No Cash, No Credit Card, only Mobile Phone

What’s new? An electronic wallet on your mobile phone

The very usage mobile phone could become an anachronism soon, with the kind of features added on to that beeping device in your pocket. Today, the device has become a personal communicator camera, email, text, organiser, chat, MP3 player and a video recorder. Add to this a revolutionary new task, an electronic wallet.

Airtel recently launched its mChq service, a first-of-a-kind credit card on the mobile SIM card in Delhi and Mumbai. It is a payment option between customers and retailers using, not your card, but your mobile phone. With the launch of this new service mobile phones now turn into virtual wallets and there is a chance that the entire concept of payment may change. It completely transforms the way people shop. This is the first time technology is taking off for civilian use in the country, though it has had varying degrees of success in the Philippines, Japan and South Korea, where it was first introduced.

So how does it work? With the help of a special software-embedded SIM card which is enabled to conduct cash transactions like a credit card. Airtel plans to replace the SIM cards of its subscribers with the mChq-enabled smart card, free of cost. Once the card is in your phone, it can work as your mobile wallet at shops, cinemas or services, which have signed in to the service.

For example, if you are buying a movie ticket for two for Rs 300, once you request for the tickets at the counter, the sales executive will issue a message to the back-end with the number of the customer and the payment amount. While the central computers of the service provider authenticate the merchant and the amount, a message is sent to the customer’s phone telling him about the shop (in this case your cinema hall) and the amount to be charged. To confirm the transaction, the customer has to punch in his four-digit password and send a Yes or No reply. If Yes, Rs 300 is debited from your account and confirmation is sent to the ticket counter, which then issues the ticket.

The whole transaction takes less than a minute, just like the credit card swiped at a shop counter.

Airtel is offering the service in tie-up with ICICI Bank and Visa card. The entire process applying for a smart SIM with mobile wallet, determining a person’s credit limit and the type of payment option (debit or credit) would be simpler for Airtel customers who also hold accounts or cards with ICICI Bank, since the account limits can be determined immediately. While the options will first be limited to upmarket bookstores and malls. For this, it plans to tap two kinds of markets: remote merchants with huge customer bases, like electric supply companies and large chain stores. It’s a technological and a mindset breakthrough. Airtel officials claim that the customer has to pay only for the message he has to send to confirm a transaction. The money sharing between the mobile operators, the bank and the credit card service provider with the merchant will work like the arrangement between credit card companies and retailers. Airtel officials refused to divulge the percentage of sharing agreed with ICICI Bank and Visa.

In Mumbai, State Bank of India plans to launch SBI Visa Pre-Paid cards on the mChq platform. This card will first be introduced only for Airtel subscribers at IIT Mumbai, where the idea of mChq was born under the guidance of Dr Deepak Phatak. Students, faculty and staff of IIT and people living in surrounding areas can pay for their purchases with their Airtel mobile phones. The service will be available to all Airtel subscribers who have an SBI Pre-Paid card on and around IIT campus at Powai. This service will extend to other IIT campuses in the country soon. With this technology, it is a easy way to changing the concept of money and payment.

Considering that mobile phone usage increased from 3.3 to 5.9 crore last year, there are tremendous possibilities for a quick pick-up. While other cellular operators are also in a race to match the new facility, Airtel officials claim they have at least a three-month lead.

I have put a new post (Sing on Ice) in 2050.

World Disability Day December 3

The annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons, 3 December, aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. The theme of the Day is based on the goal of full and equal enjoyment of human rights and participation in society by persons with disabilities, established by the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons, adopted by the General Assembly in 1982.

The World Health Organization estimates that there are 600 million disabled people worldwide, about 10% of the world population. It is also estimated that about 80% of all disabled people worldwide live in developing countries. More and more, disability is seen as a social issue, which is not only based on medical reasons. The organization Disabled Peoples International defines disability as the interaction between the person with impairment and environmental and attitudinal barriers he or she may face. Therefore the reasons for disability are always complex and can only be understood within the context of societies and cultures.

What happen on December?

December 1

World Aids day was observed on December 1.
December1, 1761, Birthday of Madame Tussaud, Founder of Candle Statue Museum London.
Japan Prince Masaka Birth day
World’s first cinema theater Omneya Paththa open in Paris, 1906.
Edvin Loovee found game Pingkoo in 1929.

December 2

Slavery unless United Nation’s International day.
Napoleon Crown as French King in, 1805.
Tennis Player Monika Selas birthday, 1973.
Famous Pop Singer Britney Spears birthday, 1981.
World’s first artificial Heart, successfully fixed to patient, 1971.
Benacir Puttoo sworn as First Women, Prime Minister of Pakistan, 1982.

