This is amazing... Can you imagine? offering to outsource services which are themselves virtual in nature?
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
Monday, April 28
India launches a rocket with a cluster of 10 satellites in it
The country is screaming for help and Gordon bottles it again
Our economies are now finely balanced, demand and supply, just in time manufacturing, very long supply chains etc. etc. means that any interruption in the supply chain has very long lasting effects.
This strike by the workers in a refinery in Scotland is a case in point. They are striking over their pension rights. Ok, no problems, you can strike if you so wish, but at what cost? The estimate is that the country will be losing £50 million per DAY because of this strike and that's just direct costs, what about the indirect costs?
The industry is screaming for the government to take action and perhaps typically, this prime minister is sitting and doing sweet FA.
And to think I used to think that this man was competent. Pshaw, what a crock. And this isnt helping the other matter of Scottish independence either. The SNP can legitimately claim that Labour cannot be trusted with Pensions (they ruined the final salary scheme system in the UK when he became chancellor), cannot be trusted with the economy (not doing anything with the strike), not caring about ordinary motorists and citizens (rationing and shortages are already underway) and not caring about business (all the oil and gas companies in Scotland are furious)
Nice one, mate, nice one.
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
This strike by the workers in a refinery in Scotland is a case in point. They are striking over their pension rights. Ok, no problems, you can strike if you so wish, but at what cost? The estimate is that the country will be losing £50 million per DAY because of this strike and that's just direct costs, what about the indirect costs?
The industry is screaming for the government to take action and perhaps typically, this prime minister is sitting and doing sweet FA.
And to think I used to think that this man was competent. Pshaw, what a crock. And this isnt helping the other matter of Scottish independence either. The SNP can legitimately claim that Labour cannot be trusted with Pensions (they ruined the final salary scheme system in the UK when he became chancellor), cannot be trusted with the economy (not doing anything with the strike), not caring about ordinary motorists and citizens (rationing and shortages are already underway) and not caring about business (all the oil and gas companies in Scotland are furious)
Nice one, mate, nice one.
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
Sunday, April 27
Vote for the Top 100 Public Intellectuals
Well, I suppose this is of interest, if nothing else but to check out who has arrived according to the Prospect Magazine, lol. I went through the bio's, quite an interesting if eclectic lot. Notice how the emerging markets have started being portrayed? Also it is interesting to see the regions and countries which have been ignored such as the African continent, Russia, Brazil...
Who speaks for Muslim women?
This is a curious blog-post which TBS chucked over to me. We have our differences over these three ladies that the post mentions, Asra, Ayaan and Irshad. I have written about Asra Nomani. Well, the post refers to two other women, namely, Ingrid Mattson and second is Zarqa Nawaz. I have heard of those two ladies definitely. But I think there are few questions came to mind.
- Why do Muslim Women need spokesmen (pun intended)? (Compare to Hindu or Jewish or Christian women). I dont know much about the Christian or Jewish role models or spokespersons of today but thinking about it, I have never heard of anybody who is a purely Hindu female spokesperson. We have had spokespersons who spoke for Hindu Women like Raja Ram Mohon Roy. We have had Hindu Females who were leaders ranging from Indira Gandhi to Mayawati, but I never got the feeling that they were speaking purely for women. I have to admit that I dont know much about this area so am willing to be corrected, but boy, oh! boy, as soon as you talk about Muslim women, there are absolutely legions and battalions of men and women who form up to speak on their behalf. Curious, no?
- How do we decide on who speaks for whom? See my previous post on who is the best judge.
- Do you need to be outside the fold to speak about the fold or inside the fold? (abused women - do they escape the abusive household first or do they stay inside and try to reform the bad husband)
- Who are the other ladies in the west that are being followed? I mean, if Asra, Ayman and Irshad are on the far left of the scale, Ingrid and Zarqa are sort of in the middle, who is on the right? Yvonne Ridley? I have to admit that I find Yvonne Ridley a bit of a clown, but hey, she wears a hijab and says all the right things I guess that all Muslims like to hear, no? But she still does not have a following (i hope she doesnt!) How about Farhat Hashmi? Or Raheel Raza? (See my book review here. And and and?
