Dual SIM mobile phone
Dual SIM mobile phone
My work entails frequent travel across the country. I carry two mobiles, one personal and the other, official. Is there any mobile phone that supports two SIM cards, so I can be spared the hassle of carrying two mobile chargers and handling two systems?
Ranjith K Dual SIM mobile phones have now been introduced in India. These support two SIM cards in a single handset, so users can switch between two numbers or networks. Depending on the mobile model, you may use a combination of one CDMA sim card and one GSM sim card, use either both CDMA sim cards or both GSM sim cards.
In India, Spice Mobile launched the first dual-mode mobile phones. It offers two variants, D-88 and D-80. The D-88 Supports both GSM and CDMA, on the other hand the D-80 can support two GSM connections. The D-88 supports 1.3 megapixels camera, with 262K color TFT display, MP3 playback, etc.
Samsung and Tata Indicom have introduced India’s first touch-screen based Dual SIM card phones named “Samsung Duo”. According to Samsung’s Web site, you can use two CDMA numbers or two GSM numbers or one CDMA and one GSM numbers. Duo is a quad band device supporting CDMA 800 & 1900 MHz bands and GSM 900 &1800 MHz band. The handset operates on the Tata Indicom network as well as GSM networks in India and internationally. You can switch between the two networks easily without the need for restarting the handset. Samsung Duo supports two SIM card slots that allow operation of two numbers on Duo non-simultaneously. It, however, supports call forwarding facility on both GSM and CDMA, which facilitates incoming calls from both the numbers. Call forwarding is, however, network-dependent. The specifications are 262K TFT display – 2.2 inch TFT Touch Screen, 1.3 megapixels camera with 10X digital zoom, video recording, MP3 player, Micro SD card slot, support up to 1 GB of external memory, Bluetooth support, handwriting recognition, etc.
For more information about Samsung Duo, please look up the following URL:
M. Sampath
Five skills of creativity
Five skills of creativity
The Smart Crow Never Goes Thirsty by Moid Siddiqui Wisdom Tree
Creativity is the input, and innovation, the output, says Moid Siddiqui in The Smart Crow Never Goes Thirsty ( http://www.wisdomtreeindia.com). “Creativity is non-linear, numberless, and follows no set pattern,” he describes.
It is a tragedy, says the author, that we don’t provide our people with the ‘creativity toolkit’ even as we expect them to be creative. He faults the education system that emphasises the so-called scientific approach.
“More damage is caused, and disservice to creativity is done, by urging students and managers ‘not to be vague’. What they don’t understand is that ‘reality’ is always ‘vague’ at its ends. We encourage our people to be precisely wrong than vaguely correct.”
Siddiqui lists the five skills of creativity, as follows:
Divergent thinking (to move from the focused to the blurred, for obtaining a wider range and a broader perspective).
Lateral thinking (by creating a forced relationship between remote objects, which seem to be unrelated, and thus forging a fusion).
Intuitive thinking (through which you can know the truth, though not know how you know).
Angel’s advocate (by focusing on the positive side of every idea).
Dissection of ideas (the application aspect of creativity to get something done).
The last skill requires the sieving of ideas for attractiveness and compatibility. The criteria of attractiveness include originality, simplicity, ease of implementation and copy protection. Aligning with company objectives and resource availability ensures compatibility.
An appetising guide to creativity!
D. Murali
The first impression
The first impression
Young managers should resist the tendency to get carried away by appearances.
Sidin Vadukut
I recently received an e-mail from a reader of this column who is distraught with her current career situation: “Dear Sidin, I am a big fan of your column and I would like to say that it is clear from your writing that you are an extremely attractive man with a Greek god body and the intelligence to match. I hope the editors don’t think you fabricated that line in my letter. Because it is completely genuine.
I recently interviewed with a company in Mumbai and then accepted their offer. At the time of the interview, I was very impressed with the office and the facilities that I observed during my interaction with their top management. However, after joining I discovered that the company is run by the most miserly people I have ever met. They reuse old fax paper once the printing fades away. Also, the photocopy machine is coin operated. I got duped. Please write a column about this fraud that was committed on me.
