Open Window - News and Cultural Review e-magazine

While we struggle to complete Delhi CWG Stadiums ...!!!!

2010-08-23T07:48:00.001-07:00

Solar Tower for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro

The challenge was to design a vertical structure on the Island of Cotonduba that in addition to serving as an Observation Tower would become a symbol of welcome to newcomers arriving either by Sea or by Air to Rio,the host city of 2016 Olympic Games.

Designed by RAFA firm headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, it is called "Solar City Tower.This structure was chosen in response to the initial proposal and it has the potential to generate enough Energy not only for the Olympic city, but also for part of the City of Rio.

Its design makes it store Solar energy during the day thanks to signs at ground level, while the surplus energy produced is piped to pump sea water within tower giving the effect of a Waterfall outside. This water is reused simultaneously by Turbines which are designed to produce energy during the night

These characteristics give it the epithet tower generator which is intended as a continuation of some of the resolutions taken during the Earth Summit United Nations in 1992 that took place in Rio and also promotes the use of natural resources in energy among these people.

The tower also has an Amphitheater, an Auditorium, Cafeteria and shops accessible on the ground floor from where you can take an elevator that leads to various observatories and a retractable Platform for the practice of Bungee jumping.

At the top of the Tower, it will be possible to appreciate the scenery around the island where it will be erected and its Waterfall will become a Landmark for 2016 Olympics and the City of Rio de Janeiro.

Hear US treasury sec on 'aggressive' action

2009-03-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7943965.stm

View the volcanic eruption in Alaska

2009-03-24T10:25:00.001-07:00

Here is the BBC link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7960904.stm

Drug cartel of Mexico

2009-03-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

Monstrous act of raping students

2009-03-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

This shameful incident got such a little coverage:
The Hindu reported -
Shimla: The management of a school for the deaf and dumb here has complained that four teachers in the institute had assaulted students, leading to the arrest of three of them.

Police said three teachers of the school in Totu area in the city run by the Prerna Welfare Association were arrested for allegedly raping the students.

The school’s managment had lodged a complaint against the four teachers and, after a probe, three of them were arrested.

The fourth one is absconding, a police spokesman said.

The school has 27 children and 10 girls are in the age group 12-21, an official of the institute said.

SHOCKING Fact about FD in Swissbank

2008-12-22T00:14:00.001-08:00

this could be true based on http://content.msn.co.in/msncontribute/Story.aspx?PageID=d5de3801-3bde-4a4f-aad4-4efd876f27c8

Revelation of Swiss bank accounts

This is so shocking. If black money deposit was an Olympics event, India would have won a gold medal hands down. The second best Russia has 4 times lesser deposit. U.S. is not even there in the counting in top five! India has more money in Swiss banks than all the other countries combined!

Recently, due to international pressure, the Swiss government agreed to disclose the names of the account holders only if the respective governments formally asked for it. Indian government is not asking for the details; no marks for guessing why?

We need to start a movement to pressurize the government to do so! This is perhaps the only way, and a golden opportunity, to expose the high and mighty and weed out corruption!

Please read on and forward to all the honest Indians to…like somebody is forwarding to you and build a ground-swell of support for action!

Is India poor, who says? Ask the Swiss banks. With personal account deposit bank of $1,500 billion in foreign reserve which have been misappropriated, an amount 13 times larger than the country's foreign debt, one needs to rethink if India is a poor country?

DISHONEST INDUSTRIALISTS, scandalous politicians and corrupt IAS, IRS, IPS officers have deposited in foreign banks in their illegal personal accounts a sum of about $1500 billion, which have been misappropriated by them. This amount is about 13 times larger than the country's foreign debt. With this amount 45 crore poor people can get Rs 1, 00, 000 each. This huge amount has been appropriated from the people of India by exploiting and betraying them. Once this huge amount of black money and property comes back to India, the entire foreign debt can be repaid in 24 hours. After paying the entire foreign debt, we will have surplus amount, almost 12 times larger than the foreign debt. If this surplus amount is invested in earning interest, the amount of interest will be more than the annual budget of the Central government. So even if all the taxes are abolished, then also the Central government will be able to maintain the country very comfortably.

Some 80,000 people travel to Switzerland every year, of which 25,000 travel very frequently. 'Obviously, these people won't be tourists. They must be traveling there for some other reason,' believes an official involved in tracking illegal money. And, clearly, he isn't referring to the commerce ministry bureaucrats who've been flitting in and out of Geneva ever since the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations went into a tailspin!

Just read the following details and note how these dishonest industrialists, scandalous politicians, corrupt officers, cricketers, film actors, illegal sex trade and protected wildlife operators, to name just a few, sucked this country's wealth and prosperity. This may be the picture of deposits in Swiss banks only. What about other international banks?

Black money in Swiss banks -- Swiss Banking Association report, 2006 details bank deposits in the territory of Switzerland by nationals of following countries:

TOP FIVE


INDIA	$1,456 BILLION
RUSSIA	$470 BILLION
U.K.	$390 BILLION
UKRAINE	$100 BILLION
CHINA	$96 BILLION

Now let us do the math - India with $1,456 billion or $1.4 trillion has more money in Swiss banks than rest of the world combined. This is of course the public loot since 1947.

