- 113935/-
Dell Latitude E7250 Price in India
Dell latitude e7250 - Review
Digit Rating 74100
PROS
- Tiny, slim, well built
- Very good keyboard and touchpad combo
- Matte screen
CONS
- Only 128GB storage
- Battery life inadequate
Our Verdict
The Dell Latitude E7250 may not be as glamorous as the ThinkPad X1 Carbon or Toshiba Portege Z30T-A, but it is a solid, dependable machine all the same, with some unique offerings for businesses that may be interested in them.
Dell latitude e7250 - Specification
Where to buy
Sandwiched between the Vostro, at the lower end, and Precision, at the higher end, is Dell’s Latitude series of laptops, built for businesses who desire an uncompromising notebook that gets the job done. To that end, the Latitude E7250 is a pretty good high-end business laptop, with quite a few hits and misses.
being a looker, drive them out of the window, because it’s every bit a dull and boring business notebook – very similar to the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon we’ve reviewed this month. It has a carbon fibre screen lid, and a magnesium alloy chassis to make the Latitude E7250 rugged and super slim at the same time. For its 12.5-inch form factor, the notebook weighs only 1.25 kg – only the Toshiba Portege Z30T-A weighs lower at 1.18 kg among business laptops we’ve tested in the recent past. Solid screen hinges do a great job of securing the notebook when its closed, and this makes the Dell Latitude E7250 incredibly easy to carry around – its lightweight ensures it can be tucked away in even the smallest of backpacks.
Apart from its tiny form factor, we like the Latitude E7250’s matte screen surface – a rarity on notebooks these days – which, in our opinion, is ideal for business notebooks that don’t emphasize on multimedia and keep away glares. However, its performance isn’t quite the best, as its brightness reads at 184.3 cd/m2 in our Spyder tests, and its contrast ratio is just disappointingly low. Its onboard audio is at par with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s at mid volume, and alright for personal entertainment or video conferencing in a boardroom. The HD webcam is nice for video conferencing on Skype or Google Hangout, and its microphone is a little oversensitive to any sound in its vicinity.
The notebook doesn’t spring any surprises as far as its core performance goes. It sports an Intel Broadwell Core i5 chip which isn’t as high performing as the ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s Core i7, but paired with oodles of RAM and a 128GB SSD, it manages to do a good overall job in executing day-to-day tasks. However, due to its low weight, it only packs in a 3-cell battery, which lasted only 2 hours 46 mins in our high performance battery test – lower than the Portege Z30T-A which weighed in similarly. At a conservative battery plan, one can hope to extract just a little over 4 hours of battery backup on a single charge. Of course with a docking port, a battery extension can be slotted in (if required, at extra cost). So yeah, the Latitude E7250’s performance is good, but not great.
The Latitude E7250’s keyboard is different from the ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s in terms of layout and key size, but it performs equally well, which was a big surprise. The small backlit chiclet-sized keys are easy to get used to and great to type on, and its large touchpad with dedicated mouse buttons are a joy to interact with. As a combination, the Latitude E7250’s compact keyboard and touchpad work extremely well, better than quite a few larger form factor machines we’ve reviewed in the recent past in fact.
Of course, another important thing to note about the Dell Latitude E7250 is it comes with the 5th generation of Intel vPro security and management features, including (and not limited to) enhanced wireless connectivity (displays), hardware SSD encryption, active and remote management capabilities, and then some. All of this is music to any self-respecting business establishment’s ears that wants to deploy the Latitude E7250s in its workforce.
The Dell Latitude E7250 may not be as glamorous as the ThinkPad X1 Carbon or Toshiba Portege Z30T-A, but it is a solid, dependable machine all the same, with some unique offerings for businesses that may be interested in them.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro
With Windows 10 having released officially, we will be seeing a lot of Windows 10 based laptops in the coming months. The first laptop to sport Microsoft’s latest OS which graced our labs is the Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro – Black Edition. Acer is generally known for its budget oriented laptops, but with the Acer Aspire V Nitro we have a 4K display sporting gaming machine. And if Acer’s IFA presentation is any indication to go by, the Taiwanese computer maker will be going all out with its laptop launches across categories. So is the Aspire V Nitro really a laptop worth considering? We will find out in our review.
Build and Design: 7/10
Acer Aspire V Nitro comes in an all-black body with the hinge portion having a chrome finish. The top flap has a slightly rubberised textured design with the Acer Logo placed on the right hand side. A slight protrusion in the front portion eases opening the laptop. The laptop has a tapering design on all sides, which gives it a sleek look, but in fact the thickness is around 24mm and weighs around 2.4kg. It is not exactly the kind of laptop that you will carry around with you daily as it not portable by any yardstick.
The hinge mechanism stands out from the rest of black bodied V Nitro. It sports a dark gray colour and has the Aspire V Nitro branding along its length. On the other side of the hinge, you have the air vents for the laptop. The laptop rests on four sturdy rubber feet, which ensures that the laptop stays fixed in one position. The hinge mechanism isn’t the sturdiest as we noticed that the monitor wobbled on mild tapping.
On the right hand side, you have the power power at the top, followed by a retractable LAN port, an HDMI port followed by three USB 3.0 ports and an audio jack. On the front, you just have the SD card slot and on the left hand side, you just have the Kensington lock.