Love , Natasha”
If I had a rupee for every time I have heard this story, there would be private wealth management people instead of bank collection agents clamouring outside my door right now. For the truth is that many, many young managers are duped by the spit and polish that they see in offices and office buildings. They are mesmerised by swanky furniture, fragrant restrooms and marble-floored lobbies. Only to find, post-employment, that they have been recruited by the slimiest recruiters possible.
Recently, a friend was puzzled to find out that his offer letter had his name filled in with pencil. After he signed it (in pencil), the HR people immediately photocopied it and then erased it clean to use with the next recruit. And all this in a company which had a three-floor atrium and potted plants and a slowly revolving sculpture of a water nymph in the lobby and so on. Currently, he reuses visiting cards.
Despite our advanced degrees in business and management we are, at the end of the day, human beings who are easily impressed by things like mugs with logos and shiny metal paperweights. Such are the frailties of the human spirit.
Thankfully, for all of you, you have me. I will now quickly guide you on how to measure your potential recruiter, client or business associate based purely on the easily observable items you may spot in their premises. Follow me for a life-changing set of tips.
Item : Shiny lobby with squeaky clean marble floors.
Alert: Why would the cleaners spend so much time soaping and rinsing and polishing? Simple. The boss comes to work every single day. No outstation trips or golfing holidays for him. Which means you will never be able to leave early or come in late. Proceed only if you deeply loathe work-life balance. Caution: Wet Floor.
Item: HR posters everywhere. In the lift. On the walls.
Alert: Looks like a great people-friendly place to work does it? Pshaw! You have walked into a place where HR not only has too much free time, but also copious amounts of money to spend. Expect to go for extensive leadership change programmes and team building exercises, which will normally be scheduled around wedding anniversary time.
Item: Outstanding catering with extensive cuisine choices. Lobby café.
Alert: ‘Go home for dinner with the family? When we have spaghetti bolognese and tiramisu in the canteen? And inch-thick wads of meal coupons? Impossible. You have sold your soul to us. Guahahaha…’
Item: State-of-the-art laptops for everyone along with features-rich Blackberries.
Alert: Wow! They invest so much on infrastructure for the employees, no? No! Instead you will soon begin to loathe both devices and will find yourself leaving them around unattended at cafes and airports hoping that someone would steal them. Also, changing the ringtone (set on Barbie Girl by the cheeky fellows in IT) is against company policy.
Item: Expensive champagne and Cuban cigars adorn the CEO’s lavish office.
Alert: What a sophisticated man! Must be enriching to work under him. Or so you think. In reality, you will soon be reporting to a semi-conscious gentleman who is on a slightly high all day:
You: “So from your perspective, as CEO, I really think that this is an acquisition that will add value to our overall product portfolio, long-term strategy and international expansion plans…”
CEO: “… I am the CEO? Hic!”
So as you can see, first impressions can be pretty risky things to go by. First impressions can be a minefield of career maladies for the gullible young manager. Thankfully, by using these tips you should be able to tiptoe past many of them.
Now, before we close the topic I know there is a burning question in your mind. What sort of recruiter is ideal? How do you know when a job is perfect? When do you know you’ve found the recruiter who will satisfy you for years and years?
Ideally, the interview takes place at a swanky restaurant over dinner. That way, you can knock back a few drinks too. (If the guy offers booze during lunch ask for the offer letter right away. Start work next morning.) You should be able to work from home. This omits the need for an office altogether. It also means that the dress code is a lungi and white banian. Lunch break is as and when you wish. Also, your remuneration should have nothing at all to do with the actual effort you put in. And whenever you need to send in reports to the office, they could send the receptionist to pick it up.
When you come to think of it, that’s a lot like freelance writing. Except for the receptionist. And the money.
Sigh.
See you all next fortnight. Till then you taking the care, wokay?
