What is Republic?

We are all acclimatized with the word Republic.We used to consume this word through various sources like books,posters,speeches etc.Republic is such a thing that we can only grasp or apprehend which is applicable irrespective of every sectors of our life.Republic makes a free space or way which acts as a medium to define the concept of Freedom,Liberty and Opportunity. Incidentally despite of learning lots of ideas about all those things,we don't have the time and mindset to exercise them properly.And, then the crisis of Republic comes into the picture in our real life.In each corner of the Earth, there is a creation and also a recreation is happening in every second & the reason behind that is only the perception of freedom.Freedom in thinking,freedom in work,freedom in speech,freedom in every activity and this is not possible without the legitimate and fitting opportunity.Organization is also an object or a body which is undergoing through a creation and recreation process everyday & this process runs evenly only because that the particular organization gives the contingency to its associates a big space where they can work out the theory of Republic.Free space to think and free space to speech always actualize an ambiance of positiveness where the associates can nurture their talent and skills spontaneously which comes out as a great success of that organization.Be a Republican,not in terms of politics but as a believer of Republic.

Reboot your machine.

When was the last time you saw somebody using personal computer with Windows XP running on it? Decade ago ? Maybe. In the recent times, I vacationed at remote towns in the country, one fine morning, I was at hotel to buy breakfast (takeaway) as I decided to have breakfast in the room itself. I placed my order & I received my counterfoils to hand it over at the takeaway counter. I walked up to the counter, and the man himself at the counter was busy fiddling with ethernet cable(a network cable). It was a CRT monitor with Windows XP running on it,I just glanced at the monitor, network disconnected error messages were popping up intermittently. 

By then I understood why he was plugging the cable in & out. He had enough trials on it. Further he looked clueless about the network issue. He needed to launch inhouse portal to enter the data of takeaway items for tracking. It did seem to me like I may not get my parcel If this issue doesn't get resolved, I just asked, can I take a look at the problem once?,he just smiled at me & said OK. I bent down to scan the rear section of CPU and plugged out & in the network cable once to check if that solves the problem, but it didn't. 

Network port seemed fine to me. I'm always under the impression that if something goes wrong inside the computer, it can be fixed by a reboot and mostly it works and can't guess why in particular apart from the basic reasons like bringing the system to its original state & resetting all over. Keeping this in mind, I suggested him to reboot it, but he was busy speaking to somebody in the kitchen to get the food ready for the customers, so he asked me to go and take the control to fix the problem. I did a reboot of the system considering it as a only viable option then. Reboot just alleviated the problem. The error messages seemed to disappeared. He smiled & thanked me. Later he began to enter the data on the system. 

It would be so nice if we have solutions like reboot in life as well for all the problems that we encounter. :)

How you see is what you get

Not everyone is naturally optimistic. Some people are born seeing the glass half empty rather than half full. But no matter what your natural bent is, you can become a more optimistic person. 
How do cultivate optimism? Please learn to become positive people with great attitude. Then no matter what happens to you, you can weather the storm and build on the good you find in any situation.
Contentment is not a popular concept. Our culture actually discourages the idea. People are continually bombarded with this message, what you have is not enough. You need more - a bigger house, a better car, etc. but the truth is possessing healthy contentment, which is essential to able to withstand failure.

11 Benefits of UPI | How UPI is Better Method of Fund Transfer !

The new way of money transfer, The UPI has many benefits over the existing payment methods. Because of its obvious benefits, the experts consider it a revolutionary innovation. In RBI governor Raghuram Rajan’s word, The UPI is whatsapp moment for banking. UPI is one of the most advanced method among all the digital payments.
The UPI is a payment mechanism which allows instant money transfer without the bank details. Instead of bank account number and IFSC code, the virtual payment address is used to pay through the UPI. Let us explore the benefits of UPI.
11 Benefits of UPI

1. Cheapest Way of Money Transfer

The UPI is the cheapest method of fund transfer. The NEFT charges minimum Rs 2.5 for a transfer, the IMPS charges minimum Rs 5. But the UPI charges too less to believe. It costs less than 50 paise for a transaction through the UPI.
Becuase of this low cost, the UPI has the potential to promote the non cash transactions of small amounts.

