- WHO raises the alert level of Swine flu(H1N1) to its highest level, declaring it as global pandemic.The last flu pandemic was declared 41 years ago, when H3N1 virus strain killed an estimated 1 million people in 1968.
- Iran incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad returns to power, amidst riots by opposition supporters and complaints of cheating from his rivals.
- Satyam decided to send home 7,000 to 10,000 of its employees for six months with immediate effect.They will receive their basic pay (40 per cent of the gross salary) in addition to provident fund and medical insurance.Based on business requirements, they may be recalled to work on full pay and benefits
- Richest Lord of kaliyuga, Lord Venkateshwara, was offered his seventh crown as a gift.
The staggering Rs 42 crore diamond-studded 2.5 feet tall crown was gifted by Karnataka tourism minister Gali Janardhan Reddy. - The Producers Council of Tollywood has asked film-makers not to shoot in Australia in immediate future, in the wake of recent attacks against Indians.
- Apple unveiled its new iPhone.
iPhone 3G S claims to be much faster than its previous versions and comes with some 100 new features. The 3GS will cost $199 for 16 GB of memory, and $299 for 32 GB of memory.The existing iPhone 3G will get an immediate price cut to $99.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The Week Gone By
Higher Education in India
India has the highest percentage of youth in the world. Only 10% of the University-age population is enrolled in the colleges. India accounts for 13% of the total 100 million people enrolled for higher education all over the world. But, significant quality problems exist in our higher education system. According to Mckinsey report, it is said that about 75% of the Engineering Graduates are too poorly educated to function effectively in economy without additional on the job training.
There are many factors which make the Education sector complex to reform. Most effective Universities have Self Governance and autonomy. This feature is absent in Indian Higher education system. Political interference with Academic decisions plays the spoilsport in making of a better institution. There is a significant degree of corruption in academic appointments. India faces significant challenges in funding. It spends about 0.37% of GDP on Higher Education. UGC (centrally funded institution) allots some funding to top notch universities but the remaining does not get sufficient funding. Some are dependant on state govts. Many are unaided. So, there is no real scope of research in most of the colleges.
India has a widely respected specialized institutions like IIT’s, IIM’s, IIIT’s. Govt has recently declared that it will establish 8 IIT’s, 7 IIM’s, and 30 research oriented central universities, 10 NIT’s, 2 IISc’s and 1000 Polytechnic institutes. Current Govt plans to establish number of research oriented universities will not serve the purpose unless the traditional universities take a reformed path. It is actually comparatively easy to turn these traditional universities to global standards than to build from scratch. It is shame that none of our universities are in the top 100 universities. Although IIT’s are having international standards, they are just technical institutions. They are not universities.
Our Universities and colleges are lacking Doctoral scholars. As a matter of fact according to the statistics, since 1970, 70 to 80% of the doctoral and highly educated Indians who had their education in the west got settled and never returned to their homeland. Govt should think of a policy for the returning scholars. They should be taken care properly. With their inputs, the country will prosper at a faster rate.
Knowledge commission has given some recommendations in 2006 to the govt in improving the condition of the higher education. So, with proper strategy, good policy, insulation from political bodies, eradicating corruption, proper funding and proper restructuring of the existing traditional universities and providing opportunities to the Indian Brainpower who are working for some other countries by offering high salaries and benefits to them, the system can be improved to large extent.
- Optimistic Indian
There are many factors which make the Education sector complex to reform. Most effective Universities have Self Governance and autonomy. This feature is absent in Indian Higher education system. Political interference with Academic decisions plays the spoilsport in making of a better institution. There is a significant degree of corruption in academic appointments. India faces significant challenges in funding. It spends about 0.37% of GDP on Higher Education. UGC (centrally funded institution) allots some funding to top notch universities but the remaining does not get sufficient funding. Some are dependant on state govts. Many are unaided. So, there is no real scope of research in most of the colleges.
India has a widely respected specialized institutions like IIT’s, IIM’s, IIIT’s. Govt has recently declared that it will establish 8 IIT’s, 7 IIM’s, and 30 research oriented central universities, 10 NIT’s, 2 IISc’s and 1000 Polytechnic institutes. Current Govt plans to establish number of research oriented universities will not serve the purpose unless the traditional universities take a reformed path. It is actually comparatively easy to turn these traditional universities to global standards than to build from scratch. It is shame that none of our universities are in the top 100 universities. Although IIT’s are having international standards, they are just technical institutions. They are not universities.
Our Universities and colleges are lacking Doctoral scholars. As a matter of fact according to the statistics, since 1970, 70 to 80% of the doctoral and highly educated Indians who had their education in the west got settled and never returned to their homeland. Govt should think of a policy for the returning scholars. They should be taken care properly. With their inputs, the country will prosper at a faster rate.
Knowledge commission has given some recommendations in 2006 to the govt in improving the condition of the higher education. So, with proper strategy, good policy, insulation from political bodies, eradicating corruption, proper funding and proper restructuring of the existing traditional universities and providing opportunities to the Indian Brainpower who are working for some other countries by offering high salaries and benefits to them, the system can be improved to large extent.
- Optimistic Indian
The Business of Fear
What is the world's biggest industry? Oil? Armaments? Religion? Terrorism? All of these, in one way or another, are subservient to one single industry which since the dawn of civilisation has been humankind's biggest motivator and money-spinner: fear.
It is fear that gave rise to religion, with all its vast booty, from the wealth of the Vatican to the treasure troves of Tirupati. Fear is the obvious instigator of wars and the arms industries they have spawned. The booming health industry - or, more appropriately disease industry - is also fuelled by fear.
While the world's health prognosis continues to be grim in reality - particularly in countries like India, where to take just one index, infant mortality rates are an appalling 32 per 1,000 - fear of actual or imagined disease acts as a spur to huge resource mobilisation (and almost equally huge misappropriation), as in the case of the international campaigns against AIDS which critics claim is one of the biggest and cruellest con games in history. And now we have the swine flu pandemic.
Fear is often a self-fulfilling prophecy, as in the case of rising food prices: anticipatory fears of further price rises by themselves ensure those rises, thanks to overbuying, hoarding and black-marketeering. Fear sells an awful lot of ancillary products, from climate change to murder.
Crime, particularly violent crime like murder, becomes a saleable commodity - an object of voyeuristic gloating rather than a bestial aberration to be shunned - marketed by fear.
Why is fear so endemic to humankind? Obviously, in that it promotes self-preservation, it has evolutionary value. But with equal validity it could be argued that fear can also be counter-evolutionary: if you resign yourself to fearing dark caves, you'll never invent fire to light them up; if you fear falling over the edge of the world you'll never discover that it's round by sailing across it.
Like any other major industry, the industry of fear (as represented by governments, religion, economists, health and environment experts, and, last but far from least, the media) requires regulation, with periodic cost-benefit analyses. How much should you really be scared of contracting swine flu? How much real risk do you run of being murdered? Does global warming really spell inevitable doom for the planet (it doesn't; the planet will survive, it's only we as a species who'll die out)? In short, we need to figure out just how influenced we are by that final sum of all fears: the fear of fear itself.
This is an excerpt from a blog by Jag Suriya.
It is fear that gave rise to religion, with all its vast booty, from the wealth of the Vatican to the treasure troves of Tirupati. Fear is the obvious instigator of wars and the arms industries they have spawned. The booming health industry - or, more appropriately disease industry - is also fuelled by fear.
While the world's health prognosis continues to be grim in reality - particularly in countries like India, where to take just one index, infant mortality rates are an appalling 32 per 1,000 - fear of actual or imagined disease acts as a spur to huge resource mobilisation (and almost equally huge misappropriation), as in the case of the international campaigns against AIDS which critics claim is one of the biggest and cruellest con games in history. And now we have the swine flu pandemic.
Fear is often a self-fulfilling prophecy, as in the case of rising food prices: anticipatory fears of further price rises by themselves ensure those rises, thanks to overbuying, hoarding and black-marketeering. Fear sells an awful lot of ancillary products, from climate change to murder.
Crime, particularly violent crime like murder, becomes a saleable commodity - an object of voyeuristic gloating rather than a bestial aberration to be shunned - marketed by fear.
Why is fear so endemic to humankind? Obviously, in that it promotes self-preservation, it has evolutionary value. But with equal validity it could be argued that fear can also be counter-evolutionary: if you resign yourself to fearing dark caves, you'll never invent fire to light them up; if you fear falling over the edge of the world you'll never discover that it's round by sailing across it.
Like any other major industry, the industry of fear (as represented by governments, religion, economists, health and environment experts, and, last but far from least, the media) requires regulation, with periodic cost-benefit analyses. How much should you really be scared of contracting swine flu? How much real risk do you run of being murdered? Does global warming really spell inevitable doom for the planet (it doesn't; the planet will survive, it's only we as a species who'll die out)? In short, we need to figure out just how influenced we are by that final sum of all fears: the fear of fear itself.
This is an excerpt from a blog by Jag Suriya.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
The Week Gone By
- An Air France flight en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro(Brazil) mysteriously crashed into Atlantic on Monday jun 1st, with 228 people on board.This is one of the biggest mishaps in the recent history.The search is still on and Brazil's Navy says it has recovered five bodies till date.
- Delhi reported its first case of human-to-human transmission of H1N1 influenza after Hyderabad. The total number of H1N1 cases in India has climbed to 10 since the virus surfaced in the country on May 16.
- Attacks on Indians continue in Oz, despite the assurances of its govt.Recently a car of Indian student was burnt in front of his house.
- Much delayed Womens Reservation bill is likely to get a nod within the first 100 days of the new UPA govt.
- GM filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.The Detroit base auto giant's bankruptcy filing is the fourth-largest in U.S. history and the largest for an industrial company.
- Microsoft launched BING, its new search engine touted as rival to Google.
Where are Thou, My Guru
“There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live." – James Truslow Adams
As a child I learnt that people are divided into four groups based on their birth. Few days back I read in an ancient scripture that caste system is the ‘Varnashram’ where ‘Varna’ means color and not caste. People must be segregated based on their quality and work they do rather than by birth. We condition our mindsets according to what is taught at school. It is a shame that we call ourselves ‘higher’ based on birth and family rather than what qualities we possess. Children must, on the contrary, be taught that we are all born equal and similar and strive to become an asset to the society in any which way rather than inclining towards the negative and become a burden to the world.
I shall focus on Education and society in the next couple of paragraphs.
The need of the hour is effective teachers to prepare sensible youth for future who can differentiate good from the bad and right from the wrong. We say that India is great without realizing that people make it great. Our land and people are so diverse that it requires diverse teachers to shape it. Instead of asking students to do ton of homework, carry heavy bags, and nailing the little creatures, teachers must embrace children and their background as funds of knowledge. It has become a routine for teachers to consider children as blank slate. Blank Slate indicates children have no knowledge and teachers can pour anything and everything in their brains. Teachers must go beyond the textbooks and homework. They must possess knowledge and information that is original and meaningful.
Just imagine Obama administration decides to allocate 40% of college seats for the minorities like Afro Americans or Hispanic, where would foreign students go then? The schools here are striving to mix students from different races together in all activities rather than segregating. We have excellent teachers who are Blacks, Hispanics or Asians, for that matter. Our educational goals from the primary school should focus on higher achievement and equality rather than lesser important issues that foster caste and religion. It must be noted that Indians have proved to be better achievers than many others according to statistics. The intelligence and funds our children have must be utilized to the optimum level instead of letting them dwindle by discouraging them. National spelling bee champion Kavya Shivashankar is a good example in this context.
The recent attacks on Indian students in the USA and the myriad terror attacks in India and elsewhere have got me to think: what is the root cause for such events. I always believed that a strong foundation is required for a building to stand still for ages. Similarly children, if from the very outset, are trained to develop the qualities: peacefulness, tolerance, honesty, wisdom and other positive aspects, the day shall not be far where we can have a perfect utopian society. We say that children are the future of the country but are we working towards preparing them for better future? Maybe not!
-Nivedita Matsyaraja
I shall focus on Education and society in the next couple of paragraphs.
The need of the hour is effective teachers to prepare sensible youth for future who can differentiate good from the bad and right from the wrong. We say that India is great without realizing that people make it great. Our land and people are so diverse that it requires diverse teachers to shape it. Instead of asking students to do ton of homework, carry heavy bags, and nailing the little creatures, teachers must embrace children and their background as funds of knowledge. It has become a routine for teachers to consider children as blank slate. Blank Slate indicates children have no knowledge and teachers can pour anything and everything in their brains. Teachers must go beyond the textbooks and homework. They must possess knowledge and information that is original and meaningful.