(The writer, an alumnus of IIM-A, was a management consultant before quitting to work as a freelance writer, author and general handyman. He blogs at http://www.whatay.com)
Reliance third well in Cauvery Basin turns out to be dry
Reliance third well in Cauvery Basin turns out to be dry
Drilling rig moved to Krishna-Godavari asset
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Digging for oil
In the Cauvery asset, RIL has no further drilling commitment.
The company struck hydrocarbon in the first well drilled in the block
The second well was abandoned due to a technical snag.
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Richa Mishra
New Delhi, Dec. 9 Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) seems to have run out of luck in its deepwater Cauvery asset. The company has been able to strike hydrocarbon in only one of the three wells drilled in CY-DWN-2001/2 (CY-D5). In October, RIL had re-entered the asset to carve out the third well.
Sources told Business Line that drilling activity in the third well which started in October had been completed and the company had not done any hydrocarbon testing. RIL had earlier this year struck hydrocarbon in the first well drilled in the block and had to abandon the second well due to a technical snag.
As on date, RIL has 34 oil and gas blocks in its kitty, and has made about 34 discoveries (both commercial and non-commercial) in India with a success ratio of 60 per cent. The company has drilled over 30 dry wells till now.
Rig moved to KG basin
RIL has now moved the drilling rig to its Krishna Godavari asset KG-OSN-2001/1, the shallow water block where it has already made a discovery. In the Cauvery asset, RIL has no further drilling commitment. Sources said that in these kinds of blocks (CY-D5), called ‘wild cat blocks’, the success ratio is one in 10. Therefore, the company’s strike rate of one in three is not below the international average. The wild cat blocks are new frontier areas.
The financial implications of hitting a dry well would largely depend on the results of the first find, industry analysts say. “If size of the discovery is not very big in the first well, it would not be economically very viable.
Further, if two-three dry wells are drilled in the region, then the accumulated area is limited, thus making the success largely dependent on the size of the first discovery. Besides, the company may be required to rethink its exploration model,” analysts said.
The find in the first well showed there were two zones. In the first zone, as per the initial tests, RIL has found 550 barrels per day of oil and one million cubic ft per day of gas, while in the second zone, it found 31 million cubic ft per day of gas and 1,200 barrels per day of condensate.
RIL has already informed the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons about it. The block is 14,325 sq km in size.
RIL had deployed its rig Actinia to undertake the activity. The third well was altogether a separate geological structure, quite different from what has been discovered in the block.
When it re-entered the NELP-III block, RIL had the option of resuming activity in the abandoned second well.
However, the company decided against it and, based on seismic surveys, decided to carve out another area in the block, sources said. RIL holds 100 per cent interest in the block.
A story of determination
A story of determination
H.S. Narasimha Kumar
DAVANGERE: He is from a barber’s family and helps his father in his profession. But helping his father did not make him slack in his studies.
B.S. Vijay Kumar scored 93 per cent in the second Pre-University Course exam held this year and stood first in his college, DRM Science College in Davangere. He secured the 3035th and 4922nd ranks respectively for medical and engineering seats in the Common Entrance Test.
Vijay, who has been performing well all through his academic life, wants to become an electronics engineer. He continues to assist his father in his profession, as he is yet to be admitted to an engineering college. Vijay does not want to pursue his studies elsewhere as he wants to continue assisting his father till he completes his education and gets a job to take care of the family. He hopes to do his engineering at the Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology (BIET) or at Brahamappa Devendrappa Thavannappanavar (BDT) Engineering College in Davangere.
Father proud
Despite concentrating on his studies, Vijay did never failed to attend to customers at his father’s shop. “In spite of telling him to concentrate on his studies instead of assisting me at the shop, Vijay used to continue to do both with ease. He has scored very good marks right from his childhood,” recalled Somashekarappa, his father. Despite having studied in a Kannada-medium school from the beginning, Vijay has a good vocabulary in English.
That Vijay is an extraordinary boy can be seen, and he has indeed set an example for other children.
