The Demonetization Effect

Effect: 

With the recent demonetization of 500 / 1000 rupee notes by Indian govt., many are facing problems exchanging the money or depositing it in banks but at the same time, every honest tax payer is supporting Narendra Modi for the initiative taken. People have realized that it may be a temporary short term trouble but will definitely help government to curb black money in long run.

Opinion:

I personally feel this is the right step taken by government and will impact economy in a positive way in years to come. Only those who have stash of undisclosed cash hidden in their pockets are worried about the move.

Request:

Through this post, i would like to make a humble request to all the educated citizens of the country who knows how to use mobile wallets, please make use of wallets to the fullest and help others as well to do daily transactions.

How To Help:

if you know someone in your family or friend circle who needs to transact on daily basis for utilities, please educate them on how to use mobile wallets to pay for the transactions. Help them register their bank accounts in mobile wallets. This way they don't need to worry about carrying cash in their pockets or search for cash rich ATMs or wait in queues for long hours. Feed their wallets in every possible way.

If you find anyone within your family who needs a mobile recharge or pay bills, it's good time for a responsible citizen to pitch in and do the transaction on their behalf using mobile wallets. This way you will not only be able to save their time standing in queues but also avoid the frustration. Buy grocery for them from BigBasket or pay their electricity, cable, broadband bills etc.

Mobile Wallets:

There are many popular mobile e-wallets available which are easy to install and use to transfer / send / receive money or pay the for utilities. Some of the popular ones are: PayTM, MobiKwik, FreeCharge, PayU, Payzapp, Chillr etc.

What more you can do:

People who can transact using mobile wallets can avoid going banks right now and wait to get their hard cash exchanged / deposited in bank accounts. Let the poor or others who has no knowledge of how to use mobile wallets or who needs money on urgent basis or has gone to bank for other important work, give them priority first to visit the branch and do the transactions. Help them in every possible way. You can always get your money exchanged / deposited later, once the situation has come under control and there's not much rush in banks. Have patience. Support the initiative.

If you see an elderly in queue, offer them help by standing in for them or install mobile wallets on their mobile and help them to transact online. If you have enough change (cash) in hand in 100 / 50 / 20 / 10 denominations, exchange that with poor who stand in queue to get 500 / 1000 notes exchanged / deposited.

You can use cheque to make payments. I paid the house maid her monthly salary through cheque. I left the date blank for her to fill it later whenever she find it comfortable to go to the bank and deposit it. I paid the plumber for his service through PayTM.

News:

I recently read that a hospital denied treatment because patient family could only pay in 500 / 1000 notes. As a result, the patient died. An ENT doctor in my locality denied checkup to all those patients visiting with 500 / 1000 notes. Is this human ? Is money above someone's life. Doctors, Hospitals at this time should welcome the move and ask patients or families to pay via mobile wallets or cheques or bank transfer but do not deny them the service. They are in pain and they need your help. Work Responsibly.

That's my take on how you can help others.

Information on Popular Mobile Wallets:

Here's a snippet of few mobile wallets that you can use or educate your family members / friends on how to use them so that they can avoid visiting banks or ATMs for money to do daily transactions:

1. PayTM: Super easy to use. Pay or Send money by scanning the code or using the mobile number. You can add money in your wallet to use it later. Pay mobile bills, recharge, utility bills through PayTM.

2. Mobikwik: Again a very popular app to do all sorts of transactions. Add money to your wallet and use the app to do every transaction.

3. Payzapp: Use HDFC Payzapp to pay for online purchases or utility transactions. I use this app to buy grocery from bigbasket on thursdays as i get cashback of 200 on every 1200 purchase.

Note: You don't need to have HDFC account to install this app. I have configured my icici card in Payzapp to make payments.

4. PayU: Similar to above apps. Super easy to use.

Other similar apps:
Freecharge, Pockets from ICICI Bank, Chillr app etc.

Only downside of using Chillr app is that there are very few banks registered as partners with Chillr. So the chances are high that you may not find your bank listed as partner. As a result you may not be able to transact using Chillr app.

Check if ATM in your area has Waiting / Cash / No Cash:

Here's a website which gives you a list of ATMs that has cash / no cash or has waiting line in front of them. You just need to enter your area Pincode and submit, it will list out all the ATMs with their current money status.

Website: http://www.cashnocash.com

I do not have any idea of how authentic the information is. But one can give it a try and see if it really works or not.