Just imagine Obama administration decides to allocate 40% of college seats for the minorities like Afro Americans or Hispanic, where would foreign students go then? The schools here are striving to mix students from different races together in all activities rather than segregating. We have excellent teachers who are Blacks, Hispanics or Asians, for that matter. Our educational goals from the primary school should focus on higher achievement and equality rather than lesser important issues that foster caste and religion. It must be noted that Indians have proved to be better achievers than many others according to statistics. The intelligence and funds our children have must be utilized to the optimum level instead of letting them dwindle by discouraging them. National spelling bee champion Kavya Shivashankar is a good example in this context.
The recent attacks on Indian students in the USA and the myriad terror attacks in India and elsewhere have got me to think: what is the root cause for such events. I always believed that a strong foundation is required for a building to stand still for ages. Similarly children, if from the very outset, are trained to develop the qualities: peacefulness, tolerance, honesty, wisdom and other positive aspects, the day shall not be far where we can have a perfect utopian society. We say that children are the future of the country but are we working towards preparing them for better future? Maybe not!
-Nivedita Matsyaraja
New Government, New Governance?
The verdict is out and people chose Dr.Manmohan Singh and his team over others with a decisive mandate. In the backdrop of the recession and the dreams of the country’s youth, an agenda of stability and inclusive growth based on issues like infrastructure, rural and urban development, agriculture and food security, education, amongst others is already set. But the most important issue that should be addressed is the reforms in governance, which I believe is crucial for this agenda to be successful.
In a recent survey conducted by an Hong-Kong based consultancy ranked Indian bureaucracy as least efficient in Asia and termed as “slow and painful and a power center in their own right”. After the economic reforms in 1990’s, liberalization has improved the climate for investment in India. However, the world has moved on and we are perhaps not keeping pace. Civil service was set up in colonial times, when its function was to assert control over a vast subcontinent on behalf of the British Raj. They created a bureaucracy, which exists even today, but its outlook hasn’t changed much since.
Many say “administrative processes and procedures are cumbersome and create hurdles in the process of harmonious development”. For investors (FDIs, FIIs, etc) their biggest frustration about investment in India is the bureaucracy. The so called babus failed miserably in delivering public services and basic essentials of life like electric power, drinking water, schools, hospitals, transport and municipal functions continue to remain out of the reach for many Indians even after 60 years of independence.
Not reforming the bureaucracy and the governance and minimizing the political interference and the corruption, it wouldn’t make much sense pouring out thousands of crores on various welfare and developmental schemes. This way aam admi would “still” get just 19 paisa out of every rupee spent.
Of the many lessons of the recent mandates, one thing is clear, if change is not quickly visible to an impatient new India, governments will be dumped faster than they ever have, and the only agenda is “to Perform or Perish”.
-Vikranth
In a recent survey conducted by an Hong-Kong based consultancy ranked Indian bureaucracy as least efficient in Asia and termed as “slow and painful and a power center in their own right”. After the economic reforms in 1990’s, liberalization has improved the climate for investment in India. However, the world has moved on and we are perhaps not keeping pace. Civil service was set up in colonial times, when its function was to assert control over a vast subcontinent on behalf of the British Raj. They created a bureaucracy, which exists even today, but its outlook hasn’t changed much since.
Many say “administrative processes and procedures are cumbersome and create hurdles in the process of harmonious development”. For investors (FDIs, FIIs, etc) their biggest frustration about investment in India is the bureaucracy. The so called babus failed miserably in delivering public services and basic essentials of life like electric power, drinking water, schools, hospitals, transport and municipal functions continue to remain out of the reach for many Indians even after 60 years of independence.
Not reforming the bureaucracy and the governance and minimizing the political interference and the corruption, it wouldn’t make much sense pouring out thousands of crores on various welfare and developmental schemes. This way aam admi would “still” get just 19 paisa out of every rupee spent.
Of the many lessons of the recent mandates, one thing is clear, if change is not quickly visible to an impatient new India, governments will be dumped faster than they ever have, and the only agenda is “to Perform or Perish”.
-Vikranth
Sunday, May 31, 2009
The week gone by
- Indian students held a rally in Melbourne to protest the racial attacks against Indians, demanding that the Australian government do more to protect them.
- Looks like the week belonged to WOMAN.Ms Meira Kumar, daughter of the late dalit leader Babu Jagjivan Ram is tipped to be the first Woman Speaker of Lok sabha.Also in state Sabitha Indra Reddy was given the Home Ministry, making her the first Woman HM in the country.Agatha Sangma, 28, is the youngest minister in the 79-member Union council of ministers of the Manmohan Singh government.Kansas girl, Kavya Shiva shankar,13, of Indian origin won the US National Spelling Bee championship for 2009
- India’s GDP grew by an impressive 6.7 per cent in 2008-09, at a time when other major econo-mies are in recession.Also per capita income has crossed Rs 3,000 per month for the first time ever.How-ever, agriculture grew just 1.6 per cent, against 4.9 per cent in 2007-08 and manufacturing grew just 2.4 per cent, against 8.2 per cent in 2007-08.But we should remeber that 2007-08 was an year of booming economy where 9% GDP growth was registered.
- The four-times champion Rafael Nadal was defeated by Sweden’s Robin Soderling.The Spanish player has not lost a match at Roland Garros since his debut on the claycourt grand slam in 2005, breaking his impressive record of 31-0.
Dr. Manmohan Singh and his 79 Ministers
People have given their verdict for 15th Lok Sabha elections in favor of United Progressive alliance. In the Euphoria of UPA getting a massive win a major point has been missed, in its last term UPA hasn’t really done anything special for the economy. Indian economy boomed in the initial 4yrs largely due to global conditions and to UPA’s credit they let it grow without too much meddling. In the current global conditions UPA led by Dr. Man Mohan singh cannot sit back and wait for things to happen. It is time for them to step up and take the country forward.
Cabinet has now been setup, decision of having 79 cabinet ministers didn’t please me initially. But to their credit Congress has withstood the pressures from their allies and managed to keep most of the Key portfolios with them, thereby managing to have a strong hold on key areas of governance. There are many interesting aspects in this cabinet. For the first time we see many new young faces in the cabinet, most of the key portfolios are put in the hands of clean politicians.
Here are some of the major issues that the government needs to tackle urgently.
Fiscal deficit
I have pointed out this in my article on Interim budget for 2008-09, our fiscal deficit was at 6 percent and for the current year it is likely to be over 10 percent one of the highest in the world. An emphasis has to be laid on the quality of spending. With seasoned politician like Pranab Mukharjee as Finance minister, we can be sure that this issue will be addressed with proper care.
Disinvestment
It is very important for the current government to resume the process of disinvestment. It was elected to run the country, not companies. Perhaps disinvestment was one of the achievements of previous NDA's govt. this process have come to a grinding halt when UPA took charge, this is time for it to be resumed.
Education
For a young nation like India, education must take a very high priority. Since the times of Nehru we haven’t had a Prime Minister who had focused on education and had made a positive impact. It is high time now for the government to improve the education system and provide its people quality education which they are longing for. It is heartening to see Kapil Sibal as HRD minister and is interesting to see Purandeshwari as MOS to assist him.
Infrastructure
To become a superpower, we first need power. There is consensus that India’s infrastructure is very bad. To grow at a fast pace for a long term we need a proper infrastructure in place. Power reforms and highway construction needs immediate attention. Kamalnath has been taken off from Commerce and is given this ministry, this is certainly a positive sign from the government that this area is been considered very important.
Food security and Agriculture
Agriculture growth in India has fell by 2.2 percent in the third quarter of 2008-09. With 68% of its population still in rural areas, agriculture should remain as one of the top priorities for the govt. A slightest improvement in agricultural production will mean that our imports will come down and our domestic consumption increases which will be a big boost our economy, especially in these times. It appears from the outside that Mr. Joshi has been carefully handpicked by Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan singh to head this ministry.
Land and other procedural reforms
A world bank report in 2007 ranked India at 134 out of 175 countries in terms of ease of doing business. This blame largely should fall on the administrative procedures and regulations which strangled hold any business. Take the example of SEZ’s(Special Economic Zones) in theory are a step ahead towards greater industrialization. But as the land acquisitions problems showed up, the policy has to be properly thought out to the last detail. Issues like Nadigram in West Bengal and Raigad in Maharastra should be avoided.I personally have a lot of hope on this government headed by Dr. Man Mohan singh, while most of political problems from last 5 years for him were solved by the decisive verdict, which kept Left parties out of the government. It is time for our prime minister to kick start reforms and take us forward.Finally I will say that this was a verdict of HOPE.
-Srikanth Achanta
Your Planet needs You
It is amazing how humans evolved as the rulers over the ages and how 99% of all the species that have ever lived are now extinct. Survival of the fittest, guess Darwin was right. It comes as no surprise as evolution is one of the inexplicably balanced phenomena of nature. What arrives as a problem is when this occurs unnaturally or is induced in the normal cycles, which as we all now is mostly attributed to the human interventions. According to a 1998 survey of 400 biologists conducted by New York's American Museum of Natural History, nearly 70 percent believed that they are currently in the early stages of a human-caused mass extinction, known as the Holocene extinction event. Studies have shown that global warming may drive one quarter of all land animals and plants to extinction by 2050.
One of the major challenges that the survival of species faces is the threat by mankind's insatiable demand for resources. The private sector has a huge impact on biodiversity through its use of natural resources, such as timber, soil and water, and extracted resources, such as minerals, oils and gas. Consumption is also being driven by our sheer numbers: the global population has more than tripled in 50 years to over 6.5 billion resulting in new businesses that are using up raw materials far more quickly than the planet can replenish them – having devastating impacts on species and ecosystems around the world.
There should be awareness in industries about creating great inroads into supply chains across entire business sectors, helping consumers to speak their minds through their purses. The solution lies in looking for alternative resources which do not portray going green as “hindrance to development”. The world needs a “Green New Deal” focused on investing in renewable sources of energy, eco-friendly infrastructure and energy efficiency. This will not only create jobs and spur recovery but also help tackle global warming. If we invest even part of the substantial new economic stimulus packages in the green economy, we can turn today’s crisis into tomorrow’s sustainable growth. Businesses also stand to gain from getting serious about sustainability, through boosting their competitiveness, increasing their profits and improving their reputation. Also, some thought should be given to establishment of sustainable societies designed to focus on issues such as balanced harvesting, poverty, deforestation, degraded soils, polluted water, disease and environmental crisis.
Mother earth is as much a home to the innumerous species as it is to humans. The impact that the depleting resources and extincting species will have on the balanced ecosystems is unfathomable. Humans have to find the thin line between consumption and conservation for their own good. As I always say, until we are able to live in Mars this is the only planet we have and somewhere the thought that “You need the planet” should inspire all of us to create sustainable businesses and work towards the theme of this year’s World Environment Day (June 5th, 2009) – “Your Planet needs you”.
-Sameera
Sunday, May 24, 2009
The Week Gone By
- Dr.ManMohan Singh sworn in as Prime Minister for the second time along with 19 cabinet ministers.Second installment of the ministers will take place this Tuesday.
- Indian descent Veteran Communist leader Madhav Kumar Nepal is elected as Nepal's new PM bringing an end to its political crisis after the resignation of its Ex-PM Prachanda.
- Yeduguri Sandinti Rajashekar Reddy, Naveen Patnaik and Pawan Kumar Chamling sworn in as Chief Ministers for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th time for AP,Orissa and Sikkim respectively.
- 30 years long battle in Srilanka comes to an end. LTTE finally acknowledged the death of its supreme commander Prabhakaran.
- Tatas have come up with yet another announcement, will start an electronic mall through which products made by all the group companies would be sold on-line in next two months.
- Deccan chargers clinch the IPL 2009 title beating Banglore Royal challengers. Intrestingly,Deccan was last in the points table and B'lore second last in IPL 2008.
- Formula One championship leader Jenson Button wins Monaco GP, his fifth victory in six races and lead another Brawn GP one-two finish.
Can we increase the Voter turnout percentage?
One would wonder looking at the magnanimity of the electoral process. 1, 368, 430 EVMs, 828, 804 polling stations. Wow!!! The voter turn out in General Elections was 59-60% and assembly elections in A.P. was around 60-65% despite tremendous amount of awareness campaign to vote. The city which so called well developed and starting point of major awareness campaigns to vote, Mumbai, voted just 43%. What might be the potential reasons?
There might be many reasons like disinterested to vote, no time, geographical displacement, not having Voter I.D., weather conditions, not having name in the voter’s list etc. Can we overcome from these lame excuses? The answer is a very big YES. Technically speaking, we can increase the percentage of voter turnout massively by taking it to people rather than making them come down to the polling booths. In fact it would be a herculean task but can be achievable with proper management and taking help of technology.