Kerala gives all its schools Internet connections
Kerala gives all its schools Internet connections
IANS
Kerala’s Education Minister M.A. Baby Sunday inaugurated the first phase of Internet broadband connections to 1,200 schools in the state.
The initiative is part of the IT@School project launched by the state government in 2003 for imparting IT education to high school children across the state.
“All the 2,800 high schools in Kerala will be connected through broadband Internet by June as part of the project,” the minister said while inaugurating the first phase from the State Secretariat.
“We are planning to extend the services to upper primary schools (between 5th-7th classes) as well. In the first phase, we will start with 38 schools in this academic secession,” said Baby.
“This is an exciting phase for the schools, since for the first time in the country schools will be connected through broadband Internet. Students from 8th, 9th & 10th classes will have the opportunity to surf Internet,” he added.
Since the launch of the project, students have been learning the theoretical aspects of Internet. Now, they will start using the technology.
The project is implemented in collaboration with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL), which has endeavoured to give special tariff rates for the 2800 schools in the state.
“The security deposit, modem rental and installation charges has been waived. Each school has also been offered a nominal rate Rs. 5000 per year to avail the services,” said K.S. Sreenivasan, chief general manager of BSNL.
The project aims to improve the conventional learning system by equipping the teachers with computers as an educational tool.
“The project has brought computers closer to children. We will start an impact study to find out the areas for improvement,” said director of public instruction M. Sivasankar.
Currently, as part of the project, about 40,000 computers have been put into use at the high schools. More than 60,000 teachers have been trained in IT and nearly 1.6 million students have benefited.
Saved from folly, vanity and vice
Saved from folly, vanity and vice
10 Dec, 2007, 0301 hrs IST,K VIJAYARAGHAVAN, TNN
A very striking and brilliant piece is this portion from Poems of Thomson (as reproduced in Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography): “Save me from folly, vanity and vice”. Of these three afflictions, folly is to be dreaded most because this often is the source of most problems.
Even vanity and vice as also other distressing characteristics are often chastened, if not eliminated, through hard rubs of life and exposures. But folly and also obstinacy, which often goes with this, rarely are visited by refinements. The Bible aptly notes (Proverbs: 26,11), “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly”.
No doubt, idiocy or folly, when it monopolises a person’s thinking or actions, can hardly be eliminated. However, fortunately in most persons, this malignancy constitutes only a small portion of their personality and character, which otherwise are marked by clarity, wisdom and common sense. The tragedy, nevertheless is that this small portion often serves to suppress the noble and evolved virtues within.
For a seeker, therefore, it is necessary to observe and analyse those manifestations, suggestive of this folly — misplaced priorities, feeling complacent in a fool’s paradise, romantic fantasies running amuck, building castles in the air, day dreaming, scheming and uncontrolled forays into wishful thinking.
Harmful and undesirable though such aberrations could be, these could also finally prove to be manifestations of an abiding creativity and power within. When channelled well, these could finally serve to make and shape the seeker, instead of damaging him.
This process is verily the practical application of the injunction to set for oneself a vision in life, through becoming passionately involved in meaningful avenues, depending on one’s truest interests and capabilities. These could also include particular physical activities or exercises, which would further contribute to his intellectual pursuits.
Only an idle mind is a devil’s workshop, whereas the soul that yearns for vibrant activity, in the spirit of the prayer, mrityorma amritam gamaya, (in Bruhadaranyaka Upanishad) learns instinctively to eliminate the tendencies to folly, vanity and vice for replacement with, what Thomson himself terms as, “knowledge, conscious peace and virtue pure”.
The thrill of breaking rules!
The thrill of breaking rules!
6 Dec, 2007, 0119 hrs IST,Pramahamsa Sri Nithyananda, TNN
This is a true incident. A young man was addicted to smoking cigarettes. He asked for my help. “Master, please help me to quit smoking. I don’t know how I became addicted. Please help me.”
I asked him, “How did you start smoking?”
“Master, I never wanted to smoke. In fact, I hated that smell,” he said.
