Film Promotions on Television

When I watch Comedy Nights with Kapil or Nach Baliye or Kaun Banega Crorepati, what am I exactly paying for? Am I paying for listening to film stars talk about their films and answer stupid questions about their films? I thought I was paying for the comedy, the dances or for gaining some general knowledge.

I am surprised to see that many television shows these days, on a routine basis, showcase promotions of movies inside their shows as if those promotions were integral part of the shows. It is very similar to a news article praising a particular product, having been paid by the promoters of the product to do so, but do not clearly call out their articles as advertisements. These television shows are becoming just advertisements for movies.

If I was to see a recorded episode of Comedy Nights with Kapil on YouTube, say a year from when it was first released, will it still remain relevant? Since it is partly a film promotion, its relevance will surely deteriorate as time passes. Yet, some of the great works that TV has produced are seen again and again years after they were first seen on TV. It therefore seems that the trend these days is not to create classics but to ride a wave - a short term outlook. These shows will surely generate sufficient revenue today but they will not be probably bundled into DVDs and sold in Crossword and Landmark 10 years later. BR Chopra's Mahabharat or Prakash Dwivedi's Chanakya are sold and bought that way - a proud statement in itself; an assertion that a classic was created and is cherished even today.

Previously, when used I see a movie, I did not know anything about that movie. Someone would recommend it or I would see that its IMDB rating is quite high and then would see the movie. In fact I did not see a movie immediately after it was released. However, these days, I am shown so much about the movie that a lot of novelty is lost. I know the songs beforehand, have seen trailers, have seen the same actors so many times on TV in the context of the movie that I am left with a lot of repeat performance and therefore am bored during the movie. I cannot see how this helps the film industry.

So, here we are with a growing trend, which in my opinion, is bad for the TV industry, is bad for the film industry and is bad for me as a viewer. I no longer get more content when I watch more TV, just repeated content all over.

Reducing liability in Credit Card Frauds

In the last few days I have seen multiple articles pop up regarding credit card frauds performed internationally on Indian Credit Cards. If you want to read more about the frauds themselves, please refer to this article. The possibility of use of malware is the topic of this article. If you are already a victim of credit card fraud, you might want to read this article.

But in my article, I am about to offer three suggestions, which if implemented by the banks, can make credit cards much safer than they are today.

Voluntarily Lower Credit Limit
Banks should provide their customers with the choice to lower the credit limit below that offered by the banks. Suppose I have a Rs.1,00,000 credit limit as defined by the bank but I do not use so much of the limit usually. Then I should have an option to lower the limit temporarily to any amount I wish, say Rs.25000. I should be allowed to do this online, at ATM machines, or using phone banking. Similarly, if I am about to make a higher value transaction, I should be allowed to raise my self imposed limit to a maximum of that allowed by the bank. Even this I should be allowed to do using my ATM pin or online netbanking password or though phone banking.
The advantage of allowing such a dynamic reduction and increase of the credit limit is that it will limit the fraud liability should such an eventuality occur. It is easier on the pocket to challenge a fraudulent Rs.25,000/- transaction than a Rs.1,00,000/- transaction

Voluntarily Disallow International Usage of Card
If I have an international card, but I do not frequently visit other countries, I should be allowed to dynamically  turn off possible usage of my card internationally. If I am travelling, I could turn this facility on through an ATM machine, or through netbanking, or through phone banking. If I forget to do so while in India and use an ATM outside, the bank may even charge a fee to do so.

Voluntarily Disallow Non-secure Transactions
The banks must also provide the facility for customers whereby they can declare that any transactions done on merchant websites which do not have Verified by Visa or Mastercard 3D security enabled should be rejected by the bank. This single facility will prevent a lot of fraud which happens on e-commerce websites.

I am releasing these ideas in the open so that banks can start offering some such facility to all of us.
If you are a bank and would like a discussion, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you are a customer and would like to write to your bank, you are free to quote the contents of this blog entry.

Change for Change

I actually have tried to think about this but do not understand the logic behind why we always have a shortage of coins. I am not talking about less money. That I sort of understand. I am asking why in India we never seem to have the 1 rupee, 2 rupees, 5 rupees and 10 rupees in ample circulation. Any shop I go to they always ask for change from me. All bus conductors ask for change. I am unable to accept chocolates as currency; after all, who would like to become choco-fat? Moreover, a chocolate would have costed me Re.1 but since the shop-owners buy it in bulk, it costs much less to them.

I get all my cash from ATM machines and it dispenses only Rs.100, Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes. Why not have coin dispensing machines at strategic locations?

People will surely bless the banks who can change this! For Bangalore I would suggest keeping large coin dispensing machines at Majestic (KBS) to enable all bus conductor to carry and store ample amount of change in the bus. Other good locations include huge bus transit stops such as Silk Board, Electronic City, Hebbal, Shivajinagar, Satellite Bus Stop, and all metro stations and all Malls. In Pune similar machines can be placed at Swargate, Corporation, Shivajinagar, Deccan, Kothrud Depot, Pune Station. In Mumbai they can be placed at all railway stations, all major bus stops and at all Malls.

