Lungar Gupp XVII

1. It is believed that the "FILE" has come out of the sanctum-sanctorum on 23rd Feb evening. The contents are, however, still 'TOP SECRET' ( I am referring to the file regarding postings of Security Officers) They should be common knowledge in a short while.
2. One of the last officers to join the Bank from the latest batch of Security Officers (Officers from Central Police Organisations) has reported at the New Delhi office last week. One guy from the same batch at Guwahati resigned from service owing to 'not being treated properly' but withdrew his resignation on second thoughts. It is understood that Guwahati office is NOT having second thoughts on this issue.
3. Of all the preposterous utterings I have heard so far in my service in the Bank the one I am about to recount surely 'takes the cake'. At one of the centres a senior officer has remarked to one of our colleagues " You guys have joined the Bank after being court martialled from the Army, isn't it ?" or words to that effect !! This is the level of maturity and general knowledge some of our so called 'senior officers' have. I am not going to sit on judgement here but 'Thank God' I was not at the receiving end of such a foolish and irresponsible tirade.

Mail Forwards

Here are acouple of good mail forwards which I came across. Contemplate on the first and laugh at the second !!!

This is life....
God created the donkey and said to him:

"You will be a donkey. You will work un-tiringly from sunrise to sunset carrying burdens on your back. You will eat grass, you will have no intelligence and you will live 50 years."

The donkey answered: "I will be a donkey, but to live 50 years is too much. Give me only 20 years"

God granted his wish.

God created the dog and said to him :

" You will be a dog. You will guard the house of man. You will be his best Friend. You will eat the scraps that he gives you and you will live 30 years.”

The dog answered: "Sir, to live 30 years is too much, give me only 15 years. "

God granted his wish.

God created the monkey and said to him :

"You will be a monkey. You will swing from branch to branch doing tricks. You will be amusing and you will live 20 years."
The monkey answered: "To live 20 years is too much, give me only 10 years."

God granted his wish.

Finally God created man and said to him:

"You will be man, the only rational creature on the face of the earth. You will use your intelligence to become master over all the animals. You will dominate the world and you will live 20 years."

Man responded: "Sir, I will be a man but to live only 20 years is very little, give me the 30 years that the donkey refused, the 15 years that the dog did not want and the 10 years the monkey refused.”

And God granted man's wish.

And since then, man lives 20 years as a man, marries and spends 30 years like a donkey, working and carrying all the burdens on his back. Then when his children are grown, he lives 15 years like a dog taking care of the house and eating whatever is given to him, so that when he is old, he can retire and live 10 years like a monkey, going from house to house and from one son or daughter to another doing tricks to amuse his grandchildren.

That's Life. Isn't it ?

Now for some laughter !!!

Access Control and CCTV Articles

N.B. The following two articles have been reproduced from the SecurityPark newsletter. The link to this site is given on the side bar for more details (click on Security News and Articles).

BPT System 300 video door entry system secures Manchester landmark building
The BPT Entry Control Solutions System 300 video door entry and Impro16 proximity access control systems has been installed by Tailored Fire & Security into Great Northern Tower, one of Manchester's most prestigious new developments. Great Northern Tower, a development by George Wimpey City, is a modern, sophisticated building, designed to look like a shard of glass with metal and grey coloured decorative tiles. It features 257 high spec apartments, with 24 hour manned concierge and secure underground parking.

BPT's System 300 video door entry system, which uses just two wires for all video, audio and data signals, providing maximum installation and cost efficiency. System 300 has been used with BPT Lynea monitors in all 257 apartments at Great Northern Tower, a single main digital vandal resistant video entry panel on the main entrance and an IPD-300 porter switchboard at the reception desk. The door entry system has been integrated by Tailored Fire & Security with an Impro16 proximity access control system, also from BPT. Impro16 supports up to 2,000 tags operating 16 doors and allows residents to freely come and go, whilst restricting access to all other visitors, who must then request access via the door entry system.

The system is controlled from a PC on reception and allows all admin tasks to be carried out on site via a GUI, without the need for specialist programming.In addition to controlling the pedestrian entrances at Great Northern Tower, reception also has full control over the car parks and trade entrances. This has been achieved by Tailored Fire & Security linking the BPT switchboard to ten single button vandal resistant audio panels with integral Impro proximity access control readers on the car park and trade entrances.

Tailored Fire & Security Project Manager Ian Gratix is very pleased with his choice of manufacturer for this installation, which is one of the largest the company has done using BPT equipment: "We have used BPT before and found the equipment to be very flexible and our engineers are familiar with it. The price was right as well, plus the client's preferred manufacturer was BPT."

