AB De Viliers - The Myth has finally busted !!

There is not an iota of doubt that AB de Villiers is one of the most skilled cricketers on the planet but his hard working ethics and athleticism leave no doubt that he could excel in any sport he picks up.

There are a lot of lies on social media and memes that list the other sports that AB made a mark in before dedicating himself to cricket and it was startling to see just what a prodigy AB was.

But AB, humble as he is, has poured cold water on the notion he’s the multi-talented sportsman he’s been made out to be and he decided to bust the myths spread by his fans.

In his recently released book, AB: The Autobiography, here are the myths and AB’s clarifications in his own words from his book, a must-read for every cricket and sports lover.

Myth 1: 'De Villiers was shortlisted for the South African national hockey squad,'

False

In truth, I played hockey for one year at high school and was a member of the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool Under-16a team that beat our near neighbours and rivals at Pretoria Boys' High for the first time, but I was never shortlisted for the national hockey squad, or ever came remotely close to that level.

Myth 2: 'De Villiers was shortlisted for the South African national football squad,'

False

I have never played any organised football (soccer). We used to kick a ball around during break at school and the game has become part of the Proteas' warm-up routine. That is all.

Myth 3: 'De Villiers was the captain of South Africa junior rugby,'

False

I played rugby at primary school and high school, and enjoyed every minute, but I never represented South Africa at any level, either at SA Schools or SA Under-20, and was never captain.

Myth 4: 'De Villiers is still the holder of six national school swimming records,'

False

As far as I recall, I did set an Under-9 breaststroke record at Warmbaths Primary School but I have never held any national school swimming records, not even for a day.

Myth 5: 'De Villiers has the record fastest 100 metres time among South African junior sprinters,'

False

I did not sprint at all at school. Elsewhere on the Internet, to my embarrassment, there are articles in which the great sprinter Usain Bolt is asked which cricketer could beat him in a sprint and he replies 'AB de Villiers'.

Maybe, just maybe, I would beat him if I were riding a motorbike.

Myth 6: 'De Villiers was a member of the national junior Davis Cup tennis team,'

Almost true

As far as I know, there was no such entity as the national junior Davis Cup team, but I did play tennis as a youngster, loved the game and was occasionally ranked as the national No. 1 in my age group.

Myth 7: 'De Villiers was a national Under-19 badminton champion,'

False

I never played badminton at school. If my memory is correct, I have only ever played one game of badminton in my entire life, and that was just a fun game with Mark Boucher.

Myth 8: 'De Villiers received a national medal from Nelson Mandela for a science project,'

False

I never undertook any science project of any significance, certainly nothing to attract the attention of the president. I was privileged to meet Madiba twice, both times as a member of the Proteas squad.

Myth 9: 'De Villiers plays off a handicap of scratch in golf,'

False

I played golf often as a youngster with my brothers and with my friends, without ever receiving a formal lesson. I have always loved the game and enjoy driving the ball a reasonable distance. One of my proudest moments occurred when I hit a drive down the middle of the fairway, past my elder brother's drive, and overheard Wessels and my father debating my swing and trying to understand why the ball travelled so far.

In any event, as I recall, I did get my official handicap down to a respectable one when I was 15 but there's not much time to play golf these days and my handicap has drifted to nine.

These are the facts: decent at golf, useful at rugby and tennis when I was young, and enjoying cricket ever since. The errors will doubtless remain on the Internet and people will continue to believe I was some kind of prodigy at all those different sports, but the truth will hopefully somehow endure.

So, check your facts before sharing!! :D

Talgo Trains: A new beast in the Indian Railways?

Why in the News?

The Spanish Talgo train completed its final trial run between Delhi and Mumbai. It was successful in achieving its targeted time of completing the journey in less than 12 hours.

About the train

• Talgo is a specialised firm that manufactures railway coaches. Nine super light-weight coaches manufactured by Spanish firm Talgo, which can hit 200 km per hour, were imported to Mumbai in April.

• The nine-coach Talgo train consists of two Executive Class cars, four Chair Cars, a cafeteria, a power car and a tail-end coach for staff and equipment.

• Talgo coaches:

1.     Are 20% lighter.

2.     Employ axel free wheels.

3.     Uses 2 wheel shared on 2 coach design.

4.     Have independent movement wheels.

Hence it can achieve higher average speed.

