Heritage Walk: Serampore, Hooghly (Part 2)

Continuing the Heritage Walk across the Serampore... Check first part of Serampore tour here.

READ THE HERITAGE STORY OF SERAMPORE IN BENGALI WITH MORE DETAILS : শ্রীরামপুর : শুরুর কথা

As we have seen most of the Mahesh, we are now heading towards Dey Street and the northern part of the city. 

If you think about the historical timeline of Serampore, it can be divided into phases - before European colonization (before 1755), Danish colonization and associated Bengali culture (1755-1845), British colonization and industrialization (1845-1947) and post independence era (after 1947). Thanks to our governmental carelessness, the post independence era was mostly insignificant in all terms - neither the heritages were taken care of, nor new heritage was built up - Serampore, though one of the largest town of Hooghly district turned into a satellite town of Calcutta. 

Heritage Walk: Serampore, Hooghly (Part 1)

Serampore (Srirampur/শ্রীরামপুর) is a busy town of Hooghly district, approx. 25 km north to Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal. Today Serampore looks like just another city of Bengal, full of high rises, crowd, narrow lanes, garbages etc,  but it has a rich colonial history, and that's not entirely British. Serampore was a trading post for the Danes (i.e. people from Denmark) during 1755 to 1845.

The Danish came to this area in 1676 but Danish colony was started from Gondalpara in 1698, which was at the south east corner of French territory of Chandannager. This place was known as Dinermardanga (দিনেমারডাঙ্গা). With the help from the French the Danes came to Serampore in 1755 with a farman from Nawab Alivardi Khan (born 1671, regent 1740-1756) of Bengal in exchange of Rs 1,50,000 or more. It was just a trading post back then under the Danish Asiatic Company. For a note, the Danes came to India in 1618 and in 1820 they founded their first trading post at Tranquebar (now known as Tharangambadi), ~120 Km south of Puducherry. 

Macro Photography with Smartphones - Guide for First Timers

Macro photography is my new love. Macro photos by all means are very close up - be it insects or flowers or anything else. It opens up a new boundary of the way you look into around you.  

Lately mobile macros are getting popular as smartphones are incorporated with four back cameras - primary, wide angle, telephoto and macro. Well macro photos taken by a smartphone's dedicated macro camera are not that great because their sensors are either just 2 megapixel or 5 megapixel. Out of them Poco has an interesting phone - X2 Pro which has telephoto macro. Unfortunately Poco X2 Pro was not launched in India. 

Now I own an OnePlus 6 bought in 2018. The 12 MP back shooter is above average and take decent photos, I am satisfied. The second back camera is actually offers the depth sensor - i.e. to take portrait shots with background blaring. 

Open RAN Getting Traction for 5G Roll out & 5G Scenario in India

Jio is planning for a 5G juggarnaut, as the digicom arm of Reliance Industries wants to make 5G rollout of its own, not depending on existing tele-equipment majors like Nokia, Cisco, Samsung, Ericsson. Jio has agreement with Samsung for 4G roll out, and the deal will continue but Jio will embrace indigenous 5G tech.  

Jio took a stand not to work with Chinese vendors like ZTE, Huawei. Jio already has been praised by American politicians for no-China mode, and Jio received huge funding from America including tech major Google, Intel, Qualcomm and social giant Facebook. American PE firm Silver Lake has invested heavily into Jio and Reliance Retail. And many experts believe American PE firms will invest heavily into Reliance Retail, just like they did into Jio - already KKR seems interested in Reliance Retail as per media reports.

Just for an off-topic, Reliance Retail will take on Amazon India and Walmart backed Flipkart in the e-commerce field. And Reliance Retail would be targeting brick-and-mortar retail at the strongest way, as they acquired Future Group (Big Bazaar brand) for Rs 24,713 crore.

Vodafone Idea Unveils New Brand Identity - 'Vi'

Vodafone Idea Ltd, the merged entity of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular has announced a new brand identity, Vi (pronounced as We). The announcement came after the company got relief by Supreme Court order to pay AGR dues in next 10 years. 

Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read said, "As the integration of two businesses is now complete, it’s time for a fresh start. That's why we believe that now is the perfect time to launch Vi, one company which provides the strength of Vodafone India and Idea.” It should be noted that merger was done in 2018, midst of market consolidation due to predator pricing by Reliance Jio. 

There was some recent market rumor that US tele major Verizon or e-Commerce giant Amazon may look for stake buy in VIL, but the company denied such reports. However the company has approved Rs 25,000 cr fundraising plan. Analysts believe it's not a plan for a long run, may be just for 12-18 months, as the company is debt ridden of nearly Rs 1.7 lakh crore.

Google Invests in Jio Platforms to Make Affordable 4G & 5G Phones

For Google, India is a great market for the company. Since 2015, when India born Sunchar Pichai became the CEO of Alphabet Inc, the holding company of  Google product family the company introduced several products/projects for India. Most important was Google backed WiFi hotspots in rail stations of the country under Google Station branding. Recently Google left the project as 4G based internet goes mainstream.

However Google has did its biggest move in India as the company is going to invest Rs 33,737 crore in Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Industries' telecom and digital arm Jio Platforms announced during latest AGM meet of RIL. The investment translates into 7.7% stake sale of Jio Platforms to Google. The strategic investment by Google would be directed to making affordable, entry level 4G (and in future 5G) Android smartphones to support device ecosystem for Jio's indigenous 5G technology. 

The Google-Jio handsake is win-win for all - both companies, consumers and Indian government. It can usher 'Make in India' initiative of Govt of India. Reliance can create stronger ecosystem for its own digital platform and as 5G goes mainstream with cheap devices entry barrier will be demolished, Google backed Android ecosystem will be stronger. 

Intel and Qualcomm Infuse Strategic Investments in Jio

In the midst of pandemic, lockdown, and financial teardown, India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani owned Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries becomes top tech company to invest. After the announcement of Facebook's investment in Jio in end of April '20, six American PE investors (SilverLake, Vista, General Atlantic, KKR, TPG and L Catterton), and three companies of Saudi Arabia and UAE would invest in Jio Platforms til middle of June '20.

Around a week back, on June 24th, Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved Facebook’s proposed investment in Jio Platforms via its newly formed subsidiary Jaadhu Holdings LLC.