Keyboard and Trackpad: 6/10
The Acer Aspire V Nitro sports a 6-row full size keyboard with isolated keys which have a good feedback and travel. The keys have a red backlight which gives a nice red glow around them in the dark. Typing for long durations does not lead to fatigue, thanks to the respectable palm rest area, which has a slight rubberised finish on it. But as good as the the keyboard is, the trackpad is equally mediocre. You don’t really understand if your tap has been registered as a click or vice versa, when you are using the lower half of the keyboard. Since it is a single slab of plastic, on a lot of occasions we ended up right clicking when we wanted to left click and so on. Also thanks to the placement of trackpad, left of centre, in case when you just want to use the trackpad and your palms are in the typing position, you end up right clicking instead of left. It may seem like nitpicking, since the trackpad is placed in the centre, if you leave out the numpad area, it does take some time getting used to.
Features: 8/10
Acer has positioned the Aspire V 15 Nitro – Black edition, as a gaming laptop and it comes with impressive specs. For starters it has the Intel Core i7 4720HQ processor, which is a quad-core hyper-threaded processor clocked at 2.6GHz with the Turbo frequency reaching 3.6GHz. The processor is supported by 12GB of RAM which is one of highest RAM configs we have tested on a laptop in a long time.
On the storage front, you get a 1TB HDD. Since this is a gaming laptop, it has a dedicated Nvidia GTX 960M graphics solution. The Aspire V Nitro comes bundled with Windows 10 out of the box. Acer has refrained from adding its own software or bundling unwanted apps along with the laptop, which is a blessing considering there has been a lot of bloatware with its Windows 8.1 laptops. If you are new to the Windows 10 operating system, then there is a slight learning curve associated with it.
Display: 8/10
Acer has gone all out with the display giving you a 4K UltraHD display with a matte finish on the screen which really helps. The reflectivity if the screen is under control and thanks to the IPS panel, the viewing angles are quite good on the monitor. We did not observe any sort of colour shift when viewing sideways or from the top. The bezel on the monitor is thick, but the monitor section of the Aspire V Nitro is quite slim. The contrast levels are good for watching movies and the black levels are impressive.
In the Lagom.nl tests, the display performs quite well in the contrast test, gradient banding test shows a smooth transition from black to white level without any visible banding. While the white saturation test shows all the checkered boxes separately, the black level test tends to merge the top two rows of black boxes.
Performance: 8/10
The 3D Mark 11 benchmark gave a score of 5590 on the Performance preset. Asus’ G551JK was the only other laptop which came close with a score of 4557. In terms of gaming laptop Metro: Last Light gives around 34FPS and 38FPS for full HD resolutions on high (16X AF, High Tessellation, Adv PhysX activated) and low (4X AF, Normal Tessellation, Adv PhysX deactivated) settings. With 4K resolution, the gaming scores took a hit, falling to 12FPS and 22FPS respectively for high and low settings. Bioshock Infinite gave a more respectable 57FPS for Ultra settings and 81FPS on Medium settings on full HD resolution. For 4K resolution on Bioschock Infinite we got around 18FPS and 23FPS respectively for Ultra and Medium settings.
Battery Life: 5/10
Considering that the Aspire V Nitro comes with a dedicated graphics card and has a 4K resolution, we were not expecting great numbers in terms of battery life. And the laptop gives about 1 hour 35 mins on PC Mark 8 battery life test, which is certainly not impressive. Gaming continuously will naturally bring it down further. But then, the Nitro isn’t a laptop that is portable anyway, and if you are planning to go on the road with it, ensure that you carry the charger along.
Verdict and Price in India
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro is priced at Rs 1,10,000 and going by the prices charged by gaming laptops the pricing is at par, considering you are getting a 4K display. Most gaming monitors offer a full HD display. The Nitro offers a good display with excellent viewing angles. Of course, the gaming performance at 4K resolution with heavy games such as Metro: Last Light was not impressive at maxed out settings. You will need to keep settings low to get playable frame rates at 4K resolution. Games such as Bioshock Infinite are playable with settings maxed out at full HD resolutions. The battery life could certainly have been better. Ensure that you always have a charging point around you. It is certainly a laptop worth considering if you are looking at a Windows 10 based work cum entertainment machine for your home or office, which also lets you play games every once in a while. In case you are cool with a full HD display and a generation older graphics solution, then you can check out the Asus ROG G551JK.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
DELL customer service
To test Dell's services, we looked for help on keeping a laptop running even after its lid is closed, how to set up a picture password in Windows 8, and how to set up Dell Backup and Recovery on a Dell Inspiron 15.
MORE: Laptop Interactive Buying Guide
Web and Social Support
In the past year, Dell says it has updated the design of its support website (www.dell.com/support) to offer more intuitive navigation, reducing the number of clicks required to get help. Overall, the website is easy enough to get around, with a helpful "Detect My Product" button for you to get information relevant to the device you're using.
Unfortunately, the myriad options in the top menu made it difficult to find specific information, because of sections that seem to offer similar things, such as Drivers and Downloads, Dell Software Download Center, Manuals and Product Support. I didn't know where to start to find information on keeping my laptop on after closing the lid or setting up a picture password. Thanks to the search tool at the top right, I easily found an answer to the second question, but Dell didn't have resources on the first.
The company also made it possible for users to post questions on its Facebook pages over the past year, and says it "will attempt to assist." I posted on Dell's profile asking how to keep my laptop on even after closing the lid, but did not receive a response within a month.