2. It Makes you Free from Cash

There are many ways of transactions which has decreased the cash transactions. The card payment, net banking and mobile wallets are widely used. However, we rarely use the card or netbanking for small transactions such as payment to your neighborhood grocery or payment to a vegetable vendor. In fact, it is not feasible for the consumer as well as the shopkeeper.
But, the UPI makes small transactions feasible. The smooth and low cost transaction had made it feasible for small shopkeeper and consumer as well. Once, you start using the UPI, you need less visits to the ATM.

3. No Need to Give Details

Most of us avoid using online transaction and card payment because it ask for the bank account details. For card transaction, you give card number, validity period and CVV number. Whereas net banking transaction expose your bank account details. For this reason, the card and online payment is not as much popular. People still prefer cash.
But the UPI solves this problem. The payment through the UPI does not require the card details or bank account details. You have to only give the virtual payment address. the virtual payment address is similar to our email ID. e. gRamesh45@icicibank, 9876543210@axis. It is easy to remember this ID.

4. More Secure

Not everyone uses the card for payment. Not everyone uses the netbanking for the online payment. People are reluctant to use the non cash methods because of the security concern.
What if someone overlooks your PIN while you punch it at the POS terminal. What if the website steal your credit card data and use it for the international transaction.
The UPI has minimized this concern. Actually It is more secure than the present mode of transaction. In the transaction through the UPI, you never share you bank account details. You do not enter your credit card number or CVV. You only give a virtual payment address which does not give any clue about your bank account.
Also the authentication takes place at your smartphone. It is done by punching the two different PINs. You can easily make it discrete while typing at your smartphone.

5. Instant Transfer

The UPI is based on IMPS platform. Thus It works 24 x7. You can make payment any time. There is no restriction of holiday or odd hours. The bank strike will also not affect the UPI payments.

6. One UPI App Many Accounts

After the UPI mobile app, you do not need multiple apps for multiple bank account. A single UPI would serve for many bank accounts. You can link many bank accounts in a UPI based app.
Because of the multiple accounts at one place, you can pay by using any of the account. You can also set the default account for the payment.

5. Choose Any UPI App

You also get liberty to choose any UPI based app from the google play store. It is not mandatory to use the App promoted by your bank. Your bank account may be with the ICICI Bank, but you can use the UPI app of the axis bank.
Before using an app, check carefully the interface and ease. Also, use those app which gives you desired Virtual payment address.
Note, with the change of App you have to get a new VPA, thus it is not advisable to change it frequently.

6. Immediate Registration of Payee

The registration of new payee for the online fund transfer takes some time. This time varies form half an hour to 24 hours. However, the UPI doesn’t have such waiting period. You can instantly transfer fund to a new payee.

7. Money Collection Facility

If you have given a service or product to someone and want the payment, what would be way to ask for the money? You will send a person or make a call.
You would agree that getting money from a party is always tough. There can be numerous excuses. But, the UPI would give more power in the hands of biller and It would not be easy for the client to give excuses.
The money collection facility of the UPI sends a message directly to the party. This message is sent via the bank. It only asks approval for the payment. If the client approves, the money would be remitted instantly. If the client does not approve, it means he/she does not want to pay. Now the biller can deal it differently.

8. Avail COD Without Paying Cash

We love online shopping till it does not ask money upfront. That is why 80% people opt for cash on delivery. The apprehension is simple, what if I do not get delivery. What if I get a packet of stone instead of the mobile phone. So, why take risks, go for the cash on delivery.
However, sometimes, you don’t have enough cash at your home. If it is a big purchase, you have to rush to the ATM before the delivery boy comes. The UPI ends this hassle.
You can go for the cash on delivery but you are not required to keep cash at your home. You can pay it instantly using the UPI fund transfer.
The Online seller would use the fund collection facility of UPI. Subsequently, You would get a message for the payment approval. You can hold the approval till the delivery. As you get the product, Approve the payment. The delivery boy would get the message immediately of the payment. The cash on delivery is done without using the cash. In actual sense, It is pay on delivery.

