2010 - An year of change and that is not just for me :-)

I was recently sent a note off my LinkedIn account. They are tracking the number of people who've changed their jobs in last year. I was more than "surprised" to look at this number for my contacts list !
More than 111 PEOPLE (out of my current network of 530 odd people) seem to have changed their Jobs in their profile. This is not just a designation / responsibility change, but, a change at their work.


Mmmmm.... Is this an indication of some sorts for the industry as a whole ?
Or, is it just coincidence that people I know have come around to that time of their career that they seem to have looked out for change ? Makes me wonder ....

What is clear is that there is an underlying change in the market sentimentality that seems to be driving movement. I hope this is for the better ?

11000 H1 Visas still available @ YE 2010 : Or, the economics of labour migration

I'm sure this fact is going to be bandied about in the days to come. There are 11000 H1B's left at the end of 2010 as per USCIS stats ? Does it mean the rush for H1's is over ? Is this the end of an epoch ?

I think there is some real economic lessons to be learnt here. While the economic downturn has been the stated reason, I'm sure part (or rather a MAJOR part) is owed to the fact that there has been a new $2000 increase in the fee for filing H1s.

While $2000 may not sound big in the scale of things, I think this was sufficient discouragement (or should I say disinvestment) to prevent organizations from filing blanket H1s and then putting people on hold until the project came through ?

It'll be interesting to study this in greater detail from a cause-effect process if not in the coming years, atleast over a window of 7 years ?
Also interesting would be to look at the reverse impact on the Indian IT front ?

Given the tightening of process @ both US and UK entries, I'm sure that there is going to be some much needed hiring "flex" available over the next few years esp. in the 5-9 year experience bracket.

A much needed "flex" if you ask my opinion !

Airport freeze : Where is the preparedness ?

Was talking to some people who've traveled by air (both domestic and international) over the last few weeks and all of them have the same complaint : where is airport preparedness ?

Reminds me of the few (rare) occasions when Atlanta used to have a small (couple of inches worth) of snowfall. The city would grind to halt as it was totally ill-prepared for this.

Would that excuse hold for the large transit airports like London, Paris and Frankfurt ?
Why are they in such shambles the moment snowfall gets to be more than "usual" ?
Are they not watching the global trend of heavier snowfall / rainfall and cycles that seem swing to the extremes ?

IMHO : they seem to have an Ostrich mode to the problem ie. stick your head in sand (or snow) and it'll blow over ?. There also seems to be no "consequence" to this lack of preparedness that needs to be addressed.

Last I heard was that the governments were going to think of legislative mechanisms to pull up the autonomous airport authorities like BAA. Is regulatory the best way to address this or should commercial models push them ?

I'd opt for the commercial model anytime ?

The proposed ban on plastic pouches : Gutka + Paan

Whether or not this proves a boon to the individuals involved (those addicted to Gutka + Paan), this is certainly a welcome measure for the environment.

Over the last few years, I've seen rural India being peppered with this "pollution". Everywhere I go, from a nature resort to a religiously oriented city, I'm shocked and distressed to see these small plastic wrappers scattered around. Even yielding wetlands with paddy seems to not have been spared.

I had posted a few years earlier, that, I think this is probably the most polluting packing material around as they are too small to be picked and too large to travel down an animals throat unhindered.

Am especially scared of the new kind of packaging that seems to have aluminum foil enclosed with a thin enamel of plastic. These, I'm sure do not degrade at all ?

I now wish that this ban comes through at the earliest and makes a difference ?

Nominating and Voting for the most corrupt in Indian Politics

A team under the name "Mango Man" ie Aam Aadmi is running this poll.
I like the concept as it continues on my previous post where I think it is time we started the IgNoble series of awards.
Also, the timing seems right as I'm given to understand that next week (Dec 8) is World Anti Corruption day and some folks are planning a march on Saturday Dec 11 in Bangalore.

Do you think that the "Aam Aadmi" is now too jaded to participate in these "marches" ? Or, is there still hope in a democratic process ?

Please do go in and post your opinion on the following FB page(s)

http://www.facebook.com/MangoManAamAadmi?v=app_4949752878

World / International XXXXX day : Multiple choices ? How about world corruption day ?

For those of you who've missed it. Today ie. Nov 19 is World TOILET day as also International Mens Day !!!
I wonder if it is just a coincidence that both these are on the same day ? Maybe it was carefully chosen - just to enable a discussion point for all the conspiracy theorists ?

On a more thoughtful note... I wonder is there is method to this process or more importantly, given the web / social access in today's world, we can come up with a voting mechanism that'll allow us to choose / publicize and adopt these "world / international" days.

Also, I think, it is time we started to create a set of days where we follow the IgNoble principle

As an example, we should have a WORLD CORRUPTION DAY (esp. in the current Indian context) where we publicly recognize and AWARD those who've EXCELLED in the area of Corruption ?

I'm sure there will be a series of nominations and a voting process where we'll discover some real gems ?

Maybe this model of recognizing individuals will provide the necessary social impetus for individuals to squirm and detest ?

Karnataka - The new Bihar ?

We Indians have a tendency to generalize. About a decade ago, you could see NO development report published where the words "BIMARU" did not appear in the first few paragraphs somewhere. Bihar, as the leading member of the BIMARU states, would be the poster-state for all that seemed wrong in Indian politics.
Later, the antics of Lalu and kin(s) would trigger sniggers in the social sector.
Even elsewhere in the south, there were frequent debates on the efficacy of political rules with regional specialties.... eg. Amma's rule by sycophancy, Kerala's red brigade etc. Karnataka, seemed relatively staid in comparison.   

I guess that was just storm about to break ?

For the last few weeks, I've been agonizing over the new "titles" bequeathed to this state....
Outlook carries a coverpage that screams "Most corrupt state of India ?"
Elsewhere, there are are vivid pictures of our politicians baring their chests a la Salman and that too in the house ?
The numbers being brought out for each MP shames the animal world with comparison to "horse trading".

So much so, there was even a quote by the respected Lok Ayukta (uncharacteristically, Karnataka is one of the few states where this post seems to be making a mark) Justice Santosh Hegde that he has seen a steady degradation from government to government ? Each new one is more corrupt than the last ?

Where does this leave me/us as self respecting local citizens ?
Fuming internally is only a short term option and I'm sure that one day the very same politicians will be made to pay ?