Dell's Twitter team (@Dell) was more responsive, replying in 2 hours to my tweet on how to set up a picture password. The tweet directed me to a Microsoft support page instead of actually giving me steps to solve my problem, but it did resolve the issue.
Dell's Web chat service proved helpful as well, as a rep walked me through keeping my laptop on upon closing within 25 minutes. That time would have been shorter had Dell not needed to find out who the computer was registered to, but the agent, Tarun, was responsive and helpful, for the most part. If your computer is second-hand, a gift or an office device, you might run into delays trying to verify who owns it.
MORE: 12 Best Dell and Alienware Laptops
Phone Support
Every call placed to Dell's help hotline is greeted by the company's voice-based operator system. I liked being able to speak my product's service tag instead of having to enter it while juggling the phone and laptop, and the system interpreted my queries accurately most of the time. Like last year, Dell's agents were reliant on remotely accessing our computers to troubleshoot.
My first call to Dell's tech support started at 2:55 p.m. ET and lasted just 6 minutes, thanks to the efficient and helpful Mel in the Philippines. I asked for help setting up a picture password, and he quickly walked me through the steps, after cautioning me that this login method is more complicated and less commonly used.
Other calls were not as breezy. The next call began at 10:27 a.m. ET on a Monday, and was answered by Dennis, who was in the Philippines. After taking 6 minutes to look up and confirm my information, all the while politely asking me to bear with him, Dennis informed me (incorrectly) that it's not possible to prevent my laptop from going to sleep when I close the lid. I explained that I wanted to run downloads and close the screen while I go to bed, and Dennis suggested an alternate method to make that possible (setting the display to go to sleep in 5 minutes while the computer continues running).
He walked me through downloading the remote assistant GoToAssist program, which was set up in just a minute, and went into Power Options in the Control Panel to set it up. Dennis was helpful and clear, explaining what he was doing each step of the way. It took him a few minutes to go through all the steps and restart my computer. He stayed on the line for 5 minutes, all the while explaining what was happening, to make sure the changes worked. Although his solution was not what I was looking for, Dennis listened to my problem and offered a method that worked. The call ended at 10:53 a.m. (26 minutes).
My third call, placed at 8:30 p.m. on a Thursday, was transferred from department to department as each rep struggled to find the right place to send my question: "How can I set up Dell Backup and Recovery?" The fourth person I got passed to was Rohan, in India, from the Dell Backup and Recovery department. He informed me that the software in question was only able to reset my laptop back to factory settings, and I could only set up regular backups (which is true, but Dell doesn't make this clear when it touts the service) and recovery disks if I had paid for the premium version.
I decided to do a factory reset, and Rohan repeatedly reminded me that I would be wiping everything from my notebook if I decided to go ahead. The rep clearly and quickly walked me through the steps. At the end of the call, Rohan asked me to hold for his supervisor, who greeted me 4 minutes later to ask if there was anything additional I needed. This call lasted 50 minutes.
Bottom Line
Overall, Dell's Web presence made up for its underwhelming call performance this year. Thanks to a speedy Twitter team and a helpful chat service, I quickly found solutions to most of my problems online. On the phone though, agents' insistence on finding out who paid for the device before deigning to help added a chunk to the company's average call time (27:03), which is the longest we've tested. I also got transferred from department to department on more than one call, which was frustrating.
Dell needs to streamline its support site to make it easier to get to the live chat function, cut down on the red tape and transfers at its call centers, as well as beef up its Facebook response team, to rank higher in future Tech Support Showdowns.
Monday, September 14, 2015
How india can become a super power
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Dowry a form of corruption in india
Dowry A Social Evil
Dowry, this one word brings jitters to a girl’s parents when it is highlighted in the marriage ceremony of their daughter. We all are aware of this deadly disease which has eaten up many innocent brides. But, are we really doing something to get away with this disease?? I don’t think so.
To protect us from the demons of dowry, the Indian Government enacted The Dowry Prohibition Act on 21st May, 1961 in order to prohibit the giving or taking of dowry.
This act was introduced in the Twelfth Year of the Republic Of India. It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
Dowry, according to this act means any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly-
a) By one party in the marriage to the other party in the marriage; or
b) By the parents of either party in the marriage
Presents which are given to the bride at the time of marriage by her parents with their own wish are acceptable; provided that such presents are entered in the list maintained in accordance with the rules made under this Act.
Further, the presents which are made by or on behalf of the bride or any person related to the bride, such presents are of a customary nature and the value thereof is not excessive having regard to the financial status of the person by whom, or on whose behalf, such presents are given.
But, if the groom’s family demands of any other item, it is against the laws.
Penalty is slapped for giving or taking dowry. If any person demands directly or indirectly, from the parents or other relatives or guardian of a bride, as the case may be, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to two years and with a fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees, provided that the court may, for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than six months.
But, if we look at this Law, don’t you think that the punishment for the dowry seekers is too less. Think from a girl’s point of view, she is the one who suffers a lot between these arguments as if it is, “HER AUCTION”.
The dowry seekers should be imposed a fine of not less than one lakh and an imprisonment of not less than one year. This Act was introduced to provide justice to the Bride’s family. They are the one who suffer a lot.
When we talk about the Indian society, they are still living in the disillusion world. They have achieved global success in terms of technology and science. But, the social problems and thinking still stays somewhere in the Indian mind and the Indian homes.
