Indian? Premier League (IPL) 2009 Outsourced?

So, it seems like that INDIAN Premier league might actually be conducted outside of India.

Funny, isn't it?
India, which has been a pioneer of outsourcing. The Indian BPO industry has been growing leaps and bounds. For some time now, the Indian BPO industry is being reckoned as a force to look out for. And now when the Indian outsourcing story is shining, India is looking to outsource its own cricket tournament outside. Yes, and it's not the cost effective reason driving the BPO industry which is the cause for IPL to be played out of India. It's Security.

When it was announced a few days back by Mr Chidambaram, that due to the elections being held around the same time as the IPL, the security of the players during the IPL would have to be signed up by the state governments and the schedule of IPL will need to be revised, I had never imagined that IPL could actually be played out of India. After all, its the INDIAN Premier league. But all that didn't work out.

Yesterday, the BCCI gave its verdict. I do not still understand why is it that the IPL dates could not have been shifted to be after the elections? I guess, they must have done some math and it did not make business sense. But given the costs which would additionally be incurred, the IPL being held at South Africa or England, and the kind of attendance the stadiums abroad will gather, I am not sure of the math. Probably, for that, we will have to wait and watch until after the league to find out how many of the franchisees managed to break even and what were their earnings like. Last year, when IPL was first held, only Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals had break even.

One good thing they have done, is that the timings of matches will now be the same. That way, Indian fans can watch the match from the comfort of their homes. The big question is, would the stadiums be filled. If you consider England, there will be the English Premier League (football and not cricket) of England and the cricket tournament between England and West Indies being held around the same time. Obviously, the English might want to see their countries play rather than watch the IPL at some weird time of the day (morning 1030 and after 230 Englist time).

Now, it seems like we will have to wait and watch as to how profitable this time IPL is gonna be. Anyways, this is majorly a headache for the franchisees. Being fans, we will get to watch the IPL, enjoy it and at a time suitable to us. Only thing is, we will miss out the stadium fun. All those people who paid to be seated around the cheer leaders stand, can save some buck. Jokes apart, I hope all you readers make the most of enjoyment out of the IPL.

Happy watching.

Reservations?

Reservations - Does the word ring a bell?

Yes, I am in the mood to crib about the reservations for backward castes in all Indian Educational institutions. If you are an Indian reader, you know what I am talking about. And if you unfortunately belong to the General Category as I do, then you probably know the pain. Unless you have been a genius and have never faced a problem getting admissions.

The entire concept of Reservation in Educational institutions came up to uplift the backward caste in India to provide them education opportunities. The initial idea, I think, was to have this model run for a few years, after which the backward classes should have been better off, and then we could phase over to the Merit based admission system in institutes. But 60 years post independence, we are still holding on to the system. In fact, we are adding on to the reservations. The mandal commission introduced reservations for OBC candidates. And then, recently, there were talks to increase reservations for backward castes. The story never ends. Probably, it is politically too good to be over with. I had acquaintances in college, who were OBC but I think were financially better off than me. I dont know how much more upliftment they are going to need.

Some new posts in the newspaper intrigued me recently. I understand that the usefulness of these reservations is debatable and supporters argue that it is needed for upliftment of Backward castes in India. But I never knew that these reservations are extended only to Hindu backward classes. If a person belongs to OBC or SC/ST and he is Muslim/Christian, he isn't eligible. The idea seems stupid, isn't it? If you want to have reservations, have it for all. Or have it for none. Or more interestingly, we should probably look at new reservations for General category candidates, because they are not at all finding it easy to get admission.

Why do people think that backward caste candidates can't make it to good institutes on merit? The whole idea escapes my understanding.