We can actually make people to SMS is one solution to some extent. Because for that to happen there should be proper screening of the Voter I.D. According to T.R.A.I. we have 375 million registered users in the telecom sector that can access to mobile phones. And our voter list is 700 million!!!!
Another potential reason behind the less percentage of the voter turnout was because of absence of Absentee Voting. The impact of absence of absentee voting is clear in the recently held Assembly as well as General Elections. There was truly very high awareness of right to vote in the youth (18-35) but, practically the scenario was different. The maximum percentage of voter turnout was from housewives. The youth was ready to vote but there were many technical reasons they could exercise their vote. One major thing was most of them are displaced or relocated in different parts of the country or rather parts of the world. The other reason was they could not find their name in the voter list. I think we can resolve the second reason by correcting ourselves and make sure that our name is there in the list. But, for the first reason we need to have a solution. Supreme Court should give green signal for the Absentee Voting.
Many NGOs and individuals had put petition under Public Interest Litigation (PIL). Till date there was no action taken by the Supreme Court. There are many countries which has the Absentee voting system. In fact to some extent it is applicable in our country also. People who are in polling duty and serving in armed forces can cast their vote through post. NRI’s are disqualified from voting during their stay in abroad. Government should take steps in amending the Representation of the People Act (RPA) and introduce Absentee Voting for all. Basically, absentee voting can be executed through Postal Voting, Proxy Voting and Internet Voting.
There is another procedure to increase the voter turnout. It is Early voting. To avoid congestion for the public on the official day of election and also to have convenience for the voters Early Voting can adopted. Because of the humongous amount out electoral roll, the task for executing these ideas seems impractical. But, it can be done efficiently with proper structuring of the management of electoral process. A committee has to be setup and study the numbers. To make this happen we need to have unique social security number. By having SSN Govt can track the person anywhere in the world. Indian Govt has already started the process of assigning SSN to everybody recently. The project to build the database for the SSN was given to our proud Software companies. So, in coming few years we might see many positive developments in voting. Let us be Sanguine!!!
-Optimistic Indian
There might be many reasons like disinterested to vote, no time, geographical displacement, not having Voter I.D., weather conditions, not having name in the voter’s list etc. Can we overcome from these lame excuses? The answer is a very big YES. Technically speaking, we can increase the percentage of voter turnout massively by taking it to people rather than making them come down to the polling booths. In fact it would be a herculean task but can be achievable with proper management and taking help of technology.
We can actually make people to SMS is one solution to some extent. Because for that to happen there should be proper screening of the Voter I.D. According to T.R.A.I. we have 375 million registered users in the telecom sector that can access to mobile phones. And our voter list is 700 million!!!!
Another potential reason behind the less percentage of the voter turnout was because of absence of Absentee Voting. The impact of absence of absentee voting is clear in the recently held Assembly as well as General Elections. There was truly very high awareness of right to vote in the youth (18-35) but, practically the scenario was different. The maximum percentage of voter turnout was from housewives. The youth was ready to vote but there were many technical reasons they could exercise their vote. One major thing was most of them are displaced or relocated in different parts of the country or rather parts of the world. The other reason was they could not find their name in the voter list. I think we can resolve the second reason by correcting ourselves and make sure that our name is there in the list. But, for the first reason we need to have a solution. Supreme Court should give green signal for the Absentee Voting.
Many NGOs and individuals had put petition under Public Interest Litigation (PIL). Till date there was no action taken by the Supreme Court. There are many countries which has the Absentee voting system. In fact to some extent it is applicable in our country also. People who are in polling duty and serving in armed forces can cast their vote through post. NRI’s are disqualified from voting during their stay in abroad. Government should take steps in amending the Representation of the People Act (RPA) and introduce Absentee Voting for all. Basically, absentee voting can be executed through Postal Voting, Proxy Voting and Internet Voting.
There is another procedure to increase the voter turnout. It is Early voting. To avoid congestion for the public on the official day of election and also to have convenience for the voters Early Voting can adopted. Because of the humongous amount out electoral roll, the task for executing these ideas seems impractical. But, it can be done efficiently with proper structuring of the management of electoral process. A committee has to be setup and study the numbers. To make this happen we need to have unique social security number. By having SSN Govt can track the person anywhere in the world. Indian Govt has already started the process of assigning SSN to everybody recently. The project to build the database for the SSN was given to our proud Software companies. So, in coming few years we might see many positive developments in voting. Let us be Sanguine!!!
-Optimistic Indian
How well are our rights protected?
World’s largest democracy- as we self-proclaim. Looking at recent incidents occurred one should get suspicious about the fact that whether the fundamental rights of the citizens are preserved well or not. We had seen Varun Gandhi giving his hate speeches and proclaimed that it was “DOCTORED”. The other case is about Dr. Binayak Sen. I don’t think many of them knows about him.
Dr. Binayak Sen is Pediatrician, Public Health Specialist, and V.P of People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) based in Chhattisgarh. He is a distinguished human rights activist in India. He was detained in May 2007 for allegedly violating the provisions of Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005 and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967. He was arrested for involvement of drawing attention of unlawful killings of Adivasis in March 2007. When the bodies were exhumed, after autopsy it was found that there were bullets in three of the victims and remaining were axed to death. His organization appealed for arresting the policemen involved in these killings. Home Ministry rejected to take any action against the policemen involved. The police department started accusing that Dr. Binayak Sen was absconding and was passing letters from Narayan Sanyal ( Naxalite whom Dr. Binayak Sen medically treated him in the jail) to another naxalite in another jail. Hearing these false accusations, he returned back from his holiday which was planned long back.
The police with some neutral organizations held search in his house. They did not found single evidence. He appealed for bail. Court rejected. What an Irony!!!! When Mr. Binayak asked for the proof of FIR, there was no evidence. A person who cared for tribes in Chhattisgarh was arrested and detained and rejected bail many times. It’s been 2 years now. There is no verdict regarding this case yet. But, Varun Gandhi who had given hate speech against Non-Hindu religions was released within no time and National Security Act on him was repealed. Do you see any equality of justice here? Off course the cases are different. But the magnanimity of offense is contrasting. A person whose video tape clearly shows his hate towards other religions which is a potential dividing line between religions. He was detained and released within few weeks. When it comes to Mr. Binayak Sen, there is no potential evidence that he is involved in passing letters and his only offence is projecting the mass killings of Adivasis. Forget about Human Right Activist; is that an offense to draw the attention of Mass killings of Adivasis being a citizen?
Many Human Right Activists, Nobel Lauareates, Doctors from all over had appealed to PM. There is no response yet. He and his wife are fully committed to the welfare of the tribal community. For his work, he was awarded the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights in 2008. His health condition is deteriorating. He himself is in mental distress. We can’t afford to lose people like Mr. Binayak Sen. There has been many protests all over the world regarding this issue. Recently on May 14th they marked 2nd anniversary of his arrest. Atleast Government should take some steps to grant justice to Mr.Binayak Sen. We have to stay sanguine putting more efforts in making Mr. Binayak Sen release from the jail. Presently media has taken the baton of projecting the case of Mr. Binayak Sen. We are looking for a response from the Government. Hope he will be released soon.
- Optimistic Indian
Dr. Binayak Sen is Pediatrician, Public Health Specialist, and V.P of People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) based in Chhattisgarh. He is a distinguished human rights activist in India. He was detained in May 2007 for allegedly violating the provisions of Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005 and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967. He was arrested for involvement of drawing attention of unlawful killings of Adivasis in March 2007. When the bodies were exhumed, after autopsy it was found that there were bullets in three of the victims and remaining were axed to death. His organization appealed for arresting the policemen involved in these killings. Home Ministry rejected to take any action against the policemen involved. The police department started accusing that Dr. Binayak Sen was absconding and was passing letters from Narayan Sanyal ( Naxalite whom Dr. Binayak Sen medically treated him in the jail) to another naxalite in another jail. Hearing these false accusations, he returned back from his holiday which was planned long back.
The police with some neutral organizations held search in his house. They did not found single evidence. He appealed for bail. Court rejected. What an Irony!!!! When Mr. Binayak asked for the proof of FIR, there was no evidence. A person who cared for tribes in Chhattisgarh was arrested and detained and rejected bail many times. It’s been 2 years now. There is no verdict regarding this case yet. But, Varun Gandhi who had given hate speech against Non-Hindu religions was released within no time and National Security Act on him was repealed. Do you see any equality of justice here? Off course the cases are different. But the magnanimity of offense is contrasting. A person whose video tape clearly shows his hate towards other religions which is a potential dividing line between religions. He was detained and released within few weeks. When it comes to Mr. Binayak Sen, there is no potential evidence that he is involved in passing letters and his only offence is projecting the mass killings of Adivasis. Forget about Human Right Activist; is that an offense to draw the attention of Mass killings of Adivasis being a citizen?
Many Human Right Activists, Nobel Lauareates, Doctors from all over had appealed to PM. There is no response yet. He and his wife are fully committed to the welfare of the tribal community. For his work, he was awarded the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights in 2008. His health condition is deteriorating. He himself is in mental distress. We can’t afford to lose people like Mr. Binayak Sen. There has been many protests all over the world regarding this issue. Recently on May 14th they marked 2nd anniversary of his arrest. Atleast Government should take some steps to grant justice to Mr.Binayak Sen. We have to stay sanguine putting more efforts in making Mr. Binayak Sen release from the jail. Presently media has taken the baton of projecting the case of Mr. Binayak Sen. We are looking for a response from the Government. Hope he will be released soon.
- Optimistic Indian
Monday, May 18, 2009
The Week Gone By
- UPA has comeback to power at the center with a decisive mandate. Manmohan Singh is set to be the Prime Minister again. He is the only PM to come back to power after Nehru, after serving a full 5 year term.
UPA - 262, NDA - 157, ThirdFront - 67
This was Congress best performance in 18 years. Cong - 206, BJP - 116
Even in AP, Cong has come back to power. Cong - 157, TDP - 90, PRP - 18, TRS - 10, LSP - 1
- Biggest and most complex Elections Process in Largest Democracy has finally ended.
Election commission has done a commendable job, despite some irregularities. Voter turnout is about 58.43%, a slight increase than previous election.
- Despite recession, one sector that seems to be growing in India is Telecom. India added 8.97 million subscribers in April alone.
- Nearly 20 children who acted in the Oscar-winning 'Slumdog Millionaire' have been thrown on the streets after Mumbai civic authorities demolished nearly 50 huts in a slum , terming the slum unauthorised.
- YV Reddy, former Governor of RBI, widely acclaimed to be the man behind saving our banks from financial meltdown, authored a book called ‘India and the Global Financial Crisis: Managing Money and Finance', illustrating the reasons for this crisis and ways India can get out of this, amongst others.
Lone Indian voter defies mob
This is a story of a brave young voter in Bihar. This is a direct abstract from BBC news.The man was first threatened, then ostracised and finally fined when he mustered the courage to cast his ballot. It happened soon after villagers of Dharhara - in the Nalanda constituency - suddenly announced a poll boycott in protest over the lack of development in their village. As a result, none of the 900 or so voters in Dharhara turned up to cast ballots in the village's primary school building.
'Under pressure'
Tinish Kumar, 26, defied the ban.
At the end of the day he was counted as the lone voter in his village, even though protesting villagers gathered near the polling booth and tried physically to force him from doing so. “They tried to prevent me using all sorts of pressure but I just ran out to the booth and cast my ballot," an unfazed Mr Kumar told the BBC. "I wanted to vote because of the development our chief minister, Nitish Kumar, has done in the state, even if it has not come to our village yet." Tinish is currently studying a business course by correspondence. He drove his motorbike for three hours from the state capital, Patna, to reach his village to vote on 7 May. His mother, Usha Sinha, is a member of the village committee and his father, Kaushal Kumar, is an agriculturist. They did not cast votes "under pressure from villagers".
"A group of them invaded our house in the evening and abused us and threatened us with dire consequences for our son if he dared cast his vote,” Usha Sinha said. She told the villagers that her son had done nothing wrong. Fearful of a backlash, she telephoned local legislator Sharvan Kumar and the police for help - but it did not come. Ms Sinha said: "I'll go and try to meet the Bihar chief minister at his weekly people's court and tell him about what has happened on his own home turf.
"Casting a vote is an individual right and exercising it is everybody's prerogative."
Soon after the first incident of intimidation, a man appeared beating a drum. He called on the villagers to attend an urgent meeting in the village. Most went, but Tinish Kumar and his family wisely avoided it. "Later we heard that they have decided to ostracise us from our caste community and imposed a fine of 15,000 rupees ($301) as a penalty but no-one has ever approached us for this cash," said Tinish's father, Kaushal Kumar.
