Sep 12
This seems like a good way to help farmers in Haryana to get information that helps them, and that too without running around and chasing after some Government Babu who may not be too interested. Sometimes one wonders as to how Government departments are able to implement such innovative solutions, that too, which actually work and which can be used by people in the State, no matter where they reside:
Farmers in Haryana are SMSing a free government helpline to get solutions to their agro-problems. The government set up this trouble-shooting service in February, the first of its kind in the country. Farmers can contact senior officials of the agriculture department for advice. Even illiterate farmers are taking help of others in the family or neighbourhood to send SMSes.
Officials say it will take time to exploit such technology in the farm sector. They feel this service will go a long way to educate farmers once they get hooked to it. The department feels that farmers have been deprived of scientific advice as agriculture department officials and professors of agriculture universities have been unable to disseminate information to farmers in remote areas. Mobile technology is helping surmount these problems.
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Sep 12
No one would have expected this. It was known that Indians are very irritated with the number of unwanted calls they get from tele-marketers, and hence most people welcomed the setting up a National Do Not Call Registry, but this would have been most unexpected. When the registry opened on September 5, 2007, it got 5 million users. This is an incredible number and demonstrates how much people are willing to go to avoid these unwanted calls.
The sheer numbers — around 2.5% of India’s over 190 million mobile subscribers — reveal just how much people resent pesky sales calls. Considering that prepaid subscribers — who are much less of a target for telemarketers — form a huge percentage of all subscribers, this figure of 5 million assumes even greater significance.
The sheer numbers — around 2.5% of India’s over 190 million mobile subscribers — reveal just how much people resent pesky sales calls. Considering that prepaid subscribers — who are much less of a target for telemarketers — form a huge percentage of all subscribers, this figure of 5 million assumes even greater significance.
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Sep 12
In Delhi, handling traffic offenses can be a big deal. Suppose you are doing something like speeding or jumping a red light (as people in Delhi do often), then it is easy to handle. A traffic policeman will catch you, and make you pay a fine on the spot. However, if you are unlucky enough to be noticed by a policeman who is unable to catch you, then you will get a fine posted to your house (to the registration address of the vehicle). There are people who don’t pay up and tear up these challans, but this is an unwise policy since it is illegal, and if ever Delhi traffic police gets its act together, then you can be in serious trouble. A lot of people decide to pay these; however there are problems with this approach. You don’t have a way to challenge these challans unless you are willing to wait for a senior official with the authority to overule the challan, otherwise you make your way to the police station and pay up.
However, Delhi police decided to make this process customer friendly by setting up traffic adalats where you can go and pay your challan, and in addition, they have given a way to locate all challans issued to you. However, this seems to have been a one-time option, but even then, it is a good measure:
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