Today i was shocked to see a girl get sexually harassed and molested on a live reality show. I felt that this show is depicting Indians as a bunch of fools crazily looking for partners online and get molested on live TV. Channel V nicely puts it as a lesson to learn from Internet chatting… but i was pretty much shocked by it. Watch it for your self and comment.

India is really advancing, keeping in mind the extreme complexity of Natural issues like hills, valleys, rain and humidity. BSNL seems to be able now to pump in max 500 GB through their lines. im not sure how much the old copper lines in india can handle. but i know that one of my offices is running currently on a 8Mbps internet connection over our weak copper line.

Today i was shocked to see their latest offers for both home and business users. 
http://bsnl.co.in/service/new_BB/BB_COMBO_Unlim.htm

So they say, they will provide from 4 Mbps upto 500 GB.. so seriously .. even i get 50 to 100 GB.. i would be maxed out with my downloads… that too for KD 97 per month?…i hope they didnt make a mistake of MB as GB, but if no, then Kuwait needs to catch up.

Continuing my  webreviews, i decided to choose Axisbank, after a recent review of GulfBank from kuwait, so i can compare apple to apple.  Axis bank has been my bank in india for quite some time now, but unlike kuwait banks, they have had major flaws, when it comes to international standards… but end of the day we are supposed to choose the “least worst” service from the allocated lot.

Now comparatively like GulfBank, they have similar menu layouts like breaking business from consumer, they too have loads of content and information.  we use the online banking quite abit , but its got its flaws as well.

The Good

1. They have a lot of content, and quite simplified… but in India, content is never enough, as Indians we need to know details of where our money is, how much interest?, why this? why that.  I like the way how content is broken into Summary, Eligibility, Documentation, Terms & Conditions , etc. this is a great thing.
2. The Color scheme is “ok” .. not exciting .. but quite readable.
3. Loading time is quite decent
4. Response to Online forms, is good. I have always got responses from online forms. they are delayed but atleast we get them.

The Bad

1. Well due to the amount of content, they haven’t put in time to organize it. it is so scattered, mixed up. just thrown everywhere. But once you find it, then its really good. but otherwise this is bad. i felt the designers , wanted to fill up every gap on the site and put a link there.
   • As a Suggestion, break your topics into categories and sub categories.
   • Don’t fill up every gap on the site.
   • Sitemap ?
2. Their Copyrights have expired in 2007.. thus this mean we can steal their content? you need to renew your copyrights, its really important.
3. No Layout consistency , some pages is 800 Pixels width.. some stretch as per window. the home page of the site looks really tiny on my 1440 Pixels wide .
   • Today’s standards are in 1000 Pixels, thus giving you more place for your layout(but don’t fill it up)
4. Design looks more like a newspaper site, you need to bring in some touch of a bank and corporate feel.
5. More Photos of people are needed. Unlike Gulfbank,  you’ll have few people images, which adds some life.. but i feel more people are needed. A Bank is about people, so dont miss them out.
6. The Net Banking doesnt work, i should say 25% times in 365 days in a year.. this is not good as everyone needs online banking. the amount of emails from me  requesting for “pls fix the online services” is enough to print a 100 pages book.
7. the top menus have too many clicks to reach a particular point… so to reach “Cash Management Services”  from the home page. i have to click 2-3 times on the top menu to get there. Usage of mouseover menus minimize this tasks. Consider Customer Usability studies for this.
8. Finally the design breaks in many pages. Care must be taken for this. Someone must go through each and every page on your site to ensure functionality.

Technology Used

1. It seems to be developed in ASP ( im not sure windows or chillisoft) im banking on ASP for Windows as their hosted platform is windows 2003 server.. but i feel the whole site is mostly built on includes to repeat context menus.
2. Nameservers are from Worldnic.com
3. It concerns me that the SQL usage on this site is minimal as i study the page directory patterns. but i could be wrong. But if  i’m right that sql is not much used, then maintaining this site must be HELL.

Conclusion

Well dont know what to say here.. but i have seen them improve over the last 6 years, their progress is really slow, but happening. you can visit them here : www.axisbank.com

Help Desk:
(Open: 9 AM to 1 PM and 2 PM to 4.30 PM; Sunday to Thursday)
For guidance to Indian nationals on routine immigration, employment, legal, and other issues, etc.  It also assists illiterate workers in filling up labour complaint forms. 
 