9. Cheaper Alternative of POS Machine

It is difficult to pay through the card in small cities. Most of the merchants don’t have the card swiping machine. Let me tell you that this machine is called as the POS terminal.
So, small merchant don’t keep POS terminal because it is costly. They have to pay for the machine. Along with this they have to pay the service charge for each transaction. It varies from 1.25% to 2.5% of the transaction value.
You would have also faced the situation when vendor ask the service charge from you. It happens in a competitive market. In fact keeping POS terminal is not very beneficial for small traders.
But, UPI would do the same work with negligible cost. AS UPI operates through the smartphone, anyone can collect money without spending for the machine. Also, the transaction cost is mere 50 paise, It is very low compared to the POS terminal.

11. UPI would Replace Many Digital Wallets

Digital wallet has eased the online payments. The mobile recharge, rail tickets, online shopping has become very smooth because of the digital wallets. But the number of such wallets are increasing. Paytm, Freecharge, Flipkart and IRCTC, Everyone want you to keep the digital wallet. So it become hassle to maintain more than one wallet.
The UPI would end this hassle as well. The payment through the UPI is as easy as payment through the wallets. But a single app is enough to pay anywhere. Also, the UPI does not ask money in advance. Rather, your money remains in the bank account and keeps earning the interest. Digital wallets don’t give any interest.

I hope this info will be helpful.

Are we not consciously unconscious?

Food, water, air and sleep – four essential elements for survival and happiness.

Barring smokers who pay for inhaling impure air, Thank God, pure air is free so far! 

Everything else costs something…

We pay the most for food, but most of us still eat more than our body needs!

Water is comparatively cheaper; close to free if not particular about bottled water, yet most of us stay dehydrated!

Sleep is absolutely free. But most of us live sleep starved!

Sometimes consciously we are unconscious about most obvious things around us!

You agree?

Sundar Pichai finally receives Distinguished Alumnus Award in person

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who was conferred with the Distinguished Alumnus Award by IIT Kharagpur in 2015, was finally able to receive the award in person at his alma mater, nearly two years later, on Thursday.

"Sundar Pichai was conferred his Distinguished Alumnus Award in the Board Room of IIT Kharagpur on January 5, 2017. The award was given to him at the 2015 convocation but he was unable to come and receive it in person at that time," IIT director PP Chakrabarti said in a Facebook post late Thursday.
He visited his old hostel Nehru Hall, went to his old room, common room, mess, library, catwalk and refreshed his memories, Chakrabarti said.

Cyber Security VS Information Security

Many of us really do not understand the thin line of difference between Cyber Security (CS) and Information Security (IS). Probably, this question never came to our mind as we considered the two as the same !!

IS is such a huge topic and moreover IS and CS are so closely related, we tend to use these 2 words as synonyms. While both are meant for securing the information , we might wonder what exactly is the thing which separates the 2??

so here is the answer:
We cant really mark the difference between the two, as one is subset of the other. How? as below:

Information Security - This is more of data security - meaning protecting the data (the triad- C.I.A. ) in all the formats in all the mediums (transit, stored, or while processing)

The protection of Enterprise data, information, knowledge and wisdom (DIKW) in all formats, (audio, visual, digital, physical), at rest, during processing or transmission from the loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability leading to unauthorized access, modification, destruction, denial of service, interception, loss of service, unauthorized disclosure. This would entail developing and maintaining a program with the capability to identify threats, contain, and investigate breaches and remediation of any vulnerabilities to data, information and knowledge in compliance with legal obligations defined by statutes, regulations & contractual obligations

Cyber security - This is the subset of the information security. This is related to protecting electronic data. i.e. protecting the data while in transit or being processed.

The protection of DIKW in all formats during transmission and processing over the Internet. This would entail establishing security standards for purchasing secure Cyber products and services, ongoing Cyber risk management of services, configuration and security testing security of Cyber devices utilized for the transmission of DIKW

There are many informational links on the same for further read:
http://www.slideshare.net/markb677/cybersecurity-d...
https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-difference-between...
https://www.bitsighttech.com/blog/cybersecurity-vs...

