Honor- When competitors take advise

Below write up on Azim Premji I know by Narayana Murthy touched upon a point on how his competitor use to listen to them on what is going on in the industry:

Once Infosys started operating in the post-liberalisation era, Azim realised that we were on to something good and his respect for Infosys and me multiplied several times. He would call me several times a year to find out about our progress and our market strategies. I was very open with him and did not hide anything from him since I knew that our superiority with our competitors came only from how quickly we came out with new ideas and how well and quickly we executed them.

He was shy about coming many times to our office in Electronics City and would nudge me to visit him in his isolated turret on the Wipro campus in Sarjapur. While most of the time I went alone to his office, a couple of times I took Nandan Nilekani, Kris Gopalakrishnan and Mohandas Pai with me. We would go into detailed discussions of how we were managing Infosys. Azim and his CEOs, Vivek Paul and Chandrashekaran, would ask a barrage of questions. We truthfully answered them.

Source: The Azim Premji I Knew

Truly a great honor for Narayana Murthy of Infosys.

Biased writing - Business writers

Article appeared in Bloomberg by Andy Mukherjee (republished in Business Standard on January 17, 2023) titled  "Visa, Mastercard may be allowed a share of India's online payments".

Let us reproduce the lines from the newspaper and pose a counter question:

India’s dealings with American card networks has been frosty. Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. have grumbled to Washington about the lack of a level playing field as New Delhi has cajoled banks to shift to a homegrown alternative.

Question: Is the author worried about Visa and Mastercard ? reason being SBI, Axis, ICICI Bank to go live on 'Rupay Credit card on UPI' by March. Is it India's dealing frosty or Visa and Mastercard are worried that they may lose the business. Author started off with a biased mindset.

The Morning Context, the Reserve Bank of India is keen to grant Visa and Mastercard access to the country's popular online payments protocol. 

Question: Is The Morning Context a widely read print / digital newspaper / magazine in India. I think even in metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai. Kolkatta very few people have heard about The Morning Context. The reference, author is quoting is only well know to him. A quick survey with Bloomberg / Business Standard subscribers about the Morning Context will give a quick answer, forget about India as a whole,

Opening up this large and fast-growing market to the major networks will mean that credit limits will be used, without the physical cards being swiped. This could potentially be a big deal as at least some users will want to borrow for purchases, instead of using their own funds.

Question: Is the author promoting credit card by stating that credit limits will be used. Is he pleading that please allow Visa and Mastercard to be joined in UPI by stating at least some users will want to borrow.. very disappointing. Author has to understand use of physical cards are very less than the QR codes in terms of usage.

It’s a duopoly that makes the Indian government nervous. Today, New Delhi and Washington have a common interest in countering Beijing. Tomorrow, the alignment might shift. If the US tries to use payment as a foreign-policy lever, taking a leaf from sanctions against Russia, then India must be able to soften the blow.

Question: UPI is Indian product for Indian citizens, why Washington and Beijing should be brought in along with Russia. Author: are you threatening India by playing Chinese card? once again very disappointing.

Finally, the motive of the article is clear:

At present, UPI spending comes out of consumers’ savings accounts. From a user’s perspective, scanning a QR is equivalent to paying a business in cash — without having to visit an ATM. From a bank’s standpoint, however, deposits are costly; account holders have to be paid interest. And then the lender has to go and earn a spread. However, if some purchases move to credit cards, the bank providing the loan immediately acquires a lucrative asset and starts praying that the customer won’t pay the full-statement amount. Out of the 2 per cent transaction charge, the cardholder’s bank earns four-fifths; the remaining gets shared between the retailer’s bank, the NPCI … and the card networks. Everyone makes money. So that when the state subsidies to popularize online payments end, all debit transactions can still remain free.

Question: There is no question for above statement where the intention of author is crystal clear, promoting Credit Card vide Visa and Mastercard. Author is worried when spending comes out of consumers saving account, is it bad if the consumer is conscious about the cash he is spending.  It appears the author wants customer to use credit card. 

What is the relevance of the this line or connection with Visa / Mastercard : From a bank’s standpoint, however, deposits are costly; account holders have to be paid interest. And then the lender has to go and earn a spread.  Author: where is the deposit involved and it is costly. In fact use of credit card is costly to the customers which you are not stating. On the contrary author is explaining how the 2% charge will be shared, nowhere mentioning about the interest rate charged by the credit card companies to customers on delayed payments.

Articles by Andy Mukherjee in Bloomberg was well covered under "Gems of Andy Mukherjee: Bloomberg columnist whose hot takes on India should be free for all and put in museum for everyone’s enjoyment".

Varsa - Documentary worth watching

Varsa - Marathi Documentary on Mardani Khel is worth watching. It is a breath of fresh air.

Documentary which highlights the importance of preserving the local sports.

Mystery of Life

 A fine quote from the movie Dune (2021):

The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience. A process that cannot be understood by stopping it. We must move with the flow of the process. We must join it. We must flow with it.