- Looking at the comment given below, you can see immediately how two identities are colliding. Women generally look at these 3 ladies as ladies first and all women as women first. Obviously, the author of the post looks at herself and others as Muslims first and women second.
- All reformers face resistance. So the fact that these 3 women's are feeling resistance is not a problem at all. I mean, look at Jesus, how many Jews took up his call? Christ, they even helped to crucify him (just kidding and punning!). Or talking about meeting resistance, even Prophet Mohammad met resistance all through his life. Very few followed him for a very long period of time, no?
- At end of the day, what seems to be the problem is if somebody gets money and/or publicity which seems to be a problem. I am not very sure why that is a problem. I mean, this criticism seems to be driven more by jealousy than anything that is logical. For example, what exactly is wrong with earning money? It is not like we do not have examples of preachers and mullah's who do exactly the same thing for money, going on TV, banging on and on about how to be a good Muslim and earning quite a lot of dosh for that (see the above example of Farhat Hashmi). Nothing wrong with getting publicity or getting money is there? Until and unless you are a socialist or an introvert, in which case, the problem is economic philosophical or emotional, neither of which applies in this case.
- And at end of the day, I am curious why people rush to judgement to that extent specially when it comes from a religiously mandated angle. I mean, if it is indeed religiously driven, then should not they believe in "Narrated Umar Ibn Al-Khattab: "Allah's Apostle said, "The reward of deeds depends upon the intention and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended." And its even in Bukhari Volume 5, Book 58, Number 238!. So this judging of niyaat is curious to say the least. (On a separate basis, this bloody publishing of Hadith's for the same author has to be fixed, somebody says that Hadith is Book 1, number 1, somebody says its 5, 58, 238, somebody says 86, 85, someone says, 1, 2, 51. etc. Go ahead, search the net.
Still, some strange questions indeed.
Technorati Tags: Women in Islam
Has the internet increased exports for firms from low and middle-income countries?
We know globalisation has always been driven by technology. Better technology, better communications. Whether we are talking about the bronze age to the telegraph to the internet, with each jump in technology, globalisation has improved and extended.
Globalisation can be defined as increased communications, increased trade, increased resource transfers, increased knowledge, etc. on a global basis. And people do complain about globalisation mucking up the poor. Is that true? One way of answering this question is to ask whether the internet has improved exports for lower and middle income countries. This is, of course, assuming that the internet drives globalisation, which I am saying it does.
This paper checks this hypothesis and finds "a strong correlation between exporting and internet access at the enterprise level. Moreover, this correlation remains after controlling factors that might affect both exports and internet connectivity and self-selectivity".
The authors check eastern European and central Asian republics as their sample countries and most importantly, use firm level data rather than country level data (as country level data can be skewed by few very larger firms). The authors found that the firms having internet connectivity export more than firms who did not. But before you get all excited and get everybody hooked up to the internet, the authors also found that non-internet firms which already exported did not show more exports when they did get connected to the net.
But conscious of the fact that correlation does not mean causality, they further generate regression models and determine that even after controlling for various factors, the link between exports and net access is strong thereby giving credence to the fact that if you get net access, your exports will start at worst and improve at best.
So overall, it does seem to be prudent for Governments interested in pushing for better export performance to improve internet access and penetration rates across the country. Also for globalisation opponents, it might be worthwhile for them to consider the plus's of their argument as well.
I was a bit disappointed with the selection of sample countries, I would have preferred if they had added some of the lesser developed countries from Latin America and Africa but I suppose data availability was the challenge.
George R.G. Clarke, Has the internet increased exports for firms from low and middle-income countries, Information Economics and PolicyVolume 20, Issue 1, , March 2008, Pages 16-37.