Village head Uma Kant Sinha did not vote - along with her husband Vijay Paswan - and left the village on polling day "to avoid an unnecessary confrontation with the villagers". "But what Tinish Kumar has done by casting his vote is amazing. We all should vote and we'll do it next time," Uma Kant Sinha told the BBC. Retired professor of maths Kumar Awadhendra Narayan - a neighbour of Tinish Kumar in the village - also supported what Tinish Kumar had done.
However, the villagers who boycotted the poll stood by their action. The boycott call was taken not for individual benefit but for the development of the village as a whole. You can see yourself the village has no drainage system, no road, no electricity and no primary health centre," said Vinod Kumar. Villager Mohammed Mahtab and Mohammed Mustaq nodded in agreement. Usha Sinha remains unruffled. "Why should I fear and succumb to their social pressure? My son has not committed a crime. I feel proud of him for daring to cast his vote," said Usha Sinha. But Tinish Kumar's stand for democracy was not replicated by all in Bihar. In Nalanda, the turnout was an abysmally low 39%. “http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8050308.stm"
-Srikanth Achanta
'Under pressure'
Tinish Kumar, 26, defied the ban.
At the end of the day he was counted as the lone voter in his village, even though protesting villagers gathered near the polling booth and tried physically to force him from doing so. “They tried to prevent me using all sorts of pressure but I just ran out to the booth and cast my ballot," an unfazed Mr Kumar told the BBC. "I wanted to vote because of the development our chief minister, Nitish Kumar, has done in the state, even if it has not come to our village yet." Tinish is currently studying a business course by correspondence. He drove his motorbike for three hours from the state capital, Patna, to reach his village to vote on 7 May. His mother, Usha Sinha, is a member of the village committee and his father, Kaushal Kumar, is an agriculturist. They did not cast votes "under pressure from villagers".
"A group of them invaded our house in the evening and abused us and threatened us with dire consequences for our son if he dared cast his vote,” Usha Sinha said. She told the villagers that her son had done nothing wrong. Fearful of a backlash, she telephoned local legislator Sharvan Kumar and the police for help - but it did not come. Ms Sinha said: "I'll go and try to meet the Bihar chief minister at his weekly people's court and tell him about what has happened on his own home turf.
"Casting a vote is an individual right and exercising it is everybody's prerogative."
Soon after the first incident of intimidation, a man appeared beating a drum. He called on the villagers to attend an urgent meeting in the village. Most went, but Tinish Kumar and his family wisely avoided it. "Later we heard that they have decided to ostracise us from our caste community and imposed a fine of 15,000 rupees ($301) as a penalty but no-one has ever approached us for this cash," said Tinish's father, Kaushal Kumar.
Village head Uma Kant Sinha did not vote - along with her husband Vijay Paswan - and left the village on polling day "to avoid an unnecessary confrontation with the villagers". "But what Tinish Kumar has done by casting his vote is amazing. We all should vote and we'll do it next time," Uma Kant Sinha told the BBC. Retired professor of maths Kumar Awadhendra Narayan - a neighbour of Tinish Kumar in the village - also supported what Tinish Kumar had done.
However, the villagers who boycotted the poll stood by their action. The boycott call was taken not for individual benefit but for the development of the village as a whole. You can see yourself the village has no drainage system, no road, no electricity and no primary health centre," said Vinod Kumar. Villager Mohammed Mahtab and Mohammed Mustaq nodded in agreement. Usha Sinha remains unruffled. "Why should I fear and succumb to their social pressure? My son has not committed a crime. I feel proud of him for daring to cast his vote," said Usha Sinha. But Tinish Kumar's stand for democracy was not replicated by all in Bihar. In Nalanda, the turnout was an abysmally low 39%. “http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8050308.stm"
-Srikanth Achanta
Is Obama Still Campaigning?
Dealing with worst recession since 1929, with unemployment rate reaching an all time high in a quarter century, everybody acknowledges that in these times of joblessness, the toughest job is that of the president of the United States. America and the rest of the World are closely and eagerly watching as to how he will ride this recession.
Apart from the controversial/arguable huge stimulus plan, some of the major plans being proposed like ‘Buy America’ clause, disallowing the bailed out companies to hire H1B employees and the recent tax plans to curb the outsourcing, aimed at bringing America out of shambles and facilitate American workers with more jobs may not prove to be the prudent steps and may well not serve the purpose intended.
The so-called "Buy American" clause in the $900 billion stimulus plan would have made it mandatory that only U.S.-made goods be used in projects funded by the bill. Many argue that American companies are having a competitive edge by hiring foreign workers and every such job in turn creates more jobs for American workers and many see the latest taxation claim hurts American companies more than the outsourcing destinations and they may well end up paying 70% of their revenues in taxes and will struggle over finding cost competitiveness. Also, most of the large American companies have more than 50 percent of their revenues coming from markets outside the US and would be affected by the proposed tax reforms.
Americas success story can be attributed to it being one of the largest free markets and all such measures are being viewed as Protectionist and “Populist” postures and may even back fire and deepen the recession Worldwide.
While the Indian IT sector can lobby the US on all these points, it is right time for the industry to seize this opportunity to look inwards where a huge domestic market awaits it and also focus on other destinations, gradually reducing its high dependence on US, insulating ourselves from the cold when US sneezes.
- Vikranth
Apart from the controversial/arguable huge stimulus plan, some of the major plans being proposed like ‘Buy America’ clause, disallowing the bailed out companies to hire H1B employees and the recent tax plans to curb the outsourcing, aimed at bringing America out of shambles and facilitate American workers with more jobs may not prove to be the prudent steps and may well not serve the purpose intended.
The so-called "Buy American" clause in the $900 billion stimulus plan would have made it mandatory that only U.S.-made goods be used in projects funded by the bill. Many argue that American companies are having a competitive edge by hiring foreign workers and every such job in turn creates more jobs for American workers and many see the latest taxation claim hurts American companies more than the outsourcing destinations and they may well end up paying 70% of their revenues in taxes and will struggle over finding cost competitiveness. Also, most of the large American companies have more than 50 percent of their revenues coming from markets outside the US and would be affected by the proposed tax reforms.
Americas success story can be attributed to it being one of the largest free markets and all such measures are being viewed as Protectionist and “Populist” postures and may even back fire and deepen the recession Worldwide.
While the Indian IT sector can lobby the US on all these points, it is right time for the industry to seize this opportunity to look inwards where a huge domestic market awaits it and also focus on other destinations, gradually reducing its high dependence on US, insulating ourselves from the cold when US sneezes.
- Vikranth
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The Week Gone By
- World Celebrated Mothers Day on Sunday, May 10
- Atlast Pakistan waged a war against Taliban's in Swat valley, fearing its own existence and pressure from Washington.It has shifted some of the troops from Indian border to Swat.
- 9 deaths were reported till date at Bolakpur, Hyderabad due to contaminated drinking water.
- There are fears of cholera spreading across the state.
- A whopping 1.6 lakh musicians sang Annamacharya keertanas in praise of lord Venkateswara in the hyderabad on Sunday, setting a new world record.
- After Nano Car, its Nano Housing. Tata Group company unveiled an ambitious project called Shubh Griha, which will offer low-cost homes at under Rs 5 lakh across the country.
Faking to be real-IPL
“Never in my cricketing viewership "career", did I see Gavaskar shouting , swinging , and jumping in his seat as if his son had scored a double century at Lords. Neither should ever happen but when at least one does, it feels awkward” was quoted by a person whose identity surfaces as you cruise along.
The IPL first edition took off with much aplomb and curiosity from all wakes of mankind, general public, cricket lovers, movie circles, businessmen, betters and more importantly the so called” desi-local” cricketers who always dreamt of playing for the country. Now that, at least they get to play alongside and against greats. And guess what, even players without bank account have opened theirs. Franchises have toiled their minds to fork out astronomical figures to buy the playing puppets. The concept of cheer leaders was bought from other sports. Will these cheerleaders add more to the already existing euphoria and fanaticism of the cricket mad countries? I doubt. The league set in India-the temple for cricket was worshiped day and night by all , from chaiwallas to Vijay Malya’s. Great players, Unknown talents, huge hits, and flops (we don’t need an adjective for this, do we?) marked the IPL’s first edition .Someone facetiously said that the Deccan chargers are good only on paper-bcoz they are owned by Deccan Chronicle. What an irony. And finally emerges an unexpected winner, an anticlimax. A perfect script, plot well executed and a commercially hit movie.
Can the directors and producers with a slightly different cast make a good melodrama this time around and successfully market it to the world? The only big difference, the location. South Africa is definitely not India. Thanks to the nefarious effect of terrorism and the weighty reasons of Loksabha elections. Just the fact that the Indian product is being outsourced made many say” Nahh”. Their outset thought “It’s going to be boring”. The huge sums, “who got whom” facts, star power gained insipid response this time. Alas! The game is important though, thought Modi. I bet my world; a shivering thought “Can IPL2 be bigger than last year?” would have passed his mind. Then with the entire bad omen around it he would have also thought “Let’s fake it to be bigger than last year-lol”.
Now the plot. With South Africa being a lukewarm venue (when compared to India), every other bit has to be done to woo more spectators and TV audience. So unusually eerie stuff surfaces, like SRK and lordie attending an idiot box program to select the prospective cheerleaders. Guys! Get your team right first! Without winning matches you sure will have ample people to dance to the crowds. Who has stumbled upon the idea to pick a face from the crowd to act in a Bollywood movie, as if we have dearth of people trying to make it to the celluloid.
The strategic time out after 10 over’s!!!!!???. Dude, IPL is meant to have bang-bang kind of games, not mindless money minting innovations that take away the essence of the game. Had Modi been candidly patriotic towards cricket, 71/2 min breaks would have been one among many ideas.
Commentators might never have wondered that their jobs include depicting an F1 race. Taking off from nothing. Is it imposed on them, to vociferate and create a frenzy atmosphere to even the slightest happening on the field? Are they made to leave behind good cricketing language to make a mockery of words to hype the situation? Yes they are made to do the exaggerations. If a pull from Asnodkar is conferred with all the superlative adjectives, what would you say to a cover drive from Sachin Tendulkar? The TV audience will cease enjoying the acts of greats.
How hard would it have been for well settled, placid commentators like Gavaskar, Arun lal, Ian bishop and many other manikins to counterfeit?
To add to the chaos, a fake IPL player dawns claiming to be a member of KKR.The maniac he is, the team management takes him seriously to ban players and staff from accessing laptops. Should he be a real member as he affirms, it’s better off if he concentrates on his game. Otherwise, this writer should make a choice in life to write about socially challenged issues.
Now John “Bokanan” as referred by the fake IPL player comes up with the “first time ever” idea of four captains. Rightly ridiculed, it serves no purpose, except that players never know who their leader is. Ajantha Mendis might still be pondering if the choice of him bowling the “Super” over was a combined or divided decision. On the other hand Kamran khan is already blooming in confidence before he takes his strides to bowl the first ball to Galye.Take a cue from Shane, Mr. John. If not all, most teams have differences. Its how you pack off the differences into a bag and go hiking to reach the heights that matters.
The game itself if far greater than any individual. Moments should surface by themselves and not be created.
- Naga Venkat Attili
The IPL first edition took off with much aplomb and curiosity from all wakes of mankind, general public, cricket lovers, movie circles, businessmen, betters and more importantly the so called” desi-local” cricketers who always dreamt of playing for the country. Now that, at least they get to play alongside and against greats. And guess what, even players without bank account have opened theirs. Franchises have toiled their minds to fork out astronomical figures to buy the playing puppets. The concept of cheer leaders was bought from other sports. Will these cheerleaders add more to the already existing euphoria and fanaticism of the cricket mad countries? I doubt. The league set in India-the temple for cricket was worshiped day and night by all , from chaiwallas to Vijay Malya’s. Great players, Unknown talents, huge hits, and flops (we don’t need an adjective for this, do we?) marked the IPL’s first edition .Someone facetiously said that the Deccan chargers are good only on paper-bcoz they are owned by Deccan Chronicle. What an irony. And finally emerges an unexpected winner, an anticlimax. A perfect script, plot well executed and a commercially hit movie.
Can the directors and producers with a slightly different cast make a good melodrama this time around and successfully market it to the world? The only big difference, the location. South Africa is definitely not India. Thanks to the nefarious effect of terrorism and the weighty reasons of Loksabha elections. Just the fact that the Indian product is being outsourced made many say” Nahh”. Their outset thought “It’s going to be boring”. The huge sums, “who got whom” facts, star power gained insipid response this time. Alas! The game is important though, thought Modi. I bet my world; a shivering thought “Can IPL2 be bigger than last year?” would have passed his mind. Then with the entire bad omen around it he would have also thought “Let’s fake it to be bigger than last year-lol”.
