तीकणर्मी लोग

   

जीवन एक जंग है इस जंग को लड़ना होगा और जीवन जंग में जीत के लिए आवश्यक है कि हम सावधान रहें यहां शत्रु कोई और नहीं अपने सारे मित्र ही है और सारे रिश्तेदार क्योंकि यही लोग अपने सामने शत्रुता को लेकर प्रकट होते हैं इन शत्रुओं से आप सामने का युद्ध करके जीत नहीं सकते इनसे जो जंग होगी वह जंग बुद्धि से होगी ज्ञान से होगी योग से होगी तप और त्याग से हो समर्पण और स्वीकृति से है| यह समर्पण स्वयं की आत्मा के लिए और आत्मज्ञान की प्राप्ति के लिए सत्य के साक्षात्कार के लिए इस असत संसार में सत्य इस असत से ही प्रकट होता है इसका साक्षात्कार हम सभी को होगा यदि वहां बुद्धि पूर्वक ज्ञान चक्षु से देखने में समर्थ होंगें|

   मैंने सत्य का साक्षात्कार कर लिया है और इस संसार के सत्य को जान लिया मेरे जीवन में अब कुछ जानना शेष नहीं रहा फिर भी जीवन हमारे पास है इस जीवन का उपयोग लोगों को सत्य का ज्ञान हो इसके लिए करना कि अब हमारे जीवन का उद्देश्य हम जीवन अपने लिए नहीं इस जमाने के लिए संसार में जी रहे हैं| संसार रहे और यहां पर यह दुनियादारी चल रही है जो लोग दलदल में धसे हुए हैं और रोज एक कदम धसते जा रहे हैं उनको यदि किसी तरह से इस संसार रूपी सड़े गले नस्वर जगत से निकलने में सहायता मिल सके तो हमारे लिए यही बहुत बड़ी उपलब्धि होगी|

    मुझे बड़ा आश्चर्य होता है यहां के लोगों के आचरण को देखकर कि लोग कितने ज्यादा मुर्ख किस्म के  हैं. यहां लोग अपनी गलती से सीखते नहीं है और अपनी मूर्खता को सुधारते नहीं है रोज नई-नई मूर्खता को करते हैं उनके आचरण में ही मूर्खता और मूर्खता समा चुकी है यह लोग सुधारना जानते नहीं स्वयं को सुधारना आसान कार्य भी नहीं उतना ज्यादा कठिन भी नहीं है यदि व्यक्ति चाहे तो स्वयं को सुधार सकता है उसके अंदर दृढ़ इच्छा शक्ति होनी चाहिए परोपकार की कल्याण की भावना होनी चाहिए और सत्यता के साथ संसार के संग्राम को लड़ने का सामर्थ और उत्साह होना चाहिए निकम्मे और आलसी प्रकृति के लोगों है|

    दूसरा की कोई सीमा नहीं निकृष्टता को लोगों ने अपने जीवन में अपने खून में मिल लिया हैं इनकी वजह से ही यह संसार बहुत अधिक विषैला और खतरनाक बन चुका हे|

     मैं संसार को सुधारने की बात नहीं कर रहा हूं संहार को सुधार भी नहीं सकता. यह मैं अच्छी तरह से जानता हूं लेकिन हम स्वयं को सुधार सकते हैं हम स्वयं के लिए  ऐसे मार्ग का सृजन कर सकते हैं जिस मार्ग से स्वयं को यहां के बीष और जो यहां का खतरनाक जंजाल और तिकड़मबाजी षड्यंत्रों से मुक्त करने मे समर्थ हो सके|

Ends Justify Means:

Ends Justify Means:

Six people namely Amy, Benjamin, Carmen, Dominic, Eric and Fred are having discussion on a topic “Ends Justify Means”.

Group Discussion Starts

Amy: Good morning friends. We have an abstract topic to discuss today. Though this question “do ends justify means?” seem simple it has deeper philosophical meaning and a lot of debate has been done and theories like consequentialism and deontology. Some philosophers are of the opinion that every action done in our past has to be judged based on the outcome at the later stage i.e. precisely ends justify means

Benjamin: I don’t agree with your argument. You cannot commit any action and justify it if it is yielding positive result. “Good” or “bad” judgment has to depend on the action rather than the end result. I mean to say that I support deontological way of thinking rather than consequentialism

Dominic: I don’t know much about the two theories you are speaking about, but I am of the opinion that morality is not absolute in nature it can be altered and redefined sometimes based on the situation hence if an immoral act is causing a moral outcome, I would go by it

Benjamin: But consider this situation in which developed countries like USA are contributing to more than 90% of the pollution in world but they have a justification that it is for the benefit of people and leads to development of human kind. Would you agree with it? If everyone adopts consequential way of thinking, things that are commonly owned like environment, water bodies, land etc will be destructed and no one will take responsibility for the destruction while everyone utilizes them for their benefit

Fred: My opinion is that both the schools of thought are a bit extreme in nature instead I believe in a modified version of consequentialism called Mohist consequentialism or state consequentialism which says that we can follow consequential way of thinking but it should result in the larger benefit of the state/people and world in general and shouldn’t be limited to selfish motives of individuals

Eric: I feel that some decisions in life can be taken in the consequential way but for some decisions there should be no second thought. For example heinous crimes like Rape or treason shouldn’t be seen through consequential frame whatever the situation is, while I feel petty mistakes like a lie or a robbery have to be analyzed based on the situation and in that case if the purpose is really valid and strong we can say “ends justify means”

Dominic: I feel our legal system is biased towards consequentialism. I remember a paradox that I read about somewhere. Consider two cases the first in which a man plans to kill another man and makes necessary planning and preparation but due to some reason fails to execute the plan and no one recognizes the plot. Now consider a second case in which a man doesn’t intend to hurt another person but by mistake kills him he is still punished by the law. Isn’t this consequentialism?

Benjamin: We shouldn’t look at it that way. Legal system has some limitations and it can take action only if there is sufficient evidence. Otherwise it becomes unfair. Let’s divulge from your example a little and think about a man who dislikes another person extremely and thinks about killing him in his mind but doesn’t act due to fear of being caught and silently wishes inside for his death. How do you expect the law to punish him in this case?

Fred: Another limitation to this entire argument of ends and means. Here we are considering that every person has the complete freedom and maturity to take his own decision and stand by it. But many a times in life it so happens that we come under compulsion by someone and perform some actions or sometimes we take decisions which we later regret or change with more information, thought and maturity. In these cases the entire theory of consequentialism and deontology become meaningless

Benjamin: Yes Fred, I agree with you these frame works apply only when we have the maturity and freedom to take decisions and take responsibility for them

Eric: The sad thing is that in the competitive world that we are living today individuals, countries and organizations are misinterpreting the consequentialism and using it for their selfish and short term benefits

Amy: I don’t agree with you Eric. You are giving a negative connotation to consequentialism theory and equating it to selfishness. Let me put it this way, In Mahabharath, when Arjuna felt that he was making a mistake by fighting a war against his own brothers, elders and teachers, Krishna motivates him by saying that if killing is the only way to end evilness from prevailing, then it is right to kill people this is the essence of consequentialism. In fact entire Bhagavathgitha explains consequentialism very well.