We the female power needs to be strong and fight with this deadly disease with courage. We can’t let our sisters die for an impotent man, who supports his parents and sit like a baby on his mother’s lap. Let’s light the lamp, and spread its bright light and kill this disease.
Friday, September 11, 2015
TVS apache review
Thursday, September 10, 2015
10 Countries Which hold most gold
> Tonnes: 8,133.5
> Pct. reserves: 74%
> GDP (rank): $17.40 trillion (2)
> Tonnes: 3,381.0
> Pct. reserves: 68%
> GDP (rank): $3.62 trillion (5)
> Tonnes: 2,451.8
> Pct. reserves: 66%
> GDP (rank): $2.07 trillion (12)
> Tonnes: 2,435.4
> Pct. reserves: 65%
> GDP (rank): $2.58 trillion (8)
> Tonnes: 1,658.1
> Pct. reserves: 2%
> GDP (rank): $17.63 trillion (1)
> Tonnes: 1,275.0
> Pct. reserves: 13%
> GDP (rank): $3.57 trillion (6)
> Tonnes: 1,040.0
> Pct. reserves: 7%
> GDP (rank): $444.70 billion (40)
> Tonnes: 765.2
> Pct. reserves: 2%
> GDP (rank): $4.81 trillion (4)
> Tonnes: 612.5
> Pct. reserves: 57%
> GDP (rank): $798.10 billion (27)
> Tonnes: 557.7
> Pct. reserves: 6%
> GDP (rank): $7.28 trillion (3)
Indian black money already moved out Swiss Banks
The Swiss National Bank, the country's central banking authority, has estimated the funds currently held by Indians in Swiss banks at a mere $1.98 billion.
Fear of disclosure due to greater scrutiny of this illicit wealth has played the main role in the flight of capital. Rashme Sehgal reports from Geneva for Rediff.com
Narendra Modi had promised that on becoming prime minister he would ensure that Indian black money stashed in Swiss bank vaults would make its way back to India and every Indian would receive a bonanza of Rs 15 lakh (Rs 1.5 million).
Fifteen months have passed into his prime ministership and there are no signs of any undeclared assets having reached Indian shores. Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah has tried to pass off Modi's promise as being little more than an 'election jhumla.'
Banking experts in Switzerland point out that the Rs 15 lakh figure for 1.2 billion Indians is untenable since most of the black money Indians had deposited in Swiss banks was cleared out during the last decade.
As per the latest data, the amount held by Indians through fiduciaries in Swiss banks has reached a record low level, while it used to be in the billions of dollars till about seven years ago.
"The figures of Rs 15 lakh would have worked out to several times India's present GDP," a senior Geneva-based tax consultant points out. "Switzerland never saw such massive deposits from any country."
"More than half the undeclared money from India has been moved to Dubai and Singapore where it could have been invested in real estate, gold or re-entered India through the hawala route," says lawyer Nathalie Bersier, a consultant for Swiss investments in India and vice versa.
"I do not know how Modi made such a remark. The Manmohan Singh government also talked about huge amounts of undeclared Indian money," Bersier adds, "but the truth is that most of the money has moved out in the last decade.".
The Swiss National Bank, the country's central banking authority, according to data released last year, has estimated the funds currently held by Indians in Swiss banks at a mere $1.98 billion.
Fear of disclosure due to greater scrutiny of this illicit wealth has played the main role in the flight of capital.
Contesting the large black money amounts being mentioned in Indian newspapers, Bersier says, "In Switzerland, the perception is that the Indian assets vary between $900 million and $4 billion. I believe the amount would be somewhere in between."
While Indian deposits may have shown a steady decline, the money held in Swiss banks by foreign depositors rose during 2014 to $1.6 trillion or Rs 103 lakh crore from about Rs 90 lakh crore at the end of 2013.
"From 2009, the Indian government has been highlighting this issue of black money without realising that the easiest thing to do is to close a bank account and transfer the money out," says Bersier.
"Such a flight of capital has already occurred. Many of these deposits are known to have belonged to politicians which is why no government is forthcoming with the names of the depositors," she adds.
Her belief is buttressed by the release of data from the Zurich-based Swiss National Bank confirming this trend. As per its latest data, the total Indian deposits held in Swiss banks at the end of 2014 included 1,776 million Swiss francs or Rs 12,350 crore (Rs 123.50 billion) held directly by Indian individuals and entities (down from 1,952 million Swiss francs a year ago), and another 38 million Swiss franc (down from 77.3 million Swiss francs at the end of 2013) through 'fiduciaries' or wealth managers.
State secretary for International Financial Matters Jacques de Watteville refused to hazard a guess about just how much money has been moved out of Swiss banks to be invested in Dubai or Singapore. "There are no official on the assets transferred out of Switzerland," says Watteville.
Asked about the Indian names published in the Swiss Federal Gazette, Watteville says, "The publication of names of Indian account holders in the Swiss Federal Gazette is an internal Swiss legal procedure. Names are only published in the Federal Gazette as a last resort when there is no contact address in Switzerland for foreign residents who are affected by an administrative assistance request. The mere fact to have a name published does not prejudge the legal position of the person concerned."
Does India need to establish a scheme to regularise offshore assets? "Our understanding is that the Indian government recently opened a 'compliance window' for taxpayers to regularise their situation," says Watteville, referring to the government scheme whereby tax evaders can pay a penalty of 20 percent and get their black money regularised.