Personal Experience:
One day while travelling in a BMTC bus, I saw a man take a ticket for Rs.7. He gave a ten rupees note to the conductor and the conductor wrote something on the back of the ticket since, "supposedly", he did not have the Rs.3 change. A few bus stops later, the gentleman alighted the bus forgetting about the Rs.3 he was supposed to receive. As soon as he climbed down, he must have remembered, but the bus was already on its way. All sorts of waving and clapping on the mans part could not stop the bus. This gentleman was poorer by Rs.3 and the conductor made a black Rs.3 profit!

How to get coins from SBI? I was recently told by a shopkeeper that the SBI can give coins in excess of Rs.20,000/- if you are able to produce documentary proof about the existence of your shop and produce VAT receipts etc. Why so much barriers? It is our country's currency after all - and I am not asking it for free!

I would like to hear from you about your opinion and your experiences regarding this.

Edit: March 8, 2014:
State Bank of Hyderabad has installed a coin vending machine at Kacheguda Railway Station in Hyderabad.
It was not in a working condition when I checked it, but this is the right step.

Open the Windows

Open the windows, its so hot in here! In major parts of India it is quite hot for most part of the year. Ancient home grown architecture always takes that into account and buildings are built that way. However, recently our copy west principles have seen architects rampantly copy western glass structures and bring them to India. Ever thought why so many glass structures are built in the western world? It is simply to capture the heat of the sun and keep the premises warm.

In India, we have so much perpendicular sun rays falling on our structures that we scarcely need entire walls of glass. And yet, copy west means that all the "modern" buildings are built of glass. This results in huge energy costs for our buildings since they have to be artificially cooled. Thus, whereas use of glass is eco-friendly in the west it is eco-wasteful in India. Architects, please think a bit more when you design the next building.

There are a lot of ideas for increasing the light in a building and using as much as the Sun's light must be encouraged. Just remember we need to cool our building interiors and not warm them up like many western countries.

People do discuss energy efficiency in buildings a lot. Here is a question-answer about south facing windows in North America. This website also talks about south facing windows only applicable for areas with higher latitudes. A book Energy-Efficient Buildings In India By Mili Majumdar seems to be a promising starting point with various aspects taken into consideration about energy efficiency of buildings in various climatic zones in India.

Decentralized Energy

Energy problems it seems are an unending problem in this country. We still do not have enough electricity and we still struggle with deciding what should be subsidized and what should not be subsidized. Why does our government not adopt a decentralized approach to solve the energy crisis?

The rural India has completely different needs and opportunities compared to the urban India. It would be extremely inexpensive for the government to start off bio-gas plants in rural areas and supply all the village's gas requirements just from the bio-gas plant. It will be fed by the huge amounts of cow-dung produced in our villages. In fact a lot of toilets can also be connected to the bio-gas plants putting an end the the horrible sanitation conditions in our villages.It could you effectively used in Mumbai where people use railway tracks as a toilet. Converting their waste into bio-gas could potentially light up a few more homes or cook food in a few more huts.

Solar powered home lighting and water heating solutions are easier to install than running power cables all the way from the closest substation. Also, it prevents theft of electricity. Often I am asked if it is economically viable to do so. No it is not economically viable. However, currently so many villagers steal electricity and recovering these recurrent losses are so difficult that a decentralized electric generation solution becomes economically viable.

Research must be enabled in India's premiere educational institutions to study about use of unusual sources of energy. Multinational companies are already trying to make this a reality as evidenced by this article. It is time we start pushing unique solutions taking advantage of India's bright sun and relatively predictable weather.  

Water should cost more

Water costs too less in India compared to the actual cost of purifying it and pumping it to our homes. Its cost should be beefed up for two reasons. First, citizens will understand the true value of this every decreasing resource. Second, municipalities will have the incentive to plug leaks. Currently water generates so little revenue for a city that it is more costly to fix leaks than it is to allow water to go waste. See how counter intuitive our system has become? It actually draws upon a much larger and very involved topic of the true cost of things which I shall not delve in to in this post.

For a perspective on how cheap is water in India go through this article. Another article that talks about similar issue I am raising is here.

What can we do as responsible citizens?
The government is promoting water harvesting in large apartments. In Bangalore, the municipal corporation has come up with a garden where they demonstrate how water harvesting can be done.

There is also a large cost of recycling drainage water. Therefore, effort should be made that relatively good water such as from rain drains, or from washing of vehicles or pavements does not go through the sewage system. Instead such water can be easily used to enhance ground water levels, or watering potted plants or your garden.

Recently I saw a pressurized water gun, which can be used to wash vehicles, consuming less water than by open water hose. It also gives the feel that you have washed your vehicle with a water pipe. (Of course the vehicle can also be cleaned using a mop in half a bucket of water.)

If you have a large house the car washing area can have a steel container underneath the car to collect all water and direct it to the garden or some irrigation system.

Have you seen someone use water more efficiently or do you do it already? Share your thoughts for others to benefit from it.