Netconnect wins Udaipur.
Netconnect:
Photon:
No coverage.
August 23, 2009
August 22, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (NH112)
Netconnect has National Highway # 112 covered.
Netconnect:
The connectivity is truly seamless. Depending on where you are on the highway, a notification box pops up at the bottom right corner of your screen telling you which tower has you covered:
Photon:
No coverage
August 21, 2009
Kota: The Cram Capital of India
Because of its history as an industrial town with prominent factories, like JK Synthetics, Kota was an ideal breeding ground for IIT coaching classes. Engineering aspirants have always been abundant, and the city itself is conducive to study due to the lack of distractions relative to the metros. The market for IIT coaching classes thus developed and one Prof. Bansal soon began administering mathematics tuitions for the IIT-JEE. Soon after, Pramod Maheshwari of Career Point started physics coaching classes. In a matter of a few years, test training centers sprang up all over Kota. Bansal and Maheshwari had the first mover advantage and developed a brand which attracted IIT hopefuls from across the country because they maintained a robust success rate. Since the criteria for admission into these classes were strict, they attracted the best of the best and a sample selection bias perpetuated their distinction.
We met Mr. Pramod Maheshwari and Mr. Pramod Bansal, CEOs of Career Point and Bansal Classes respectively and sought their thoughts on the history and prospects of the test training industry. Mr. Maheshwari explained to us that education cannot be tested like a product; as a result ‘believability’ drives a customer’s decision to enroll in coaching classes. According to him, it is an industry that runs on trust. Coaching centers in Kota have managed to build and retain this trust but the city faces the risk of losing its charm if other educationalists build similar ‘believability’ elsewhere.
For both promoters their selection policy of admitting the best performing applicants (on their own entrance tests) into their academies justifies their success rate. As both firms began growing their capacity, they automatically lowered the bar for admissions, resulting in lower success rates. This strategy helped them prevent their competitors from becoming cash rich. Surplus cash would enable competitors to poach faculty members, the firms’ most valuable assets. Therefore, it seems that this model is not very scalable. As larger number of admissions will lower performance rates and plateau the growth of these firms, their reputation for excellence will also diminish.
Our conclusion: Kota is not a knowledge-development center. It is a site for test-prep and assistance in gaining admission into top-tier engineering colleges. In most cases, IIT aspirants do not need to enroll in the coaching classes because the Bansals and Career Points only admit applicants who they believe would get into IIT anyway. To their advantage, they exploit the rigid Indian parental tendency towards pushing their children into engineering/medicine colleges.
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Beawar)
Netconnect wins the Beawar round.
Netconnect:
Photon:
No coverage
Comment of the Day
If you want to conduct jihad, conduct jihad on yourself. Conquer your ego.
-Syed Salman Chishty, Founding Member & Managing Trustee of the Chishty Foundation, in reference to Islamic extremism
August 19, 2009
Comment of the Day
[Going forward] the education sector will be about survival of the fittest. However, until we reach a 1:1 ratio of students to available seats, there will be opportunity.
-Pramod Maheshwari, CEO Career Point Infosystems Ltd.
August 18, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Jaipur)
Netconnect wins Jaipur
Netconnect:
Photon:
Train-ing
We booked our tickets on-line (Yatra) for a rail journey from Delhi to Kota. Our train, the Rajdhani Express was scheduled to depart at 4.30pm. We reached the station at 3.45pm and at 4.10pm we realized that we were at the wrong station – Nizamuddin instead of New Delhi. Now, it was impossible for us to transfer to the right station in time to catch the Rajdhani. Thus, we decided to cancel our booking, but found out that tickets booked on-line could only be cancelled on-line. A kind railway police official told us to speak to the TC (Ticket Collector), who would accommodate us if there were vacancies in the August Kranti Rajdhani which was to leave Nizamuddin station at 4.55pm.
We got a chance to speak to the TC 20 minutes before departure. He suggested that we get new tickets from the issuing authority at the station. Naman sprinted across the station to negotiate with the agents at the ticketing booth who refused to issue new tickets as the reservation lists had already been released. After pleading profusely for a few minutes, the officials decided to relent. Naman could afford only 2 tickets and did not have the time to run to the ATM for more cash. After purchasing the tickets he ran back to the platform to board the train.
We were in an AC 3-tier coach and were pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the compartment and the quality of service and food. Minutes after boarding we were served a snack tray and were given a bottle of water and a hand towel. When the TC arrived, we explained to him the circumstances under which we boarded the train and requested to pay for the 3rd ticket on the spot (TCs reserve the right to issue a ticket onboard). He refused and asked one of us to get off at the next station (Mathura) or pay a fine of INR 3000 upon arrival in Kota. Mathura came and went, we stayed put.
Tomato soup and breadsticks were served before the well-stocked vegetarian dinner trays and strawberry ice-creams arrived. Post-dinner, one of us was summoned by the TC. The negotiation was short and precise. The TC claimed to have helped us big time and proposed that he be treated “pyaar se” (with love). He demanded a sum equal to the price of the ticket plus a surcharge. The terms of the verbal contract also included a non-disclosure clause since the TC’s service was “special”. We reached Kota at 9.35pm (10 minutes before the scheduled time of arrival).
Moral: Read the particulars on your ticket. Services in the Indian Railways have improved significantly but macro issues such as corruption among officials remain.
Side-note: We have now officially used every available form of transport (road, rail, air and water).
August 17, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Kota)
This round goes to Netconnect (Photon not working)
Netconnect:
theindialog 