"Banking circles are aware that undeclared assets by Indians has been moved out," says Nicolas Stepczynski, a Geneva-based banker and tax consultant with Berger Van Berchem et Cie. "Rich Indian families are already under great scrutiny by their government and therefore known to be very careful with their finances."
Will the famed secrecy wall of Switzerland's banking system finally show cracks? The Swiss Federal Council, Switzerland's highest executive authority, recently declared that it is holding consultations with the Tax Administrative Assistance Act to ease practises with regard to stolen data.
For the present, Switzerland has refused to acknowledge leaked data as was the case of 600 Indian depositors at HSBC whose names were leaked by whistleblower Herve Falciani in 2006.
Falciani gave the list to the French government -- who provided the information to the Indian government -- rather than to the Swiss government because he felt it would not have investigated the matter further.
Bersier does not see too much emerging from the Federal Council consultations. "They are at a very early stage. Discussions have been held between the Swiss and Indian governments on the need to detect, recover and repatriate illegal deposits, but all the information available with the Indian government is based on stolen documents."
"The key issue is what pressure the Indian government can exert on the Swiss government," says Bersier. "The US threatened to close all Swiss banks operating in the US which led to the Swiss immediately signing a treaty with the US and UK. There are no Swiss banks operating in India."
On the subject of the Automatic Exchange of Information between the Swiss and Indian governments expected to be operationalised by 2018, Bersier is equally cynical.
Erecting the AEOI platform is all very well, she feels, but it is too little too late. "By the time it becomes operational," Bersier says, "all the illegal deposits will have been moved out. There are any number of countries where this money can be moved to."
India has set up a Special Investigation Team headed by Justice B M Shah to look into the issue of black money. Justice Shah has welcomed the Swiss Federal Council's approval of the bill to amend its laws to allow its government to share information with countries on the basis on what is perceived to be stolen data.
Detection and recovery of black money in foreign tax havens is a key concern of the Modi government.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Why google cancelled plans to setup data center in HK
So were they expecting to acquire another large plot of land, like the 15 hectares they have in Changhua County, Taiwan, after announcing its initial data center plans for Hong Kong back in 2011? It would seem incredibly unrealistic of the company to expect to tag on a larger chunk of land at a later date, especially in a place like Hong Kong where land for commercial use is obviously in short supply, and I doubt they would have made a risky decision like that.
It certainly doesn't appear to be a decision made due to the cost of the land. A rough estimate of the land premiums (from the Hong Kong and Science Technology Parks website) for a site the size of Google's in Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate points to a figure somewhere between US$1 to US$2 million — pocket change for a company the size of Google. Admittedly, other costs like electrical power and salaries that figure into the running cost of a data center have gone up, but certainly not so much to put off a planned data center build.
Naturally, despite their statement that they remain committed to Hong Kong, this has led to speculation on the company’s plans for Hong Kong, which is ultimately a "Special Administrative Region" of the People's Republic of China, the country that they pulled their search engine out of.
Cancelling the Hong Kong data center build certainly doesn't appear to be a big deal to the company, as it can still serve its customers through its data centers in Taiwan and Singapore, but it must be a huge disappointment to say the least, to the government here which has been trying to promote Hong Kong as a data center hub. And making it harder to swallow must be that Google has one in Singapore — the other rival data center hub in the region.
I certainly don't think this is the start of any trend for data center operators to up and move elsewhere, for Hong Kong still offers a host of benefits attractive to data center operators, such as a lack of natural disasters like earthquakes, a reliable power supply and is well connected through subsea cables. Well, at least not until there is more clarity about Shanghai's free trade zone and how it plans to handle Internet traffic there.
Any lessons for India here??
Lokpal bill 3
Corruption in India: Its History, Roots and Current Developments
By Harmander S. Maan
"Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual; the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country." - Karl Kraus
CORRUPTION IN INDIA
India, once known as the Golden Sparrow, is today's the third world 'poor' and underdeveloped country with widespread poverty. It's not that India lacks resources or skills; the disease which is keeping India on back foot is its political and bureaucratic corruption. Transparency International's study (2005) found that more than 45 percent of Indians had first hand experience of paying bribes or influence peddling to get jobs done in public offices. It also reveals that Trucks pay US$5 billion in bribes annually. In 2010, India was ranked 87th out of 178 countries in Transparency International's Corruption perception index. The corruption is so widespread in the system that people gladly give and receive the bribes and it's almost accepted as a custom in the offices. "Babus" in the government offices accept bribes with pride and consider it their right to be paid extra for doing their jobs. The procedures in a public office are so complicated to follow or to understand for a common man (due to the lack of transparency), that it has no other choice to either pay for the information or simply let it go.
India tops the list for black money in the entire world with almost US$ 1456 billion in Swiss banks (that would be about USD 1.4 trillion). Swiss Banking Association Report (2006) says that India has more black money than rest of the world combined.
THE ROOTS AND HISTORY OF CORRUPTION IN INDIA
There are many reasons for corruption in India. The roots are deep; deeper than we think. India has a culture of gifts and temptations. From dowry to 'sweets for the children', from Warren Hastings (Governor General of India, 1787) to the early independence policies of protectionism and public ownership, from 'license Raj' to criminalization in Indian politics, one can find it anywhere, corrupting the society.