Summary: US Case laws in Business method and software patents

Right from the early 70's there has been a debate on patentability starting with, Gottschalk v. Benson, Diamond v. Chakarabarty, followed by Diamond v. Diehr. A lot has changed since those early days in the aspects of computers and computing power, but one thing that has not changed in the ambiguity in the law. Is an computer invention really patentable? What makes this a very difficult question to answer is the fact that computer inventions mostly are based on computer implemented methods of mathematical expressions or algorithms. Since mathematical expressions as per the law is not patent eligible subject matter, therefore computer implemented inventions that merely use a device for computing those expressions are not patent eligible as well. What makes this more challenging is that where this addition of the computer does more than merely doing the said steps in the said manner.

In the famous decision of Diamond v. Diehr, the court ruled that the implementation of the Arrenehius principle for rubber curing is patent eligible because there were no earlier instances of using this principle for the said purpose of curing rubber. In contrast, Gottschlak v. Benson begged the question can a mathematical formula without a substantial practical application exception in connection with a digital computer be patented? Since the formula was not directed at any particular application, but the claims were generic to applying the formula implemented on a digital computer, the court ruled against Benson. Out of this was born an important test for patentability under 101; the machine or transformation test. The machine or transformation test simply states that for a subject matter to be patent eligible, (1) the claimed process should be tied to a particular machine; or (2) the process transformed an article into something else. The subsequent outcome? In order to get over this hurdle many patent applications simply tied their implementation to a machine (e.g. a digital computer) .
Fast forward few decades. Today computers are everywhere and software has become the backbone of our day to day interactions, this is especially true financial and commerce transactions. No wonder the two major decisions on computer implemented methods are based financial transactions. 

The first, Bilski v. Kappos involved business method using a mathematical algorithm to hedge against price changes in the energy market. This case reevaluated the machine or transformation test. Prior to this the machine or transformation test was the key test toward patent eligibility. The US Supreme court opined that machine or transformation test is not the only criteria for patentability. Bilski appeal was rejected on the basis that is was a business method and constituted an abstract idea. However, the court did not clarify how to evaluate the abstract idea. This left the door open for interpretation. 
Judge Stevens from the panel did not agree with the majority decision; "The Court does not provide a clear account of what constitutes an unpatentable abstract idea. Instead, the Court artificially limits the claims at bar to hedging, and then concludes that hedging is an abstract idea rather than a term that describes a category of processes including the claims. Therefore, the Court fails to show how its conclusion follows clearly from precedents in this area. Consequently, one might conclude that the Court’s analysis means that any process that utilizes an abstract idea is itself an unpatentable, abstract idea, but such a rule has never been suggested; if this were the rule, it would undermine a host of patentable processes"

The key question that is raised again and again is, are business methods patentable subject matter? Proponents have argued that business methods, are a means of conducting business and making these patentable will create impediments in conducting business, by subjecting them to litigation. Moreover, businesses don’t need patents as an incentive since creating new business methods and processes is easily driven by profit incentives that are offered in furthering innovation.

The next major judgement that looked at patentability of natural laws was Mayo v. Prometheus. Prometheus sold diagnostic tests incorporating these covered in their patents. The test concerned the use of thiopurine drugs to treat autoimmune diseases. The federal circuit ruled in favor of Promethus, holding that the processes were patent eligible under the “machine or transformation test” as they included steps that involve the transformation of the human body or blood taken from it. Supreme court did not agree and decided that the steps or their combination thereof do not conform to the norms dictated by law to overcome the transformation barriers as set forth by the courts.

Finally, we come to another US Supreme court case Alice v. CLS Banks, the latest of the twist and turns in the history of case laws involving patentable subject matter. Alice Corporation was granted patents on several processes and systems relating to the use of computer software to facilitate securities trading and reduce risks of parties not fulfilling contractual obligations. CLS Bank developed software for its own use in similar transactions. 