IndigoVision IP Video solution protects Qatar Airport
As part of the preparations for the 15th Asian Games, the Doha International Airport (DIA) in Qatar expanded its main passenger terminal, added new first and business class lounges and increased the capacity of its cargo facilities. The existing analogue CCTV system was replaced with an IndigoVision IP Video solution following an in-depth evaluation of competing technologies by the IT department of QATAR Airways, the managing authority for DIA.

IndigoVision’s IP Video solution is at the heart of a 600 camera CCTV surveillance system at the newly expanded Doha International Airport. The 600 cameras are a combination of PTZ and fixed, with each being connected to an IndigoVision 8000 transmitter/receiver module which converts the analogue feed to DVD quality full-frame rate digital video for transmission over the newly installed LAN.

“In our technical evaluation IndigoVision’s system scored 87%, well ahead of the other systems tested” said Sourav Sinha, Head of IT Department at Qatar Airways. “We were particularly impressed with IndigoVision’s ability to deliver very high quality video with minimal bandwidth, its integration with the access control and alarm systems and the powerful features of the video management software.”

The new system, installed by IndigoVision’s local partner Capital Technology WLL, provides security staff with centralised monitoring of the whole airport complex from one control room located in the main passenger terminal – the furthest camera being located some 5Km away. In addition there are satellite monitoring stations in the cargo terminal and the new first and business class terminal. In total, 11 operators and 2 supervisors use dual-display workstations running ‘Control Center’, Indigovision’s enterprise video and alarm management software.

‘Control Center’ allows operators to monitor live video feeds from any of the 600 cameras and recorded footage from the IndigoVision Networked Video Recorders (NVR). Ten NVRs have been installed to provide a redundant recording solution that can record in excess of 30 days of video from all cameras at 4CIF 25fps, via 225TB of Raid 5 storage. The flexibility of IndigoVision’s IP Video means that a ‘Control Center’ workstation can be located at any point on the network, which has allowed the location of further workstations in the DIA CEO’s office and with the Qatar Airways security supervisor.

Capital Technology also installed a new access control system that was fully integrated into ‘Control Center’ to provide full alarm management. The tight integration of alarms with video management in ‘Control Center’ allows the virtual matrix to be driven by alarm events, e.g. a salvo of cameras can be displayed when an alarm is raised from a given access point. IndigoVision’s compression technology minimises bandwidth requirements and ensures that the operators view video that is indistinguishable from analogue. This project demonstrates IndigoVision’s IP Video technology is flexible and provides CCTV solutions that cannot be matched by traditional analogue systems.

Noteworthy Snippets

1. A few days back I got a call from Maj Avasthi from Guwahati. He was in a tizzy as the MASI had suggested closing down of the toilet within the CVPS at that centre. His problem was that the locals were raising cain on that issue. At that centre all issues ultimately take a "local vs outsider" hue so his apprehensions were not misplaced. I informed him that this was an all India issue and compliance has already been done at most places (Bangalore included). He was wondering that where will all this (strengthening of security arrangements) end ?? To quote him" what will come next" ? To this my response, in the instant case, was - we may have see through clothes for CVPS staff in future or maybe see through smocks sans underclothes so as to ensure that nothing can be concealed anywhere. Avasthi was one up in declaring that it was better to install CCTV cameras in the toilet rather than closing it down. Come to think of it - not a bad idea to have one dome camera on the ceiling and one in the WC (waterproof type) to deter potential pilferers !!! One other option is to issue disposable pouches ( like the ones jet fighters use ) to all members of the staff working in the CVPS.

2. The other noteworthy development at Guwahati is that Security Officers are no longer being used as 'bodyguards'. Threats form ULFA (real or perceived) almost always work at that place. This scenario is at times exploited by some of the locals to acheive their aims as well.

3. Careless whispers are doing the rounds at 'North Block' (this is the new name given to our central office by one of the youngsters here). These are regarding the annual transfers in our cadre. It is understood that a lot of youngsters have applied for transfers. Some have even got alternative avenues lined up to take care of 'worst case scenarios'. Well the grapevine from 'North Block' is that the transfers will be handled by the DGs office !! ( some level jumping I must say !!). Nobody is willing to stir up a hornets nest by trying to do this exercise. Well, let us see which way the cookie crumbles.

Widgets on my Blog

I have just added the following widgets to my blog (on the right side bar) :

1. Mini clock to show you the date and time (lest you get too engrossed). Even the users can choose their own style and personalize their experience.