Dominic: Exactly! Krishna told the pandavas that at times, it is justified to leave their dharma for the larger good this is similar to the state consequentialism that someone spoke about.

What if Red is White?

What if Red is White?

6 people are having a discussion on the topic (Akash, Maani, Ronald, Sonakshi, and Arpit & Malar).

Group Discussion Starts

Akash: Good morning friends. Today we are here to discuss on the topic “What if red is white”. In general the colour is said to be one of the primary colours of the VIBGYOR (Red, Blue, Green) which is a chromatic colour and is also at the end of the visible light spectrum with wavelength ranging from 620-740 nm whereas White is a achromatic colour whose frequency is mixture of all the frequencies of colours in the visible light. So if red becomes white we will be missing the one of the dominant colour in the visible light

Maani: There are various shades in the red colour from pink to dark maroon. Even though there are many colours like cream, ivory and vanilla these are not particular shades of white. Red has its own charisma where as white has its own dignity. We cannot compare charisma to dignity which is why we cannot imagine even what if red is white?

Ronald: Yes Maani, I agree with what you said. I would like to say that we have red blood cells more in number in our blood cells than the white blood cells. Both are essential for the proper mechanism of the body. Red blood cells help in detoxification, they helping in removing the carbon dioxide from the body and White blood cells are scavengers of our body by providing immunity to the body. If red becomes white then all red blood cells become white blood cells which results in high number of white blood cells with zero red blood cells which is a very dangerous situation

Sonakshi: I would like to contradict this point. Red generally represents furious, anger and war. Whereas White represents tranquillity, calmness and peace. If red becomes to white then there won’t be any violence prevailing around the world. Peace and order are maintained around the world

Arpit: It’s true Sonakshi. Red colour also represents aggressiveness and fastness. In a survey it is found that the drivers of red cars get stimulated to drive faster which may lead to accidents. In contrary white generally resembles calmness. Even in case of war also red stimulates more violence and white represents peace and non-violence. Even red becomes white violence can be decreased to some extent.

Malar: Of course, But one should also consider from all perspectives. For example the fruits which are red in colour like strawberries, tomatoes are rich in antioxidants and vitamins which are very healthy and milk, egg which are white colour are also healthy too. Deficiency of any vitamins may lead to health disorders. So if red becomes white balance may not be maintained.

Akash: At this point, I would like to say in terms of business “buy it now”, “sale discounts” advertisements to stimulate customers to increase the sales growth, and red also acts as exciting and motivating to people. Red has its own advantages which cannot be compensated by any other colour

Ronald: Yes indeed, Red colour also promotes desire, passion besides love. On the other side white promotes Innocence, virginity, goodness and purity. Though white represents futuristic red has its own popularity in completing the works effectively at fast pace.

Sonakshi: At this point I would like to say red may also represents death, mourning and hell, white represents new born, new life and heaven. So if red is replaced by white only happy endings and no pain and crying of hell

Arpit: I would like agree to this point. White also represents being impartial, rescuer from darkness and spreading equality and unity. If white occupies red there won’t be any chaos and agitations

Malar: Red colour is also energizing booster. In china red colour is their lucky one. Even their children start their drawings by drawing a big red circle sun. Even in our India it is frequently used to show pompous and pride.

Akash: Yes, I agree with you Maani. Even white represents rich classic look with completeness. At the same time red represents strong leadership qualities with good ambition spirit of success with great determination. And white also is completely positive though it may represent positive. So much of white leads to isolation and empty.

Sometimes No Decision is also a Decision:

Sometimes No Decision is also a Decision:

6 people are having a discussion on the topic (Ashwin, Chandu, Dolly, Fathima, Garima, Sarah).

Group Discussion Starts

Ashwin: Good morning my dear friends! Today our topic of discussion is abstract in nature which is “Sometimes no decision is also a decision”. Our life is full of uncertainties, as a part of this life we take many decisions depending on the end results that we anticipate. Sometimes it may also happen that life poses us situations where the end results are ambiguous or not clear. It is those moments when most of us take a neutral stand and when the results come in our favour, we believe that we have taken the right decision of not taking any decision.

Dolly: Yeah, exactly!! It implies that not taking any decision is not a decision. Inability to take a decision is not a decision.

Chandu: I believe that not taking any decision is itself a worst decision; it is just an excuse to run away from the problem. We are humans and we have an amazing power to think unlike other animals. I feel one should have the guts to face the consequences of the decision one takes.

Sarah: True, to add on to his point, the probability of reaching the destination is high only when we take either of the paths which may possibly lead us somewhere. Standing merely at the junction would lead us nowhere.

Dolly: Yeah, it is true that one should be able to face the consequences of one’s decisions but sometimes it may so happen that we may get struck in the whirlpool of options and be unable to prioritize them and feel like being carried away by the sway of the waves rather than ending up with a wrong decision.

Fathima: In this context let me quote a situation, a family on voyage gets hit by a storm and it so happens that you will be able to save only one of your family members, whom do you save? Is it your mom, dad or sibling? In such moments it is wise to save at least one who comes handy rather than saving none by waiting to decide whom to save. So, SOMETIMES no decision is also a decision.

Garima: Yes, but there is always a thin line between a decision which is impulse and no decision. The anecdote that you brought in is a case of impulse decision where the person is subjected to take the decision in haste.

Sarah: It is the fear of pain that prevents people from taking a decision. But according to me the pain or dissatisfaction is same in the both the cases of not taking a decision or taking a wrong decision.

Ashwin: True, explaining her point if you don’t take any decision you have to suffer because of the uncertain results that might come out as a consequence of you not taking a decision whereas when you take a decision you will at least be confident and satisfied that you yourself have taken that particular decision

Garima: Breaking the decision into many decisions may in fact help us in deciding the right choice as in one has to identify the main problem behind the problem which can possibly be arrived by questioning ourselves with many why’s and digging into the problem and to arrive at the solution is to question a series of how’s.

Chandu: Taking a decision always under any circumstances proves your ability to judge. You have to take a decision in every instance of life. You can never say whether the decision is right or wrong because of the situation around. At times a right decision would not yield a better outcome because of the nature of the problem itself. It is the situations around which can be blamed but not the decision. Infact, this moment of me willing to speak and all of us sitting here shows our decision to present in GD. I highly doubt if there is any situation where we take no decision!

Fathima: Sometimes people are bounded by so many things, people, situations that they feel taking no decision is the best option available because they fear that they would be judged by the same. Also, according to a research, introverts even when made a decision would not express it outside. As a result, we feel that they have taken no decision but the truth is that they have taken some decision but are not willing to express it. It is also about the way how people perceive about any given problem. For someone taking decision means going against a hurdle and would bench mark it as an achievement. At the same time for a few, taking no decision means that they feel strong that they can withhold any situation without taking any specific decision too.