• Initially top speed will be of 160 with average speed 125+. Thus increase in average speed in Rajdhani will be 50% over current average speed of 85. Later max speed will be increased to 180 (after track & signaling upgrade and certification).

• Also due to light weight and better rolling dynamics there is expected power saving of 30%.

First Hand Experience:

Mr. Joydeep Dutta, professor in IIT Kanpur states that, “I have travelled by Talgo extensively in Spain and also between France and Spain. Travel by Talgo is indeed a pleasure and as you go near the end of the coaches you would hear the hissing sound of the tilting mechanism at work. ”

What is Indian Railways aiming at?

• Indian Railways has been aiming to reduce the travel time between Delhi and Mumbai by over 4 hours. The super-fast Talgo trains were under trial runs for this reason. 
• The tracks between Delhi and Mumbai cover about 1,400 km. Currently, the Rajdhani Express makes the journey in around 16 hours. Talgo’s coaches, that are being pulled by an Indian Railways engine, consume 30% less energy, the company says. 
• Their natural tilting mechanism and the fact that they are lightweight allow them to attain higher speeds on existing Indian tracks, requiring very few infrastructure upgradational inputs from Indian Railways.

Trial Runs:

1. First: On the Bareilly-Moradabad stretch in Uttar Pradesh.

2. Second: On the Palwal-Mathura section of the North-Central Railway.

3. Third: The Delhi Mumbai stretch.

What next?

·        The railways will collate the results of technical and speed tests to determine whether to buy the Talgo coaches.
·        Railway officials say bids will also be sought from other manufacturers for similar high-speed light-weight coaches.

Hope the Talgo coach technology is implemented soon in the Indian Railaways !! We want to zip past the Indian terrain from one place to another !!

The Cauvery Water: Heart of the issue

·        The Supreme Court recently asked Karnataka to release 15,000 cusec water to Tamil Nadu, to aid the state’s farmers, in response to the latter’s plea.

·        Pro-Kannada groups have been protesting and observing bandhs in Karnataka.

What are the origin of this conflict?

·        The dispute is almost 130-year-old.

·        The dispute started during the colonial period. The British came and took control of Mysore state and established the Madras Presidency, which present day Tamil Nadu was part of.

·        In 1910, Maharaja NK Wodeyar of Mysore came up with a plan to construct a dam at Kannambadi village to hold up to 41.5 TMC of water. Madras, however, refused to give its consent for this move as it had its own plans to build a storage dam at Mettur with a capacity of 80 TMC.

·        After a reference to the Government of India, permission was accorded to Mysore, but for a reduced storage of 11 TMC. During construction, however, the foundation was laid to suit the earlier desired full storage. The dispute continued.

 Picture: The Cauvery River Basin

Was there never an agreement?

·        Eventually an agreement was arrived at in 1924 and a couple of minor agreements were also signed in 1929 and 1933. The 1924 agreement was set to lapse after a run of 50 years.

The Cauvery Fact Finding Committee

·        It was formed during the 1970s as the 1924 agreement was coming to an end.

·        Tamil Nadu’s irrigated lands covered an area in the range of 1,440,000 acres to 2,580,000 acres while Karnataka’s irrigated area constituted 6,80,000 acres. This indicated that Tamil Nadu needed the larger share of the water. Karnataka, however, blamed it on the unfavorable British agreement.

What made this into a political conflict?

·        In the last two decades, the Supreme Court and the Cauvery River Authority (a highly powerful body that was established to reach consensus on this matter) have intervened on several occasions.

·        With suicides, protests and ministers walking out of important meet-ups, it has been a politically charged issue.

·        During the 2002 failed monsoons, SC rulings have at times been explicitly disobeyed. Once, Karnataka gave in to the protests of its farmers and stopped the release of water as agreed.

·        Tamil Nadu witnessed protests at Neyveli, seeking cuts of power supply to Karnataka. A minor incident involving the blasting of a transmission tower by miscreants created further misunderstanding. Vehicles from Tamil Nadu were prevented entry into Karnataka.

In the last few years, rains have been favourable and things were under control. The monsoons were bad this year. Discord and disagreement flared up again. Tamil Nadu requested water due to the plight of its farmers. Kerala has also staked claims.

Reliance Jio: Know Everything abou the business model.

Via Quora user Kshitij Salgunan

What is the business model of Reliance Jio?

It is really simple. Most of you are going to pay the same or probably more money to Jio compared to your current network provider. After reading this answer, you will realize what a clever businessman Mukesh Ambani is.