Can we bring back our money? It is one of the biggest loots witnessed by mankind -- the loot of the Aam Aadmi (common man) since 1947, by his brethren occupying public office. It has been orchestrated by politicians, bureaucrats and some businessmen.

The list is almost all-encompassing. No wonder, everyone in India loots with impunity and without any fear. What is even more depressing in that this ill-gotten wealth of ours has been stashed away abroad into secret bank accounts located in some of the world's best known tax havens? And to that extent the Indian economy has been stripped of its wealth. Ordinary Indians may not be exactly aware of how such secret accounts operate and what are the rules and regulations that go on to govern such tax havens. However, one may well be aware of 'Swiss bank accounts,' the shorthand for murky dealings, secrecy and of course pilferage from developing countries into rich developed ones.

In fact, some finance experts and economists believe tax havens to be a conspiracy of the western world against the poor countries. By allowing the proliferation of tax havens in the twentieth century, the western world explicitly encourages the movement of scarce capital from the developing countries to the rich. In March 2005, the Tax Justice Network (TJN) published a research finding demonstrating that $11.5 trillion of personal wealth was held offshore by rich individuals across the globe.

The findings estimated that a large proportion of this wealth was managed from some 70 tax havens. Further, augmenting these studies of TJN, Raymond Baker -- in his widely celebrated book titled 'Capitalism's Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free Market System' -- estimates that at least $5 trillion have been shifted out of poorer countries to the West since the mid-1970.

It is further estimated by experts that one per cent of the world's population holds more than 57 per cent of total global wealth, routing it invariably through these tax havens. How much of this is from India is anybody's guess.

What is to be noted here is that most of the wealth of Indians parked in these tax havens is illegitimate money acquired through corrupt means. Naturally, the secrecy associated with the bank accounts in such places is central to the issue, not their low tax rates as the term 'tax havens' suggests. Remember Bofors and how India could not trace the ultimate beneficiary of those transactions because of the secrecy associated with these bank accounts?

IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN SAVE INDIA?

PASS IT ON IF YOU WISH INDIA GOOD.

_______________________________

--
With regards,

Hemant Bhatia

(¨`·.·´¨) Always
`·.¸(¨`·.·´¨) Keep
(¨`·.·´¨)¸.·´ Smiling!
`·.¸.·´

TIME links Kashmir to Mumbai Attacks

2008-12-20T10:01:00.000-08:00

In the aftermath of the terrorist's strike in Mumbai, TIME has run an utterly insensitive article in the issue dated December 22, 2008. The article claims that Mumbai incident has brought the focus back on, guess what, Kashmir!
Kashmir is such a controversial issue that no one can be impartial about it. Even if you don't know, if you talk about Kashmir you are likely to belong to one of the established camps. I would not have objected to the article in question, had it not been brought out immediately after Mumbai attacks. As for taking sides, and for the insensitivity towards the Mumbai issue, read this: “Extremist websites and literature are replete with examples of atrocities by the Indian army and state police...Human rights groups also blame Indian authorities for widespread abuses like rape, torture and disappearances.” And equally preposterous – Indian government can address the Muslim grievance by, “[drawing] down the massive military presence in the region.” It would take a completely dumb person to suggest so because any one familiar with this issue knows that Pakistan military has vital interest in the region. Kashmir balances the forces of two arch-enemies – India and Pakistan. The author also shows a terrible sense of proportion, hinting at a propaganda or dumbness. “It is as if entire US army and almost all the US marine corps were stationed in Minnesota” is how the author is comparing the military presence in Kashmir. I would suggest the author to get the basics right about the numbers.
Last but not the least, I must mention the grand assertion of the article, expressed in so many words, that, “the [Kashmir] dispute has returned to the world's agenda.” Isn't it like saying that the 9/11 attacks have helped give voice to the long neglected and suppressed people of Afghanistan? Or that the blasts in Madrid, Glasgow, and Bali etc. helped the world appreciate the problems being faced by the marginalized and suppressed Muslims across the globe? Well, by the same logic, shouldn't someone from Zimbabwe plant a bomb in Europe? That would surely help the world take note of the alleged atrocities inflicted by Robert Mugabe on the local populace. TIME, it appears, wants us to believe so.

Moral choices

2008-12-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

Moral choices that we make as individuals and as a society are subtle, ambiguous and fascinating. The subject also appears to be one of immense interest to modern academicians and general public. I came across two prominent authors – Malcolm Gladwell and Steven Levit.
Gladwell has written such best-sellers as “Blink – the power of thinking without thinking”, “Tipping point” and “Outliers”. Levit is a professor of economics at North-Western university at Chicago and is the author of Freakonomics. Admittedly, I have never been a fan of the subject of moral choices till I read these guys. Back in the IIT days, Dr. Sanil, had laid the foundation, though.
So here is a moral situation – not as exciting as Sanil would have, still worth discussion because it happens to be based on a current news item.