Now the plot. With South Africa being a lukewarm venue (when compared to India), every other bit has to be done to woo more spectators and TV audience. So unusually eerie stuff surfaces, like SRK and lordie attending an idiot box program to select the prospective cheerleaders. Guys! Get your team right first! Without winning matches you sure will have ample people to dance to the crowds. Who has stumbled upon the idea to pick a face from the crowd to act in a Bollywood movie, as if we have dearth of people trying to make it to the celluloid.
The strategic time out after 10 over’s!!!!!???. Dude, IPL is meant to have bang-bang kind of games, not mindless money minting innovations that take away the essence of the game. Had Modi been candidly patriotic towards cricket, 71/2 min breaks would have been one among many ideas.
Commentators might never have wondered that their jobs include depicting an F1 race. Taking off from nothing. Is it imposed on them, to vociferate and create a frenzy atmosphere to even the slightest happening on the field? Are they made to leave behind good cricketing language to make a mockery of words to hype the situation? Yes they are made to do the exaggerations. If a pull from Asnodkar is conferred with all the superlative adjectives, what would you say to a cover drive from Sachin Tendulkar? The TV audience will cease enjoying the acts of greats.
How hard would it have been for well settled, placid commentators like Gavaskar, Arun lal, Ian bishop and many other manikins to counterfeit?
To add to the chaos, a fake IPL player dawns claiming to be a member of KKR.The maniac he is, the team management takes him seriously to ban players and staff from accessing laptops. Should he be a real member as he affirms, it’s better off if he concentrates on his game. Otherwise, this writer should make a choice in life to write about socially challenged issues.
Now John “Bokanan” as referred by the fake IPL player comes up with the “first time ever” idea of four captains. Rightly ridiculed, it serves no purpose, except that players never know who their leader is. Ajantha Mendis might still be pondering if the choice of him bowling the “Super” over was a combined or divided decision. On the other hand Kamran khan is already blooming in confidence before he takes his strides to bowl the first ball to Galye.Take a cue from Shane, Mr. John. If not all, most teams have differences. Its how you pack off the differences into a bag and go hiking to reach the heights that matters.
The game itself if far greater than any individual. Moments should surface by themselves and not be created.
- Naga Venkat Attili
Why censure cinema for the crimes committed by perverted minds ??
"Cruelty, like every other vice, requires no motive outside of itself; it only requires opportunity."We've been witnessing barbarism since few days in our society. A boy killing an innocent girl for the mere reason of rejecting his so called "love". And we've also witnessed many debates on what must be done and what could've been the reasons behind such a heinous act , and many people concluding to the fact that the cinema ( a media for entertainment ) has been the influence behind every crime committed. Is it fair to completely blame the movies for such an act of savagery? Isn't the person who has committed the crime be solely held responsible? His psychotic mindset must be held accountable for his cruel brutality in degrading humanity by offering death to an innocent girl and slay her parents to unlimited and unending agony. Why must we affix such acts on movies? Aren't everybody watching the same movies as the culprit does, why is it that only he aspires to get influenced by the movie and not anybody else? Reason being the mental distress and illness of the culprit himself.
The effect and influence of media is mostly on young minds. It should be made clear to them seeing movies is just to spend their leisure. Every parent has the foremost responsibility of keeping an eye on their child's every move, adolescence is a stage where a child can be molded into a better human being or leave him to become a ruthless adult. Cruelty can not be cultivated and inculcated in a single day or by a singular medium. I believe it develops in stages. It needs someone to become extremely inhuman to witness a fellow human being suffer his monstrous act of fatal ferocity. Under the cloak of love he fulfills his vehement desire to cause pain.
How to put an end to such atrocious acts? Answer is plain and simple, every culprit committing such a crime must be severely punished, which must spread a warning message in a stentorian voice that such acts of crime to innocent people will lead to a very lethal and catastrophic consequences. That one judgment must send shivers to every person committing crime and he should tremble with fear to even think of murdering innocent people. We as fellow humans must take a pledge to support such judgments and back/ support our friends and victims, if they come across such maniacs report to our authorities about their intentions because its always better to avoid a crime than to brood over its repercussions.
-Mrudula Uppuluri
Sunday, May 3, 2009
The Week Gone By
- 50% voter turnout in Phase III
- ISRO send Bacteria Cells into Space
- Colombo offers conditional amnesty to LTTE Cadres
- Special Sessions Court ruled that Kasab was 21 yr old on the day of attack.
- Swine Flu epidemic passed peak and declining says Mexico
- Quattrocchi out of Interpol wanted list.
- LTTE restricted to 4.5 Sq Km area: Srilankan Army.
- Military action looks likely in Swat District.
- Deccan Chargers lead the points Table.
Mumbai can't and Mumbai won't
2009 general elections are in its last phase, while it is heartening to see the voter turnout in some states like Andhra Pradesh, it was rather disappointing in states like Maharashtra and Bihar.
Major disappointment was when Mumbai went to Vote, a lot of hype was created and high voter turnout was expected. Politicians were seen as enemies at the time of 26/11 and there was a feeling that people have woken up and make politicians accountable. But 45% polling has proved that it was a false impression created by media.
I feel there are many reasons for this poor voter turnout,
1. No political motivation: No political party’s leaders are successful in discussing their problems or communicating their ideologies to the voters. Voters don’t see a change by electing any of the contesting members. They have lost HOPE and have resigned to the fact that things won’t change.
2. Discrepancies in the voter registrations: These discrepancies are alarmingly high, one cannot expect 80% polling with the current percentage of errors in voter lists. Election commission needs to take this up seriously and find a solution to this.
3. Violence: Election commission has released a statement that 2009 general elections are by and large been peaceful where 19 people have lost their lives. Of which 9 were civilians and 10 security officials. This in many countries would be considered as disaster but not in India. This certainly keeps voters away from polling booths, after all no one wants to risk their life to VOTE.
4. Willful ignorance: There are people who ignore the importance and responsibility of voting in a democracy, they throw a deaf ear to everything that’s happening around them. They somehow convince themselves that its “cool” not to talk, think or discuss about politics.
5. Weather conditions: Elections in summer did have an effect, temperatures were close to 45 C in many places and voter turnout in these places was low. Although we could do very little about the weather, some steps could be taken like providing proper shelter for the queues and extending polling time till late in the evenings.
There is one false belief that illiteracy is one of the reasons, I certainly don’t think so because India is only democratic country in the world where Right to Vote is exercised more by poor and illiterate that the affluent. It’s time the middle class and the upper class come forward and utilize their power rather than just complain. If you don’t vote you don’t have right to complain.
Although low polling percentage is still a problem in our democracy, thanks to the efforts of many NGO’s and media who ran campaigns like “Jagoore” and “VoteIndia” there was some improvement in many states in this election.
Important thing to learn from this election is that media or NGO’s should concentrate more on Voter registrations which would bring more transparency in the registration process and brings down discrepancies. A voter who registers himself a month before elections more often than not votes. We are a young country and we would have many new voters in every election, so its very important to have a easy and transparent voter registration process.
Mr. L.K.Advani after casting his vote has said that voting has to be made compulsory in India. I think it’s impossible to do that in India with its huge population and finding a deterrent for those who don’t vote would be very difficult.
We have seen many educated and young people voting this year, I have a sneaking feeling that will have a significant impact and there would be many surprises on 16th of May when elections results are announced. As always exit polls in India would be wrong, but that’s just my guess ;).
-Srikanth Achanta
Major disappointment was when Mumbai went to Vote, a lot of hype was created and high voter turnout was expected. Politicians were seen as enemies at the time of 26/11 and there was a feeling that people have woken up and make politicians accountable. But 45% polling has proved that it was a false impression created by media.
I feel there are many reasons for this poor voter turnout,
1. No political motivation: No political party’s leaders are successful in discussing their problems or communicating their ideologies to the voters. Voters don’t see a change by electing any of the contesting members. They have lost HOPE and have resigned to the fact that things won’t change.
2. Discrepancies in the voter registrations: These discrepancies are alarmingly high, one cannot expect 80% polling with the current percentage of errors in voter lists. Election commission needs to take this up seriously and find a solution to this.
3. Violence: Election commission has released a statement that 2009 general elections are by and large been peaceful where 19 people have lost their lives. Of which 9 were civilians and 10 security officials. This in many countries would be considered as disaster but not in India. This certainly keeps voters away from polling booths, after all no one wants to risk their life to VOTE.
4. Willful ignorance: There are people who ignore the importance and responsibility of voting in a democracy, they throw a deaf ear to everything that’s happening around them. They somehow convince themselves that its “cool” not to talk, think or discuss about politics.
5. Weather conditions: Elections in summer did have an effect, temperatures were close to 45 C in many places and voter turnout in these places was low. Although we could do very little about the weather, some steps could be taken like providing proper shelter for the queues and extending polling time till late in the evenings.
There is one false belief that illiteracy is one of the reasons, I certainly don’t think so because India is only democratic country in the world where Right to Vote is exercised more by poor and illiterate that the affluent. It’s time the middle class and the upper class come forward and utilize their power rather than just complain. If you don’t vote you don’t have right to complain.
Although low polling percentage is still a problem in our democracy, thanks to the efforts of many NGO’s and media who ran campaigns like “Jagoore” and “VoteIndia” there was some improvement in many states in this election.
Important thing to learn from this election is that media or NGO’s should concentrate more on Voter registrations which would bring more transparency in the registration process and brings down discrepancies. A voter who registers himself a month before elections more often than not votes. We are a young country and we would have many new voters in every election, so its very important to have a easy and transparent voter registration process.
Mr. L.K.Advani after casting his vote has said that voting has to be made compulsory in India. I think it’s impossible to do that in India with its huge population and finding a deterrent for those who don’t vote would be very difficult.
We have seen many educated and young people voting this year, I have a sneaking feeling that will have a significant impact and there would be many surprises on 16th of May when elections results are announced. As always exit polls in India would be wrong, but that’s just my guess ;).
-Srikanth Achanta
NREGA
NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) is said to be one of the best policies designed for the poor in recent decades. It was implemented in 2005. The effort of implementing this scheme goes to Left and Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghtan(MKSS), and National Campaign’s Right to Information(NCPRI). Not to forget Mr. Jacques Dreze for his significant contribution.
The Act is implemented to guarantee employment for at least 100 days per household per year. During the first year of the implementation there were some implementation flaws and that led to siphoning off money. There were many cases of false muster rolls. Only with execution of RTI Act the magnitude has been brought down. Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2005 with which anyone can request for the information of the muster rolls and can do the social auditing.
The idea of a social audit was conceived of by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghtan (MKSS) in the state of Rajasthan when it was found that there was large-scale fraud in drought-relief work. MKSS then demanded information from local authorities about work done and payments made and verified this by comparing official data with the field reality. Soon villagers realized that they had been defrauded and millions of rupees worth of work shown as having been completed was, in fact, never even taken up in the first place. Old public works were passed off as new. Local contractors and elites had received payments for non-existent structures. Wages were supposed to have been paid to people who did not exist in the village. This movement, which started in a few districts in the state of Rajasthan, led to a countrywide demand for a Right to Information (RTI) legislation and an employment guarantee Act.
NREGA, supposed to create purchasing power among workers. People working on NREGA sites spend this additional money, they create demand for commodities. The production of these commodities, in turn, creates demand for capital, raw materials and workers. The extra incomes so generated cause further demand, which again provides a stimulus to production, employment and demand ... and so on in a spiral.
Millions of small and marginal farmers forced to work under NREGA because the productivity of their own farms is no longer enough to make ends meet. NREGA will become really powerful when it helps rebuild this decimated productivity of small farms. Public investment in the programme incentivises private investment by small farmers and gives them a chance to return to full-time farming. Especially in the central Indian tribal belt, arguably the poorest parts of the country. Here earthen dams on common land have recharged wells of those poor farmers who earlier worked as labourers to build these dams. These farmers are now busy making a series of investments to improve their own farms.
Recently, with the impending financial crisis many NGO’s requested for the Act to be designed for the urban areas also. Who knows there might be NUEGA (National Urban Employment Guarantee Act) in near future?
-Optimistic Indian
The Act is implemented to guarantee employment for at least 100 days per household per year. During the first year of the implementation there were some implementation flaws and that led to siphoning off money. There were many cases of false muster rolls. Only with execution of RTI Act the magnitude has been brought down. Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2005 with which anyone can request for the information of the muster rolls and can do the social auditing.
The idea of a social audit was conceived of by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghtan (MKSS) in the state of Rajasthan when it was found that there was large-scale fraud in drought-relief work. MKSS then demanded information from local authorities about work done and payments made and verified this by comparing official data with the field reality. Soon villagers realized that they had been defrauded and millions of rupees worth of work shown as having been completed was, in fact, never even taken up in the first place. Old public works were passed off as new. Local contractors and elites had received payments for non-existent structures. Wages were supposed to have been paid to people who did not exist in the village. This movement, which started in a few districts in the state of Rajasthan, led to a countrywide demand for a Right to Information (RTI) legislation and an employment guarantee Act.