Payment Bank License – What it means for the Indian Banking Sector:

Payment Bank License – What it means for the Indian Banking Sector:

5 people are having a discussion on the given topic (Santosh, Karthik, Prateek, Alekhya and Navya).

Group Discussion Starts

Prateek: Hello all, the topic given to us is Payment bank License and what it means to Indian banking sector. To Start with, a payment bank is a differentiated bank from regular banks, which undertakes only few functions of a bank as per the “Banking Regulation Act, 1949”. This is a new category of bank that is suggested to RBI by Nachiket Mor committee to promote banking in Rural and low income households.

Santosh: That’s right. Basic functions of a payment bank include acceptance of deposits, payments and remittance services from customers. They can issue ATM/debit cards, facilitate internet banking, money transfers etc. But, they cannot involve in lending activities or providing credit cards. This is the major difference between a normal bank and a payment bank.

Alekhya: Yes. That is why they coined the term payment bank which signifies that it can only involve in payment activities but not lending activities. In February 2015, during the budget presentation it was announced for the first time that “Indian Postal Services” will become a payment bank and use its network to penetrate banking services to the rural and untapped banking regions.

Navya: Absolutely. I think later in the year in August 2015, RBI has announced that it would give “in-principle” licenses to 11 entities to setup payment banks. Few of the big names include Paytm, Vodafone m-pesa, Aditya Birla Nuvo limited, Airtel M-commerce services limited etc. This in-principle license is for 18 months period and these payment banks would be monitored by RBI in terms of its adherence to its functions and limitations.

Santosh: That’s right. Speaking of limitations, these banks has to operate 25% of its operations in unbanked rural areas. They also cannot form subsidiaries to perform any non-banking financial services activities. 25% operations in unbanked rural areas can be easily managed as many of them have their own network or tied up with other companies to spread into unbanked rural areas.

Karthik: I agree. Now to talk about what this means to the Indian banking sector, I think this helps in financial inclusion and pushes more money from people into the banking system. This can also help the bigger banks like SBI, ICICI, and HDFC etc. to have an increased penetration into more rural households as payment banks can work in collaboration with other banks to provide its services.

Prateek: I think this increases unnecessary competition for the bigger banks and hampers their profits. They can actually expand into rural households by themselves. I don’t think they would be willing to collaborate with these banks as once these payment banks get banking license they could become sizeable competitors to these big banks.

Navya: I disagree. I don’t think these payment banks are big enough to really compete with the big banks like SBI, ICICI bank etc. even if they are given banking license. They could grow well with the collaboration of these banks but they can’t be a threat to these banks. So it is pessimistic to think that they could hamper their profits and I think it’s rather better to collaborate and make banking system stronger and broader.

Santosh: Well said Navya. I think the purpose of bringing in payment banks is to help India reach its financial inclusion targets. There are many unorganised sectors, small businesses which are not part of the banking system as yet. Banks like SBI are trying to capture these customers but are not able to sustainably invest in them. So I think payment banks can help in this aspect, as they need to operate 25% of their operations in these unbanked rural areas.

Alekhya: Yes. These banks can work as a savings account for them. Adding to that, these payment banks can accept Utility bills. That helps in getting more unbanked customers who have not been associated with the banks like SBI, etc.

Prateek: I agree. But, the players who were given banking licenses are the companies like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea etc. who are very dominant in their mobile customer segments. They can use their mobile platforms and technology to spread their banking services and become sizeable competitors like I was mentioning before.

Karthik: Yes. They can gain a lot of customers and increase their banking operations but these payment banks are tapping those customers who have limited funds unlike the high earning customers of the big banks. So they can complement rather really compete with the big banks. I think, to access the customers earned by these payment banks it’s better to collaborate with them and provide lending services to these customers as payment banks are not allowed to lend. This way both the types of banks are benefitted.

Navya: But, these banks will be provided full banking license possibly after 18 months or later. Then they can lend to their customers which would prove to be a cause of concern for the collaboration with the big banks. On a whole I think payment banks have very good scope to attain good customer base before becoming full time banks and compete with the banks in the long run.

Alekhya: Yes. I think with the huge increase in mobile technology users in the recent years, it is more feasible to provide money transfer and deposit applications. This should help these payment banks grow very quickly and also help Indian banking system to have a stronger customer and deposit base for the future. I think Paytm was quite successful in 2015 in getting customers use its wallet and money transfer services. It also attracted many customers by rolling out many offers in collaboration with other services companies.

Santosh: That’s true. They also linked it to shopping and entertainment options to generate other forms of revenues. This could be little off from its expected functions. But, I think as long as it is dealing with money transfer and deposit services it is acceptable. Other payment banks like Vodafone m-pesa also rolled out many options but it is quite successful in other countries like Kenya, etc. But, not in India. Let us see how RBI would allow these payment banks to evolve after its in-principle license period of 18 months. I’m sure these payment banks will be a huge success given its scope for growth and the evolution of mobile technology and usage.

Smart Cities in India:

Smart Cities in India:

Group Discussion Starts

Asha: As we all know, many people are migrating from rural to urban areas and this number is seemingly increasing and it doesn’t limit to India but also applicable to global context. So the need of the hour for cities is to get smarter to handle the upcoming issues related to large scale urbanisation. Hence, Smart Cities Mission, urban renewal and retrofitting initiative started by Government of India.

Balu: Adding to your point, a smart city can be defined as a city with well-equipped infrastructural facilities and facilitates a decent liveable environment through smart solutions. It assures 24X7 electricity and water facility, robust IT connectivity, good and efficient transportation system, e-governance etc.

Charu: During the election campaign in May 2014, our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi of NDA government had announced about the initiative of Smart Cities Mission and promised to build 100 smart cities across India. The main agenda of this programme is to facilitate fast development of remote cities and attract foreign investments and jobs for people.

Dhanush: Smart Governance is required for development of smart cities. Budget allocated in 2014-15 is USD 1.2 billion for smart cities and FDI norms have been relaxed. Smart City projects are estimated to increase employment by 10-15%. Construction of 2 smart cities in each of 29 states in India has been planned by Ministry of Urban Development. A total of Rs.980 billion has been sanctioned for this programme.

Eshwar: There is a two-stage selection for the capable cities to be chosen for this project. In the stage-one, each state and union territories scores all their cities based on criteria of existing service levels, Institutional Systems and Capacities, self-financing, Past track record and accordingly each city is given some points and the top 100 cities will be shortlisted for stage-two.

Fareen: As rightly said by you, stage-two will be a follow up of stage-one and there will be further shortlisting done among 100 cities. Set of criteria in stage-two for allotting points are Impact of Proposal, Cost effectiveness of Smart City Plan, Innovation and Scalability, Processes followed. Now, top 20 cities are chosen and they are under construction phase. Cities like Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Indore, New Delhi, and Visakhapatnam etc. have been shortlisted in first round.

Balu: During recent visit of Bruce Andrews to India, US Deputy Secretary of Commerce, he focused on India’s need to address the barriers of doing business which have become roadblocks for extended trade between both countries. According to that trade mission, an agreement has been concluded in the presence of AP’s Chief Minister N.Chandrbabu Naidu by Leocadia Zak director of US Trade and Development Agency, in regard of extending support to India’s objective of developing smart cities.