A person is convicted of murder and goes go to jail. He completes his sentence and then decides to write a book – about the murder he committed. It is legally sound. But what about the moral angle?
Is he doing the right thing? Is the publisher doing the right thing? Is the society doing the right thing by allowing him to 'profit from murder'?
It was one of the questions asked by a local news channel . The channel reported that majority of the respondents said that it was morally bad to 'profit from murder' and the society should not allow this.
Well if majority of people find it in bad taste, would it be reasonable to assume that the book sales would bomb out and that would act as 'fair market' deterrent for such things in future?
Another way of looking at it could be that those who feel against the idea of 'profiting from murder' made calls to the news channel but those who are interested in buying the book did not bother to call. The only way to test it would be to see the book sales, I would argue. But in a way, it puts a spanner in the way polls are conducted by the news channels. And not just about the process of conducting a poll – I feel the very idea of conducting a poll around a morally ambiguous question is fraught with peril in that it would give far from accurate results.
For example, what if the news channel had downplayed the idea of 'profiting from murder' and instead focused on 'right of creative freedom' or 'let the markets decide' or 'the repentant person expressing his guilt' sort of lines. The outcome of poll would surely have been different.
This is different from the kind of moral choices Gladwell presents before us. To use of of his example to see the contrast – he talks about the situation that a truck driver realized that the breaks have failed. He is going down the slope and then there comes a fork. On one fork, there are 5 persons and on the other there is a lone man. The driver knows that he would surely hit people whichever road he takes. The moral choice he has to make is – which road to take. The answer to the question is fairly simple and there are no points for guessing the right one.
However, now lets have a different situation. Five persons are lying in a hospital and each on of them is going to die unless he gets the required organ transplant – two of them need kidneys, two of them need lungs and one of them needs a heart. And just then a perfectly health person walks into the hospital. What moral choice should the doctor make?

As the reader would appreciate, the subject of moral choices is a complicated one. On one hand there are questions of ethics and on the other there are all sort of economic, political, racial and other sensitive questions get mixed. This produces a bewildering set of situations. Since I do not have any formal study of the subject, I will stop now and would encourage the reader to read some of the contemporary writers on the subject.

An ode to Raj Thakrey

2008-12-09T06:08:00.000-08:00

What Raj Thakrey has been advocating might be absurd, parochial and even anti-national, but he is not alone in voicing such sentiments. All across the world, he has his likes who are trying to instigate local people to expel outsiders.

North Eastern states have their own 100 parties, each trying to expel 'Indians' and make a state purely out of locals. Karnataka has its own flavor of local leaders who target Tamils and north Indians and try to promote their own agenda of jobs for Kannadigas. Delhi, though never needed to be parocial, being the center of the power, for the same reason has adopted a dismissive and even disdainful attitude towards the rest of the country. Remember the statement Shiela Dixit gave about how Delhi's problems are caused by the herds coming from UP and Bihar. To that I would like to add, Anyone not belonging to Indian metros is parried off as an inferior person in the arrogant culture of Delhi. Kashmir has a long enough history of being a separatist state. Go to Pakistan and you would notice that Baluchistan is fighting for its own independence. In Iraq, Kurds are fighting their own war against the Shias. The situation is no different in USA where there is a considerable backlash against Indians and Chinese as they are considered to be stealing the jobs of the local people.

I have put together broad swathes of ideologies together to show how parocial tendencies are present everywhere. But that does not help us solve the problem of Mr Raj Thakrey.

To solve his problem, we should have done the same thing that was recommended by an Administrator at the time of Gujarat Riots – show the might of state on the most massive level needed under the circumstances. If you need to arrest Raj Thakrey, do it. And if you need to arrest 50000 supporters who are rioting, do it for heavens sake. No doubt, the state would be seen as going against the Marathi Manus in the short term. The fear in the political circles would be that such an action would cause a backlash that would erode the base of the party.

But such things are baseless. While it is important to suppress the separatists and the unlawful elements (read Raj Thakrey), that should not prevent the Congress from drafting policies that would help the Marathi population in getting more jobs. That way, they can hijack the agenda of Raj and be on the course of winning the next election.

I know I am sounding too simplistic. That's not how congress has worked in past. That's not how it would work. So lets wait and watch while Congress prepares Raj as a monster and uses it to counter Shiv Sena.