NREGA, supposed to create purchasing power among workers. People working on NREGA sites spend this additional money, they create demand for commodities. The production of these commodities, in turn, creates demand for capital, raw materials and workers. The extra incomes so generated cause further demand, which again provides a stimulus to production, employment and demand ... and so on in a spiral.
Millions of small and marginal farmers forced to work under NREGA because the productivity of their own farms is no longer enough to make ends meet. NREGA will become really powerful when it helps rebuild this decimated productivity of small farms. Public investment in the programme incentivises private investment by small farmers and gives them a chance to return to full-time farming. Especially in the central Indian tribal belt, arguably the poorest parts of the country. Here earthen dams on common land have recharged wells of those poor farmers who earlier worked as labourers to build these dams. These farmers are now busy making a series of investments to improve their own farms.
Recently, with the impending financial crisis many NGO’s requested for the Act to be designed for the urban areas also. Who knows there might be NUEGA (National Urban Employment Guarantee Act) in near future?
-Optimistic Indian
Sunday, April 26, 2009
The Week Gone By
- Shoe throwing has become a fashion these days. Mr. Manmohan singh became the latest target of shoe attack at an election rally in Ahmedabad.
- Five Taliban commanders and around 300 terrorists, including suicide bombers are believed to be headed towards Islamabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi to carry out major terror attacks.
- Lankan army confines LTTE to just 8 sqkm.Meanwhile LTTE declares a unilateral ceasefire.
- Lakshi Mittal looses staggering 16.9bn pounds in a year due to global recession, but still continues to be the richest man in UK.
- Oracle acquires Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion after the talks of IBM failed with the latter.
- F1: Britain’s Jenson Button won the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday. This is his third victory in four races. His team Brawn GP formerly known as Honda.
World for all
India, the largest democracy in the world, the second largest populated nation, plethora of cultures and religions and also the house of Asia’s largest slum. With 42% of the Indian population below the poverty line, India is still standing large and strong with optimism for a greater nation beyond social, cultural and more importantly economical barriers and yet envisioning a religious balance and equality to be known to the global community as “truly secular”. Too far fletched a dream? In a world where everything is explored from inside of an atom to what lies beyond milky way, from cure to weirdly named diseases to solution for wrinkles, there should be enough room for innovations to further the goal of “World for All”. Leaving behind the religious harmony which entirely is dependent on the mindset of people, the economic stability is something where there is a need for great practical visionaries.
Clearly, capitalism or communism is not the solution. Distribution of wealth is rather a strain on the existing balance as these concepts “force” but not further the cause and which almost always leads to fear and ultimately rebelliousness as proved by the history. Creation of wealth should be the goal rather than distribution. The solution lies in change “from the people – for the people”. Few examples of exceptional innovations are applications of microfinance, microcredit and social business. All these systems harness the power of free market to solve the problems of poverty, hunger and inequality.
Microfinance and microcredit as we all know is the provision of financial services to low-income and self-employed clients. Microcredit is an excellent paragon of tweaking a conservative system, in this case – Capitalism, to the benefit of people. The lending of micro loans without collateral has helped many self sustained small businesses to create their own world of opportunities. It would be unfair not to mention the contributions of Muhammed Yunus, Founder of the Grameen Bank, while discussing a “poverty free world”. He pioneered microcredit, the innovative banking program that provides poor people, mainly woman an opportunity to launch businesses and create a sustainable source of income. In the past thirty years, microcredit has spread to every continent and has benefited over 100 million needy families.
Social business, on the other hand is a completely new way to use the creative vibrancy of business to tackle social problems from poverty to pollution to inadequate health care and lack of education. A business designed to meet the social cause. Businesses continue to grow, global trade is booming, multinational corporations are spreading like never before – in between all the corporate money making why anyone would consider a low profit business in developing and third world nations which are potentially a threat to development? What does social business provide to them in terms of profits?
The answer lies in the question if strategically looked for. Expansions and cross-continental presence is a key to success for a business in the globalizing world. More and more businesses have started realizing this potential as a great way to market them which in turn adds greatly to their reputation. The results of this win-win situation are more apparent in a product based business. Group Danone, a French based food products company has greatly benefitted from introducing a social element to its business. Danone has infused in most of the developing nations and promises low cost and high nutrition foods to the needy. Its products have bought more profit than ever even in the developed nations like the US due to its reputation of a ‘social business’.
Applications of social business in service sector are not left behind. Although not as huge as Danone, www.babajob.com, founded by Sean Blagsvedt, a previous Microsoft employee, is a small attempt to improving the conditions of vocational workers at the same time benefitting from the venture. Currently focused in Bangalore, the site aims at providing a streamlined job search engine for the tertiary worker class like maids, drivers etc. The site includes no fee from the job seekers but charges the employers instead who look for domestic services which is otherwise a highly luck based effort.
I am sure there are a lot of unheard examples out there like Group Danone and Sean Blagsvedt. This is where exactly the young India is needed in bringing about the change by introducing novel ways into the system.
- Sameera Kommidi
Clearly, capitalism or communism is not the solution. Distribution of wealth is rather a strain on the existing balance as these concepts “force” but not further the cause and which almost always leads to fear and ultimately rebelliousness as proved by the history. Creation of wealth should be the goal rather than distribution. The solution lies in change “from the people – for the people”. Few examples of exceptional innovations are applications of microfinance, microcredit and social business. All these systems harness the power of free market to solve the problems of poverty, hunger and inequality.
Microfinance and microcredit as we all know is the provision of financial services to low-income and self-employed clients. Microcredit is an excellent paragon of tweaking a conservative system, in this case – Capitalism, to the benefit of people. The lending of micro loans without collateral has helped many self sustained small businesses to create their own world of opportunities. It would be unfair not to mention the contributions of Muhammed Yunus, Founder of the Grameen Bank, while discussing a “poverty free world”. He pioneered microcredit, the innovative banking program that provides poor people, mainly woman an opportunity to launch businesses and create a sustainable source of income. In the past thirty years, microcredit has spread to every continent and has benefited over 100 million needy families.
Social business, on the other hand is a completely new way to use the creative vibrancy of business to tackle social problems from poverty to pollution to inadequate health care and lack of education. A business designed to meet the social cause. Businesses continue to grow, global trade is booming, multinational corporations are spreading like never before – in between all the corporate money making why anyone would consider a low profit business in developing and third world nations which are potentially a threat to development? What does social business provide to them in terms of profits?
The answer lies in the question if strategically looked for. Expansions and cross-continental presence is a key to success for a business in the globalizing world. More and more businesses have started realizing this potential as a great way to market them which in turn adds greatly to their reputation. The results of this win-win situation are more apparent in a product based business. Group Danone, a French based food products company has greatly benefitted from introducing a social element to its business. Danone has infused in most of the developing nations and promises low cost and high nutrition foods to the needy. Its products have bought more profit than ever even in the developed nations like the US due to its reputation of a ‘social business’.
Applications of social business in service sector are not left behind. Although not as huge as Danone, www.babajob.com, founded by Sean Blagsvedt, a previous Microsoft employee, is a small attempt to improving the conditions of vocational workers at the same time benefitting from the venture. Currently focused in Bangalore, the site aims at providing a streamlined job search engine for the tertiary worker class like maids, drivers etc. The site includes no fee from the job seekers but charges the employers instead who look for domestic services which is otherwise a highly luck based effort.
I am sure there are a lot of unheard examples out there like Group Danone and Sean Blagsvedt. This is where exactly the young India is needed in bringing about the change by introducing novel ways into the system.
- Sameera Kommidi
Love Thy Neighbours?
With Pakistan in the West, Sri Lanka in the South, Bangladesh in the East and China in the North, thank god India is a peninsula; we don’t have to deal with two more neighbors.
For six decades now, we have been in war with Pakistan largely over the issue of Kashmir and eventually it spread across the country. The latest attacks on Mumbai throws a whole new dimension to the rivalry. In 2008-2009 alone our country has witnessed over 70 odd attacks. With the advancement of the Taliban into Buner, a mere 100 kilometers from Islamabad, the situation in Pakistan needs no explanation and if they take over the Pakistan then they could well become our western neighbor.
In the south, there is an ongoing Civil war in the Island nation since 25 years between LTTE and its government. The spill out of which among others, resulted in the assassination of our ex prime minister. Even though it seems like an endgame for Prabhakaran, there could be some more elements of LTTE spread across the country and if the main roots of the conflict are not addressed by its government then there could be the rise of another Prabhakaran. With the ongoing massive evacuation and thousands still in the conflict zone, the humanitarian situation presently seems grave.
And then there is Bangladesh and the infiltration of the terrorists through it in the East and the traditional rival and the largest and the most powerful neighbor and competitor in the north, China. I don’t think arguably any other major country has such serious situations posed by its neighbors. Among other challenges India facing today, National Security and foreign policy continue to occupy the top slot.
As it is said, we can change history but not geography, India and its top leadership should continue to emphasize on these matters and National Security should be the top agenda of the next government which otherwise can lead to many more Kargil’s and Mumbai’s.
- Vikranth
For six decades now, we have been in war with Pakistan largely over the issue of Kashmir and eventually it spread across the country. The latest attacks on Mumbai throws a whole new dimension to the rivalry. In 2008-2009 alone our country has witnessed over 70 odd attacks. With the advancement of the Taliban into Buner, a mere 100 kilometers from Islamabad, the situation in Pakistan needs no explanation and if they take over the Pakistan then they could well become our western neighbor.
In the south, there is an ongoing Civil war in the Island nation since 25 years between LTTE and its government. The spill out of which among others, resulted in the assassination of our ex prime minister. Even though it seems like an endgame for Prabhakaran, there could be some more elements of LTTE spread across the country and if the main roots of the conflict are not addressed by its government then there could be the rise of another Prabhakaran. With the ongoing massive evacuation and thousands still in the conflict zone, the humanitarian situation presently seems grave.
And then there is Bangladesh and the infiltration of the terrorists through it in the East and the traditional rival and the largest and the most powerful neighbor and competitor in the north, China. I don’t think arguably any other major country has such serious situations posed by its neighbors. Among other challenges India facing today, National Security and foreign policy continue to occupy the top slot.
As it is said, we can change history but not geography, India and its top leadership should continue to emphasize on these matters and National Security should be the top agenda of the next government which otherwise can lead to many more Kargil’s and Mumbai’s.
- Vikranth
Sunday, April 19, 2009
New Look
New Look for our Newsletter is to observe Earth Day. This day should have significance in our lives atleast from now.
Results
As expected results are no full majority. The irony is, in news channels, nobody is considering Loksatta as mainstream kingmaker party, but in our poll LOKSATTA and Congress got the majority votes. 33% each.
We appreciate the suggestion of who should form the govt? Yes, you are right! it is good to have opinion than prediction.
Results
As expected results are no full majority. The irony is, in news channels, nobody is considering Loksatta as mainstream kingmaker party, but in our poll LOKSATTA and Congress got the majority votes. 33% each.
We appreciate the suggestion of who should form the govt? Yes, you are right! it is good to have opinion than prediction.
The Week Gone By
- 58-62% Voter turnout in the 1st phase of Elections.
- About 90% voter turnout in Nagaland.
- Second Phase will be held on April 22nd , 23rd.
- Mr. Gopalaswami is going to end his service as Cheif Election Commissioner today.
- 3 killed as Maoist forces attack security forces.
- 10 CISF Personnel killed as Maoists strike at Orissa mine.
- World to celebrate Earth week and Earth Day on April 22nd.
- Deccan Chargers,Bangalore Royal Challengers,Delhi Dare Devil, Mumbai Indians secure wins in the second Indian Premier League going on in South Africa.
New Political Transformation
I hope many of you had exercised your votes. This time the vote awareness campaign is in a large scale. The major momentum to vote in large scale came from the newly turned promising good people to politicians. So, looking them entering into the Political forum people also got inspired and also felt responsible to vote. This is a very significant positive change. Many, Executives, former bureaucrats, Auto Driver, Social Activists, film actors the list goes on, felt responsible and came forward to contest elections.
Mr.Jaya Prakash Narayan, former IAS, LOKSATTA founder, has started LOKSATTA political party in 2006 and is in full flow in convincing the educated youth. Mr. JP is pulling youth towards Election booths. He is expected to play a crucial role in state politics.
Mr. Shashi Tharoor, Former under Secretary General of U.N., is contesting elections from Trivandrum. He was a contestant for UN Secretary General and secured second in the contest. He was involved in humanitarian issues in Africa for over 30 years. Country needs this kind of intelligentsia in prospering further in efficient path. We are lucky destiny made him to contest for MP rather than Secretary General.
