the corner of the world. We tell our secret of success to every one as we are confident that no one can be as laborious as we are”, said association secretary Gangaram Talekar.
At a seminar ‘The journey from 100 to 6’ in Noida on Saturday, Medge and Talekar told about how a group of 100 members started working 116 years ago and now they have taken their business to six sigma level.
“Out of 5,000 Dabbawalas, only 15 percent have passed eight grade while the remaining are illiterate. Every day they have to battle against the Mumbai heavy traffic to deliver about two lakhs lunch boxes to office-goer. However, by working for past 116 years with full dedication, time management, and no strike gathering experience in logistics - Mumbai Dabbawalas have created a place of their own.
The six sigma, ISO and many other certificates given to us by external agencies have further confirmed the high quality of work done by us,” said proud dabbawala, Gangaram Talekar, in his traditional attire.
Director ISB&M Atul K. Sinha said, “Time management, supply chain, leadership, group work, team management and logistic is part of the study so who better that these people can explain to our students. They practice all these theories every day in their life and they are our role models.”

WOMEN POWER

Women Power Connect (WPC), a conglomerate of more than 500 women’s organisation organised a two-day national convention on Legislative Coordination for Action on Women’s Issues in the capital yesterday.
Women leaders and activist from across the country participated in the convention to raise issues and policies related to women and to build pressure on the policymakers for speedy implementation of pending legislations.
Primary goal of the WPC is the right to representation in form of 33 per cent representation in the Parliament, which has been denied by all successive government’s. “It is an irony that while women contribute in building the nation as voters, but are denied the right to represent,” said Ranjana Kumari, President, WPC.
Renuka chowdhury, chief guest of the convention said, ““You will be surprised to see the male bonding in Parliament. They all say ‘yes’ to the issue of women’s reservation in front of the camera and ‘no’ behind it. I personally think they are afraid of women joining politics in large numbers. Since by doing that, women may prove that they are more capable and this would put more pressure on men.” “I have visited several places in the country and spoken to women at the grassroots. However, they hesitate in coming forward and are unwilling to take up leadership roles. Capacity building of women is vital. It is important to hold classes in leadership,” she added.
WPC has formed a Gender Ginger Group as a group of young Parliamentary, who shares a common commitment to the cause of women’s empowerment and gender equality. These parliamentarians will support the cause of the women’s movement in India by raising women’s issues in parliament and their respective constituencies.
But many panellists MP’s on the list of WPC were not present in the convention because of the parliament session, where Nude deal was being discussed.

Besides equal political representation, the convention also focused on implementation of Domestic Violence Act, gender budgeting, sexual harassment at work place and female foeticide.
Madhu Yaskhi, Member of Parliament said, “When I was in Pakistan I had noticed that around 88 percent of Member of Parliament were women but in India number of women MP is very less”. He further added, “For a politician his political carrier is his future. Before doing any work he always keeps votes in mind. So women can built pressure if the MP from their constituency do not work for their welfare”.

Sexual harassment at work place and female foeticide.
Activist Alice Garg emphasized on 50-50-gender balance for strengthening our democracy. She said, “Women world is the fourth world as we do not have right to take birth. Northwestern states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi and Haryana have witnessed an alarming fall in child sex ratio because of female foeticide. Female foeticide is a serious crime and I term them as murderers”. Renuka chowdhury has promised WPC to present sexual harassment bill in this parliamentary session.

Domestic Violence Act
“Credit of passing of the protection of women from domestic violence act (PWDVA), 2005 goes to WPC. However, the implementation of this Act still suffers from several problems, such as the absence of a proper institutional structure, allocation of funds and appointment of officials” said Ranjana Kumari.


Gender just budgeting
“Only one percent of total budget is allocated for women. Even this allocated money is also used to meet other expenses. We will put stress on gender budget auditing for transparency. This budget will ensure that all the citizens of the country benefit equally from the budgetary allocations equally, gender just budget is essential”, said Ranjana Kumari.


Quotes


“Even UPA government will fall if they do not pass bill of 33 percent reservation for women. No government can run without women and we will give our vote to the candidate who will work for our welfare” said Ranjana Kumari

“This is a silent revolution and we are peace loving terrorist we want equal rights for women”, said Alice Garg.

MOBILE BANA BUM

Hundreds of customers using Nokia mobiles thronged sales counters of the company only to be returned dissatisfied.
Confused customers queued up to replace defective Nokia BL-5C batteries, while the company said it would deal with customers via the Internet.
“I don’t know about the Internet,” Suresh Prasad, a resident of Sector 5, Noida said.
Suresh was waiting for his turn at the long que at Noida care at Sector 2, in Noida. Most customers were not Internet friendly users. “I saw it on TV and I have come to find out if the company will replace my battery,” he added.
A Nokia official said, “There are three ways to check batteries: First through our web site, second through call centres, and third is via SMS. So far we have got over 20,000 calls out of which only five per cent requires replacement. We have also got over 1,43,500 SMS out of which again only 4-5 per cent requires replacement. We do not want our customers to step out as we will serve them at their doorstep.”
However, many customers thought that Nokia was replacing all the BL-5C batteries for free. At the Nokia centre, the company officials after checking the 26-character identification number were taking defective pieces leaving the customers without a battery.
“After waiting in queue for 45 minutes, the company said that the battery was defective. They have taken my battery and would give new one after seven days. What will I do till then?” asked Jogendra Kumar, a resident of Sadarpur.
However, the company is not ready to pay damages to customers in India. A customer complained that he had spent over Rs 400 on replacing the defective batteries. “I have already spent 300 to 400 rupees on my current battery, as it was defective from the day I bought it. I am going to buy some identical looking battery from Karol bag in much cheaper price,” says Mukesh Kumar Gautam, resident of Noida Sector 20.
As the confusion continued most of Ghaffar market shopkeepers were busy misleading the customers. “No one changes batteries and our batteries are imported and are more durable and cheaper. But these cheaper batteries are fake, which cost from Rs 170 to Rs 450,” a shopkeeper quips.
Shopkeepers in Ghaffar market provide three to six months’ replacement warranty on fake batteries but on original they have no such provision. “Koi original ki bhi warranty dega kya (One will give warranty of original also?),” says a shopkeeper in Ghafar market.
Local shopkeepers recommend changing the battery of any brand if it gets overheated while charging. “One should not take risk with electronics, it was Nokia who came forward but it is possible that others are also having same problems,” says owner of a leading mobile store. Meanwhile, most shopkeepers in Palika Bazar were not aware of Nokia battery problem.