Many commentators have suggested that the internet is one of the forces driving globalization. This paper assesses one aspect of these claims, looking at whether internet access appears to affect the export performance using data from enterprises in low and middle-income economies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The paper finds a strong correlation between exporting and internet access at the enterprise level. Moreover, this correlation remains after controlling factors that might affect both exports and internet connectivity and self-selectivity.
Keywords: Internet; Development; Exports
China and Israel - a tale of 2 photographs
Take a look at these two photographs
The first one is obviously from Tianamen Square, which people will recognize. The second is from somewhere in the occupied territories in Palestine. Now there are two ways of looking at this.
The first way is that just like China clamped down on pro-democracy protesters and sent in tanks, nothing will happen in Palestine as well. It is now just a shade under 2 decades for China and nothing changed as yet, it is still the same old communist regime and in some ways, even more of a crackdown on any form of alternative political activity happened. So if you are big enough, brutal enough and do not give a toss at all,then you will get away with repression.
The second way of looking at this is, people do not learn. 20 years onwards, China is still thought to be a repressed autocratic country in the world, whether it is Tibet, Uighurs or the students demanding freedom, it is still held up to be one of the standard bearers of the oppressed, communist, totalitarian, authoritarian regimes. Similarly, that is also the image that is getting propagated across the world for Israel. Is that something that one can live with?
And finally, all single ideology states are unable to change without massive and huge impacts to their core ideology. This is why liberal democracies are generally much better in reacting to massive change than totalitarian regimes. We all know about the challenges with China, but the problem with Israel is that while it was formed under an "exclusionist" philosophy, it decided to impose it on the basis of a liberal democracy. Well, those two mutually inconsistent and kind of mutually exclusive factors will lead inexorably to either the Zionist philosophy being abandoned / modified or liberal democracy being abandoned, but not both. This is why I strongly suggest that Israel should talk to Hamas (assuming it wants to go down the liberal democratic route).
Which iconic photograph does Israel want to be remembered by?
Is this why the Saudi Clerics are to be re-trained?
Sarva Dharma Sambhav, or all paths lead to God, is one of the guiding principles of modern life, or at least of Hinduism. But when I read this, I figured, we have a long way to go before we believe in this principle. Given that people mistakenly believe that Hinduism has Idol Worship, this hits close to home, I quote:
Riyadh: A resolution calling for the enactment of an international pact to forbid religions from being defamed or insulted as well as their symbols, leaders and prophets, has been voted out by the Saudi Shoura (Consultative Council).
A total of 77 members opposed the recommendation while 33 voted in favour. Those who opposed it argued that such a pact would force people to recognise religions, which advocate idol worship, and that "would be unacceptable.""Some consider Buddhism, Qadianism and Baha'ism as religions. Can we make it obligatory for Muslims to respect these faiths and avoid criticising them?" he asked.
The answer is YES, it does not matter what you believe in, as long as it is personal to you and you do not infringe on the rights of others (I know this is a generalisation, but you know what I mean. If your religion means that you get to cut off my ear and offer it roasted to your goddess, then no, not allowed, but if you want to worship my ear as a goddess and you do not insist in sitting on my shoulder to worship it, then by all means you can go for it).
Is this why this happened? In other words, would the training to be given to the Saudi Clerics train them on how to be liberal? and how to be more accepting of other religions and sects? I am a bit doubtful about this for many reasons (see one here), I quote from the end of the article
But critics are sceptical about whether such initiatives would work as long as the powerful, and ultraconservative, religious establishment in Saudi Arabia continues to exert enormous influence over society.
Only last week, a prominent cleric called for the beheading of two liberal writers who had questioned the orthodox view that Muslims can not change their religion.