Searching for the lost penny

2008-12-04T14:38:00.001-08:00

My dear friend Kumar has a remarkable ability to loose money.
As a young man who earns handsomely in his job and who has few vices to indulge into, not that he has a lack of money to loose.
It all started a few years back when he figured out that Warren Buffet became rich by investing in the stock market. He considered himself to be a man of a high level of intellect and had enough time in and after work to dedicate to the study of the stock markets.
So he spent a few months of analysis on the internet and through books. It was not long before his head was overflowing with confidence and he considered himself to be ready to enter the stock market.
Since then it had been a couple of years and till a few days back he believed that he had made a lot of money in the stock market.
It was then that he came to me and asked for some money. When asked about the reason, he eagerly explained to me the potential presented by the Indian market. I could see the greed flashing in his eyes. Fortunately for me, I did not have money at that time. Kumar got money from someone else and like it was happening with so many people those days, he lost almost all of it.
When he met me a week later, I asked him how his investments were doing. He told me that as panic has gripped the market, the value of his investments has fallen, but the fundamentals of the economy were so sound that the share prices were bound to go up. When I said that share prices do not necessarily reflect the fundamentals, he was defiant and combative. It was very tactless of me, of course. Rational arguments end where financial interest starts.
A few weeks later I came to know that he had lost all his savings and a lot more as the market kept moving lower. The pressure of creditors did not allow him to wait for the tide to pass and he had to liquidate his holdings.
Next time I met him, he looked devastated. He had something against everyone in the world. I told him that he still had a job and he could easily pay off the debts in a year. He started cursing his job. I told him that he has a loving wife. He started cursing his wife. Very soon I figured out that nothing looks good to a dejected soul and I stopped mentioning names to him.
Finally, I said, “Just think about all the money you made all these years. Loosing once in a while is not too bad. There is always a next time.” At this he was more sullen than ever. After a long pause, he said, “I did an audit of all the investments I ever made and found that I never made profits. Every wave of profit was followed by a bigger wave of loss. It’s just that I never noticed it.”
“That’s not too bad. Loosing money consistently is also good because others can make money by putting a contrarian bet. You can charge a commission on their profit.” I said and the mood was lightened up a bit.

Next I met him after a couple of years. I had assumed that he would never put money in the stock market again, so I asked him about it. He told me that he was still trading. But he did stop it for a year after the major fiasco. I was intrigued and said, “ I don’t understand why you still trade!” To which he replied, “If you loose a penny at home, would you search for it in your office?” “Of course, not!” I replied. He smiled. Then he said, “I still loose money on the net, though.”

Credit Sponsored Socialism

2008-12-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

Was/Is America enjoying credit sponsored socialism? I heard that many people were getting huge credit without a good history? Sub-prime loans - sounds familiar?

Roubini, a professor at NYU Stern, is worried that the whole world is entering a deflationary phase. Supply glut? Because the consumer don’t have money to buy? If that is the case, supplier countries like China should worry. All America has to do is to start living within its means, which means, producing what it wants to consume. Was the credit being used to sponsor Americans at the cost of the Chinese workers? Because America is the (credit based) engine of world consumption?

Recapitalized the banks?

2008-12-04T10:14:00.000-08:00

There are various ways of pulling money out of the pockets of the people to make a class richer.
The latest rounds of recapitalization of banks could be one such move.
Printing dollars and infusing money in banks is tantamount to taxing the common man so that he can get that money from banks as a loan.

letter to Raj Thackeray

2008-12-02T20:12:00.001-08:00

Dear Mr. Raj Thackeray,

Where are you sir? We have been trying to reach you for the past 2 days ever since Mumbai has been attacked. I think it is the mobile network or your cable connection that must not be working. We miss you sir? We know how you love Mumbai and its people especially the Marathi Manoos.You must be collecting your brave Sena to come and help us. Like all the brave Marathi people who laid down their lives fighting this terror. I am sure you must be mourning the loss of brave Marathi policemen like Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Ashok Kamte and various others, who risked their lives, so that you and I can sleep peacefully in this city.

Also sir, let me tell you the 200 Commandos, that have been sent in the last 2 days to fight terrorists are not Maharastrians. They could not find a unit which had 80% reservation for Maharastrians. Actually, they are a mix of people from all over India i.e.north, south, east and west. Infact one of them has lost his life fighting the terrorists. And he was a south Indian, I think.

I think the admirable courage that you and your Sena showed in fighting the poor immigrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh will hopefully stand in good stead if and when you decide to fight these terrorists. Also I found many people from different communities coming together in JJ Hospital and GT Hospital to donate blood for the vitims of this attack. And funnily they never asked if the blood is for Marathi Manoos or for everyone. I did not see anyone from your Sena though. Maybe they are busy somewhere else with more important work.

Sir you please take care as we need brave leaders like you to lead Maharastra, as we enter this new age of terror.

Keep forwarding!

Some thoughts on Recession

2008-11-06T05:14:00.000-08:00

One of the features of Marxist analysis is that it helps in giving a closer scrutiny to the cause-effect relationship which become axiomatic in bourgeois theories. That is why things which take bourgeois economists by surprise are more or less obvious to the Marxists. But prediction is an inexact science – even for Marxists. Saying that the system is heading towards a crisis is easy. Saying when the crisis is going to precipitate in to a recession, with some degree of precision is almost impossible. That level of accuracy demands analysis of not only macro but micro factors and the Marxist theory is not advanced enough and the resources are not there to do the massive analysis job. The other reason is that the economy is still controlled by bourgeoisie. It is impossible to forecast the response of bourgeoisie at the micro-economic level, a priory by Marxist theorists because of lack of exposure and resources. For example, while it is easy to say that monopoly capital would push its interest as public interest and the economic tools of increasing liquidity would be combined with Keynesian expenditure patterns (isn't that obvious, really. Even 80 years after the first great depression in USA, the bourgeoisie still does not have a better theoretical model). That is why TIME quoted Friedman saying “all of us are Keynesian now”.

govt ripping us on oil prices.. what can we do?