I have been following the news about Jio since many years, and have written multiple articles about Jio in the past many months.

Why Mukesh Ambani wants to enter networking field so badly?

This story requires us to know why Mukesh Ambani is investing so much in yet another telecom company especially when there is already another company named Reliance Communications. In 2002, when Dhirubhai Ambani died, there were some major ownership issues between his two sons - Anil Ambani & Mukesh Ambani. After some public feud between both the brothers for the control of Reliance empire, their mother intervened and split Reliance into two parts in 2005. Anil Ambani got telecom, power, entertainment and financial services business while Mukesh Ambani received Reliance Industries and IPCL. 

Although Anil Ambani got the Reliance Communications, it was Mukesh Ambani who started it and revolutionized the Indian mobile industry by reducing the call rates in the early 2000s, which made mobile phones affordable to Indians. It was his baby all the way, while Anil Ambani was not even having a seat in it’s board of directors.

That is not all. To prevent Mukesh Ambani from making another telecom company and competing with Reliance Communications, they had inserted a non-compete clause in the agreement. 

In 2010, as soon as the non-compete agreement was scrapped/expired, Mukesh Ambani bought 96% stake in Infotel Broadband which had won 4G spectrum in all sectors in India. Later they renamed it to Jio, and started building fiber optic network around the country.  

This is not just about personal rivalry. With his experience in starting up Reliance communications, Mukesh Ambani knows that existing network providers are not good enough and that he can easily compete with them and win. Telecom is also a very lucrative business. It is like he gets to control Internet/communications in India.

Jio’s Business Model.

Everything Jio have done till now is intended at making money. Their tariff plans may look unbelievably awesome, but they will make more money by giving free voice calls than what the other companies make by charging you for it!  

In India, the monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) the current network providers get is around Rs 150 per month. That is the money they get on average from each user. If you spend over Rs250 per month, you are considered a high value customer. 

Look at this tariff plan.

Which plan would you choose? If you are a voice-only kind of person, then you would be okay with the Rs 149 per 28 days plan, as you will get free unlimited voice calls. But, even though you are not explicitly paying for voice, you are already paying over Rs 150 per month, thus their ARPU will by default be as good as the current players.

If you are someone who uses over Rs 150 worth of voice calls every month then it is a totally awesome plan for you. But, my point is that other telecom companies make about Rs 150 per month on average from each user by charging for voice, SMS, data and roaming. Jio will be making the same/more amount of money on average from each user even after providing SMS, roaming and voice calls for free, by just pricing things differently.

Now, if you are a moderately data using person, which plan would you choose? Did you see that there is no plan in-between the Rs 149 and Rs 499 plans? This is basically a psychological trick to get you into the Rs 499 plan. Many people will compare it with the smaller plan and see that you are getting Unlimited 4G night data and choose atleast the 499 plan.

Now, again see that if you want to really use more than 4GB of 4G, then you have to spend double and move to the 999 plan. Did you notice that there is nothing in-between?

Also, notice that all these plans are for 28 days which can easily be perceived as ‘a month’ by most people. If we divide the number of days in an year with 28, we will realize that we are paying for 13 ‘billable months’ in an year. (365/28=13.03)

They have some smaller plans at Rs 19, 199 and 299, but these plans do not really offer any more value than their main plans as they have even less validity. Also, it offers less data. Also, since there is no separate package for voice calls, I think you must be subscribed to some of their plans to even make calls.

What does 1GB costs?

If we exclude the unlimited night data and the wifi data which many of us may not have access to, then the price per GB of these plans will be

0.3GB for Rs149 = ~Rs 497/GB (Will anyone choose this for data?)
4GB for Rs 499 = ~Rs 125/GB
10GB for Rs 999= ~Rs 100/GB
20GB for Rs 1499= ~Rs75/GB
35GB for Rs 2499= ~Rs71/GB
60GB for Rs3999= ~Rs66/GB
75GB for Rs 4999= ~Rs66/GB

Did you see that even their highest plans doesn’t go as low as their advertised Rs 50/GB rate.

How can they provide unlimited night data?

Once you have build an entire network infrastructure, it really doesn't cost anything for the network provider to give you internet data. 

The reason why most internet providers limit your data is basically because they do not have enough bandwidth to handle so much data. In the case of Jio, they have already laid an awesome fiber optic network which is designed to even handle the 5G and 6G. So, they do not have much of the data bandwidth problem.