Eshwar: NDA government has invited foreign investors to make investments in India and contribute towards the development of smart cities. Japan has also contributing to this initiative by making an investment of $4.5 billion in the initial phase of DMIC project and also working for development of other industrial corridors.

Asha: Adding to your point, there are also technological partners helpful in the development of smart cities initiative like IBM and CISCO which have made Integrated Communication Technology Master Plan for this mission under DMIC project in the beginning phase.

Fareen: With the implementation of smart cities programme, Make in India initiative will also boom when the projects like DMIC, CBIC and AKIC comes into real picture which will contribute a lot to the infrastructural and economic growth of smart cities which are located nearby them.

Charu: Aiming at providing good infrastructure, smart solutions and promoting development, this project seems to be a necessity because it provides facilities like water, sanitation, IT connectivity, waste management, and all the above healthy environment to live in.

Eshwar: Yes. As smart cities provides smarter solutions by which more people can be accommodated in the same place. It also increases the job opportunities for the general public.

Dhanush: Despite many portrayed benefits, Smart Cities Mission has some hurdles on its way. This project requires huge amounts of capital to build smart cities. As we know that government has allocated around Rs.70 crore per city and it won’t be sufficient. Therefore, as told by our friends that US and Japan’s contributions, government needs to attract more and more foreign investments.

Eshwar: Also there should be proper planning for the utilization of funds allocated so that it is not limited to the upper class only.

Asha: Another issue is relating to the land acquisition. Large acres of land are required and currently land over which many of the smart cities which are being build belongs to villagers of that region who may not welcoming this initiative and may be expecting premium prices. We have seen this happened in Dholera, Gujarat where locals had resisted against this project.

Fareen: Adding to what you have said, other areas of concern would be the lack of coordination between Government agencies and project execution which may have their own agendas and processes to be followed. So there is a need for segregation of domain experts and some authorities to be appointed for the mission.

Charu: The main agenda of the smart cities mission is to provide housing to all the people. With day-by-day increase in the urbanization, a good quality of living and a decent environment to live in is expected from this mission.

Speed test or Knowledge test, which is better?

Speed test or Knowledge test, which is better?

6 people are having a discussion on the topic (Mohit, sanjay, preeti, Sachin, Bhumi, Payal).

Group Discussion Starts

Sanjay: Hello, everyone. So today our topic of discussion is “Speed test or knowledge test” and which is better whether we should give 1st priority to the speed of a candidate or to his knowledge. In other perspective we can also say that which attribute is more valuable. So as per my view point knowledge test is better than speed test because it is knowledge which will help the person or a candidate to improve his efficiency and effectiveness gradually with time and increase speed. However if a person is very speed in his work or his brain respond immediately , it is of no use or little use unless person possesses necessary skill and knowledge required for any post or position.

Preeti: As per my view point, both are critical for an individual to become successful in today’s complex and competitive world. The quote “Slow and steady wins the race “is no longer applicable to challenges faced by people in this modern era. For Instance if person is giving any competitive exam like CAT or CA, then he/she need to possess both knowledge and speed. As all competitive exam has time constraint and to clear those exams a student need to have sharp mind and also fast in his performance so as to complete the paper within time limit. Hence it is very difficult to rank these two attributes.

Mohit: Yes, I agree with you Preeti completely. However I would disagree with the point you made concerning difficulty to rank these attributes. Because still I feel Knowledge is more important than speed. Every person has to make a decision at various point of time in their life. And what I believe there remains a time constraint in all types of decision hence how rational and logical our decision is that is more important. Hence whenever we appraise someone, we must focus on knowledge first and thereafter comes speed. Speed is something which adds extra value to the knowledge. And Speed is nothing with knowledge.

Bhumi: Yes Mohit you are correct. Speed is nothing if person doesn’t know the right path, right approach. If a person is posted for a job and if he doesn’t have basic specialization and knowledge needed for such post then his speed would be of no use. Hence Knowledge is better than speed and speed supplements the knowledge.

Sachin: Hello friends, even I would rank knowledge before than speed. Knowledge is skills acquired through experience or education. It is familiarity or awareness gained by person through experience of a fact or situation. However speed is the rate at which person react or respond to a situation or problems and come up with solution. Both the attributes has its own value but if we are asked to rank the two, knowledge will always be ranked 1st and before speed.

Payal: Friends, However in some exceptional situations for example situation of emergency, speed acquire greater or equal importance to that of knowledge. For instant if a person falls terribly sick, we should immediately take that person to nearest hospital for a temporary care and relief. It would worsen the situation if we use our brain and try to take him to a better doctor whose clinic is at a longer distance. If a person is both rational and efficient, he would take the patient to nearest hospital first. In a corporate world, sometimes managers have to act and take decision promptly and logically to protect its organisation fame or goodwill from being spoiled. Hence I just want to say that in situations where a person is needed to act promptly, we can’t differentiate between speed and knowledge as both are equally important.

Sanjay: Yes Payal you are absolutely right. I would like to add few more points to our discussion. Knowledge is an inherent thing which persists for long and can be used anytime once gained. Also the true test of one’s knowledge happen based on spontaneity. If you are able to solve the things and apply your understanding in shorter duration then it suggests that you are quite capable with your concepts.

Preeti: Yes Sanjay you are right and I agree with you completely. Speed indeed addresses the quality of the knowledge the person possess. If a person is knowledgeable then he can easily and clearly apply his concept to resolve the issue. The speed of a person to resolve any issue implies his degree of knowledge. Nevertheless knowledge is more important attribute that person would like to have within it. Just like planning and then execution here knowledge comes first and exploiting our knowledge increases the speed gradually.

Mohit: Yes, I agree with you. Hence knowledge must be rank first and speed must ranked 2nd if we are asked to our preference. However when a person is interviewed, the interviewer expects both knowledge and speed from the candidate to give him any post. Today the world has become very competitive. The person who is knowledgeable falls short in speed lag behind the persons who are both knowledgeable and prompt.

Sachin: Yes, Mohit you are right. Moreover a person gets shortlisted for an interview based on his resume. So the person is assumed to possess technical skills needed for a post. The interviewer therefore tests the candidate’s comfort level with the skills he possesses. In other words how efficient and speed the candidate is in applying his knowledge. Therefore interviewer generally tests speed of a candidate.

Bhumi: I would like to add one more point to above discussion. The speed of a person also implies person flexibility to changes in working environment. In many situations the employees have to change rapidly and adapt with a completely different approach. Speed is the strength possessed by a person. Hence if we think from interviewer perspective, he would like to test the speed of a person. But if we look from our own perspective we would like to possess knowledge first.