Please share this message with others.

Thanks

#BlackMoney
#Demonetization
#ATMQueues

20 Habits of Effective People

1. Get up early

          Imagine how productive you can if you get up early morning and finish most of the things on priority first. You can enjoy rest of the day all for yourself. Early morning you can write / blog / exercise / walk / jog or meditate. Morning's fresh air will keep you active throughout the day. 

2. Exercise Daily

          Make it a habit to exercise daily. Start with either 5-10 minutes of yoga or warm up exercises and slowly increase the duration once the momentum begins to build. A small change daily can bring a lasting effect in your later life.

If you are not sure how to start, which exercise to follow or do, install Apps which suggest 7 minute exercises or warm up exercise etc. Or walk / jog for 15-20 minutes. Go out and run. Play with your dog (if you have one). But Start. Few days, it feels boring. But later, when you start seeing changes, you don't want to quit.

3. Follow your Plan / Goal religiously

          If you have a dream or a goal in life, first break it down to smaller goals and then make a plan as to how you should proceed. Start taking small steps towards it daily but make sure you don't skip any day and stick to timeline. Make a note to yourself that you must do this atleast once every 24 hours. Only then you'll be able to achieve your ultimate goal.

Do not wait for someone to motivate you or self motivation. Trust me, self motivation don't last longer. So motivated or not, just continue doing what you are doing. Just don't stop.

4. Don't quit

          As i mentioned in the last point, don't STOP, don't quit. You were not meant to only START and not FINISH. if you have started something, make sure you are the one who finishes it. Don't worry about the time it might take you to Finish it. You are not in a race with others. Your only race is with yourself to become better from what you are today. 

5. Learn to say NO

          if you feel this is not meant for you or you might end up ruing your time for someone else's comfort, just don't do it. Say NO. If you can't, try. Others should respect your view point. if they don't they are being selfish.

6. Eat fresh, eat healthy

          Eat smart. Eat fresh / healthy / organic. I won't say stop junk immediately but avoid as much possible. Invest in your health.

7. Make mistakes and learn from them

          Make lot many mistakes and improve upon them. as the adage says "Never made a mistake, never tried anything"

8. Keep a Positive attitude towards life / work / health

          Stay calm and positive. I know its not practical but you can always try. Ruining your attitude will only worsens the things at hand.

9. Don't worry

          Why worry ? Failure is part of life. Try to find solution for the problem at hand instead of worrying. Discuss with your near ones. Every failure is a learning.

10. Sleep early

          Sleep early so that you can get up early. 

11. Invest early

          There is no right time / age to invest. Every time is the right time. Start early. Let the magic of compounding work. Like you invest your time, invest your money as well. Let it grow on its own.

12. Learn to forgive

          Let it go. Don't hold onto it. 

13. Stay Focused

          Focus on being disciplined in your life to achieve your target. See your dream, believe in yourself and act upon it.

14. Love your dear ones

          Love your family and friends. Stay close to them and help each other. Discuss your feelings and sought out your problems.

15. Minimalistic life

          Ever read "The Monk who sold his Ferrari" ? if you want to lead a minimalistic life, first achieve all your targets and accomplish things you want in life. Once you attain it, quit. Try to be a minimalist once in your lifetime.

16. Help others when needed

          Help as much as possible. If someone asks you for your help, consider yourself blessed enough that you are given opportunity to help someone. So help. Help the poor and the needy. Help whenever possible.

17. Start Blogging / Writing

          Write a blog or Keep a diary. Make a journal and write your views. 

18. Walk / jog

          Walk / jog as much as possible. Or play with friends. Go trekking or dance. Just keep that body moving.

19. Repeat

          Repeat the same activity again and again and again instead of starting a new activity. Repitition is mother of learning. Bruce Lee said, "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."

20. Be Happy

Onsite Visit Checklist - Things to Carry on Onsite Travel - Part 3

Part 1
Part 2

Continued ..

41. Stay as close as possible to Indian community. Make friends, socialize. You are all alone out there, so better make few friends who can be with you in thick and thin.

42. Ask your friends / colleagues about reliable taxi services / public transportation. if anyone know of any driver who is good, honest and reliable, know him personally.

43. Do not dispose off plastics (bottles / cans etc). Give it back in recycling station and they give you cashback which can be used for buying grocery stores in supermarkets. for eg: if you are travelling to Germany, government there has installed machines that takes back used plastic bottles and recycle / re-use them. Customers are benefited through cashbacks for the plastics given back.

