On the Globe

In the event of ongoing Nepal crisis ( 2015 Nepal Earthquake ), BSNL has offered  free calls from India to Nepa l; and recent updates tell that even Airtel and Aircel have also followed suit and offer free calls for next some days. Other ‘traditional’ telecoms like Vodafone and Idea have also slashed their calling rates to Nepal substantially. Even Google opened up its  people finding service  for Nepal and Facebook introduced  safety check ; which though of limited use due to technology reach, are still noble gestures. All such changes cost companies efforts and money; mostly without immediate commercial gains. In very contrasting terms with this episode, stands what we witnessed in Australia during Sydney hostage crisis last year (in 2014). Immediately after the terror attack,  Uber had dramatically increased its fares  for traveling in Sydney. Users cried foul on online forums and the company had to go on defensive. Uber  clarified that the ...

I was traveling in a public bus when something out of ordinary happened. It is not usual that the public bus’ drivers stop at undesignated places (sometimes they don’t even stop at marked bus ‘stops’). When the bus halted, I saw a kid getting in from the wrong door (which is meant to get down). The bus driver kept shouting until two more kids got into the bus and were all asked to get seated (so that they don’t fall down); and then only the bus started. When I could see the three kids’ faces, I could not stop observing a little more than expected. All three kids were poor (as their clothes and appearances told). The eldest of them was of about 5 or 6, and he sat down only when the two younger kids (perhaps all were siblings) had got seated. He carried a rugged bag (‘jhola’) in his hand and also a confidence which made him appear strong. Second eldest was a girl who was about the same age as of the boy. When she raised her head and I could see her eyes – I was startled. Her ey...