December 3

Poison gas leaked in Bhopal, India, Killed 3,000 people, 1984.
Galileo found telescope, in 1621.
Niyaan gas light introduced in Paris, in 1910.
World’s first heart transplantation surgery held in Capetown, 1967.
World Disability Day
Dr. Rajandhra Prasath Birthday

December 4

Navy Day
Forth Atriyan had sworn as first Pope from England.
Ronald Amutsen touched the South Poll, in1912 on December 4.

December 5

Famous Music genius Ulpaang Amaituse died in 1791on December 5.
Memorial day of French writer Alexander Tuumaas, 1870.
Famous Cricket Player Koolin Koutree died in 2000 on December 5.
Columbus discovered Hispaaniyoolaa Island in 1492 on December 5.

December 6

Law genies Dr.Ambedkar Memory day.
Columbus discovered Haiti Island in 1842 on December 6.
Thomas Alva Edison recorded humans voice in Phonographic on December 6, 1877.
World’s first rental car station started in London, on 1897, December 6.
America’s first satellite ‘Van cart’ burst in space on 1957, December 6.


December 7

Flag Day
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor on December 5, 1941.
Famous Cricket Player Jep Laasan Birthday, 1958.

(will continue... soon)
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i hope all of u like my Joke.

Thanglish Joke :

Thanni illatha kathuku ennai mattriathu en athistam thaan.
Dhandanaiennu sollamma athistamnu sollkeraya yan?
Vettel en manaiveku pudavai thuvaika vandiyathuillaiya.

World AIDS Day December 1

World AIDS Day is an annual health campaign aimed at raising global awareness of HIV and AIDS. As well as tackling the stigma and ignorance that continues to surround HIV and AIDS, organizations such as the National AIDS Trust aim to highlight the fact that no one has been cured - despite recent advances in HIV drug treatments.

About HIV and AIDS

HIV is one of the biggest social, economic and health challenges in the world. It is a global emergency claiming over 8,000 lives every day. In fact 5 people die of AIDS every minute. HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This is the virus known to cause AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). If someone is HIV-positive, it means they have been infected with the virus.

A person infected with HIV does not have AIDS until the virus seriously damages their immune system, making them vulnerable to a range of infections, some of which can lead to death. HIV is transmitted through body fluids in particular blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breast milk, in fact there are only four ways you can become HIV positive.

In 2005, over 3 million people acquired HIV, which means there are now over 40 million people living with HIV and AIDS. Despite best efforts from governments, non-profit organisations and healthcare practitioners around the world, HIV and AIDS is still having huge global impact. In the UK, there are fewer people dying of AIDS but incidences of HIV in the UK. With testing and proper treatment, through anti-HIV drugs, many people in the UK are now able to halt or delay the damage caused by HIV.

How is HIV transmitted?

You can become infected with the HIV virus if you have unprotected vaginal or anal sex (without a condom), or share a needle with a person who is HIV positive. The HIV virus lives in blood, sperm and vaginal fluid.

Other routes of transmission for HIV include HIV-infected blood product or donated organs, and from mother to baby (a women who is HIV-positive may pass on the virus to her unborn child during pregnancy or birth, or while breastfeeding). It's important to point out, however, that there are a number of steps a pregnant woman can take to reduce the chance of passing on HIV to her child, and blood products and donated organs are routinely tested for HIV in the UK. HIV can't be transmitted through kissing, cuddling, shaking hands, insect or animal bites, using a public toilet or swimming pool, or by sharing food or drink.

Diagnosis and treatment

HIV is usually diagnosed using a blood test that detects antibodies to the virus. It may take up to 12 weeks after infection for these antibodies to be made, so an HIV test may initially be negative. However, all children born to infected mothers receive some of their mother's antibodies to HIV across the placenta. These may persists for up to 18 months, making antibody tests inaccurate. Newer blood tests can detect tiny quantities of the virus in the infant's blood, giving an accurate diagnosis in about 95 per cent of HIV-infected infants by three months of age.

AIDS is defined as a positive test for HIV combined with either an opportunistic infection (an infection that only occurs when your immune system isn't working properly, such pneumocystis carinii pneumonia) or an abnormally low level of a type of white blood cell called a CD4 lymphocyte (a count of 200 or less is abnormal - normal levels range from 600 to 1,000). Drug treatments, using a combination of several drugs known as highly active antiretroviral therapy, have greatly improved the outlook in AIDS. But drugs can't cure the infection and side effects and drug resistance are still a major problem. Other therapies can greatly improve quality of life.

Prevention

The risk of transmission of the HIV virus from a mother to her child can be greatly reduced by using a combination of antiviral drugs. Choosing an elective caesarean delivery and, when possible, avoiding breastfeeding may also help to reduce the risk.