Sanjay: However the degree mentioned in the resume of a person is more as credential than as an indicator of specific knowledge and skills. Therefore interviewer also asks technical question. Different rounds of interview are conducted such as technical round to test the education and experience of the person; HR question round to test the intellectual ability, personality, and motivation. Therefore knowledge test and speed test both are important and must. The interviewer always searches a candidate who possesses both attributes. However conducting knowledge test is more important and it is difficult to test the speed of person in single interview. Many people are introvert or has shyness problem so they may fail to articulate their answers properly. People also often become nervous at the time of facing interview. Therefore I want to conclude that knowledge test is better than speed test.

Preeti: Yes, We agree with you all.

Operational Efficiency vs Innovation:

Operational Efficiency vs Innovation:

6 people are having a discussion on the topic (Becca, Sarah, Sammy, James, Jack and Molly).

Group Discussion Starts

Becca: Hello everyone, the topic for today’s discussion is Operational Efficiency vs. Innovation. Operational efficiency can typically be defined as the ratio between the outputs obtained from an operation and the inputs which are used in order to achieve that output. If an the operation is highly efficient we can say that less inputs in terms of human effort/ time and cost are required for producing a large output. Achieving operational efficiency can be very advantageous to a firm because this can in turn lower the prices of the products without compromising on the quality of the product.

Sarah: Innovation on the other hand is when the firm comes up with something new and different. This may be a product or a new way of producing things. Innovative ideas are beneficial to a firm largely because they provide a competitive advantage. The competitive edge is magnified when the firm applies for patents to support their innovative ideas. This will prevent other firms from copying what the innovative firm is doing. While an innovative product may be the work of the R&D team, an innovative way of doing things may be the work of management in their aim of achieving a proper strategy.

Sammy: In the past few years, the way companies look at innovation and operational efficiency will depend basically on the economic condition at that time. For example when there is a boom, the companies in a particular industry compete with each other through innovative solutions and ideas. They come up with new products and see that there are potential consumers who will adopt and or use their innovative ideas and methods. On the other hand, when economy lingers in the doldrums companies in an industry compete with each other through cost cutting which can be achieve through operational efficiency.

Jack: Yes I agree with Sammy. Operational efficiency can be employed during bad times in order to cut costs during the production process but at the same time increase the quantity being produced. With this approach in place the firms can in turn lower down the costs at which the products and services are offered to the customers which will then induce the customers to buy the products or use the services. But I believe that in today’s world, more and more companies are developing strategies which involve innovative approaches.

James: I have to disagree with Jack regarding the current scenario of things. I believe that operational efficiency and innovation can go hand in hand with each other in order to give more benefits to a firm. Many firms today are continuous competing to be the industry leader. They work hard to increase their top line as well as bottom line by increasing the sales of their products or services to improve the first goal i.e. top line and cutting down the costs in order to improve the second goal i.e. bottom line. By looking at the situation in this way, I believe that much can be done is a balance is achieve between the two.

Molly: I have to agree with what James said. As we all know, the situation today is that many firms competing in a particular industry simply adopt the operational efficiency approach. They try to employ Six Sigma approaches as well as Lead Systems in order to achieve operational efficiency. Much of their effort goes into such processes and they fail to see the long term of things. They are determined to see short term results that they fail to see the long term scenario of things. In order to have a long term strategy, innovation has to be thought of.

Jack: Also, in order to focus more on the long term goals, any firm should allocate sufficient funds to the R&D department because this is usually the source of innovative and creative thinking. In order to promote innovative and creative thinking, the organizational structure should be designed in such a way that it such thinking. In order to achieve this, the R&D department should be separated from the day to day activities and operations that the frim performs so that they will not be influenced by the traditional method of doing things. In short the R&D department should be isolated from the rest of the organization in order to give them room to think and come up with new out of the box ideas.

Becca: Since we are running short on time, I think we should end the discussion here. On an end note, I would like to say that different firms may adopt operational efficiency or innovation as a driver from their strategy but a lot of benefit can be derived if both operational efficiency and innovation are employed by a firm in a balanced way.

The Internet is an Exercise in Hype:

The Internet is an Exercise in Hype:

The discussion is between seven participants: Adam, Bob, Carl, Diane, Eric, Fred, George.

Group Discussion Starts

Bob: Hi friends, I would like to start this debate on whether or not the Internet is an exercise in hype. I am against the notion that is presented in the topic and believe internet is a necessary resource in all walks of life. Education, Infrastructure, Health, Banking, name any sector and we would find that the use of internet is inevitable and essential. I will go to the extent of saying that our daily life will come to a virtual standstill if the internet goes down even for a few hours in a day.

Carl: I agree with Bob. The communication systems are heavily reliant on the internet. Internet is like a soul to the computers and smart phones. Without internet they’re empty boxes without much productive use. With the advent of digital communication based on the internet, we’ve opened up opportunities and access to better health, lifestyle and careers. As we progress, we will become more digitized and the impact and role of internet in our daily life will only increase.

George: I am sorry but I beg to differ with the two of you. While the internet has opened up opportunities, we’ve created more dependency than we needed to, and that humanity has functioned over 99% of its existence without the internet is word enough to prove that it is not ‘inevitable’ but is hyped.

Adam: I second George. We’re now more addicted to technology than ever, and the advancement of the social media platforms has disturbed the focus of today’s youth with culture of a distinct social identity gaining importance over real benefits that could be reaped off the internet. Adding to that, the recent incidents of people risking or losing their lives over fights on Facebook, clicking selfie’s on a railway track are disturbing signals.

Bob: There are always two sides of the coin friends, and I believe we should focus on the advantages of the internet and not surround ourselves with the downsides of how people misuse it. After all, the merits of the internet are far too superior to neglect the downsides and the misappropriations by users. I believe as humans who created internet and the associated good and evil things, we should exercise our judgement in the best way to derive maximum benefits from the technology advancements that happen in our life.

Diane: I agree with Bob too. Internet has truly globalized the way we live. Our businesses are now more efficient and that has resulted in reduced cost of living in the largest of our cities and has in result given us an improved and efficient quality of living. It has empowered ordinary  people living in third world countries even in the most remote places that too in the least possible cost.

Eric: I agree with you partly. But differing from the general view of yours, while most of us have known the internet and its advantages, we’ve hyped it beyond what it really is. The internet is merely a tool that could facilitate easy transactions and data interchange, but it comes with its limitations and it is not an inevitable tool.

Fred: Exactly, Eric. When we have functioned for thousands of years without the internet, certainly it is not something that has been the only instrument that has facilitated growth and development of mankind. Instead of leveraging all our available resources into the development and modernization of the internet alone, we need to invest our thought capital into alternate technologies.

Carl: I believe that the hugely shifting trend of the technology and world interest towards the internet is for obvious reasons; that the internet is our future and it deserves the attention that it has gained over the years. Recently, we’re progressing to witness the “Internet of Things”: a proposed development of the Internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data

Diane: The Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming increasingly prevalent in everyday life through wearable devices, appliances, cars, insulin pumps and a range of other objects, and is changing the way companies do business. I believe we’re headed towards a highly Tech Savvy future.

Fred: With IoT's amplified presence and companies' growing interest, however, comes increased concern over the security and privacy implications of having so many connected devices. The issue has been hotly debated among IT professionals, and remains one of the biggest drawbacks of the current proposition of the Internet of Things.

