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India plans to build world's 2nd longest HSR route

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India plans to build world's 2nd longest HSR route
Posted by schlimm on Monday, November 17, 2014 2:26 PM

http://www.edithot.com/News/fullstory-In_future_Delhi_to_Chennai_in_6_hrs_by_train=1276027.html

That's about 130 miles longer than Chicago to New York City and 14 hours faster..

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Monday, November 17, 2014 4:03 PM

Now all you have to do is keep tresspassers off the top of trains.  Maybe the high speed wind will blow any one on top off ?

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Posted by Buslist on Monday, November 17, 2014 9:18 PM

Having worked with IR over the years and sitting in their HQ where files are still passed around in paper form, tied up with little blue ribbons all I can say is don't hold your breath.

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Posted by CMStPnP on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 7:55 AM

blue streak 1

Now all you have to do is keep tresspassers off the top of trains.  Maybe the high speed wind will blow any one on top off ?

I don't think they are considered tresspassers in India, I think your applying Western culture and thinking to an Asian country......which a lot of people do on this side of the Atlantic when it comes to India.    Just ask the folks who think the country is a counterwieght against China.....when in fact with the last conflict with China Indias record was pretty disman and included a surrender of territory.   Anyways, Americans have a lot to learn about Asian thinking over there.

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Posted by Buslist on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 9:39 AM

CMStPnP

 

 
blue streak 1

 

Anyways, Americans have a lot to learn about Asian thinking over there.

 

 

In my dealings with IR I have felt that they took British formality/buracuracy to an entirely new level.

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Posted by schlimm on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 11:28 AM

CMStPnP

 

 
blue streak 1

Now all you have to do is keep tresspassers off the top of trains.  Maybe the high speed wind will blow any one on top off ?

 

 

I don't think they are considered tresspassers in India, I think your applying Western culture and thinking to an Asian country......which a lot of people do on this side of the Atlantic when it comes to India.    Just ask the folks who think the country is a counterwieght against China.....when in fact with the last conflict with China Indias record was pretty disman and included a surrender of territory.   Anyways, Americans have a lot to learn about Asian thinking over there.

 

 
Nice way of putting it.   In my blunter, psychological manner of speaking, I'd say we tend to be xenophobic and use parochialism as a defense mechanism.   And it's the case with our view of European matters as well.   Likely India will be running two of their four proposed HSR routes within five or six years while we will still be debating the merits of HSR in the US.

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 11:59 AM

blue streak 1

Now all you have to do is keep tresspassers off the top of trains.  Maybe the high speed wind will blow any one on top off ?

 

Trespassers?  I thought they were paying SRO passengers.Big Smile

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Posted by CMStPnP on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 6:18 PM

Buslist
In my dealings with IR I have felt that they took British formality/buracuracy to an entirely new level.

A few things I learned working with Indians and they can be pretty clever:

1. They would rather their kids learned Oxford English over American English because they know in the United States the Oxford accent translates into higher paying jobs due to perception that an Oxford accent kid is higher educated (NOT!!!).

2. They look at the United States more as a means to achieve a specific end than as an equal partner or a I scratch your back if you scratch mine relationship as you would find with a European country.

3. A good percentage of them believe India will rise above it's corruption and become a leading Economic power.........as for myself I have serious doubts and think it will be long after I pass from the Earth if at all.

4. No qualms about dishonesty or lying to get ahead in their career or for that matter on their resume.    Some of them just photo copy anothers resume and just replace the name.    I interviewed some on the phone only to have an Indian next to me in the teleconference whisper into my ear "They are using Google for the interview answers, just like I would".

Just a small sample of that culture.

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Posted by tomikawaTT on Wednesday, November 26, 2014 3:40 PM

CMStPnP

They would rather their kids learned Oxford English over American English because they know in the United States the Oxford accent translates into higher paying jobs due to perception that an Oxford accent kid is higher educated (NOT!!!).

And then some thimblebrain hires them to staff a call center where they have to deal with Americans - and they can't comprehend American colloquial English.  Add in the accent thick enough to spread on an English muffin and a customer service call which an American could handle in five minutes stretches out to half an hour.  This saves money?  Not to mention the customer dissatisfaction at the American end.  Our time is money, too.