In July 2008 the Washington Post reported that nearly a forth of the 540 Indian Parliament members faced criminal charges including human trafficking, rape and even murder or homicides. Vohra report submitted by Indian Union Home Secretary, NN Vohra in October 1993 explains the criminalization of politics in India. It reveals that political leaders had become the leaders of gangs and enjoyed the protection of bigger players (leaders) of all political parties. The parts of Vohra report which are unpublished, are believed to contain highly explosive material.
CURRENT DEVEOPMENTS AND THE 'LOKPAL'
Today India, along with China and other Asian countries, is leading the world economy. But the corruption is still there, more than ever before. In 2011 after a couple of big scams involving Union Ministers and big shots of the ruling government, public have had enough. There were widespread public protests and movements all around India led by social welfare worker Anna Hazare and a famous Yoga Guru and social activist Baba Ramdev. The latter is working for the return of illegal wealth stashed by politicians and businessmen in foreign banks over the six decades after independence.
'Lokpal' or Ombudsman is an authority or institution, created to provide protection to the people (from corruption and the corrupt obviously). The Lokpal is at the centre and its representatives called Lokayuktas (Ombudsmen in the states) are to be in each state.
• The institution is made to work swiftly, efficiently and with utmost authority. Lokpal is completely independent of the government (like Supreme Court and Election Commission).
• The investigations in any case have to be completed in one year. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.
• For a common man: if any work of any citizen is not done in the prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on responsible officers.
• The Lokpal members will be chosen by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and NOT by the government. So there is no chance for corrupt and weak Lokpal members. The entire function in Lokpal will be completely transparent.
• Existing anti-corruption agencies like CBI, CVC and DVACB will be merged into Lokpal.
• Lokpal will also provide protection to the 'whistleblowers.'
Today, on 4th August 2011, while I am still busy writing this article, the government's version of Lokpal bill was tabled in the Parliament which does not cover the Prime Minister within the preview of Lokpal during his or her term in the office. But after the PM demits the office, he or she may be investigated for any wrong doing. It also excludes the judiciary and any action of a Member of the parliament.
Anna Hazare and all the followers welcomed the new proposed Lokpal Bill by burning the copies of it. India Against Corruption said that the protest will be continued till 16th August when Anna will go on fast against the exclusion of several recommendations made by civil society members. IAC in a Facebook update on 4th August: "Copies of Lokpal Bill (proposed by the government) will be burned at Jantar Mantar today at 5 pm, inviting all citizens to join the start of Civil Disobedience Movement. Its now or never!!"
Only tomorrow will tell what the destiny has decided. The corruption will not go overnight; the youth has a big role to play along with educationists, parents and scholars.
"If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher." - Dr Abdul Kalam
Harmander S. Maan
Lokpal what ? 2
Anna Hazare's Movement: India Against Corruption
By Saurabh Muklania
When people exhaust their capacity for tolerance, then you should take it that it is a beginning of a revolution - Anna Hazare
Corruption is eating us away from inside out. The phenomenon of corruption has evoked robust emotional responses among the general public. There are large numbers of people up in arms against the cancerous spread of corruption. Corruption exists in both the public and public sectors of our society. However the corruption that involves the public sectors attracts greater attention for obvious reasons. The proper functioning of the state is essential for the welfare of its citizens. Citizens pay to the govt, and feel involved concerning the abuse of their trust and resources. Corruption here refers not only to bribery, but also to other forms of misconduct that go beyond financial fulfilment. A new milestone in the history of independent India, a new path paved by the anti - corruption campaigner Anna Hazare. He has shown the world what Gandhism means in today's world. The power of Gandhiji's non violence will never cease to exist in the ages to come.
Anna Hazare is engaged in a peaceful, composed war against corruption. His urge to free India of the utmost evil, corruption, is appreciated by people from every part of the country and got historic public support. He awakened the nation. From North to South and East to West, educated or uneducated people came out on streets to back Anna against his fast unto death. Anna Hazare and his supporters are not influenced by any political party. It is just the Indian National Flag is waving high in the sky and in our minds.
Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur feels that 'Anna Movement' is the most secular movement in the history of independent India.
Corruption in India has now become a major issue. People of India have accepted corruption as part of life. The nation and the people who are engaged in so many things in India and in abroad are now understanding that it is the time to fight against Corruption. At the time when India is growing and reverse brain drain has initiated, citizen now are no more ignorant on these issues. Finally Anna is changing that so we live freely.
The Jan Lokpal Bill have many loopholes like the Right to Information Act, which was passed due to the driving force again laid by Anna Hazare. According to the right to information act, the citizens of India have the right to get information on any matter concerning the country, but recently an incident occurred which clearly reflects the loopholes in it. A citizen of India lodged a complaint about the illegal wealth possessed by the former chief justice of India, K.G Balakrishnan. Even today complete information about the wealth of this most corrupted chief justice of India is not known to the public. Why? Is it beyond the Right to Information Act? Similar loopholes are likely to be there in the Lokpal bill also. It is sure that as time passes some illegal and illogical rule will come whereby the citizens cannot use this bill against the Prime Minister, Chief justice and so on thus restricting its use. The new committee formed to frame the bill must take in the interest of all sections of the population. It should be taken care that the bill will be unbiased and does not favour any person, be it the President or Prime Minister.