24 X 7 Helpline for Indian domestic workers (Visa No. 20): Accessible by toll free telephone No. 25674163 from all over Kuwait, it provides information and advice as
regards their grievances, immigration and other matters.

KEEP IN MIND : 25674163  for all Visa No. 20 people, and who have issues, visa problems, employer matters. etc

 Labour Complaints Desk: 
(Open: 9 AM to 1 PM and 2 PM to 4.30 PM; Sunday to Thursday)
Registration of labour complaints and action thereon via contacting of sponsors and recruitment agencies, liaison with local authorities, police stations, deportation centers, etc., for resolution of grievances.

Accommodation and support system for domestic workers in distress:
Separate accommodation for Indian female and male domestic workers in distress has been arranged, where food and other essentials are also provided.

Attestation of Work Contracts:
It is mandatory for all work contracts for recruitment of manpower from India, to be attested by the Embassy of India Kuwait,
as per the following procedures:

 - Private Sector Workers (Visa No. 18):
(Open: 9 AM to 1 PM; Sunday to Thursday). 
Work contracts, in prescribed format, are to be got attested by the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait.  Thereafter the contracts are to be submitted to the Embassy of India for attestation. Prescribed format of work contract and other documentation may be obtained from the Embassy or downloaded from the Embassy website. Time required for attestation:  Three working days from date of submission of documents complete in all respects.  In case documents submitted are incomplete, a communication regarding the shortcomings will be sent to the company concerned within three working days.

- Domestic Sector Workers (Visa No. 20):
(Open: 9 AM to 9 PM; Saturday to Thursday; 5 PM to 9 PM on Friday).
Work contracts, in prescribed format, are to be submitted to the Kuwait Union of Domestic Labour Offices (KUDLO). All contracts must be accompanied by an insurance policy purchased by the sponsor in favour of the worker from the designated insurance companies. Prescribed format of the employment contract and other documentation, as also contact details of KUDLO and insurance companies may be obtained from the Embassy or downloaded from the website. KUDLO office is at Hawally, Al-Othman Street, Kurd Roundabout, Al-Abraj Complex, Mezzanine Floor, Office No. 9.

Legal Advice Clinic:
(Open: 3 PM to 5 PM; Mondays to Thursdays).
Qualified Kuwaiti lawyers provide free legal advice to Indian workers on labour disputes, terms of contracts with employers, withholding of dues by employers, etc. 

———————————

Embassy Emails : (im not sure, if they respond to them)
For labour or welfare assistance: fslabour@indembkwt.org;
for passport or consular assistance [including detention/death cases]: hoc@indembkwt.org and fscons@indembkwt.org;
for commercial or cultural assistance: counsellor@indembkwt.org.
If any matter deserves my attention, kindly email amboffice@indembkwt.org or amb@indembkwt.org.

• BMC Disaster Management Cell, Emmanuel: 180, +91 22 22694725 
• J J Hospital Blood Bank: Contact Person : Dr.Ganesh , Dr.Nair — 022 – 23739400
• Bombay Hospital: Contact Person : Ms.Purohit — 22067676 extn 216
• Cama Hospital Blood Bank : 022-22611648
• St. George Hospital Direct Blood Bank: Contact Person: Tarun — 022 – 22620344
• US State Dept Call Center for Americans concerned about U.S. family/friends in Mumbai 1-888-407-4747
• British Foreign Office help line in London — 0207 0080000
• Taj Hotel – 022-66574322, 022-66574372, 1800 111 825;
• Trident Hotel – 022-23890606 20
• Oberoi Hotels enquiry no’s: +91981095688, 022-23890606, 022-23890505
• Canadian Helpline 1-613-996-8885, 1-800-387-3124 elsewhere (the toll free number is not working) 
• Canadian High Commision in Delhi : 011-41782000 
• Australian Embassy Help Line: (Mumbai) 1800 002 214, (international) +61 2 6261 3305 
• Brazilian Vice Chancellor, Chateaubriand Neto: 09820686143 
• Polish Consul Janusz Bilinski: +919821238313 
• French Help Line: 0033 14 555 8000 
• For Blood Donors.
  Call 922 222 1947 and tell them you want to donate blood. They’ll get back to you when someone needs it OR Send an sms – type BLOOD <type blood group> and send it to 96000 97000, donor will call up for donation

Our Prayers to the families of the victims…