Is Disruptive Innovation Sustainable?

Is Disruptive Innovation Sustainable?

6 people are having a discussion on the topic (Rahul, Vasu, Mayank, Sonika, Poornima, Archit).

Group Discussion Starts

Vasu: The topic given to us today is “Is disruptive innovation sustainable?” Let me begin by explaining the topic and we shall discuss it further. Disruptive innovation by theoretical definition means that innovations that serve a new market by creating new unique value proposition to the customer. To put it in simple terms Disruptive innovations generate a wholly new market that never existed before.

Mayank: We can take photocopying machine as an example of it. The introduction of photocopying machine by Xerox initially created and served a high end customers and people were reluctant about it, when time progressed new low  cost machine flooded the market creating a whole new market.

Rahul: Always an innovative product could be everlasting if it is totally new and low cost. And due to its ability to change the entire market, many companies are investing in disruptive innovation.

Poornima: Sometimes customer may not want to switch simply because it is of low cost or some weird new product. There has to be value proposition and the product should be in a way solve the existing problem of the customer. People often don’t want to change their behavior pattern and mostly people resist change because of the lack of trust to the new product, low trust, misunderstanding about the product and they might be connected to the old product more that they are highly reluctant for a change.

Archit: Mostly if it is a high ticket item, customer feels more risky about the unproven technology. It is the responsibility of the markets to make the customers aware about the product so that the customer knows how their need even their latent need gets fulfilled by the product.

Sonika: If we take the example of any disruptive innovation, there would always be small group of people adopting it initially who are generally referred as Opinion Leaders. Later as the time progresses, then the number of new customers for the product would be growing exponentially. But the sustainability of the product becomes questionable if a few users only try it and the market is never expanding at all.

Vasu: This pattern is usually observed because once the initial niche segment tries and if the product works out to be good, then the product markets itself, the word of mouth that circulates creates a buzz in the market.

Mayank: When people find a new product being used by his friends, they quickly adopt to even knowing about it because there is a social stigma carried by people with not adopting to new technologies.

Sonika: There are various factors which decide if the product is really being able to change the market quickly and sustain it. Customers consider cost, switching costs and trial ability and to some extent the influence of Opinion Leaders also matters.

Rahul: Many a times we see that a disruptive innovation completely replaces the existing market which itself once replaced some other market. This is the basic feature of a disruptive innovation which makes it unsustainable. That is there would always be a new product to replace the old product and at some point down the line this new product would also be replaced by another new innovation eradicating its market.

Archit: One example would be the fax machine which created a wholly new market itself. Due to the penetration of internet and computers, the fax machine is being replaced by internet fax which does not require a fax machine.

Poornima: The inability of the product to be sustainable is not entirely dependent on the product, but by the replacing ability by new product. Hence for a disruptive innovation to be sustainable there must be unique value proposition and offer high benefits to cost ratio.

Sonika: Even the timing of the disruptive innovation matters. A new product that is released soon after a disruptive innovation could not extract the best out of the market. For example apple releasing two iPhones, that are technologically distinct, simultaneously can’t extract the best out of the market. Releasing the better one after much larger period can be profitable for the company.

Mayank: I think the usage of the disruptive innovation at the right time, in suitable place and for correct set of segments could be sustainable. Or else its like the magic trick loosing the element of surprise after knowing the secret behind the trick, we don’t get enough pay and enough attention. Same thing happens to disruptive innovation if it ends up before the need for it is required.

Vasu: Along with it, the selection of the markets needs to be in such a way that the markets are conducive for such a type of innovation. For example, Tesla releasing their cars in India can’t make the best as the back end infrastructure for developing such a car is not present and the consumers show no interest in such a car for the push to try a new product is lesser in Indian markets. With the high infrastructural constraints in India makes it difficult to use a car like Tesla.

Quality or Marketing?

Quality or Marketing?

6 people are having a discussion on the topic (Shankar, Sweta, Damini, Vivek, Vidya, Vignesh).

Group Discussion Starts

Damini: Good afternoon everyone! It’s nice to meet you all once again. Today we got an interesting topic to discuss -“Quality or Marketing?” Nowadays Marketing has turned into a root word for the corporate people who look to bring out new products and services on customers. But they never mind whether proper homework is being done. Homework in the sense, whether they work on the quality of the product or not?

Vidya: Yes Damini. You are right. Crafty advertisements that target users have come about to make up for quality along with quantity. In order to capture the attention of people, large number of media, print and audio visual advertisements is being used to channelize the customer’s interests. But the question that arises out is that how far those marketing tactics actually get translated into record sales.

Vignesh: I agree with this point. There was a research regarding tobacco smoking. The researchers claimed tobacco advertisements work as organisations aim their messages at youngsters, who are in particular persuadable to subtle meanings, such as small hints that it is mostly related to masculinity in case of males and to appeal and freedom in case of girls.

Damini: To add to your point, it is estimated that the 2 Billion dollars’ worth cosmetic industry has found a boon in men’s segment. The Beauty product usage by men has increased drastically to 80% in few years. The main reason is stated as the attraction of men towards anti-aging, fairness segments of the products. The sentiments of people are being lured by attractive advertisements of the company.

Shankar: But we should not miss an important point here. If you know your product has a flaw, you can even sell it through flawless advertisements. This makes the business to thrive but the situation of customer needs to be considered. It is well known that every fairness cream promises the impossible thing. Yet customers are being attracted towards it because of the strength of the pictures that are being displayed.

Sweta: I agree with you Shankar. But do you really think that they could maintain their customer base with marketing alone. No it is not possible, if the product needs to retain with people, quality needs to come to the picture only if the product has the desired quality and if it meets the requirements with standards, it will attract buyers.

Damini: Yes Sweta. We need to understand the fact that the list that contains the fortune companies has Amazon, Google, Apple in the top three places. It was not because of their marketing strategy but it’s because of their commitment towards quality.

Vivek: True. Quality is the ultimate consideration here. As Shankar said flawed products are being marketed, if people gets to know the problem with the quality then marketing will not help. Only for one times the sales could be made with great promotion. Even negative impact would be created through word of mouth, if the quality of the product is below standards.

Vignesh: Though quality needs to be considered, but for a product to take a stage on the market, marketing is needed. Without having the product in the market in first place, worrying about the quality is of no use. Nowadays any product is considered only as good or either bad based on the appeal and strength of marketing campaign.

Vidya: Yes Vignesh. I agree with you. Sales are not possible if there is no marketing. People should be made aware of the product or service and they should get to know about the details of the various features and merits. Adding to Shankar’s point here, large amount of people consume caffeine high energy drinks even after knowing that they lead to destruction of brain cells. Here the quality didn’t come to the picture rather effective marketing has played the business.

Damini: But I would say that if there is no quality, marketing is really hollow. Consumers can take the organisations to courts for making fake promises during marketing campaign. Marketing does not fulfil the needs of the customer base and it cannot counter the demands of the customer. There is no real meaning in favouring marketing.