It is so distressing that several activists and eminent citizens are actually disparaging Anna Hazare's movement and feat, and contents of the bill drafted by the civil society, by citing it "unconstitutional" in nature or through frivolous criticism against Anna. Personalities from our movie world, Politicians, Businessmen, CEOs of companies are part of the movement now trying to share the limelight, though many are favouring it.
You can jail a revolutionary, but you cannot jail the revolution said Amitabh Bachchan.
The paradox of situation is that a corrupt person and a person fighting for the anti-corruption were locked in a same place. There are two ways to lead a life, one do nothing and suffer the consequences and another is to take the responsibility to change it.
Let us use the Jan Lokpal bill wisely, sealing its loopholes and see the final result. Let us hope for the best. We should stand united.
If Corruption is Virus... then ANNA is Anti-Virus.
Professional Trader in futures market. Part time blogger. Oh yes I am the one who writes at http://popcornoflife.blogspot.com/ Married for more than 3 years now and loving my wife as my life. I am very down to earth human being and very happy and contended with my life with what I have got but always strive for more happiness of my family! There are still lots of things about myself so if you want to know them, be my friend and contact me through my blog which is an another world for me.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Saurabh_Muklania
http://EzineArticles.com/?Anna-Hazares-Movement:-India-Against-Corruption&id=6543525
Lokpal what???!!!
Corruption and Social Protest - A View on Recent Happenings in India
By Arindam Das
Corruption in India - a by-product of economic growth?
The world has been keenly observing the recent public protests in Egypt, Libya and other middle-eastern countries. The majority of the western observers have appreciated the devolution of absolute power wielded by the people in establishment over a long time.
Around the same time India, the largest democratic country in the world is also experiencing a unique form of protests against corruption. One possible reason why these are going unnoticed by the international media is that these movements in India are non-violent and though some of these involve participation from a large number of people, they may not be classified as mass movement, considering the huge population of this country.
Social justice, human rights, freedom of expression, tolerance for divergent viewpoints - these are some features that Indian democracy is proud of when similar practices in its neighboring countries are almost non-existent. Unfortunately, in this thriving democracy corruption has become a part of almost every aspect of life - not just for petty businessmen to make a few extra bucks or for the lower-level officials to accept "speed money" to pass a file.
With the economic liberalization that started in early 1990s we have seen a lot of money, quite unthinkable twenty years ago coming in various forms of investments in the country. The idea, according to the economists and financial pundits was to open up Indian economy and let it grow at about 10% every year and thereby benefit the country and countrymen. However, the sceptics would say that the liberalization and growth story was meant to leverage India's resources (natural and people) and convert Indians to a consumerist society - create a billion of hungry consumers who are ready to work for the MNCs and ready to consume all products from the MNCs - essentially, create wealth for the MNCs.
Now, Indian businessmen were no less shrewd and they spotted opportunities in this liberalization journey - to plunder the nation and create wealth for themselves as well. Over past twenty years, all Indian business houses have grown in wealth while more and more MNCs have used India as resource base as well as consumer base. But, if everyone was benefiting, then who was losing? Well, the environment that was rich with natural resources and the poor people, who only got poorer in the process.
Now, there are other by-products of this mega growth story - the most important of them is rampant corruption. Though India claims to have a rich heritage and scriptures that are several thousand years old, Indians have never claimed to be morally superior to people from other parts of world - well, that is a little bit of honesty from Indians. We have always seen that people in power and people with money take undue advantage but with the huge volume of business transactions and rising economy, corruption took newer heights - where unbelievably large sums changed hands for favors that would result in equally unbelievable, windfall profits or establish monopoly in business.
The common man stood and watched the blatant manipulations - the brazen attitude of industrialists and businessmen and the hand-in-glove politicians and bureaucrats who were party to this grand Indian loot. Land was taken away from the poor in the name of infrastructure development or setting up industries without compensation or rehabilitation. Rules were flouted or bent to allow businesses to run that caused irreparable damage to the environment and human life. Tax breaks and special economic zones were set up to allow more profit for businesses and no benefit to the common people. All the while, the establishment, the media and the upper echelons of society rejoiced that Indian economy was growing.
The rise of Anna Hazare and the Civil Society
The politicians across party lines over the years became brazen about their administrative decisions that benefited their kith and kin. It was happening not only at the central level but also at each of the states. It became obvious that crony capitalism was spreading its tentacles across the country. Almost every large initiative of all the governments in past ten years smacked of corruption, kickback and laundering public money.
Though there were vigilance commissioners, many of them were also found to be tainted; several senior representatives of judiciary had allegations against them. The investigation bureaus were utilized to conduct inquiries to settle political scores. Media on its part was vocal about these but they kept on moving from one story to another and were more interested in raising their viewership than focusing on getting the system corrected.
Anna Hazare, a Gandhian who was engaged in social work for all his life decided to take this battle up. The prop he has used this time to fight against corruption is the Lokpal Bill, a bill that was supposed to have ombudsmen or Lokpal to receive complaints from the people about the functioning of the establishment, investigate the same and recommend remedies. The current Lokpal structure is a weak and skeletal structure and not all the states have adopted it. The proposal to have a stronger Lokpal has been subverted by the vested interests in the establishment for several years. Anna started off with a threat to the government that he would go on a hunger strike in Delhi if the government did not take Lokpal Bill seriously.