2008-10-25T21:20:00.001-07:00

This is with reference to the oil prices. Recently the prices in the international markets have gone down significantly. There was a time when the crude oil was touching 150$ a barrel and yesterday it was quoting at about 72$ a barrel roughly half of the previous highs. When the oil price was high government promptly acted in the favor of oil companies and increased the prices. I want to thank the oil producing countries for lowering the prices of oil so that people can be happier spending money on more important things in life. However the Indian government has kept the people of India away from the benefits of low oil prices. I am not sure what is the fault of people due to which they have to pay a higher price. I hope that government of India also helps the people out in this regard and if not people ask the government to give them a fair price they deserve.

Is there something we can do about it? may be write letters to petroleum ministry telling them that people care because unlike them we have to earn our money to buy things by working..

Unfair and painful railway policies where to complain??

2008-10-25T12:28:00.001-07:00

Hi,
I have complaints against the policies of railways which are not just at all and meant to exploit the consumers.

1. When a train is late it not notified to the passenger and there is no penalty on in the indian railways,

The policy consumer unfriendly and unfair because of reasons listed below. The railway ticket should be treated as legal contract and if the railways fail to deliver what the ticket is bought for there should be penalties in order to give incentive for make the railways more responsible

This causes a lot of problems people reserve their tickets months in advance and there is usually no alternative ticket available in other trains by the time railways tell people that the train is late its already too late since they cant get tickets in other trains. Railways should provide alternative means of transport in other trains if possible if a train is late.

In case of connecting tickets. if a train is late i cannot board the connecting train for no fault of mine. Not only that railways would not refund the money of consumers in that case but.This also leaves them stranded because there are no reservations available meaning no way to travel when railway connection is missed.

why is india a developing country???

2008-08-21T05:53:00.001-07:00

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house
and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays
the summer away.
Come winter ,the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food
or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

Modern Version

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house
and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays
the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and
demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed
while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering
Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a
table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this
poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.

Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding
that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Indian Government
for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the
Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt
support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance).

Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh"
in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.

CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working
hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants
and Grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian
Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath '.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism
Against Grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of
the winter.

Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in
Educational Institutions & in Government Services.

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing
left to pay his retroactive taxes,it's home is confiscated by the
Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by
NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it ' A Triumph of Justice'.

Lalu calls it ' Socialistic Justice '.

CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '

Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly .

Many years later...

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar
company in Silicon Valley .

100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation
somewhere in India ...
As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the
Grasshoppers, India is still a developing country !!!

GOD....

2008-08-04T00:05:00.001-07:00

I got this interesting and long read from somewhere...
So,
1)     why did the "concept of GOD" came in existence in the knowledge revolution period of human civilization?

2)     Why there a god in EVERY civilization which existed earth without any exceptions?

3)     How did "concept of GOD" help in human evolution and sustenance of human civilization in the knowledge revolution era?

Below are what "I feel" are the reasons.. God seems to be product of human knowledge revolution.. As always, they may be completely wrong.. J

Please note that Iam not even trying to prove the existence of god or non-existence either ways..
Just trying to think scientifically as to why "concept of god" exists in ALL of the known seemingly disconnected civilizations across the world without exceptions when there is no proof either ways..

The answers to the above questions are related to the genetic design of human beings itself.. Below are the scientifically accepted facts which I want to use in the discussion..
1)     Important messages required for the survival of a species is embedded and passed across generations with the help of DNA.. When this information changes considerably, A new species emerges..

2)     The ancient humans are subjected to harsh environments and are part of the food chain.. (Before knowledge revolution)

3)     The genetic structure of human DNA has NOT changed from when the first homo-sapient was formed around a lakh years ago (Which is before knowledge revolution) Which means that a human baby born yesterday has the same DNA as a human baby born a lakh years ago..

4)     Humans are "Super Predators" who are not meant to be (but for the knowledge revolution)..

5)     Humans are essentially omnivorus..

If you do not accept any of the above, Its right time for you to stop reading.. ;)

So what has all the above to do with "GOD" anyways?
As said above, The humans are not born "Super predators".. The human DNA should be embedded with a lot of traits, from the previous species from which they evolved from, to constantly "look out" for more powerful beings and to "fear" them.. A new born human baby will be embedded with these traits in order to survive the harsh environments of the past..
But the scene changed once the "knowledge revolution" began to take shape.. Humans are no longer part of the food chain.. The humans are now "Super predators". But the DNA of the humans had no time to evolve so much within a short time period of time (In evolutionary terms) when the knowledge revolution took place..

Now humans are faced with a harsh reality.. He has a mixture of two kinds of knowledge..
1)     The accumulated knowledge in DNA which says "You are not a super predator.. Keep a look out for 'superior' beings and fear them"..

2)     Attained knowledge through "Knowledge revolution" which says "You are the super predator, there is no other earthly being as 'superior' as you"..

Every man is a mixture of the above two CONFLICTING thoughts.. Now, he needs to find an equilibrium position between these two thoughts so that he "can reason out himself".. Also, the definition of 'superior' as mentioned in the above two points changed from "more powerful" or "more strong" to "more knowledgeable" or "more advanced" somewhere during the knowledge revolution (The reason being the discovery during knowledge revolution that it needs more knowledge than strength to become a "super predator")..