The court reiterated the areas of patent ineligibility namely laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas. To perform this type of differentiation, the Court invoked a two-step analytical framework based on Mayo. Under this framework, courts first assess whether an invention is directed to one of the judicial exceptions to patent-eligibility (stated above). Second, if the invention does fall within an exception, courts consider whether the invention involves an "inventive concept," which is an element or combination of elements "sufficient to ensure that the patent in practice amounts to significantly more than a patent upon the ineligible concept itself." That is to say, is there enough in the invention to transform the abstract invention to patent eligible subject matter. Applying the Mayo framework to Alice's patents, the Court concluded that the claims were directed to an abstract idea. This decision was in line with the earlier decision of Bilski that were based on similar concept of financial mathematical transactions. Where this decision lacked was in the clarity to how to make this decision of "significantly more".

There have been a number of major decisions post Alice, where the two pronged rule have been applied and these provide further clarity on "significantly more". McRO v. Namco is one such interesting case that demonstrates the extent of technicality to transform an abstract concept to patentable subject matter. The claimed invention relates to generating automated lip-synchronization and associated facial expression for 3D animated characters. McRO's contribution automates this process by feeding time-aligned phonetic transcripts into a computer, and setting rules for how to apply various morph targets to manipulate the 3D character's facial expressions based on this input. This produces a more realistic speech pattern during animation, something that was not achievable without manual intervention. For this reason, the federal court agreed that MCRO's patent overcomes the Alice test.

In summary, the patentability landscape has been changing over the past few decades. From the earlier and more direct machine or transformation test of Gottschalk, to a more open ended approach as elucidated in Bilski and Alice, the thought process of the courts has been to caution the patent offices to take a more pragmatic & precise approach while determining patent eligible subject matter. There is no magic bullet or template that can be fitted to help determine patentability and we will look to further cases from the Federal circuit to provide more clairty in this matter.

15 Ironies That Can Only Exist In India .

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For last year's words belongs to last year's language and next year's word await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning. 
Let's take the resolution to create a "Beautiful" INDIA !!!!!!!!!!!

One dollar Note & The only Corner Store...

We live in a world where we expect everyone around us to fail most times so that success can be achieved without much effort and when it comes to business , profit has become a full course meal and values are no longer even a side dish! The Causatum after all this at the end of the day or end of the year is, we might gain something ! but we never win -nor the people , nor the value and nor the trust. Thats where New year can make a difference where we again believe that a new start can be made. It brings hope and halt our mind to think and act. Hope is our only Companion that keeps us going and New year Brings plenty of that! Thats why New year is special instead of being a normal day in our lives. Last week i felt the Hope is still a reality during a long drive to New mexico.

I love driving especially long drives just like most people do these days mainly because of the serenity and also you feel the ability to see the world without being confined. Driving brings Joy to different people in different ways but to me the most beautiful thing about driving are the small Halts. More than the views on the go , never ending roads and the hotel stay , Stops bring Calmness to the rushing mind. When none of us have time to stop for anything in this Usain Bolt world the stops that we make to see the views or sip a coffee or eat your lunch or fill your tank brings in peace, clarity and helps to realise things that we missed to see earlier. Most times the source of real happiness is under realized or Unrealized.The better we realize the lesser we search for it. 







Ok Then , Coming back about the stops. Stop at the gas station or the petrol bunk is fun!Especially if you are born before early 90's coz those are some of the ones who loves the fragrance of the petrol from your dad's bike back in old days and still love it even after you have purchased a luxury car. It was a 13 hour drive and Gas stations were scarce on the route, so i had to fill the Gas tank in a suburb station on the way
since the next gas station might only be after 100 miles or more. The gas station was surrounded by breathtaking mountain view and i ensured to take a look around the mountains which gave a fresh, scintillating and refreshing feel. Suddenly, I heard the Click sound to realise the auto shut off was turned on and waited for the receipt to come along. But it didnt and displayed "Receipt is with the Cashier and to collect it from him". I went to collect the same and On the way i saw a Vending machine which urged me to get a water bottle and made me thirsty. Just realised If ads are not there many in the world would have felt content with many things in life without an urge.There was no slot for a card and i didnt have dollar notes in Cash to use it. So i thought i can go inside the corner store( Shop) to get the receipt and also ask for few dollars as cash back, if possible.