Initially, the government ignored the potential of such a threat for hunger strike. These things are accepted as a democratic form of raising an issue against government's policies or actions - serious or trivial. Moreover, in the past they had rarely caused any long-term significant damage to the credibility of the ruling party or the government - either the protestors accepted some verbal promises or they simply gave up.
Two things moved unpredictably in Anna's April 2011 fast at Delhi's Jantar Mantar. First, the way people of India voluntarily joined him. Anna was very particular about keeping his movement apolitical and did not allow anyone from political parties to join him at the dais - this definitely pleased the mass, as Indian public knew pretty well that all political parties were corrupt and probably, equally so. Of course, it was not true that none of these mass followers ever committed to corruption - sure, some of them might have paid bribes to speed up activities in government departments and many will not mind doing so in future to avoid delays or take undue advantage. However, all were interested in seeing some punitive action in mega-corruptions that people in power were involved in.
The second thing that put Anna in limelight was the media. The electronic media was initially ignoring Anna's protest but they soon sensed a story and possible rise in viewership because a large mass of people got too passionate with Anna's movement. Within a few days, the media went berserk putting the government at a loss of face about all the popularity that this 73-year old, 7th grade educated ex-army cook was getting.
Anna was also selective of his A team and it included people from different occupations with clean images. Nonetheless, the people in power did not desist from a smear campaign on them to bring Anna's movement down. However, that did not sway the common Indian for his faith in Anna or his people.
Very soon, the government realized that it would be best to engage with Anna and in a rare moment announced that a bill would be drafted along with Anna's team. This was a historic moment, as government was not required to directly involve the common person in framing of a bill.
The people of India rejoiced - they saw that someone with only principle and conviction could bring the mighty government to tow to his line. The media hailed Anna as the messiah. Obviously, the comparison with Mahatma Gandhi was there.
Well, that was not the end of the events.
Swami Ramdev, a yoga guru with rags to riches story and a mass following across the country as well as among the Indian communities across the world had been using his TV channel's evening program to talk about corruption and black money - the unaccountable money that some people (primarily politicians and businessmen) keep. He could see the potential of using similar hunger strike as a platform to fight for his focus area - eradication of black money. He decided to go on fast in June 1st week at Ramleela Maidan in Delhi.
The people in power wanted to be extra cautious this time and started engaging with Ramdev beforehand. They went to the extent of meeting him in person at the airport and offered him courtesy that is normally reserved for head of states. However, the game did not go well. Though Ramdev agreed in public that most of his demands were met, he went on with his fast along with his supporters as per original plan - irking the people in power. The endgame was brutal with police attack on the sleeping people and Ramdev was captured while he was trying to escape the police in the disguise of a woman. He was packed out of Delhi. Ramdev continued his fast from his ashram at Haridwar and broke it when his body gave up. Unfortunately, the net effect of Ramdev's fast was limited - with media and people no longer talking about him or his focus area - black money. Of course, he has been demonized by the people in power as the fake guru and there are now unnecessary inquiry on the wealth and functioning of his trust, the nationality of his assistant etc.
On the other side, though the government had agreed to bring Anna and his team to drafting committee, they created all sorts of obstacles to whatever Anna's team proposed about the scope of Lokpal Bill, selection of Lokpal and the process of Lokpal's functioning. After two months of deliberations, we now see a dejected Anna and his team blaming the stubbornness of the government to pass a Lokpal Bill that is weak and has limited scope. And, yes, he is preparing for another fast in August.
Summarizing, past three months have been miraculous for India's social justice system. While past one year has given India several mega corruptions involving politicians, bureaucrats, judiciary and industrialists, the past three months have given Indians some hope - from Anna and his team that people in absolute power also may have to sit up and correct themselves.
Note: The views in this article are author's own and they have nothing to do with any of the organizations the author is affiliated to.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Arindam_Das
http://EzineArticles.com/?Corruption-and-Social-Protest---A-View-on-Recent-Happenings-in-India&id=6374987
Samsung Launches The Galaxy Note 5
Samsung Launches The Galaxy Note 5
Samsung has always aimed big, and with its Note series, it is big not just in screen size. The new Galaxy Note 5, which was unveiled today at an official press conference, boasts top of the line specs, and unique new features which shows that the brand has really been listening to it’s consumers.
Galaxy Note5 flagship phablet will sell in India at Rs 53,900 for 32GB and Rs 59,900 for 64GB variant. The phone will be available in India starting Spetember 20 in black sapphire, gold platinum and silver titanium colours.
Samsung Galaxy Note Specs:
According to Samsung, the newly-designed Galaxy Note 5 provides a new set of productivity tools such as SideSync, along with a much refined fifth-generation S Pen capabilities for better multitasking.
Samsung claims the Galaxy Note 5’s new S Pen feels more solid and balanced in the user’s hand, offering improved writing capabilities and a variety of tools. It features a clicking mechanism to offer a better experience and users can now quickly jot down ideas or information even when the screen is off without even unlocking the phone.
The ‘Air Command’ feature has also been given an upgrade; now the icon hovers for instant access to all of S Pen tools from any screen at any time. Users can also annotate on PDF files and capture lengthy web articles or long images at once via ‘Scroll capture.’
Also, with Samsung’s Make For India initiative, Indian users can expect to see more elements designed specifically for them.
All in all, the new iteration in the Note series come packed with many handy new features. Though the price is a bit on the steeper side, phone really is pretty nifty.
For more news and reviews, keep checking back Gaming Central.