This is the point where "GOD" comes in..
To find the equilibrium position between the above two conflicting "knowledge" humans posses, they might have begun to "look out" for 'superior' beings elsewhere than earth which is the ONLY way to solve the above two equations (because they know for sure that none exists in earth itself).

So the solution is simple,
According to DNA knowledge, there are superior beings whom we should look out to and according to acquired knowledge, they are not on earth (or in any other known location)..
So the solution is to look out for superior beings outside of earth..

This equilibrium position is different for different individuals. The one more biased towards the first kind of knowledge has a strong "feeling" of god and the one biased towards the second will be 'almost' sure that god doesn't exist.. However both will not be sure either ways and the argument goes on and on..
So where does the 'equilibrium' position lie for ALL humans as a civilization? I presume it averages to the centre.. A part of the human civilization believes in god and feels him while other humans as a civilization are in look out for life/intelligence elsewhere in the universe other than earth.. Even scientists who are almost sure of the non-existence of god are pretty sure of the existence of 'superior' race elsewhere in the universe and are in lookout for them..
We as humans skew the probability of existence GOD/superior extra terrestrial beings to answer the questions in-built in our DNA and keep searching for them..

The exact 'assumed' location of god varies from civilization to civilization according to the current knowledge they posses.. Or to be more precise, "The current knowledge they DO NOT possess"..

According to me, god always sits in the near end of ignorance.. Whatever cannot be explained with current level of scientific knowledge of the civilization, people tend to put the residence of god there.. ;) God is nearly a personification of the starting point of human ignorance.

Eg:
1)     Heaven and hell theory where god sits in heaven right above the earth (Because no one saw what was there at the time.. ;)

2)     Sun/Moon/every other planet known portrayed as god ('cause no one knew their physical/chemical composition then)

Know what, there are people with current knowledge claiming god resides in "other dimensions" (This is in the super string theory era)..

All the olden era gods are personified as "punishing" with tongue protruding out/Lions face etc resembling predators and demanding human/animal sacrifice.. Somewhere during the revolution, it would have been more appropriate to bring in the god one more additional quality.. IF you are good THEN he loves you.. J

Importance of god for knowledge revolution:

The human baby born a lakh years ago had all the answers.. Few days after birth, It sees some of its friends getting eaten by predators, thereby confirming what its DNA tells it!! There ends the story.. No need for god in such a scenario.. The law of human 'packs' were also simple.. If you involve in anti-social activities (like killing a fellow human), you'll be dropped out of the pack and have to survive alone thereby increasing the probability of becoming food for the predators.. In such a scenario, everyone in the pack will be afraid to break the rule and thereby getting 'punished' by the predators.. that 'fear' kept them good..

Now, The human baby which is born recently DO NOT have the answers it needs.. The DNA talks to it about superior beings which it cannot realise in real life.. The only solution is to ask its parents who are again in the same dilemma.. They introduce the baby to exotic beings which cannot be verified named "GOD".. If you obey and go by socially-accepted behaviours, god will 'love' you or else god will 'punish' you..
So what if the baby is intelligent enough to ask for proof? The parents have two different ways to answer this question.
1)     Stating stories of the past where the god helped the devotees.. (Even married some who were very loyal)

2)     Stating that you'll get a very good life "after death" IF you go by the socially-accepted behaviour.. This goes on to a level to argue that the present is only temporary and a permanent life awaits our death.. (pathetic explanation I would say)

Both of the above are unacceptable.. So what if the baby asks "These are not enough proofs, can you give me more explanation?".. The society goes on to say that asking such a question is a "socially unaccepted behaviour" going back to where it started..!! The ones who keep on asking the questions are branded "atheists" and neglected for the common good of the civilization which will become chaotic without the concept of god..

So what if humans were carnivores or herbivores instead of omnivores before undergoing a knowledge revolution?

The carnivores super predators are not afraid of any superior beings and hence there would not be any concept of god.. However, the civilization would have reached an uncontrollable stage full of violence and would have been destroyed completely in a short period..

The herbivores being overly self-aware, should be on constant look out for danger.. They would have been afraid to take any kind of risks and so development would have been very slow.. They ideally would not have undergone knowledge revolution, If at all they underwent a knowledge revolution, they would see a lots of ghosts around them which were not there in the first place..

Nuclear deal

2008-07-28T22:13:00.001-07:00

I thought i would write a little bit about nuclear deal because even our parliament is lost in it. To me i am in favor of the deal. because it just opens one more option for us, we can still decide whether the option is good for us or not we can decide anytime we want. if we dont want nuclear fuel from america then the deal doesnt force us to buy that but if we want it we have an option to take it.