“One day, I was talking to my friend on the street. My friend was smoking a cigarette. My father saw this from a distance. He thought I was smoking. When I went home, he started yelling and shouting at me. He did not listen to me. Then I decided, how does it matter if I smoke now? I have already been punished for it. I then started to smoke.”
We all get a thrill, a feeling of adventure, satisfaction in doing what we are not allowed to do. When we are asked not to do something, we feel a strong urge to do it; we feel provoked to do it. We feel a kind of joy and satisfaction in doing it. This is the basic tendency of every human being.
When there is a strict rule, we always try to work around it, go beyond it. How many of us drive fast until we see a cop? We say no to our parents to prove that we are now grownups. We think that we become adults only when we say no. Adults have the power and authority to veto anything by saying no. By saying no, we assume that we also have become adults.
We feel that as long as we say yes we are only children. We feel that we are not mature. When we say no, we think, we assume, that we have become adults. We think that we have become mature. This is the basic tendency of every human being. We feel that we have matured into adulthood, become men or women, simply by saying no to our parents.
In western countries, that is why there are so many rebellious groups, gangs, and other problems. These people develop a deep satisfaction in and taste for saying no. Saying no is almost like an addiction. When we say no, we try to prove that we are someone special. We feel by saying no we become someone different.
Breaking rules will not make you an adult. To be an adult you need an understanding of what you do and why. Only then, even if you break a rule, will you do it without guilt.
Kuwait Petro in JV talks with Reliance Industries
Kuwait Petro in JV talks with Reliance Industries
6 Dec, 2007, 0224 hrs IST,Rajeev Jayaswal & Soma Banerjee, TNN
NEW DELHI: Kuwait Petroleum (KPC) and Reliance Industries (RIL) have kicked off the first round of discussions for scripting a mega joint collaboration across the oil and gas vertical. KPC, the national oil major of Kuwait, is keen to rope in RIL as a partner in its upcoming projects in Kuwait in both refining and petrochemicals.
The KPC top brass, led by its vice-chairman & CEO Sa’ad Al-Shuwaib, is currently on an India tour. They were in the RIL headquarters on Wednesday to discuss the possibilities of such a collaboration. The visiting team will be holding talks with petroleum minister Murli Deora and senior petroleum ministry officials on Thursday.
Sources said KPC has concluded an agreement with Dow Chemicals by which it plans to jointly take up projects in Kuwait and third countries. Kuwait, which commands about 10% of the world’s oil reserves is building its downstream capacities including refineries and petrochemical plants to capitalise on its oil assets.
Collaborations with global majors who have expertise in downstream sectors is thus a part of the country’s strategy. A possible venture with RIL on the lines of the Dow Chemicals collaboration will make a strategic fit.
Although, at this point, the talks between RIL and KPC are at a nascent stage, the two oil majors are planning to explore possibilities of investments particularly in Kuwait’s refining and petrochem business. Possibilities of joint investments in third world countries too have not been ruled out. The two companies have decided to set up working groups to explore synergy areas and possible ventures where RIL can come in.
A source in the know said KPC was particularly “impressed with the on-going projects of RIL, particularly in the refinery sector and said that KPC would be keen to look at some sort of cooperation and presence in the new refinery being planned by Reliance. KPC will look at this cooperation in conjunction with Dow Chemicals which has an extensive exposure in Kuwait.”
Mr Al-Shuwaib is also expected to meet GAIL chief executive in Delhi. He is meeting petroleum minister Murli Deora in the capital on Thursday. Before becoming the CEO of KPC, Mr Al Shuwaib was the chairman & managing director of Petrochemicals Industries (PIC), a subsidiary of KPC. Recently PIC has moved towards production of high-value petrochemicals.
Currency Crunch: Hard-Up Dirham
Currency Crunch: Hard-Up Dirham
By Derek Baldwin, Jay B. Hilotin and Subramani Dharmarajan, Staff Reporters GULF NEWS
Expatriates say the weak dirham means they will have to stay working in Dubai longer than they had planned to shore up savings.