Checkout this video:

44.  Avoid eating outside. You might end up creating a big hole in your wallet. Once in a while is Okay but not too frequently.

45. Do not lend money to anyone. See how much is the saving interest rate in international banks. if you think its not fetching you good returns, better transfer the money in Indian bank account and invest.

46. Keep all the bills with you during your stay. You can show the bills in your company back in India and get reimbursements.

47. Carry your ipad / ipod / kindle if you want to.

48. Carry camera, your choice.

49. Carry phone charger and USB cables

50. Search for Indian / Asian Stores / markets where you can buy household items.

51. Do not carry washing powders / detergents abroad. Washing clothes using common machines is cheap abroad.

52. Carry a diary with you all the time even while travelling to office. Or make notes on your phone (i find diary easy to use and handle)

53. Carry biscuits / snacks only if you want to.

54. Carry your glasses.

55. Carry handkerchiefs

I'll keep adding to to the list. You can help me by adding more items to the list. I look forward to your comments.

I hope you found this 3 post series helpful.

Thanks

Onsite Visit Checklist - Things to Carry on Onsite Travel - Part 2

Part 1 Continued ...

If you have missed any of the 20 points discussed in previous post, please click here.

21. Avoid oil / ghee. Buy Olive oil abroad.

22. Carry or avoid deodrants / perfumes. Your choice.

23. Carry an extra (basic) mobile in case you lose the expensive one or is damaged.

24. Avoid carrying valuable items (like gold, jewelry, diamond or Indian currency etc.). Chances of misplacing them / losing / stealing / robbery / hijacking are high abroad.

25. There's no use of carrying your Indian keys along while travelling abroad. Hand over such items to your relatives before travelling.

26. You can carry dry fruits if you want to.

27. Carry a good size pen drive (USB) or a portable hard disk

28. Carry your own laptop only if your company is not planning to give one for personal use.

29. Carry headphones 

30. Once you are in the country of visit, get a tram / metro card made for yourself and your family. This will help you save few bucks on your daily travel.

31. Do not carry liquid / semi-liquid items. Avoid carrying pickles.

32. If you are travelling to a cold climate country where the temperature is low throughout or most part of the year, better carry woolen wears along. Carry a pair of sweaters / jackets / pullovers whichever you find comfortable and easy to carry. Make sure you check the climate / weather first before travelling. This will help you decide what all clothes you need to pack.

33. Carry hand gloves / muffler (men / women) / cap / socks

34. Carry an iron if you want to. But make sure, it's light weight and portable. Checkout this Philips iron.

35. Do not carry indian notes (currency) / coins abroad.

36. Carry Traveller's card / international credit card / world money card etc. Ask the Forex department.

37. Carry your own debit / credit card as well.

38. Avail VOIP calling services for calling back to India. Rebtel / Friing are pretty popular services abroad and available at cheap rates. Whatsapp / Skype works best in this case.

39. Read about the country online or in groups before travel. This will give you an idea of what what one expect while visiting any country.

40. Drinking water in few countries is too hard for indian stomach. So you might have to buy water from supermarkets.

Continue Reading ...

Onsite Visit Checklist - Things to Carry on Onsite Travel

Through this post, I would like to share some of my experience about stuff one must carry along if he / she is travelling abroad (onsite) for first time.

Here's a Snapshot of items every individual must carry along (multiply the quantity based on family members accompanying):

1. Carry toiletries - atleast 1-2 toothbrushes, tooth paste, shampoo, soaps . This will buy you time to settle down and then explore market to buy items locally.

2. Shaving kit (Carry Gillette razor that can be used repeatedly instead of carrying too many use & throw blades). Carry 2-3 shaving creams (each will last for atleast 3-4 months if you shave twice weekly). Make sure you carry extra shaving sticks just incase you lose one or if it breaks.

3. if you are travelling alone or with family for long term, it's better to carry kitchen items such as cooker (for eg. 3 ltr.), kadaai, patila, chai ketley, chai filter along. Do not carry tea powder / sugar.Keep big / small spoons as well alongwith glass & katori(s).

if you are provided with accommodation, than it may not be necessary to carry above kitchen items as that'll be already there for you. for eg: Dinner set, crockery, bowls etc. Or check out prices of these kitchen items in country of visit. if you are getting it cheap, it's better buy from there rather than carrying it from India.