Anyways deal or no deal isnt a big deal and shouldnt be a big deal there are bigger problems in india then electricity and power which is also important.

deal or no deal the country isnt good with the current situation. Do you know that there is uranium in india also. its there in Andhra and arunachal pradesh but we still want to import. we have enough iron ore and coal in india but we import both steel and coal from foreign countries because our people dont care about it and our politicans are busy making money in those deals.... deal and no deal isnt really going to change the attitude of the politicians and beaurocrates and people of india of wasting the public money and having so sense of responsiblity to the country . it wont help people by making them think and do the right thing for the country. it wont make FCI make responsible http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/jul/02food.htm and make them keep the food reserves safe even as lakhs of people die every day

we have uranium in our country and people are dying due to radio activity it wont change what has been happening for the last 10 years, if we get more uranium from outside we may not be able to make electricity out of it but we will definitely kill more people because the people who are responsible for making this work are just too selfish
(1997) http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/chemical-stockpiles-at-union-c.pdf
(2000) http://www.rediff.com/news/2000/nov/06ucil.htm
(2003) http://www.indiatogether.org/2003/nov/env-nalgonda.htm

what india will get from foriegn countries is obsolete old technologies, the water cooled nuclear reactors that india is buying is not good, there is better technology out there in the world that is supposedly better http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_bed_reactor there might be more also but our scientists are old rotten and dont have time to look into that because they are also busy dealing with the corrupt bureaucracy of india.

In short what i am saying is deal or no deal isnt a big issue for india, there are much bigger issues like our economic policy our corrupt bureaucracy our unscrupulous politicians our bad education system and our bad reward system which causes the best brains of our country to work for the foriegn companies. As long as the people dont rise above stupid issues like reservation and their own stupid jobs they are going to be exploited by the politicians and india will remain a poor country with idiots ruled by their own elected representative busy filling their houses with cash.

Sexually mismatched couples

2008-04-09T16:17:00.001-07:00

TIME has run an interview of Michele Weiner Davis, the author of The Sex-Starved Wife: What to Do When He's Lost Desire. The interview is worth reading as a study of cross-cultural differences, even if you don’t need her advise in your family life.
The reader would surely notice that, compared to Indians, many Americans are socially different because:
1. Sex is more imporntant part of marriage than it is in India.
2. Sexual incompatibility is a big problem. The situation is not helped by the fact that people in US have more sexual exposure before marriage.
3. The culture equates masculinity with virility.
4. Low tolerance to frustration leads to depression. As the author says: “With the economy being what it is, companies are being downsized and men are losing their jobs. Women really do not understand the full impact it has on men's self-esteem when they are let go from their positions.”
For the rest, please refer to the interview.

New Genetic Leads on Lung Cancer

2008-04-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

New Genetic Leads on Lung Cancer, may lead to new marketing techniques by tobacco companies, claims this article.
A number of magazines have given wide coverage to the observations of the 3 researches on lung cancer. Time magazine, for example has run an article named Lung cancer genes identified, with a color photo, that shows the lungs affected with cancer.
The central piece of information is that there are two gene varients, which allow nicotine to bind to itself. So those smokers who have these variants would have nicotine deposited in the lungs. The study also points to the fact that nicotine is needed to trigger lung cancer. Hence, a logical conclusion is that if the individuals with the specific gene variants smoke, they are quite likely going to get cancer. What is not stated as clearly, but is also a logical conclusion of the above premises is that if you do not have specific variant of gene, you can smoke as much as you wish, and not get cancer. Here is how TIME says it: “what about the 80% of smokers who don't develop lung cancer? Are they just the lucky ones? A trio of new studies suggests that the explanation for why they escape the disease may lie partly in their genes.”
Only a complete idiot will not see where this is leading us.
Tobacco companies can start a very aggressive marketting on these lines. People have to just get their genetic profiling done and they would know whether cigarette is harmful for them. Whats more, government would not have any legitimate right to maintain high taxes and duty on tobacco products on the name of protecting the health of people.
Is someone wondering about the source of the funding of the three researches?

If hopes were GDP

2008-04-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

I thought, I would do a little bit of math on the growth numbers. The baseline data has been taken from CIA fact book:
GDP (purchasing power parity): $2.965 trillion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $1.09 trillion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 8.5% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $2,700 (2007 est.)
Using this, I figured out that the real per capita income of indians is roughly $1000 per annum.
So I asked myself the question, at this rate, when would we touch America, if our people become richer at a rate higher than americans.
Here is the graph - The figures are for US and India projected at different compounding annual rates. Top 3 lines are for US and bottom lines are for India. It saddened me that even when India might keep on doing very good for next 22 years, its people will not be as rich as americans. But may be they will be close to Americans, when it comes to cultural values. Whether that is good or bad is for you to decide.

Events and Views - Apr 2007

2008-03-30T12:06:00.000-07:00

CPI (M) raises voice against the price rise
CPI(M) has given the government time till 15 April to bring down the prices of the essential commodities, the Hindu reported. The question that needs to be asked is: what is causing spike in prices of essential commodities through out the globe? Saying that the speculators are responsible for it would be too simplistic. A more detailed analysis is expected from the progressive groups.
Obama starts debate on black issue
Obama's speech which was called historic by his supporters has triggered some discussion on racial questions in the churches.
Last month, Obama was cornered by media and a section of democrats when a video tape surfaced. the tape showed rev. Wright, the former pastor of Obama, giving inflammatory speeches in the church, condemnning the whites for racial discrimination. The video showing his "God damn America" speech was broadcaster by media day in and day out. It is clear that if the racial issue flares up, Obama has little chance of winning the race for presidency.
Instead of hushing up the charges of his complicit involvement in the issue, Obama took a daring step in his Philadelphia speech last month, when he gave a historical context of racial discrimination in America and urged people not to ignore the reality of past and present racial issues.
While it is difficult to say whether the speech will help Obama, it sure has inspired others to keep the debate going. Many others are coming forwards and opening up to the issue of race, something that was swept under the carpet a few decades ago.

