Archives for September 1, 2020

Released with a lot of hype, Reliance Jio seemed to have changed the face of the Indian Telecom industry with its unbelievable tariff plans. It may have achieved a remarkable feat by adding over 16 million users to its network, but it seems to have affected the users in an undesirable way. Service related problems on Jio’s network aren’t entirely new, but the new telco was favored for its blazing speed 4G internet on mobiles.

In the initial days of testing, Jio was exclusively available to select users, but last month the gates were opened to all 4G smartphone owners. Those who have been using the service before the Annual General Meeting (AGM) as a part of the preview offer instantly recognized the difference in speed after they were put on welcome offer.

But new users were thrilled to experience the free 4G internet. The demand for Jio SIM cards was on the rise, which resulted in shortage of supply. Even in that controlled state, Jio managed to add over 16 million users, which is commendable.

After announcing the new world record of adding highest number of users in the shortest span of time, users started relating the speed issue to the crowded networks. Several users shared screenshots of speed tests on Jio’s network to show the sluggish speeds, while many others expressed deep sense of discontent with the service.

With such disappointment, will the users pay for the service on January 1 is a question for another day.

 

@JioCare @reliancejio this is your connectivity. no speed poor 4g. its not even 1g. complete harassment. pic.twitter.com/eQ4Cfk1o1B

— Harsh Awasthi (@HarshAw24795418) October 11, 2016

 

@JioCare @reliancejio @JioFanClub Ur speed is continously pathetic no sense of 4G at all… Here is the proof.. #fake4G #NoSpeed pic.twitter.com/I8Mw3lp4Tr

— Ashish Chouksey (@ashish_chouksey) October 11, 2016

Declaring terrorism to be the enemy of humanity and warning that countries sheltering terrorists would not go unpunished, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that at times, war became inevitable because of the sheer nature of circumstances.

In his first public comment on terrorism after the Army’s successful surgical strikes against terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK), Modi said, “Samay ke bandhanon se, paristhitiyon ki aawashyaktaon se, yuddha kabhi kabhi anivarya ho jata hai (compulsions of time and requirements of a situation can render war unavoidable).”
The PM emphasized that India has always preferred Buddha (peace) over Yuddh (war and conflict) and turned to Mahabharata and Ramayana to provide the contexts for the exceptions. “Both Krishna and Ram had to fight wars. But we have been able to transcend the reliance on war and evolved into a people who instead prefer peace,” said Modi, who began and ended his speech with the ‘Jai Sri Ram’ greeting.

The keenly-awaited speech at the historic Aishbagh Ramlila celebrations was heard by a responsive audience and came against the backdrop of India’s defiant insistence that it reserves the right to carry out more raids across the Line of Control to defend itself against jihadi groups. Calling for a multinational effort to stamp out the menace, Modi said, “We have to root out terrorists and those who help them cannot be spared.”

In what was seen as a veiled dig at China, Modi also said those who thought they were immune from terrorism were grossly mistaken and cited the experience of countries which committed the mistake of viewing terrorism as merely a “law and order issue”. “I remember countries like America till as late as 1992-93 used to term it a local law and order problem when India complained about terror activities in the country. But after 26/11, several countries including America changed their opinion and acknowledged the presence of terror in India,” the PM said.

Modi’s decision to attend the Ramlila celebrations at Aishbagh grounds, the first by a PM, created a controversy with his opponents alleging that he would use the occasion to milk the surgical strikes to promote BJP’s campaign for the UP polls scheduled next year. Modi, who had earlier declared that this “Vijaydhashami will be special”, did not specifically mention the Army’s retaliation against the attack on the Uri camp.

However, the remark that India would not run away from a battle if it was forced upon it and his focus on terrorism ensured that the issue loomed large through the evening which saw Modi intently watching ‘Ravan Vadh’, the slaying of Ravana. Modi dipped into the Ramayana to describe the vulture Jatayu as the “first counter-terrorist”. He also sought to drive home social messages like Beti Bachao where he urged people to “save the Sitas in your homes”.
Modi exhorted people to fight against terror with unity as the menace would be eradicated if the entire nation was cautious and united. “We shall wipe out terror from our land with countrywide unity of 125 crore people,” he said, adding that sometimes, war was imposed and one was helpless to avoid it. “But we must have faith in peace and amity and keep fighting for it,” he said.

Women in India are definitely breaking a lot of stereotypes in the past few decades. Contrary to the popular belief that men are the superiors, there have been quite a lot of women that are making the world a better place. On account of international day of the girl, here is a list of top 10 richest women in India:

1. Savitri Jindal

 

Savitri Jindal is the current Chairman of OP Jindal Group. She has retained her status as the richest woman in India recently, which makes her the 19th richest person overall in the country. Net worth is 5.2 Billion USD.