2. Videos from 'YouTube'. Just click on any video and you will be taken to the YouTube site and you can then either view the chosen video or any other one depending on your fancy.

3. Music charts from last.fm Click on any song to listen to that particular track through last.fm or any other artiste of your choice.

Owing to the addition of the said widgets, the blog may take a bit longer to open. In case of a broadband connection this lag is minimal. Ditto for surfing links and the widgets !! Apologies to dial-up connection users (time to go for an upgrade guys !!)

Bishtblog - a new 'avatar'

Hi Folks,
I have changed the look of my blog - just to grab your attention. I have added some cool links too (on the right hand side). Now you dont have to navigate away from the page - just click on whichever link you want to see - and hey!! presto - it is right there. These include security related sites and a resource for articles. The links on Uttaranchal (now Uttarakhand) and Mussoorie are there to show you all the splendour of "The land of Gods" and "The Queen of Hills". Being an 'Uttarankhandi' who has spent his childhood in Mussoorie, I just could not resist it. So all these are now just a click away. Happy navigating !!

Transport Vehicles !!!

These images are from Vietnam. Seems we have competition now !!

Taken for a Ride

Following is a harrowing tale which an acquaintance of mine had to undergo recently. This is being circulated at his own request so that we dont land in a similiar situation in future.

Here is some information, that I thought to share with all for future reference. As we all keep travelling internationally for business or leisure. I just had a very pathetic experience with Matrix Cellular (International) Services Pvt. Ltd. They are a cellular rental company and provide international sim cards here in India itself. I got a SIM card issued in the name of my company for UAE (Dubai) number 050-5383587 (SIM Card No. 8997112206660679361) on rent for a period of about10 days. They took all credit card and other details etc. After landing inDubai, we realised that the card is not working and we tried to get in touch with them back in India. We were told that it should work and they are trying. We were also told to switch off and switch on again and again. It was all on International Roaming on my local card. Nothing happened even till the next day. In fact it never worked by the time I landed back. However, I tried to contact the local service provider ETISALAT and I was surprised to note that this card belonged to a company there and they have requested to bar the services as the card went missing sometime ago. And it landed me into a trouble. They asked questions after questions and were trying to find out how did I get it. They never deal with a Mobile rental company. Since I was with a local resident, after taking copies of my passport and all other details they let me go. Well, Matrix Cellular has done nothing since the time and are still trying to find out, how it happened. They were informed about it on the 14th January 2007. On return, I have been trying to speak to their people but not able to get a positive response since either they are on vacation, on tour or holidaying or it was a weekend. I have been trying and telling them to let me the reasons why it did not work but they have no reason as yet. The only thing that they have done is WAIVED OFF the rental. I am so kindly obliged for their gesture for not charging me for possessing the card for 10 days.(The card never worked). One of the executive also called me asking the cardback and did not know at how to speak to a client who is already upset and is not getting a positive response, and banged the phone on me. It is very strange behaviour. I Have also been told that they buy the cards from third party locally inIndia. It is just because of the casual approach. I could not get connected to so many people whom I had circulated the number and were coming from different parts of the world. Had to face a lot of embarrassment. I could have landed into a great trouble, if this is an actually stolen card. Had lot of financial losses since my India roaming was used extensively. Business losses are apart from the above in terms of finance and reputation.It is matter of great frustration and further more the attitude and behaviour of Matrix's representatives. I have no idea that how are they are going to compensate to the above all. But I think, it is my duty to inform all to be careful while getting into a similar situation. So, in the future if you deal with them or such companies please ensure that you do not face such embarrassment and difficulties. The people you deal with should be authentic and genuine. You may not get into trouble while away from your country. Please circulate it to as many as you can so that this may help one and all. Thanking you. Warm Regards, Rajiv MATHUR, Vice PresidentVision Security (India) Pvt. Ltd.5, Mathura Road, Jangpura - A,New Delhi - 110 014,INDIA

Miscellany

Hi Folks,
Here's some gossip to keep your tongues wagging :

1. One of our friends from Thiruvananthapuram has 'thrown in the towel' (literally) on 31 Jan 2007. He has resigned and is awaiting the Bank's green signal (not that he is too particular about signals). Here is wishing him all the best in a much greener pasture !! Detractors - eat your heart out.

2. One of our senior colleagues has been entrusted with the task of carrying out a security audit in the Central Bank of Bhutan (one helluva exotic locale !!).

3. Interviews for 5 posts in Grade 'B' in our cadre should be round the corner ( pssst !! this is unconfirmed). So the first seven guys in Grade 'A' - better grease your skids and get your duds ready.

That's it for now.