Source: Dune

King Shalya was Sledging

In cricket sledging is very common, this is done to demotivate your opponent and let him lose control over his game. Most important part is to push the opponent to commit a mistake.

So is sledging new, no it is as old as oceans.

For this we have to refer Indian History. An extract from a newspaper article will open the eyes:

But this decision proved to be a fatal mistake, for when Karna’s chariot wheel got stuck in the mud Shalya argued as king he had never changed wheels, but surely as charioteer’s son Karna would know better, thus showing the sarathi (chariot-driver) turned rathi (chariot-rider) his place in the social hierarchy.

But even before this dramatic event, Shalya kept praising Arjuna’s skill in archery, thus demotivating Karna. It was a charioteer’s job to motivate the chariot-rider, as Krishna motivated Arjuna, but Shalya did the very opposite. The reason for this was simple: he resented being tricked by Duryodhana to fight against the Pandavas, not to mention serving as charioteer to the charioteer’s son. Yudhishtira, on learning of how Shalya had been tricked, had asked his uncle only one thing, ‘Let your body fight for them but let your mind fight for us.’

Source: The Print

Yet another new learning from the Divine Epic Mahabharata.

Salutations to the Divine Sage / Guru Veda Vyasa.

Ancient Indian Education System

A great interview by Sahana Singh on ancient Indian Education System worth listening. 

Lots of examples not just plain talks. Worth listening by every Indian.

I will thank Internet that this knowledge is emerging and being passed on to the whole world.

Source: Francois Gautier

India Tourism - Changing Times

On 27th September 2022 (World Tourism Day), Indian Government released Tourism Statistics Report 2022 (2021-22).

The report revealed the top 10 tourist places in India (10 most popular centrally protected ticketed monuments - Domestic and Foreign) . 

An attempt is made to compare the statistics 2022 (2021-22) vis-à-vis 2012 (2011-12) . The list is tabulated below:

Domestic Visitors:

Place	Rank	2021-22	Rank	2011-12
Taj Mahal	1	32,94,611	1	46,46,203
Red Fort	2	13,23,501	3	26,15,976
Qutub Minar	3	11,57,664	2	29,80,415
Mamallapuram	4	11,42,150	-	-
Agra Fort	5	10,27,462	5	16,05,432
Golkonda Fort	6	9,46,972	6	14,83,333
Sun Temple, Konark	7	6,72,891	4	22,25,087
Upper Fort Aguada	8	6,56,756	-	-
Chittorgarh Fort	9	5,90,389	-	-
Shaniwarwada	10	5,16,448	-	-

Foreign Visitors:

Place	Rank	2021-22	Rank	2011-12
Mamallapuram	1	1,44,984	9	74,187
Taj Mahal	2	38,922	1	6,68,903
Rock Cut temple, Saluvankuppam	3	25,579	-	-
Agra Fort	4	13,598	3	3,06,097
Gingee Fort	5	10,483	-	-
Fort Vattakottai	6	9,174	-	-
Qutub Minar	7	8,456	2	3,31,557
Fort Musuem, Thirumayam	8	8,422	-	-
Red Fort	9	5,579	6	1,60,425
Rock Cut Jain Temple, Sittanasal	10	5,432	-	-

Sources:

Tourism Statistics September 2022 - Page number 163.

India Tourism Cover 29 Oct 2012 - Page number 108.

We have to remember that:

• In 2021-22 due to corona, there was a substantial drop in the foreign visitors to India.
• Above is centrally protected monuments where tickets are issued to visitors.
• Temples at Tirupati, Pandharpur, Puri and other famous ones do not issue tickets and they do not fall under centrally protected monuments. These places attract daily thousands of visitors.

The above report indicates how tourist places are undergoing a change. 

Mamallapuram (Group of Temples - Pallava Dynasty) was not there in the Top 10 destination in 2011-12. However, 2021-22 it reached 4th Position in case of domestic travelers. In case of foreign tourist, it was 9th ranked in 2011-12.  In 2021-22 it reached 1st Spot, dethroning Taj Mahal.

So what was the key reasons for the change:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (India) and President Xi Jinping (Chinese) met at Mamallapuram on October 11, 2019.

This was the first time a foreign dignitary visited India and they decided to meet at Tamil Nadu , Mamallapuram (near Chennai City). Previously, the foreign dignitaries visited New Delhi and the closest visit used to be Agra, Taj Mahal. 

This was one of the important initiative by Prime Minister Modi to take dignitaries to other states and showcase other Indian monuments.

The result of that initiative has given excellent results in terms of visitors visiting other important monuments and not get restricted to Taj Mahal only.

There is a vey high chances that in the year 2022-23, Tourism Statistics book, Mamallapuram will not only retain the top spot in Foreign Tourist with big numbers, but will be 2nd spot among Domestic Tourist. The reason being 44th Chess Olympiad, which was held in Mahabalipuram, Chennai (July-August 2022).

India is a land of historic monuments and they all need to be showcased to the world.

This is a positive step.