There were 4 to 5 customers standing in the queue to bill their items. The Cashier was a man in 40's with Salt and Pepper hair , 6.5 feet tall , well built and had a authoritative tone. First impression of looking at him might make you feel he might be Rude. One thing, that i noticed in that small wait is most of those customers were still using Cash. When we believe the entire world is going cashless especially in India right now, that moment proved a different thought instantly that what we assume as entire world are not the ones we see at work and there is more to it. Ok without sliding tracks & Coming back to the queue moment!The shopkeeper billed the first two customers and mentioned " Drive safe and happy out there " with a smile. Second impression about that ran through my mind was "He cant be too bad"! Then the third customer billed for his coffee and paid some cash. The Shopkeeper said manejar con cuidado ahí fuera ( Drive safe out there in Spanish) with a smile again. The third customer left the shop and was ready to start his journey again. By that time the 4th customer and currently the first, noticed there was a 1$ bill lying around on the floor. He check if it was his. It was not ! so he picked it up and asked the people on the back if it's ours. we ( 2 or 3) replied " No". Then he gave it to the shopkeeper saying it must have fell from the purse of the previous customer. The Shopkeeper immediately plucked the note from the 4th customer hand and ran out of the store stopped the moving vehicle and gave the 1$ note to the customer and came back. That was crazy to witness how fast the moment passed and also to realise that the shopkeeper could have been easily hurt, but he didnt care. 

Without making any Fuss the Shopkeeper came back to his Cashier slot. He started to bill the 4th customer and the 4th customer asked him " That was crazy Man,it was just 1$ you could have been hurt " , he said. The Shopkeeper replied " well, you never know the value of a 1$ or anything for that matter that can mean to someone . Last year when i went on a trip with my family. Our bottles got empty and I could not get water for my Kid with hiccups and was struggling for more than 40 miles inspite of locating a Vending machine and coz i didnt have a dollar note to use it. Thats when i realised how much a 1$ can actually mean or even 25 Cents for that matter. You never know Man, and as a shopkeeper it's my responsibility to ensure that my customers who are stepping out are stepping out safely from here until they make the next stop in their Journey. Thats what i work for" he concluded. The 4th customer said " That's awesome Buddy, If everyone can do business like you with real care and values it will make a difference". The conversation might have ended but it was just a beginning to be in AWE of what had happened and i felt i am lucky enough to even just witness it coz of a stop i made. 

Most times in Business we believe once we sell a product our job is done and not many people care about the Journey of a customer but when you care about the Journey by putting yourself as a customer It will make a huge difference in People's lives, Vibes of the Society and also make others to follow and believe Good Business is not all about profits. Also the Sticker placed in most shops that says " Thank you. Please come visit again" might really mean something true, Indeed. Happy New year to the Shopkeeper Ryan and also to all of you where a new beginning Beckons again. Wishing you and all of us a year filled with beautiful unknowns and an incredible Journey of Life filled with Hope.

Mind blowing Auto Pilot technology

1.Group of cars travelling on a highway in Netherlands and one of them is a Tesla.
2. Suddenly Tesla's autopilot warns about an impending collision via its Forward Collision Warning system.
3. Within seconds, the car travelling infront of Tesla rear ends a SUV travelling infront.
4. By now Tesla's autopilot engages automatic braking system, and saves the Tesla driver from the collision that has happened infront of it.


All these are captured via a dashcam footage from the Tesla. 
This is mind blowing Self Driving technology, as not only Tesla is predicting accidents immediately infront of it, but also way beyond what a driver can see visually.

Self Driving tech might not be as matured yet, but slowly they are evolving and one day will be the main mode of travel.
I would recommend everyone to check the video in the below link (video might not work in TCS network)
Source. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/28/tesla-autopilot-app...