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Posted by schlimm on Wednesday, November 26, 2014 6:07 PM

tomikawaTT

 

 
CMStPnP

They would rather their kids learned Oxford English over American English because they know in the United States the Oxford accent translates into higher paying jobs due to perception that an Oxford accent kid is higher educated (NOT!!!).

 

And then some thimblebrain hires them to staff a call center where they have to deal with Americans - and they can't comprehend American colloquial English.  Add in the accent thick enough to spread on an English muffin and a customer service call which an American could handle in five minutes stretches out to half an hour.  This saves money?  Not to mention the customer dissatisfaction at the American end.  Our time is money, too.

Chuck

 

 
Overgeneralizations galore.  
 
1. The folks who man some of the call centers are very clear and quick in solving problems.
2. The call center folks folks are usually not the ones with Oxford ("County") accents.

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Posted by 54light15 on Wednesday, November 26, 2014 6:59 PM

For a portrayal of Indian life, read Paul Theroux's book, "The Elephanta Suite" He's been there many times, he ought to know about it. The Indians are like the Chinese in that when they decode to do something, they do it, like thier methods or not. I wish them luck in building a HSR. Maybe they can built the HSR from Toronto to Montreal some day before I die.

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Posted by CMStPnP on Wednesday, November 26, 2014 7:24 PM

tomikawaTT
CMStPnP

They would rather their kids learned Oxford English over American English because they know in the United States the Oxford accent translates into higher paying jobs due to perception that an Oxford accent kid is higher educated (NOT!!!).

 

And then some thimblebrain hires them to staff a call center where they have to deal with Americans - and they can't comprehend American colloquial English.  Add in the accent thick enough to spread on an English muffin and a customer service call which an American could handle in five minutes stretches out to half an hour.  This saves money?  Not to mention the customer dissatisfaction at the American end.  Our time is money, too.

Chuck

Actually, your large U.S. Phone carriers here thought they would enhance your personal security by placing a large percentage of their call centers in places like Egypt, Pakistan, and other friendly countries.   Not a lot of them in India these days.   India has largely moved on into Information Technology and one reason why that happened is their Economy and standards of living (wages) rose to such a point that it is more Economical not to import call centers over there.    So the ones that remain are fading away.

I know Verizon Yellow Pages (now DexMedia) contracts a lot with Egypt to do marketing and market analysis in the United States, providing them with most of your names and addresses.    Isrealis have a pretty big role as well in this area via several firms they have bought up in the last few years.

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 26, 2014 9:43 PM

I lived in Australia for five years,  In addition, I have lived in Japan and Canada for more than two years each.

In Australia I worked closely with 12 to 15 Australians.  After I had been there 12 to 15 months, some of my Australian colleagues, after we had established a mutual trust relationship, opened up and shared with me their views of Americans.  Usually over several glasses of excellent Australian wine! Not pretty! 

At least twice a year I returned to the U.S. for corporate conferences.  On each return I was invariably asked by my U.S. colleagues what Australians thought about America and a variety of related subjects.  I reminded them that I only knew a smalle number of Australians, which was not a statistical sample of the population, especially as all of them were university graduates, and therefore I could not tell them what Australians thought about Americans or anyone else for that matter. I could only tell them in a limited way what some of my Australian colleagues thougt about America, etc. Which raises a question!

There are more than a billion people in India.  Unless one takes a statistical sample of the populaltion as a whole, which would be a daunting task to be sure, how can one draw any valid conclusions about people in India?

As an aside, I worked with several people in Australia who had immigrated from India.  They all held master's degrees or better, and they were amongst some of the brighest, most productive people in the company. Moreover, the VP of our nuclear operations in the U.S. was from India - not born in the U.S. And the head of Pepsi was and may still be an Indian born woman. Lastly, Renu Khator, who is the Chancellor of the University of Houston, is an Indian immigrant.  She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Kanpur and her graduate degrees from Purdue.   

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Posted by Buslist on Wednesday, November 26, 2014 11:26 PM

54light15

The Indians are like the Chinese, when they decode to do something, they do it, like thier methods or not. 

 

 

You may be right, but in my experience with the railways in both countries, the Chinese decide, the Indians debate. It was very difficult to get IR to commit to anything. I wonder if IR will be responsible for these lines or some other entity.

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