Ms. Meera Sanyal, Chairperson of ABN AMRO Bank, has taken sabbatical leave from her job and is contesting the Elections from South Mumbai.
Ms. Mallika Sarabai, Social Activist, is contesting against Mr. Advani in Gandhinagar.
Mr.E. Sharath Babu, IIM –A, Entrepreneur, is contesting as an Independent from South Chennai.
On the whole some prominent people from bureaucracy, executives of MNC’s, social activists are coming forward to contest the elections. This is really amazing.
Thanks to the media for projecting the candidates and questioning them on behalf of public. But the same media is also showing biased opinions. Especially in Andhra Pradesh, the media is reporting in a biased manner. Each channel is demonizing their rival party. The very essence of Unbiased Journalism is being lost. People should understand what is wrong and what is right.
-Optimistic Indian
Mr.Jaya Prakash Narayan, former IAS, LOKSATTA founder, has started LOKSATTA political party in 2006 and is in full flow in convincing the educated youth. Mr. JP is pulling youth towards Election booths. He is expected to play a crucial role in state politics.
Mr. Shashi Tharoor, Former under Secretary General of U.N., is contesting elections from Trivandrum. He was a contestant for UN Secretary General and secured second in the contest. He was involved in humanitarian issues in Africa for over 30 years. Country needs this kind of intelligentsia in prospering further in efficient path. We are lucky destiny made him to contest for MP rather than Secretary General.
Ms. Meera Sanyal, Chairperson of ABN AMRO Bank, has taken sabbatical leave from her job and is contesting the Elections from South Mumbai.
Ms. Mallika Sarabai, Social Activist, is contesting against Mr. Advani in Gandhinagar.
Mr.E. Sharath Babu, IIM –A, Entrepreneur, is contesting as an Independent from South Chennai.
On the whole some prominent people from bureaucracy, executives of MNC’s, social activists are coming forward to contest the elections. This is really amazing.
Thanks to the media for projecting the candidates and questioning them on behalf of public. But the same media is also showing biased opinions. Especially in Andhra Pradesh, the media is reporting in a biased manner. Each channel is demonizing their rival party. The very essence of Unbiased Journalism is being lost. People should understand what is wrong and what is right.
-Optimistic Indian
Some Solutions to save Earth
This article is written on the occasion of Earth Day which is observed on April 22nd.
Sometime in the 22nd century, in the year 2105 due to trash on the Earth, earth’s population is sent on Spaceliners to spend 5 years on a cruise while an army of trash compactor Robots named WALL.E were left behind to clean the Earth. The planet becomes more toxic to support life and makes the people remain in space indefinitely. Are you foreseeing the future of humanity? Fortunately, after seven hundred years WALL.E develops sentience and sense of emotion like human being and later it makes the humanity come back to the planet and plant a tree and starts restoring the home planet. The plot is from WALL.E. Do you want this to happen with us? If we will not feel responsible, we will definitely land up in that situation. Earth Day is observed just to inspire people in saving Earth.
Earth day was designed to inspire awareness and appreciation of Earth’s environment. It was started in 1969. The modern Environment movement started with fighting against oil spills, polluting factories, power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, extinction of wildlife etc. In the course of time the awareness is created in the wider parts of the world.
Recently in Australia 200,000 litres of oil leaked into waters and the oil spill has spread along 60 km of Queensland coast. Significant damage was done to the aquatic life transforming into an environmental disaster.
Cement factories make up one of the world’s biggest industries and they represent an industry that produces more than 5% of mankind’s CO2 emissions. There is a new technology in its incubation stage which might change the future of Earth, CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE (CCS), which captures the carbon and ultimately reduces the carbon emissions. In April, 2009 a Power Plant in South of France started functioning on CCS technology. This technology could save the planet from expected increased use of coal in power stations around the world. At its best, it could trap up to 90% of a power plant’s carbon emissions.
Tim Flannery, an Australian scientist and Environmentalist, recently gave a speech in New Delhi on Pyrolysis. This involves taking any biological material- say crop waste, human sewage- and heating it in the absence of oxygen, effectively cooking it in the process. What you get out of that procedure are three products-a synthetic gas which we use to generate electricity, a crude oil substitute that can be used to make plastics or fertilizers, and charcoal (this contains most of the carbon in the original biological material and if you put the charcoal back into the soil it helps with soil fertility). Experiments done in Australia showed that crop yield increased by 30% just by putting charcoal into the soil.
Coming to the wildlife, many species are at endangered level. Only due to our selfishness the animals are getting extinct. There are some societies which are trying to conserve the rare species. In India, our very own National Animal, there are only 1500 tigers left out. You see tigers missing from the reserves very often. Recently scientists had discovered about 14 species of frogs in the Western Ghats of India. So, there is some work going on in order to conserve the animals.
To monitor the carbon emissions and reduce the pollution and commitment towards Sustainable Development. About 172 countries met in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to discuss on scrutiny on patterns of production, growing scarcity of water which led to an important agreement on the Climate Change Convention which in turn led to Kyoto Protocol. Almost all the countries ratified except USA. This year we have Copenhagen climate change summit. World is expecting for the US Govt to ratify the agreement. USA is the largest per capita emitter of CO2 from burning of Fossil Fuels. R.K.Pachauri, Al Gore of IPCC have been instrumental in promoting sustainable development. They were conferred Nobel Peace Prize for their tremendous commitment.
At least at this point of time when youth is feeling the importance of vote, they should also be start feeling the importance of environment.
SAVE EARTH!
Source: Guardian, Wikipedia, Frontline
- Optimistic Indian
Sometime in the 22nd century, in the year 2105 due to trash on the Earth, earth’s population is sent on Spaceliners to spend 5 years on a cruise while an army of trash compactor Robots named WALL.E were left behind to clean the Earth. The planet becomes more toxic to support life and makes the people remain in space indefinitely. Are you foreseeing the future of humanity? Fortunately, after seven hundred years WALL.E develops sentience and sense of emotion like human being and later it makes the humanity come back to the planet and plant a tree and starts restoring the home planet. The plot is from WALL.E. Do you want this to happen with us? If we will not feel responsible, we will definitely land up in that situation. Earth Day is observed just to inspire people in saving Earth.
Earth day was designed to inspire awareness and appreciation of Earth’s environment. It was started in 1969. The modern Environment movement started with fighting against oil spills, polluting factories, power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, extinction of wildlife etc. In the course of time the awareness is created in the wider parts of the world.
Recently in Australia 200,000 litres of oil leaked into waters and the oil spill has spread along 60 km of Queensland coast. Significant damage was done to the aquatic life transforming into an environmental disaster.
Cement factories make up one of the world’s biggest industries and they represent an industry that produces more than 5% of mankind’s CO2 emissions. There is a new technology in its incubation stage which might change the future of Earth, CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE (CCS), which captures the carbon and ultimately reduces the carbon emissions. In April, 2009 a Power Plant in South of France started functioning on CCS technology. This technology could save the planet from expected increased use of coal in power stations around the world. At its best, it could trap up to 90% of a power plant’s carbon emissions.
Tim Flannery, an Australian scientist and Environmentalist, recently gave a speech in New Delhi on Pyrolysis. This involves taking any biological material- say crop waste, human sewage- and heating it in the absence of oxygen, effectively cooking it in the process. What you get out of that procedure are three products-a synthetic gas which we use to generate electricity, a crude oil substitute that can be used to make plastics or fertilizers, and charcoal (this contains most of the carbon in the original biological material and if you put the charcoal back into the soil it helps with soil fertility). Experiments done in Australia showed that crop yield increased by 30% just by putting charcoal into the soil.
Coming to the wildlife, many species are at endangered level. Only due to our selfishness the animals are getting extinct. There are some societies which are trying to conserve the rare species. In India, our very own National Animal, there are only 1500 tigers left out. You see tigers missing from the reserves very often. Recently scientists had discovered about 14 species of frogs in the Western Ghats of India. So, there is some work going on in order to conserve the animals.
To monitor the carbon emissions and reduce the pollution and commitment towards Sustainable Development. About 172 countries met in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to discuss on scrutiny on patterns of production, growing scarcity of water which led to an important agreement on the Climate Change Convention which in turn led to Kyoto Protocol. Almost all the countries ratified except USA. This year we have Copenhagen climate change summit. World is expecting for the US Govt to ratify the agreement. USA is the largest per capita emitter of CO2 from burning of Fossil Fuels. R.K.Pachauri, Al Gore of IPCC have been instrumental in promoting sustainable development. They were conferred Nobel Peace Prize for their tremendous commitment.
At least at this point of time when youth is feeling the importance of vote, they should also be start feeling the importance of environment.
SAVE EARTH!
Source: Guardian, Wikipedia, Frontline
- Optimistic Indian
Sunday, April 12, 2009
The Week Gone By
- Modi calls 125 yr old Congress party as " Budiya and gudiya"
- Jarnail Singh throws shoe at Chidambaram in a protest against CBI's clean chit to 1984 anti-sikh riots accused Jagadish Tytler. Though it missed him, hits Tytler and Sajjan Kumar who are dropped from the Lok Sabha contest.
- Satyam buyer will be announced today who will have a 51% stake in the company.
- Terror continues to strike Assam.
- Indian Hockey team won Azlan Shah Tournament after 13 yrs beating Malaysia 3-1
Political View
Traditionally there have been four seasons in India, but of late there seems to be some more seasons adding up like the festival season, the awards season, the elections season. With only few more days left to the first stage of elections and mercury levels already high in the political spectrum, this sure is an election season.
There are many reasons why people in India hate our politics and politicians through decades and the recent incidents like the insensitive remarks of ex-deputy CM of Maharasthra, Varuns hate speech in Philibit, the communal intolerance of Raj Thackeray, the ‘blood shed’ speech of Vaiko supporting LTTE, the giving of clean chit to Tytler, and the numerous criminals entering the political fray and the increasing corruption charges are no different.
Despite the odds, how did we then become the second fastest growing economy in the world?
The ‘Political” reason to this success story is that there are number of people whose hard work and tireless approach, foresight and reforms like the Manmohans, the Chidambarams, the Arun Shouries, the Sudhir Kumars, the Suresh Prabhus, the TN Seshans, the Jayapraskash Narayans, and numerous others who are constantly in the public life and help resolve issues of aam jantha in their own respects led to the prosperity of this country and incorporation of some values into this democracy.
China, whose success is largely driven by a purposeful state, three-fourths of its politburo consists of young technocrats unlike India. Imagine India’s success if more and more young minds enter the political arena which as of now largely depends on private sector. It is hearting to see that many people, especially the young who were once proud saying that they never voted, they do not care about who forms the govt. are slowly but surely realizing that it is in their hands that the future of this country lies.
The fact that democracy is the only way to go, knowing that the politics is an intricate part of it, with optimism in our hearts, let us try to participate and ensure that good governance is delivered and if possible be a part of it.
(Source: partly TOI)
-Vikranth
There are many reasons why people in India hate our politics and politicians through decades and the recent incidents like the insensitive remarks of ex-deputy CM of Maharasthra, Varuns hate speech in Philibit, the communal intolerance of Raj Thackeray, the ‘blood shed’ speech of Vaiko supporting LTTE, the giving of clean chit to Tytler, and the numerous criminals entering the political fray and the increasing corruption charges are no different.
Despite the odds, how did we then become the second fastest growing economy in the world?
The ‘Political” reason to this success story is that there are number of people whose hard work and tireless approach, foresight and reforms like the Manmohans, the Chidambarams, the Arun Shouries, the Sudhir Kumars, the Suresh Prabhus, the TN Seshans, the Jayapraskash Narayans, and numerous others who are constantly in the public life and help resolve issues of aam jantha in their own respects led to the prosperity of this country and incorporation of some values into this democracy.
China, whose success is largely driven by a purposeful state, three-fourths of its politburo consists of young technocrats unlike India. Imagine India’s success if more and more young minds enter the political arena which as of now largely depends on private sector. It is hearting to see that many people, especially the young who were once proud saying that they never voted, they do not care about who forms the govt. are slowly but surely realizing that it is in their hands that the future of this country lies.
The fact that democracy is the only way to go, knowing that the politics is an intricate part of it, with optimism in our hearts, let us try to participate and ensure that good governance is delivered and if possible be a part of it.
(Source: partly TOI)
-Vikranth
Struggle for and with Education
In the first part of this article I talk about “struggle for education” and then I draw my attention on “struggle with education” in this country.
For whatever reason in India primary education never got the importance or attention it needs. Surprisingly the educational institutions in India are largely run by private organizations unlike America where it’s funded mainly by the state. I believe that a public good like Primary education should always be a responsibility of the state. Not so surprisingly state has failed to deliver their promise. People have taken it up on themselves and hence we see these private organizations or NGO’s spawning up in huge numbers.
