orkut is DEAD!

The "sentimental" value of Orkut (being the first SNS in India and a place to "meet long lost friends") seems to be vanishing...and the youth in India are leaving Orkut, finally!
see the below page capture:


Source: Orkut


Source: google insights

WHAT YOUTH THINK @ INDIA

I have asked " MP salaries are hiked! ok...but will their QUALIFICATIONS be hiked too?? what's ur say????? http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20100820/818/tnl-government-okays-three-fold-salary-h.html"

the answers were :
"we al kno dt in India only salary cn rise fr politicians bt qualificatn cn nvr"
"Qualifications are rising everyday ....u r not paying enuf attention....cheating, frauds, lying thru their teeth, all of these & more are on a rise!!!"
"they have already got their bonus from common wealth games funds.then a salary hike too OMG !!"
"knw it ...its making news and still they are not happy with the 300% hike......anyways......50,000 is wat they will be gettin and still making mess of it...anyways this is wat they earn per hour un officially....corrupt indian dogs.......it will be better if they leave all this issues and strt wrking seriously on important matters of development"
"‎50,000/- plus free daily survival...most stuff starting from toothbrushes & ending to toilet tissues are state funded!!!"
"ask dem even to take dipers which they can use during never ending question hours nd .... which they are making crap out of it....every hour of the session cost more than a billion......."

Taken from my Facebook page

mobile internet is growing in India

The number of users who surf the internet on personal computers (desktops and laptops) may not have grown as fast as the industry expected it to. Innovative data plans offered by telecom operators, and reduction in prices of internet-enabled handsets are expected to make up for the gap with an increasing number of users surfing the net on their handsets.

The number of people hooked on to mobile internet in India, according to Google, now has more than doubled, from about 8-10 million in the beginning of the year 2009. The company says March-April last year was the inflation point in terms of traffic to Google Mobile, when it saw a four-fold increase in Google searches on mobiles.

“The year 2009 was big for us. We used to think that India is basically low-end mobile market with users having no appetite for data consumption over mobile. But towards the February and March timeframe in 2009, we started seeing a sudden spike in traffic in mobile Internet space. We analysed the data only to find that this is the real growth and the industry is growing,” says Alok Goel, product manager, Mobile, Google India.

This, despite the fact that the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) had recently estimated the number of mobile internet users to be around 2 million. Industry experts reason that there are a little over 500 million mobile phone subscribers in India and with the prices of internet-enabled handsets falling, the number of people who surf the internet on their mobiles presently hovers around the 10 million mark.

The low cost of a general packet radio service (GPRS)-ready mobile handset is a major factor which is driving growth. For instance, an internet-enabled handset costs at least Rs 5,000 almost a year ago. Today, a customer can buy a GPRS-enabled handset for as low as Rs 2,000.

Tata Docomo, a relatively-new entrant in the cellular market in India, says about 40-45 per cent of its subscribers have GPRS activated on the mobile connections “leading to healthy data usage”. “While it is still early days for us to put an annual growth figure given that we have been around for just over six months, data is one of the fastest growing revenue streams for us,” says Deepak Gulati, President, Tata Docomo.

The company sees mobile internet usage happening for messaging, e-mail, social networking and entertainment. “Social networking is one of the fastest-growing areas and mobile Internet fits perfectly into the scheme of things as it allows friends to remain in constant touch irrespective of the time or their location,” adds Gulati.

Most cellular operators that are seeing a huge traction in the mobile internet user base, say that the plans being offered to subscribers have also become a major factor driving mobile internet usage. Cellular operators like Airtel, Tata Docomo, Aircel have introduced innovative data plans to help users get unlimited access to data for less than Rs 100 per month.

Aircel’s pocket Internet cards, for instance, are available for just Rs 98 per month (the company also offers a 3-day plan for Rs 14) and give unlimited browsing, gaming, music. In fact, before launching its campaign in traditional media, Aircel used the Facebook to launch the campaign for pocket Internet card since the purpose was to communicate the message to the youth first. “We are the first to democratise the product (mobile Internet). We have nearly 31 million subscribers now across 18 circles of which a significant number of subscribers use pocket Internet,” an Aircel spokesperson said.

Soon after Aircel introduced pocket Internet card in May 2009, Google saw a “50X increase in Internet usage on Google Mobile by Aircel customers”, according to Goel.

India’s number one cellular service provider Airtel, too, offers data plans at Rs 95 a month. The company is seeing significant increase in mobile Internet users in rural area because of the lack of proper broadband connectivity there. Recently, Tata Docomo has launched a monthly pack for Rs 48 with a 30-day validity and 100 MB data transfer limit during the day and 2GB data transfer during night. The company has now customised GPRS packs which allow customers to get unlimited Internet access for Rs 5 per day.

“Most of these plans are non-confusing with no hidden charges which seems to have done away with the fear among the users on the cost associated with browsing the Internet on mobile,” says Rutvik Doshi, product manager at Google India. He said the devices are also becoming cheaper and smart phones are available in the Rs 7,000-10,000 price point which has made the consumers affordable to but them.

“The trend of using mobile phones for Internet access has already started picking up and we will only see this trend grow manifold when 3G services are launched,” adds Gulati of Tata Docomo.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/mobile-internet-usage-onroll-in-india/386465/

71 Million People Claimed to have used Internet in 2009!

71 million people claimed to have used internet in 2009 according to the Internet in India [I-Cube] Report published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI] and market research leader IMRB .

71 million people claimed to have used internet in 2009 according to the Internet in India [I-Cube] Report published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI] and market research leader IMRB here today.