2. Vinod Gupta

Vinod Gupta is the wife of the late Anil Rai Gupta, who founded the electrical company Havell’s. Havell’s saw tremendous growth this year with thriving sales in lighting and electrical fixtures which gave her a net worth of 2.5 Billion USD.

3. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw founded Biocon, the world’s largest insulin producer. Her wealth has more than doubled in the last year and she has a net worth standing at 1.8 billion USD.

4. Leena Tewari

 

Leena Tewari is the chairman of USV India, who makes the cut with a net worth of 1.6 billion USD. Founded by her late father, USV India specializes in diabetic and cardiovascular drugs.

5. Indu Jain

 

Indu Jain, chairman of the media giant Bennett, Coleman & Co., has been a consistent name on the rich list of the country. The company publishes the Times of India, the world’s largest read daily newspaper by circulation. Jain also owns the TV channels Times Now and ET Now.

6. Smita Crishna-Godrej

 

Smita Crishna-Godrej is the sister of Jamshyd Naoroji Godrej, Managing Director and Chairman of Godrej & Boyce. She made headlines a couple of years ago when she bought a heritage bungalow worth $60 million, which once belonged to Homi Bhabha, India’s atomic energy pioneer.

7. Anu Aga

 

Anu Aga owns 62 percent of the engineering firm Thermax, based in India and Britain. Thermax was founded by AS Bathena, Anu Aga’s father, and later taken over by her husband, RD Aga. After the latter’s death, Anu took over the company and stayed on as chairperson until 2004 when she passed on the mantle to her daughter, Meher Aga.

8. Shobhana Bhartia

Shobhana Bhartia is the Chairperson and Editorial Director of HT Media, which publishes the daily Hindustan Times and the business paper Mint. Under Bhartia, the group has expanded its business to include diverse media platforms. This includes four FM radio stations, websites like job portal shine.com, Bollywood site desimartini.com and Webitude, a social and digital media firm. In 2013, Bhartia launched MintAsia, a business weekly in Singapore.

9. Vidya Murkumbi

Vidya Murkumbi owns Shree Renuka Sugars in Belgaum and is one of the fastest growing sugar companies in India. She runs the business alongside her son Narendra Murkumbi.

10. Kavery Kalanithi

 

The Managing Director of Sun TV network and the wife of media tycoon Kalanithi Maran, Kaveri Kalanithi is known for being one of the highest paid women in the country. The Tamil satellite television network, Sun TV, is one of the most viewed entertainment channels in India.

Marking Dussehra with a major administrative reform, the government of Telangana created 21 new districts, more than two years after Telangana came into existence as India’s 29th state. With this, the total number of districts in the state has gone up to 31 from 10. The newly carved out districts are Siddipet, Jangaon, Jayashankar, Jagtial, Warangal (Rural), Yadadri, Peddapally, Kamareddy, Sangareddy, Mancheriyal, Vikarabad, Rajanna, Asifabad, Suryapet, Kothagudem, Nirmal, Wanaparthy, Nagarkurnool, Mahabubabad, Jogulamba and Medchal/Malkajgiri. The 10 exiting districts are Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Mahabubnagar, Medak, Karimnagar, Adilabad, Nizamabad, Warangal, Khammam and Nalgonda.

Revenue divisions and other administrative units have also been reconstituted, creating 25 new revenue divisions, 125 new mandals, four police commissionerates, 23 police sub-divisions, 28 circles and 91 police stations from Tuesday.

Across the state, the inauguration of the new districts, coinciding with Vijaya Dasami, was a grand affair with the Speaker, ministers and other dignitaries attending events organised on the occasion. Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao cut a ribbon at the Collectorate of the new district of Siddipet, carved out of his native Medak district. Chandrasekhar Rao once represented Siddipet in the undivided AP Legislative Assembly. Recalling his association with Siddipet, Chandrasekar Rao vowed to provide Rs 100 crore for its development. “I wish that the people benefit more with all the administrative divisions achieving success with the blessings of god,” he said.

A Prime Minister of India is on duty all the time, the PMO has said, adding no leave records of former Prime Ministers are available with it. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said this when an RTI applicant sought a copy of leave rules and procedures for the Prime Minister of the country from it and the Cabinet Secretariat.

“The Prime Minister can be said to be on duty all the time,” the Right to Information (RTI) response from the PMO said. The applicant also wanted to know if former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, HD Deve Gowda, IK Gujral, PV Narasimha Rao, Chandrashekhar, VP Singh and Rajiv Gandhi had availed any leave and were there any records.

“Information regarding leave record of previous Prime Ministers is not a part of records held by this office. However, it may be noted that no leave has been availed by present Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi since taking over charge,” the RTI response said. A similar RTI application was also filed by the RTI applicant to other authorities like Cabinet Secretariat to ascertain if they have any information about leave of former prime ministers and rules regarding this for the Head of the government.

But there was no response and the application was transferred to home ministry which further sent it to the PMO which said it does not have any information about leave records of former prime ministers.

Definitely, it is not easy to be a Prime Minister!