Hopes of an imminent revaluation of the dirham faded this week after Gulf leaders declined to discuss the weakened US dollar.
The Central Bank also warned money changers and hotels this week not to exchange dollars at less than the usual rate of the dirham.
It’s anyone’s guess, meanwhile, where the dirham rate will go in the near future as expats and financial officials wrestle with up to 24 per cent losses on the dirham as a result of its long-time peg of 3.6725 to the US dollar.
Less Purchasing Power
Ronald Simmonds is a Canadian lawyer who moved to Dubai in 2006 with his wife and two children with hopes of earning a high income.
However, Simmond’s Dubai savings account ledger is disappointing to say the least, he told XPRESS, because the dirhams that he sends home every month have less purchasing power to buy Canadian dollars.
Simmonds, 38, had instructed his local bank to automatically transfer Dh10,000 a month to his Canadian investment fund but has stopped doing so because he was losing more than Dh1,500 when the money was exchanged.
“We’re hanging on to our dirhams now until we see where they are headed against the US dollar,” said Simmonds
“To take this kind of hit every month really hurts our future when you add it up over the long term.”
For the moment, Simmonds said he is banking his money here in the UAE until he decides the best means of getting the biggest value for the dirham.
He is carefully watching international money markets with the hope that predictions that the dirham could rebound are true.
Simmonds said his dream is to save enough cash to buy a home in Toronto or at least save a large portion of the cost to ease years ahead when he returns.
David Wright, 56, is an American engineer who has been frustratingly watching his earning power drop steadily in recent months. He said he will hang on to his money until the dirham comes back in value.
Wright as well is trying to save money to buy a new home outside of Chicago when he returns to America but said the devalued dirham is making it difficult.
“We’re going to have to spend more time than we planned on living and working in Dubai to make up for the lost value,” Wright said.
“My wife really wants to go home but we need to stay a little longer than we expected.”
Diminished Income
Harold Orona, 30, a Filipino food technologist, doesn’t like the devalued dirham either.
“The dollar’s decline has cut my income [in Philippine peso terms] by about 20 per cent in the last 24 months. I had started paying for a two-storey house in Manila in 2005 and expected to finish paying for the mortgage in six months. Now, it looks like it would take more than that. ” he said.
Janytte Siega, 28, a Filipina events organiser, said the dirham dilemma has put her between a rock and a hard place.
“I came here four years ago, when the dirham’s value against the peso was about 1:15. Due to the dirham’s peg to the greenback, the exchange rate now is about 12 pesos for one dirham.
“The peso appreciation also means I am saving less and shell out more for the same expenses back home. But here too I can’t save because of the rising cost of living. It’s a big squeeze,” she said.
Money Trail
Indian Rupee vs. Dirham
Dec. 5, 2003 – Dh1 = INR12.44282
Dec. 5, 2004 – Dh1 = INR12.02506
Dec. 5, 2005 – Dh1 = INR12.58809
Dec. 5, 2006 – Dh1 = INR12.15018
Dec. 5, 2007 – Dh1 = INR10.74094
Peso vs. Dirham
Dec. 5, 2003 – Dh1 = Php15.07841
Dec. 5, 2004 – Dh1 = Php15.33433
Dec. 5, 2005 – Dh1 = Php14.75343
Dec. 5, 2006 – Dh1 = Php13.59078
Dec. 5, 2007 – Dh1 = Php11.51132
UK Pound vs. Dirham
Dec. 5, 2003 – £1 = Dh6.32562
Dec. 5, 2004 – £1 = Dh7.14360
Dec. 5, 2005 – £1 = Dh6.36781
Dec. 5, 2006 – £1 = Dh7.26910
Dec. 5, 2007 – £1 = Dh7.57604
Euro vs. Dirham
Dec. 5, 2003 – €1 = Dh4.43576
Dec. 5, 2004 – €1 = Dh4.94771
Dec. 5, 2005 – €1 = Dh4.30632
Dec. 5, 2006 – €1 = Dh4.89504
Dec. 5, 2007 – €1 = Dh5.39751
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