Road Accidents

Stimulation for Faculty of Thinking on 30-Sep-2017: 

Road accidents are one of the biggest losses to human lives. The Govt tackles this by making wearing of Helmets (for two-wheelers)and using Seat Belts (for four-wheelers). Have you ever thought or noticed that these actions CANNOT prevent accidents to happen. Well, they can ONLY help in reducing the injury, damage or loss to life in case there is a mishap. Then why they are enforced? It’s because it’s easy to administer, and the helmet/seat-belt industries are the big beneficiaries. For prevention of accidents, we have several other options, which are never implemented seriously.

The most important action is the strict enforcement of road rules, like overloading, wrong direction, speed limits, etc. The design of roads and turns, etc. is also faulty; they deliberately / inadvertently encourage breaking of road rules. Most of us invariably compare our system with that of USA. If things work nicely there why can’t it here? We have to understand the difference there: very strict implementation by the authority, people are law abiding and willing to comply, moreover the drivers are trained and tested rigorously and then certified (The licensing process). Here, we have none of these in practice and in addition, one can get away with ease when caught.

Taxi Aggregators

Food for Thought for 20-Sep-2017:

In 2003, while working on various Projects, the concept of Radio/Mobile Taxi came to my mind which is very close to the latest concept of “Taxi Aggregators” less the App. I envisaged it with communication through the mobile/cell phone network. Later over the years, when GPS, and faster Internet were ready for use by the mobile Apps, the concept was fine-tuned to the present state.

Consolidation of Service Providers

Ever Thought or Noticed for 14-Sep-2017:

Have you ever noticed that there are about 50 Banks, 44 Mutual Fund AMCs, and 29 Life/ General Insurance Companies in India. Anyone having Rs. 1 Billion (100 Crores) can open a Life Insurance Company, or Rs. 5 Billion (500 Crores) can open a Bank, albeit with Govt permission. Do they all make profits, or provide value for the people? The answer is a big NO!

During the writing of my article (Administrative Reforms in India) in 2007, I mooted the idea of consolidation of these financial entities to clear clutter, improve efficiency and profits for them. The Govt has just woken up last year and started doing that with the Banks starting with SBI. Till 2015 they were granting new Banks, new AMCs etc. Ideally, we should have only 6-8 Insurance companies, 8-12 Banks and 12-16 AMCs for a healthy competition. On the other hand if we see the Telecom service providers, the competition has cut their number to size about 6, which is good enough. 

Budget Hotel

Points to Ponder for 08-Sep-2017:

In 2002, while working on a Hotel Project, the concept of a “Budget Hotel” struck my mind. I worked out certain attributes and characteristics for this concept and put forward in my Project Report. Three years later the Tatas formed a separate company for Budget Hotels in 2004 and started their Budget Hotel in the name of “Ginger Hotels” in 2005 which was the first in India.