Active users, those who use internet at least once a month according the international standards of reckoning, rose from 42 million in September 2008 to 52 million in September 2009 according to the study, registering a year on year growth of 19%. The 'claimed users' is an important category for understanding future trends in active user base.

This surge in number has been primarily due to the increased numbers of the users in the remote urban pockets (small metros and towns) and among lower socio-economic classes (SEC C, D &E). This development has been more striking this year as the combined usage of these geographies and classes have overtaken top cities and higher socio-economic classes in numbers.This finding clearly indicates that the Internet has reached to remote masses in urban India.

The report further states that Internet usage has gone up from 9.3 hrs/week to 15.7 hrs/week i.e. a steep 70% rise. The reason can be attributed to innovative content delivery, better applications and its increased use for entertainment purposes, which comprises downloading music or videos, socializing through social networking sites and expressing one's own opinions and views through micro-blogging and user-generated content sites.

Youth continues to drive the surge in Internet use and form major portion of the total users. Among youths, the Internet is primarily being used for searching general information and for entertainment.

Commenting on the report, IAMAI president Subho Ray said: "While we are happy to note while people in the smaller towns are taking to internet seriously, for a deeper engagement we need to provide them the best innovations in the language of their choice, at an access cost that does not pinch and through a device that they have. Only then this engagement is going to be sustainable."
Source: http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/internet/2010040547312.htm

Internet and its effects among the youth in India

For 19-year-old mass communication student Anshu Sharma, it is common to wake up suddenly in the night to check if there is any new mail or to see the latest update of her other social networking partners. Sharma, according to psychiatrists, is among a growing number of Indians aged between 15 and 30 years who suffer from ‘techno-anxiety’. The increase in the number of social networking websites and growing instances of its overuse have led to habits in many young people, which are causing neurological disorders, restlessness, hostility, irritation and distancing from family members. ‘‘Yes, it happens to me. Be it in the classroom or at home, I am always online, either through the computer or on my phone. There is always an anxiety to know what others are doing. I update my facebook status and tweet almost every few minutes and wait for others to comment on them. When people do not comment, I feel restless,’’ said Gaurav Saxena, who studies at a private engineering college in Delhi. He says that the anxiety is more when he is alone. Software professional Vivek Trikha says that he spends most of his free time in office in checking mails and other social networking sites. According to psychiatrist Jitender Nagpal, even nine-year-old children come to him with parents. They feel restless if they are not able to check their mails constantly or if their parents try to monitor their use of internet. ‘‘They get irritated and often this techno-anxiety leads to aggressive behaviour. It causes mood swings and leads to lack of concentration in studies or work,’’ said Nagpal. He said many children find communicating through social networking websites easier than having personal interaction. He added, ‘‘There is every possibility that such children may become introverts when they grow up. They may not perform well in seminars, recitations and group discussions.’’ India has more than 50 million internet users and the number is increasing fast. A major section of internet users (85%) are between the age-group of 19-40 years. Five to six years ago, there were mails, then came the option to chat and now there is a flurry of social networking sites Psychiatrists say they receive more than five to six cases of psychological problems caused by the overuse of internet almost every day. The problems include lack of attention or focus, difficulty in processing real time information, anxiety and mood swings. It leads to irregular sleeping habits, which can cause other health problems. ‘‘Parents should monitor the use of internet by children and help them communicate real time as much as possible. For grown-ups, there is a need to first identify the problem and accept it. Self-assessment can help and in extreme cases counseling may be required,’’ said another expert.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Net-worked-youth-lose-sleep/articleshow/6273319.cms

Chasing freedom- what "WE" say...

Source: youtube

fresh and colorful mansoon footwear @ youth of Mumbai

The footwear in this mansoon became brighter and essentially "Croc type"! few fresh photos (just during the mumbai rain...) by Aanchal and Harish @ INgene Mumbai :

Posted by INgene@ Kaustav

India now has more rich than poor!

The growing economy has spun a wheel of fortune for Indians, with high income households outnumbering those in the low category for the first time at the end of 2009-10, according to estimates made by think-tank NCAER.

India has 46.7 million high income households as compared to 41 million in the low income category, the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) estimates on earnings and spendings have revealed. "For the first time, the number of high income households is set to exceed the number of poor households in 2009-10," the NCAER said, adding that the middle income class continued to grow."
Households earning less than Rs 40,000 per annum (at 2001-02 prices) are dubbed as low income, whereas those with earnings over Rs 1.80 lakh fall in the high income category.
Those earning between Rs 45,000-Rs 1.80 lakh per annum are considered middle income households, whose number surged to 140.7 million out of the total of 228.4 Indian million families at the end of 2009-10.
Thus, the NCAER survey confirms that 62 per cent of Indian households belong to the middle class, which is the target of most consumer goods firms.
"The wheel of fortune continues to spin in India, with each level of household income set to move a notch higher by the end of the decade," the survey on spending and earning patterns since 1985-86 said.
The Indian economy grew at above 9 per cent between 2005-06 and 2007-08. After slowing down in 2008-09 and 2009-10, it is projected to expand at 8.5 per cent in the current fiscal.
The data shows how the country has come a long way in the last 10 years in raising the income standards. In 2001-02, out of the total of 188.2 million households, the number of high income families was only 13.8 million, whereas those in the low income category stood at 65.2 million.
Referring to the middle class, the study said, "Their growing clout becomes even more apparent when one looks at the ownership patterns of households goods. Nearly 49 per cent of all cars are owned by the middle class, compared to just 7 per cent by the rich."
Similarly, 53 per cent of all air conditioners are owned by middle class homes and nearly 46 per cent of all credit cards are to be found in these households.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-now-has-more-high-income-households-study/127963-7.html