Well the good news is the young people in India see the need for education and their parents feel likewise. People see the financial and social costs of not being educated, so there is demand for education and slowly but surely government is acting on it too. They have started a education cess which is 3% of all the taxes collected, and this comes upto 3 billion dollars a year dedicated for education. This is unprecedented amounts of money spent on education, but the problem still persists in the distribution network. I think this is going to be resolved sooner or later because there is money flowing in and there is demand from public. Need of the hour is in finding a way to connect them.
Now days we have a new problem in hand, I call it struggle with education. To say that our education system is bad would be an understatement. Our system is defeating the very purpose of its existence. Education is to impart knowledge into the students which would then help them in leading a healthy and prosperous life. But the focus of our present education system is on percentage of marks they score in the exams rather than the knowledge they gained from it. It’s a real shame that students now days are put under tremendous pressure to achieve targets that their parents or teacher’s set for them. In short there is very little pleasure in studies these days.
It’s a pity that a 2nd standard kid in a school is made to sit between 4 walls of a classroom from 8:00AM to 8:00PM six days a week. I just wonder what a kid would learn in such an environment. Focus has clearly shifted and worrying fact is that parents themselves drive their kids in to these schools. There is no escape for children. This, in my book will be regarded as Torture and nothing else. This is seen more in states like Andhra Pradesh which have predominantly middle class educated population. I just hope for those kids that people change their mindset towards education.
India has an edge on the world; it’s the only young country in an ageing world. To make use of this unique opportunity it is vital to get out education system right.
- Srikanth Achanta
For whatever reason in India primary education never got the importance or attention it needs. Surprisingly the educational institutions in India are largely run by private organizations unlike America where it’s funded mainly by the state. I believe that a public good like Primary education should always be a responsibility of the state. Not so surprisingly state has failed to deliver their promise. People have taken it up on themselves and hence we see these private organizations or NGO’s spawning up in huge numbers.
Well the good news is the young people in India see the need for education and their parents feel likewise. People see the financial and social costs of not being educated, so there is demand for education and slowly but surely government is acting on it too. They have started a education cess which is 3% of all the taxes collected, and this comes upto 3 billion dollars a year dedicated for education. This is unprecedented amounts of money spent on education, but the problem still persists in the distribution network. I think this is going to be resolved sooner or later because there is money flowing in and there is demand from public. Need of the hour is in finding a way to connect them.
Now days we have a new problem in hand, I call it struggle with education. To say that our education system is bad would be an understatement. Our system is defeating the very purpose of its existence. Education is to impart knowledge into the students which would then help them in leading a healthy and prosperous life. But the focus of our present education system is on percentage of marks they score in the exams rather than the knowledge they gained from it. It’s a real shame that students now days are put under tremendous pressure to achieve targets that their parents or teacher’s set for them. In short there is very little pleasure in studies these days.
It’s a pity that a 2nd standard kid in a school is made to sit between 4 walls of a classroom from 8:00AM to 8:00PM six days a week. I just wonder what a kid would learn in such an environment. Focus has clearly shifted and worrying fact is that parents themselves drive their kids in to these schools. There is no escape for children. This, in my book will be regarded as Torture and nothing else. This is seen more in states like Andhra Pradesh which have predominantly middle class educated population. I just hope for those kids that people change their mindset towards education.
India has an edge on the world; it’s the only young country in an ageing world. To make use of this unique opportunity it is vital to get out education system right.
- Srikanth Achanta
Sunday, April 5, 2009
The Week Gone By
- The Political Parties are virtually showing the heaven with their promises.
- The Pakistani State is in a miserable state innumerable attacks. God can save Pakistan. Hey Allah!!!! Bachao in becharey Logon ko
- G-20 Summit was concluded by laying some restrictions on the transparency of the banks
- London Summit pledges $1 Trillion to boost the global economy
- Brahmos Block II Launch was successful
- Global Condemnation on North Korean Rocket Launch
- India on the verge of winning first ever New Zealand series in 41 years.
Plight of White Gold and Power loom Sector
In 70’s a farmer could buy 15 grams of gold by selling 1 quintal of cotton. During 90s obscene subsidies given to cotton growers from USA and European traders, Indian farmers were made to pull down the prices of cotton. By 2005 he need to sell 5 quintals of cotton in order to buy 15 gm of gold. By 2008, he need to sell 9 quintals of cotton to buy 15 gm of gold. Within a span of 3 years the gap widened by almost 2 folds. The cotton prices were plummeting further. The standard of living of the cotton farmers was depreciating further. Vidarbha is the region where most of cotton is grown. During Maharastra Assembly Polls, Congress promised of increasing the price of Cotton from Rs.2200 to Rs.2700 per quintal. Congress had betrayed after elections by not keeping their promises.
The input costs were exploding. In 1991 Local seed cost was Rs.9 per kg. By 2004 the price went up to Rs.1650-1800 for just 450 gm of seeds. Because of introduction of BT Cotton into the market, the prices were reduced. Today, it is about 650-800 rupees per less than 0.5 kg which is many times higher than Rs.9 per kg. Govt did nothing to stopping the subsidized cotton coming from USA. There were no import duties. In 2006 farmers were killing themselves at the rate of one in every 6 hrs average.
From 1997-2007, about 180,000 farmers committed suicides. This is reminding me the plight of the farmers during British rule in the 19th century. In the UPA regime, the Govt waived the loans of farmers of 71, 000 crores worth. But most of them waived in the Marathwada region where the power base of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar exists.
Coming to the Power loom Industry, there were many people who committed suicide in 2008. Many people committed suicide between 2001- 2008.Sircilla is the place famous for Handloom and Power loom Industry. About 8 Lakh families are dependent on weaving. There are about 20, 000 Looms. 8000 looms stopped completely. Government is encouraging weavers to use Technology Up gradation Fund (TUF) but without capital. A textile park was built with Rs.7.73 crores far from being of any use for the weavers. It seeks to produce using High power jet looms which further reduces the work of the weavers. Most of them are committing suicide or else falling ill due to lack of proper nutrition. Weavers are unable to support their families even for chaaval and end up in debts and finally committing suicides. According to guidelines of Asian Development Bank for rural finance restructuring minimum lending balance is Rs. 25000. But most weavers need less than this and hence are unable to get loans.
There is not much difference between British rule and democratically elected Govt. It was because of the peasant movements’ actual struggle for independence started. Even today after 150 years there is not much improvement in the lives of peasants. Let us hope that at least the coming Govt does some good to the peasants
Source: The Hindu
- Optimistic Indian
The input costs were exploding. In 1991 Local seed cost was Rs.9 per kg. By 2004 the price went up to Rs.1650-1800 for just 450 gm of seeds. Because of introduction of BT Cotton into the market, the prices were reduced. Today, it is about 650-800 rupees per less than 0.5 kg which is many times higher than Rs.9 per kg. Govt did nothing to stopping the subsidized cotton coming from USA. There were no import duties. In 2006 farmers were killing themselves at the rate of one in every 6 hrs average.
From 1997-2007, about 180,000 farmers committed suicides. This is reminding me the plight of the farmers during British rule in the 19th century. In the UPA regime, the Govt waived the loans of farmers of 71, 000 crores worth. But most of them waived in the Marathwada region where the power base of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar exists.
Coming to the Power loom Industry, there were many people who committed suicide in 2008. Many people committed suicide between 2001- 2008.Sircilla is the place famous for Handloom and Power loom Industry. About 8 Lakh families are dependent on weaving. There are about 20, 000 Looms. 8000 looms stopped completely. Government is encouraging weavers to use Technology Up gradation Fund (TUF) but without capital. A textile park was built with Rs.7.73 crores far from being of any use for the weavers. It seeks to produce using High power jet looms which further reduces the work of the weavers. Most of them are committing suicide or else falling ill due to lack of proper nutrition. Weavers are unable to support their families even for chaaval and end up in debts and finally committing suicides. According to guidelines of Asian Development Bank for rural finance restructuring minimum lending balance is Rs. 25000. But most weavers need less than this and hence are unable to get loans.
There is not much difference between British rule and democratically elected Govt. It was because of the peasant movements’ actual struggle for independence started. Even today after 150 years there is not much improvement in the lives of peasants. Let us hope that at least the coming Govt does some good to the peasants
Source: The Hindu
- Optimistic Indian
In Search of Belonging
Today I would like to take you all through the new world of online social networking that we are in. We all are part of it, in fact we are living in the times where these networking websites have become quintessential for communicating with people. We are now into these online public spaces. What makes these public spaces public is the fact that we don’t exactly know the audiences we are talking to and we are trying to understand the norms to be followed in such public spaces.
For example if we are in a conference room we know that we need to sit facing the person who is lecturing and not show our backs to him, but in the case of social networks we do not exactly know the norms we need to follow.
There are 4 properties that we need to consider when we are trying to interact with people online on public spaces.
Persistence: What you say sticks around, there would be things which you would have said 5 -10 yrs back which you are not necessarily proud of but they still exist and this won’t allow us to forget about it. On the other hand there can be some pleasant conversations which you would like to have with you forever. How do we deal with who gets the access to that persistence?
Searchability: It gets very easy for people to know where you are, you become more searchable.
Replicability: Copy pasting the conversations, this can be a nasty tool. You can just start a huge fight just by copy pasting a few comments here and there. It’s hard to identify which is the original and which is the copy when you are conversing on a Instant Messenger. But in case of an online networking sites you do it in front of a large audience so it takes care of the problem.
Invisible Audiences: we don’t necessarily know who we are speaking to, I am writing this article today by having a rough idea of who my audiences are but I don’t know who is going to read this once I post it, I don’t know when they will get access to it and when they read it.
The reason why these 4 properties are crucial is because they change the rules of “Context”. How do you know what the assumptions are? How do you know how to interact?
We understand that when we get into a bus we are supposed to sit on the seats and not stand on them, we have been socialized into that. This is not the case when we are on a social networking site.
We are in a massive confusion of what CONTEXT means, who are these audiences how do we speak to them? How do we interact with them?
We see people getting more and more desperate to seek attention on these websites, they are willing to put all their private activities public just to seek attention. Online public spaces are providing people with a platform where they can go out of the ordinary norms and get away with it.
Forgetting things is a gift we have and I think we are losing that gift, there is no way out of these online networking sites, and we cannot avoid them. They have already become a part of our life. We have to learn to deal with it, because the future is about mobile and its going to get a lot more complex than this.
The problem is these technologies are taking us to a place where we have less and less control of what the context is and thus we are losing privacy on a different level.
Parts of this article are taken from the lecture I heard of Danah Boyd, a prominent speaker on social networking.
For example if we are in a conference room we know that we need to sit facing the person who is lecturing and not show our backs to him, but in the case of social networks we do not exactly know the norms we need to follow.
There are 4 properties that we need to consider when we are trying to interact with people online on public spaces.
Persistence: What you say sticks around, there would be things which you would have said 5 -10 yrs back which you are not necessarily proud of but they still exist and this won’t allow us to forget about it. On the other hand there can be some pleasant conversations which you would like to have with you forever. How do we deal with who gets the access to that persistence?
Searchability: It gets very easy for people to know where you are, you become more searchable.
Replicability: Copy pasting the conversations, this can be a nasty tool. You can just start a huge fight just by copy pasting a few comments here and there. It’s hard to identify which is the original and which is the copy when you are conversing on a Instant Messenger. But in case of an online networking sites you do it in front of a large audience so it takes care of the problem.
Invisible Audiences: we don’t necessarily know who we are speaking to, I am writing this article today by having a rough idea of who my audiences are but I don’t know who is going to read this once I post it, I don’t know when they will get access to it and when they read it.
The reason why these 4 properties are crucial is because they change the rules of “Context”. How do you know what the assumptions are? How do you know how to interact?
We understand that when we get into a bus we are supposed to sit on the seats and not stand on them, we have been socialized into that. This is not the case when we are on a social networking site.
We are in a massive confusion of what CONTEXT means, who are these audiences how do we speak to them? How do we interact with them?
We see people getting more and more desperate to seek attention on these websites, they are willing to put all their private activities public just to seek attention. Online public spaces are providing people with a platform where they can go out of the ordinary norms and get away with it.
Forgetting things is a gift we have and I think we are losing that gift, there is no way out of these online networking sites, and we cannot avoid them. They have already become a part of our life. We have to learn to deal with it, because the future is about mobile and its going to get a lot more complex than this.
The problem is these technologies are taking us to a place where we have less and less control of what the context is and thus we are losing privacy on a different level.
Parts of this article are taken from the lecture I heard of Danah Boyd, a prominent speaker on social networking.
By Srikanth Achanta
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