Having a blast

Time restrictions for bursting crackers imposed by various State governments, on the advice of the Supreme Court, are fast becoming a joke. For instance, Tamil Nadu government had restricted bursting of crackers to two hours each in the morning and night on the Diwali day to control pollution, both noise and air. This story is same in other parts of the country too. People defied it and the government did little to enforce the timings. Result, massive pollution.

The lesson is that enforcing a rule without taking people on board is bound to fail.

Green crackers

Cracker sellers in West Bengal heaved a sigh of relief when the Supreme Court disallowed a blanket ban on sale by the Calcutta High Court. The Supreme Court allowed green crackers. But this brought little cheer to the cracker-makers here.

Unfortunately, none of the cracker-makers got the required certification from the Pollution Control Board, thereby rendering their celebrations useless.

Diwali Blues

The arrest of former SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri sparked a howl of protests from the banking community for many reasons including the timing. The arrest came just before a long list of holidays coinciding with Diwali, strategically closing his options for seeking bail. What caught the attention of many is that Rajasthan does not have a vacation bench for the Diwali holidays.

“A 14-day judicial custody at the time of Diwali holiday season meant little possibility of judicial remedies,” noted a former chief of a public sector bank.

Chaudhury was clearly not prepared for his sudden arrest when the Jaisalmer police swooped down on him on a weekend. But other members of the Alchemist Asset Reconstruction Company board have been forewarned with some, including top lawyer Alok Dhir securing anticipatory bail from the Delhi High Court in the same case. Chaudhury’s options were curtailed.

Fuel price -- burning the wallet

As petrol/diesel prices soar, app-das have started switching over to a cash-only mode. What this means is a majority of cab drivers call up users and ask if they are making digital payments. If the answer is a yes, they cancel rides.

Drivers explain that the cash — especially long-distance ones above ₹250 — are used to refill tanks for the next ride/manage emergency refilling during the day. And yes, there is no concept of returning change. So, if your bill is ₹276, you fork out ₹300 or the exact change.

IT’s Mangaluru link

Many may not be aware that Infosys set up its second development centre in the country in Mangaluru after Bengaluru. Two Infosys veterans shared their Mangaluru experience at the ‘Mangaluru Technovanza’ organised by the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission under the 'Beyond Bengaluru' initiative recently. TV Mohandas Pai, former Director, said that the company worked in a building that had no power connection when it set up the development centre in Mangaluru in 1995. Ramdas Pai, Chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher Education, provided a space in the adjacent property to place generators for the company then, he said.

Kris Gopalakrishnan, another Infy veteran, said that when Infosys decided to look ‘beyond Bengaluru’, the first and only place it looked at was at Mangaluru in 1995. He said he visited the place several times to scout for office space and to train employees in Mangaluru.

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