Other telecom companies were primarily made to handle voice calls and they have limited data bandwidth. Also, other companies do not own nationwide fiber network, so they have to pay to use the fiber network of other companies. This is the reason other companies don’t usually provide unlimited plans.

Jio currently have the ability to provided truly unlimited data plans, but they will not do so, because that will decrease their profits. They have already decreased prices on average by 50%. This means people will anyway be happy to use their services. If they provide more GBs in the lower end plans, then lesser people will buy their higher plans. So, currently their pricing is optimally placed to increase their profit. When other companies reduce their prices, it is likely that Jio will also further reduce their prices.

How can they provide unlimited free voice calls?

Again, Jio has an all IP network, so all voice calls will go through the internet just like skype or whatsapp. There is not really any point in charging for voice anymore. It is an outdated system and there shouldn’t really be any surprise in why Jio totally abandoned it.

If hypothetically, Jio had tariff for voice calls, then some company similar to WhatsApp would have launched an app through which you can do free voice call over the internet (infact WhatsApp itself has a voice-call option). Once everyone has a good internet connection, people would anyway use such services to make their calls.

How Jio makes money with LYF phones?

Many of you may be knowing about their LYF phones. Few months ago, purchasing these phones were the only way you could get access to a Jio Sim Card to get their their free unlimited preview offer. Did you ever wonder why they have so many versions of these phones?

Nearly all of their phones have very low specs compared to the competition at the price point they sell. The only reason why people bought their phones were because of the unlimited internet+voice calls preview offer.

This was a very clever move by Jio. The reason why there are so many versions of these phones is because of this business model:

1. Jio would go to China and then buy previous generation unsold 4G phones for dirt cheap prices in bulk. No one wants to buy these phones, so obviously the manufactures will happily sell it for a very low price.
2. Then it is re-labeled and sold in India. This is how they have several phones with totally different specs.
3. A totally outdated phone which no one would otherwise buy is coupled with Jio preview offer and now everyone wants to buy it just for the Jio offer.
4. Jio can now sell these phones and make profit. Plus, they get to test their network and solve the bugs. Plus, they can venture out into the mobile device market.

Brilliant idea, isn’t it?

The real money is in Jio Apps

Many people may consider their apps to be bloatware and don’t even install it. I also thought of it as a bloatware when I first heard of it. But, when I tested them out, I saw real potential in them.

1. JioPlay : This has the potential to become a TV channel company. My prediction is that Jio will soon release something like Google Chromecast to provide this service directly to TVs. The ability to watch Live TV channels on smartphones is also a cool idea, especially in India. This may become the most used app in rural areas too.
2. JioOnDemand : This has the potential to become the Netflix of India. Imagine if those who currently pirate movies had an option to get those movies in HD quality legally for nearly free. It can benefit both the users and the producers.
3. JioBeats : Legal music. It has the potential to become Spotify of India.
4. JioMags : Most popular magazines in eBook format. My cousin who reads tech magazines on a regular basis loved it.

You get the point? They can make any type of app in the future and dominate that category with minimal efforts.

They are currently giving these apps for free till 2018. But, that is done so that they can get maximum users to get addicted to these apps. Then they can start subscription charges for these apps. Instead of paying for your TV service or Movie-DVD or Magazines, Jio wants you to pay them.

Apart from that, these apps are locked to Jio network. So, a person using any other internet service won’t be able to use it. Thus, this will force other people into joining Jio. Currently, only Airtel is capable of properly competing with Jio in the 4G market, but they too may not be able to release such apps on time.

Is this good?

Yes, we need companies like Reliance to make such bold moves and invest in India. This is good for everyone. It is a win-win situation. It will increase the progress rate in India and will improve our quality of life. It will also give much needed jobs to millions of people.

Also, we absolutely need competition in this stagnated telecom industry which is currently dominated by players who may have secretly made agreements with each other to not compete on the basis of price. Why do you think Idea, Airtel and Vodafone have similar looking pricing which charges Rs 250 for one GB data?

Conclusion

By just making their tariff plan in such a way that most people interested in 4G have to pay over Rs 500 per month, Jio will be making way more money than the current players. Most of the high value customers of other players will instantly port to Jio, and they maybe able to achieve a huge market share in next couple of years.

When their apps, devices, and fiber services are added up, they are here here to win multiple business verticals. And, at current stage, they are almost unstoppable.

Via Quora user Kshitij Salgunan