Sweta: Great point Damini. If people found that the product is of poor quality they are well within their rights to demand compensation from the companies. This will directly harm the business and sales of the company. They can’t neglect quality considering only bringing the product on board.

Vivek: Yes I even have a fact to put forward. Everyone would know about the Volkswagen emission scandal. It is stated that 9 out of 10 drivers in England got affected by the diesel emissions from VW cars. They had claimed for compensation from the company and it increases the pressure on VW when it tries to recover from the crisis.

Vidya: But Vivek, people could point out such instances only during a rare case and that’s not often that happen. If this world has this amount of brands all over and still they succeed each other in certain way, it could be because of efficient marketing alone. If a business is thriving a lot in this place, it’s because of redundant marketing efforts that are being made from company’s side. Adding to this there are 51 Car manufacturers in this world and 22 FMCG organizations in India alone.

Shankar: Yes Vidya. You had made a valid point. India is now in hands of youngsters and we have this unemployment issue deteriorating our development further. Budding Entrepreneurs and their organisation are the best solutions for this concern. And if they need to emerge as a big organisation, marketing will play a huge role in the case. They completely rely on the marketing strategy to cover the people segment.

Vivek: But Shankar, quality should be the ultimate consideration for the required outcome of any service or product. But not in favour of that marketing is considered as the real standard on which a product’s success or failure is determined in the market.

Sweta: I agree with you all. So for any organisation to make a good progress, I feel both marketing and quality should go hand in hand. Even if either of the one fails, the company needs to suffer for the whole cause. Management of the organisation should consider both with equal priorities to win the hearts of the customers.

thought of the day

thought of the day

Thought of the day

Consumer satisfaction should be achieved at any cost:

Consumer satisfaction should be achieved at any cost:

6 people are having a discussion on the topic (Suresh, Gokul, Arya, Vignesh, Gopi, Priya).

Group Discussion Starts

Vignesh: Hello everyone. It’s nice to meet you all once again. Today we have something interesting to discuss. The topic is about us, the customers. Whether we need to get satisfied by the products or services at any cost will be the topic on which we are going to discuss now. As a customer, I always need good products that satisfy my needs otherwise I will switch my option to the next. This is an eternal truth in many of our cases.

Suresh: As you said it is really an interesting topic. But I view something different. I would say that the ultimate requirement in economics is the demand and the supply. Both are dependent on one another. I believe that the producers i.e. suppliers here take the responsibility of creating the demand among the customers. So I would say that the satisfaction of the customers heavily depends on the producers in first place. I wish to mention here what Steve Jobs has mentioned once.

"People don't know what they want until we tell them so"

Here it indirectly means that even the satisfaction of the customers is being relied on the producers who make the product.

Gokul: I agree with you Suresh. But do you think that without consumer prefers the company will make the products. They understand the need of the customer and they get to know what they exactly wish to have. Based on that they create the products and creates the demand. Customer has the right to choose which is good for them. But the bitter truth is they are not getting satisfied in all the means. For example in public services like Railways and Bus stands there is a lack of proper service to the consumers. Even they demand it is not being provided.

Priya: But there are certain areas where it can’t be questioned or dealt with. In most of the segments, customer satisfaction plays a huge role. I have one example of a recent happening. It is about Nestle Maggi. People got dissatisfied with the product because of higher levels of MSG. The stock price of Nestle dropped nearly 25% from the actual. All the stocks from the wholesale and retail stores were called back by Nestle. All these happened only because of customers who were not satisfied with the product.

Arya: Well said Priya. Just let us consider a situation where a customer felt dissatisfied by the company. It may be also because of being cheated by the organisation. If we think this situation from consumer’s perspective, they can go to consumer form and file a complaint against the organisation. They can use different social network sites as Twitter, Facebook etc. and inform others about the happening to others. Adding more to it, the adventure of Right to Information act has made people more powerful than they were before

Gopi: Yes friends and I have a different view on this topic. Based on the satisfaction of the customers towards the products, the brands that are really good are known to others. Consider network providers like Vodafone, Bharti airtel, Reliance or even other business in any field like automobiles, electronics. In any of these services or products, customer’s satisfaction is highly significant in order to know to develop their company’s business based on the customer’s insight and taste.

Suresh: My view is Globalization has made people to decide the products based on their satisfaction. Many organizations are there who compete among them to make their stand clear in terms of customer’s satisfaction. Consider this example. Clinic plus was the market leader once in shampoo segment but now it is replaced by many new products as L’Oreal, Tresemme etc. because these products met the demand put forwarded by the customer segment. They give more importance to their satisfaction.

Vignesh: I agree with you Suresh. Because this strategy to lure customer’s satisfaction is not only present in FMCG segment and also in Banking sector. Banks like SBI, HDFC, and ICICI are in huge competition in providing better facility to consumers to make them satisfied. More number of applications is being launched that brings the people more convenience in banking and they make them not to visit their bank branches. Even in automobile industry organisations come up with several new features that attracts customers to provide them more satisfaction.

Arya: I have something that adds few insights to this discussion. I would say that customer’s satisfaction is not something concrete. It falls as a prey to brands and such products. And branded products take this as an opportunity to lure the minds of customers. For example brands like Levis, Jockey have their products for much higher price. And people don’t prefer the product even of the same quality but of a normal brand. Here they don’t get satisfied because of the quality but for the brand. Thus companies meet the satisfaction of people through their brands.

Gokul: Yes friends. And we can summarise them like if a company has failed to understand the needs and demands of the consumer and failed to reach their satisfaction, it is sure that they are meant to hurt their key objective of making profit. From government perspective even it has passed several laws for protection of the rights of the customer directly related to their satisfaction which reveals the importance to it.

Is Automation in normal lives boon or bane?

Is Automation in normal lives boon or bane?

6 people are having a discussion on the topic (Peter, Suzan, Kevin, Henry, Ewa and Martin).

Group Discussion Starts

Martin: Good Morning friends. Today we are going to discuss on the topic is automation in normal lives boon or bane. Automation has changed our lives a lot. Whether the change is positive or negative on our life that’s the biggest question now we have.

Kevin: Automation has changed everything for the good. If there were no automation, life would not have got easy as it is now. Earlier everything was manual and it demands much more of hard work and efforts to do little things. With the advent of technology and automation, many difficult processes and works have been easily done by the machines.

Ewa: That is true to some extent but it has also made the people lazy and now mostly people don’t want to work. With easy of doing things, like in case of washing clothes, earlier people use to wash clothes by hands but not with the coming of washing machines, most people don’t know how to wash clothes by hand.

Suzan: Well, that’s actually good. Automation helps to reduce the efforts in any field. Washing clothes is not a really great activity to do. It’s a time consumer activity which has been replaced by washing machines, so now that time can be utilized in some productive way.

Henry: Absolutely. Even with coming of emails, postmen need to do less work and many people got jobs in information technology sector. So in a way, the efficiency of work has increased over the time.

Peter: But we should never forget that not all people have the skills to do work in these sectors. It required a lot of basic knowledge which is not possible for a person who once would be doing some small job and having limited knowledge in this sector.