The problem is, if you want, you can find evidence either way in the Quran, e.g. either by looking at the no-compulsion in Islam sure or for the verses's looking for the unbelievers. But it does not need to be like that. Islam as a religion is a great way to reach God, to be good people and citizens. Just as Hinduism is as well. We do not need arguments and fights. But bear in mind,that this kind of medieval thinking has no place in the modern liberal and secular world. If you wish to be with the Neanderthals, then fine, but don't expect others to fjoin you! It should be promising to find out what the training produces! :)
Technorati Tags: Islam,Reform,Liberalism
The technology supporting the British National Health Service
I attended one of those C breakfast forums, where the great and good of a particular functional segment get together to share knowledge and best practices. These can be relating to IT, talent management, risk management, offshoring, emerging markets and such issues. They are good places to pick up what others are doing and to learn. This one was for CIOs and was moderated by Michael Portillo. He is a very impressive chap who comes across as very authoritative and has a great sense of humour. One wonders what the UK would have been like if he had become the PM. As he said, he is a man with a great political future. Very funny and punny.
But I heard something that made me wonder about one thing and I decided to blog about it. There were several CIOs and heads of technology from various health authorities and hospitals around the country. And the discussion became so bizarre that I had to literally and vocally challenge them.
Their basic point was, their CEOs had no idea about technology and their hope was that their patients would select hospitals on the basis of their surgical or medical staff expertise. A CIO from a London Local Authority was talking about how they are using technology to provide competitive advantage to make one council better than other. Very good, very impressive and I was applauding inside. But the health authority guys said that this does not apply to them. And this is where and when I challenged them, even though I did not push it that much.
Again, I was just thinking, if these guys did not have the protection of the government, and if I was the CEO/COO/CIO of a private health sector, I would wipe the floor and literally steal every patient and doctor from these dinosaur NHS trusts and provide superior service at an improved value with better motivated staff.
Oh! I am sorry, they are already doing it. Despite the billions of pounds of investment into the NHS, it does not seem to have made a dent in the level of private health insurance at all. And they are working with my tax dollars and providing this kind of less that efficient service.
It is unbelievable that in this day and age, they have no idea about their patients, about service management or customer service management, no thoughts about segmentation or competition of staff. They do not know how modern technologies are working in terms of location analysis. Patients do not choose solely on the basis of doctors' expertise.
That is why they are called as a profession. In other words, a standard level of service from doctors, irrespective of which hospital they are based in, is expected. As long as they are regulated by the GMC, they are all the same. So why on earth would I go about delving deeper into their qualifications? Surely that's the job of the GMC and the hospital?
They also did not seem to know about customer differentiation, like first time patients, regular patients, referrals, private patients, walk in patients, and so on and so forth. Each type of patient, both current and future, has to have a different customer facing experience. Here's a free idea for them. Put in a room with some large scale video rooms and apply a locational SMS technology unit to attract people who are walking past to come in to see how wonderful the hospital is.
Free publicity, or how about electronic linking with their local authority to further calibrate emergency and pre-emptive medical checks. Come and talk to me in a bank to create a financial product linked to a medical product which we can bundle with a credit card, so that every time you go over 30% of your disposable income on credit card debt, we give you a heart check for 75% of the cost.
Going forward, firms are checking out location devices. So, for example, if you were desirous of a taxi, you text a number and 3 LOCAL taxi numbers are sent back to you after triangulating your position. Or you can track your child based upon where his mobile phone is. Or if you were on the road and a chap falls ill, you can text and get a hospital informed. Or ambulance services will send the patient to a hospital based upon a complex series of rules in which, the quality of the doctor is just one tiny bit.
If it was a company, and I had a choice between an NHS and private firm, I would have sold NHS short. With all the money which is being pumped into the NHS technology bucket, it seems like we have challenges with deployment or usage, or even basic knowledge of what makes humans work and behave. And these guys are supposed to work for us and be doctors?
And looks like they are looking to hire some heavy hitters. Then again, the political parties are simply being stupid (specially that Stephen O'Brien, the Tories' shadow health minister). I mean, I can understand them being all excited but d'oh, if this is the level of discourse, then heaven help us. Is Stephen going to be the minister handling the NHS if they get elected? Then, mate, this problem is going to be yours, and you DO NEED heavy hitters. The country needs heavy hitters in the NHS. Talk about being stupid.
Good heavens!
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