Note: Check with your flight CC if you can carry blades, knives, scissors or nail cutters in international travel.

4. Carry Maggi, ready to eat food, if you think you'll be staying alone for time being and needs instant food now & then. This is when you are travelling for short visit.

5. Do not carry books with you. It's like putting unnecessary weight to your luggage. Better buy Kindle or load books on your smart phone.

6. Carry slippers / chappals (extra pair)

7. Carry Sport shoes

8. if you are travelling in a cold climate country, better carry multiple set of inner wears.

Countries like UK, Germany can be quite freezing at times. Study temperature / climate conditions for the month you wish to travel. You might want to add a sweater or jacket in your bag.

Get in touch with locals on Social Media groups and gather information or ask people who has already traveled before.

9. Carry dal (lentils), pulses only if you have enough free space. Add good quantity if you really can.

10. Carry rice in quantity if possible. Or ask your colleagues travelling in nearby time to carry few kgs of it if he's travelling with minimal load. Rice abroad in few countries is quite expensive.

11. Do not carry sweets, chocolates, cakes etc. These are perishable items, May not even survive travel. Or carry energy bars just to keep your stomach full during transit. Sometimes long journeys can be quite hectic.

12. Do not carry ketchup, jam bottles. Chances of breakage in transit due to air pressure is very high.

13. Do not carry bread or similar perishable items.

14. Carry Masala packs if possible. for eg: Everest / MDH Masala.

15. Check the electric switch / plug system in country of visit. Not every country has plus / switch like we have it in India. Indian cable plugs are not universal to fit all country switches.

So you need a universal plug which works in every country. Check online for universal Switch and make sure you buy atleast 2 if one breaks or is lost.

16. Carry your basic medicines that you think you need now and then. Because not all Indian medicines are available all across the world. So it's better to carry your own medicine with considerable expiry period and avoid having alternatives abroad.

17. Get Medical Insurance once you step into the country.

18. Keep your passport, documents very safe with you while travelling.

19. Guys, please carry a suit(s) to attend official meetings / formal parties in country of visit. Carry a spare tie matching with the suit.

20. Avoid carrying / wearing gold

Continue Reading ...

Is this Development or Messing Up The World ?

Internet Broadband Services in Moshi, Chikhali, PCMC

If you have recently moved to PCMC, Pune and residing in areas like Chikhali, Moshi and looking for good internet broadband services, i would suggest you to NOT to take up VNET Broadband services for the following reasons:

1. Over priced monthly broadband subscription plans.

if you are planning to buy a 1 Mbps per month Unlimited plan, you may end up paying Rs. 2300 /- (excluding taxes) and for 2 Mbps, you need to pay around Rs. 3300 /- (excluding taxes). Even Tikona doesn't charge this much for 2 mbps monthly plans.

Unfortunately, you may not find Tikona, BSNL, Airtel services in most of the PCMC areas, so you have to rely on local broadband service providers.

So, i would suggest you to not to go with VNET Corporation's Broadband Services.

2. Poor Network

They have very poor network as the speed they commit is 2 Mbps but in reality, you only get 128 kbps. Even if you complain about the speed or network downtime, Mr. Rohit from Vnet do not respond very well and slams the phone down without evening listening to your complaint. No professionalism in handling customer complaints.

3. High Downtime

Frequency of downtime is very high as the network is unavailable for 6-8 hours throughout the day. Everytime you call and ask the reason for downtime, they always have only 1 answer : Somebody has cut the fibre optic cable.

4. Delay in payment

If you delay in making the payment just by 1 day, Mr. Rohit makes sure there is no network available from the very first day of billing cycle.

So i would request you to refrain from VNET Broadband Services.

VNET Rating: 1/5

Alternatives:

Get intouch with Hathway for cabled broadband services if you are residing in Chikhali, Moshi areas in PCMC pune. Else buy 3g dongles from various internet service providers like Tata, Reliance etc. i've checked the speed of Tata 3G dongle and i am not very confident with it as it do not pick the network most of the time.

Hathway has plethora of plans that suits your needs and are inexpensive.

Hathway Rating:4/5

Hathway has a franchise with Manoranjan Broadband Services. You can directly get intouch with them at:

Office: Shree Manoranjan Cable Network Service

Near by Prerana Bank

G.M.C.Raj Pales Sane Chowkh

Chikhali Pune -411062

Telephone: 9922993525/35

SMS: 9011913535/35

Email: shreemanoranjancable@gmail.com