Kevin: Low skill workers are replaced but even high skilled workers are getting replaced by the machines. In short run, it may seem to be increasing the unemployment but in long run, automation has freed the people from unnecessary work. With the increase of precision due to automation, we have achieved huge heights in medical sector which has saved many lives.

Suzan: Adding to that, even in field of technology, most of the gadgets are getting smart and this has taken communication to next level and now we can talk with person miles away from us without any problem. Automated objects are getting part of our life. Even in sports, automation has improved the performance of athletes by monitoring their performance and rectifying on each level.

Peter: I partially agree with you. Automation has limited the scope of the players as natural environment for gaming is also changed with the mostly indoor games on computers and play stations. It makes people weak and it’s ultimately the invitation to many health diseases also due to lack of work.

Ewa: I agree with you. Nowadays we are getting habitual to gym culture and workouts on treadmills are increasing instead of running out in the open environment. Automation has made the life easy but it’s not required always.

Martin: Of course, there are some negative parts also but if we see from other side, due to automation, now many health related problems has been controlled. Smart sensors which monitors our diet and health routine are adding value to the life of individual. Even in sports, the smart sensors in tennis rackets which capture the impact of power and swings have improved the efficiency of players a lot.

Henry: Further adding to the point, automation is very necessary for dangerous tasks at hand like in factories and on sites of mining, where the risk of losing lives is very high. Even for the unpleasant tasks like related to construction work, where lot of labor is required without any utilization of human skills. So these boring and repetitive jobs are better performed by the machines.

Ewa: Automation to some extent is good but when more control is given to robots like artificial intelligence systems then it is challenging the discretion powers of the humans. Machines can never think like humans and so the decisions are also programmed without involving the sensitivity of the issue.

Suzan: As far as automation is concerned, it has always helped a person to easy the jobs and motivated the individuals to think beyond conventional thoughts. The world has developed so much in this last decade is all due to automation of things.

Martin: Further moving to the different dimension, even in environmental sector, automation has contributed a lot. The waste production due to automation has drastically reduced and many human errors have been eliminated. Moreover, the energy loss to the environment in form of heat has been captured roughly 85% and utilized again.

Peter: That is only the small energy saving part if we compare the energy actually goes into automation and fuel used by the machines for the proper working.

Henry: There might be some flaws also. But automation has helped the disabled person to overcome the disabilities and work like normal people by providing the proper care and independency.

Kevin: So overall. There are many benefits with little improvements which may be required in the automation and the way to use the automation.

Ewa: There may be many benefits but we can’t avail them until we does not find the solution to the problem of unemployment caused by these automation of machines and even the increasing automation has depleted the natural resources more than ever.

Peter: Definitely. I mean until we does not find the way to utilize renewable energy fully, we can’t say that automation has impacted us in the positive way.

Suzan: I agree that natural resources are getting scarce but without automation, it’s difficult to get to the sustainability level as proper utilization is ensured only by automation as waste is controlled to the significant level.

Martin: Moreover, the proper balance of economy can be attained by development and education level. Until people will keep doing the mindless jobs, there will be no one to think about economic balance. Further, for sustainability we can get increases the operating life of the machines with the technology which can last longer and in a way we can reduce electronic waste also.

Is the world Ready for Cashless Currency?

Is the World Ready for Cashless Currency?

6 people are having a discussion on the topic (Alex, Victoria, Joe, Saran, Darcy, Zen).

Group Discussion Starts

Alex: Hello all, the topic of our discussion is “Is the world Ready for Cashless Currency” and here to begin with I will first start by explaining what it means for a country to being cashless in economy. It simply means that all the transactions in the economy are done without cash and electronically only without any exchange of physical cash.

Victoria: To this fact I would like to add that various countries like Ecuador have already declared themselves as cashless currency economies. And I also agree with the fact that digital cash will solve the cash carrying problems and the overall risk associated with it.

Joe: yes that is true. The major issue with the money in the form of cash is that it is very risky to transfer large amount of cash from location to location and from person to person, as there is always of threat of being robbed. So the digital currency will definitely be solved as you need to electronically transfer the amount and you are left with no other option.

Saran: Also if we see to the rising issue of the black money and the corruption issues coming forward, then I would like to mention that cashless currency or the digital currency is the best way to cater to this problem as whatever is there in your account is automatically visible to the income tax department and that is why there is no probable chance of forgery.

Darcy: But instead of looking to all the positive sides, we should also take into consideration the other side. I don’t really think that the world is fit for cashless economy right now. Taking into consideration the cyber crime and the frauds occurring online, I think this cashless plan will not work so efficiently. In fact it is much more risky then handling the physical cash.

Zen: Yes I agree with this. If physical cash is stolen, then you are losing only the cash that was there with you on hand. But if the electronic account is hacked or some fraudulent activities are done then, the entire balance of the account will be in danger.

Darcy: Also there are many other issues also in this system getting online or digitised completely. Here the entire dealing lies on one single card let it be debit or credit or any other bank or money card. Now if that particular card is stolen or lost, and if someone knows your security credentials including your security pin or password by forgery then it may create much more problems than the current issues that are prevalent with the maintenance of the physical currencies.

Alex: But then these are the operational and the maintenance related issues which can be solved in the later durations. If we will think and go on with this protective approach then, the world will never progress. We should also take into consideration the ease and the comfort of the persons. The digitisation of the currency will solve all the carrying issues, risk related issues, and the transport issues.

Victoria: Also the issues related to the foreign exchange and the lack of availability of the currencies in the number of denominations can be resolved as since the entire system has gone online so there is no need of any such physical denominations now.

Darcy: But along with this denominations issue, we cannot neglect the fact that going totally digitised with the currency is not at all possible in the developing countries where in trade occurs with small shopkeepers who are not much educated to understand the entire system. They also are not that well to do to get acquainted and set up the infrastructure like laptop or a computer to handle the digitised transactions. .

Victoria: Yes but there is one more strong benefit of going cashless. If the country introduces digital money then there is no other way but to store it and you cannot withdraw it unlike physical cash. So the money stays as a balance of your account and the bank in turn earns interest on it. This earning of the interest on the bank adds up to the overall growth of the economy.

Joe: Yes also it can be seen from the other way round. The balance you are depositing to the bank is a source of interest and inflow to the bank unless you transact. But also the more the bank has the balances, the more it has to pay to the central reserve bank as the reserves. And this will again add to the growth of the economy of the country and then of the world.

Saran: Also one of the simple and straight forward reasons here is that the cost that the country pays every year in printing and coining the currency will turn to zero. Also since there are no physical currencies available, the risk of forgery is minimised and the money that was previously spent by the government will not be required.

Alex: Yes so there are many positive aspects that should be looked upon but then we should give respect to each arguments and think upon the fact that though there are so many positive factors to support but there are some realities which cannot be neglected and which weakens the statement that world is fully ready to accept the cashless economy. The positive arguments support the fact that if proper’s steps are taken in this direction, then the thing which seems currently not so possible at 100% level can be a reality in the near future.