Private Sector Salaries still bad
In a study conducted by the XLRI, Jamshedpur, it has come out that despite all the hype created by the media, the private sector salaries are still not good enough when compared with government salaries. While the study did admit that some employees get skyrocketing salaries, a majority of them, belonging the class B and lower were either worse or only marginally better than their government counterparts. This would be an interesting piece of puzzle for the sixth pay commission because now the question of market linked salaries is more convoluted than thought before. May be, the pay commission will have to decide on the minimum wages for private sector employees as well.

Congress Blames BSP for UP ills
Last week, the two days delegates conference of the congress party took place in Kanpur. It is after 26 years that the session took place in UP. On the opening day, congress attacked the ruling BSP for the ills of the state. Political opportunism might have been the reason why it remained silent on the role of SP in UP politics. Last elections in UP saw BSP gaining majority contrary to the expectations of the media pundits and everybody else. The electorate gave the verdict with their vote that they were done with the rule of SP.
Whereas, most of the state is suffering from lack of growth and modernization, some areas like Bundelkhand, Poorvanchal are particularly backward.
Congress tried to some credit for recent developments in Bundelkhand, when it said that the visit of Rahul Gandhi forced Mayawati to announce sops for the people of the area. The deeper problem of the region, ever neglected by the politicians were as usual skimped over.
The state has been mired in the politics of caste for a few years now. Some argue that it has helped disturb the old feudal caste relationships and has broken the stronghold of the upper caste, others claim that the politics in the state has become destructive in nature, and no scope of growth exists.
Whether the people of the state, long divided along caste lines, are able to forge economic ties and get busy with the much needed re-industrialization, is yet to be seen.

American Economic Crisis Long term in nature?
Today's young adults are very likely to be the first generation to not surpass the living standards of their parents. Says this article in The American Prospects. The article claims that the life for the new workers of america is more difficult that ever. the jobs are difficult to come by and the salaries are low. Read on for more.

Guantánamo for kids?
An article in the March 2008 issue of Monthly review claims that United States resorted to killing and torturing the children aged 8 and 6 years to find out whereabouts of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. It claims that children simply disappeared after the alleged terrorist was captured. Pl visit the website of monthly review to read on.

Open Window - 15 Jan 2008

2008-03-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

Contents
Follow Up
Covering the elections in Gujarat
How to cash in on a warming planet
National News
Tata hopes to change the car market of India
SC says no to deletion of word ’socialist’ from Constitution
Hotel Industry included under Factories Act
President, Vice-President, Governors get a big pay hike
International News
One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Project
No Respite from Financial Crisis in US
Culture
Parallel Universe
Special Feature
An Study Finds Vaccine Preservative Is Not Linked to Risks of Autism
News Snippets

News Snippets - Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

Dr. Kalam starts his own newsletter
Former President, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam has started his own newsletter. Considering the fact that he has a huge fan following in the IT workers’ community and school children it is surely going to touch a chord with this population. The newsletter can be accessed at
http://www.abdulkalam.com/kalam/jsp/ViewIssue.jsp
Pete Sampras wins, once again
Pete Sampras, 36, who won his 14th Grand Slam title five years ago, then retired from the pro tour, defeated No. 1 Roger Federer in the final of their three-match Asian exhibition series 7-6, 6-4. Federer won their first two matches 6-4, 6-3 and 7-6, 7-6.
EU agrees to publicly fund Galileo satellite project
The Galileo positioning system, which is a European Union project, that, when completed, will be a global navigational satellite system and, thus, a competitor of the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS). According to an EU report released Friday, November 23, 2007, the European Union countries will spend U.S. $3.55 billion on the Galileo project. The public finances will come from funds originally scheduled to be spent on other programs, primarily in agriculture, which had not yet been spent. The agreement to spend the money by the EU countries was reported not to have been voted on unanimously by its members. Germany reportedly voted against the deal. The original group of companies, collectively called European Satellite Navigation Industries, was placed in charge of developing Galileo. The group of companies finally disbanded after they refused to continue to pay for expanding expenses for the project.
A point to note here is the reason given for developing an alternate system. Though GPS is now widely used worldwide for civilian applications, it is originally a US military system with a contentious selective availability (SA) clause that could be enabled in particular areas of coverage during times of war, and therefore Galileo’s proponents argue that civil infrastructure, including airplane navigation and landing, should not rely solely upon GPS.
Alibaba.com Climbs on First Day of Trading
Shares of Alibaba.com, one of China’s biggest Internet companies, soared in early trading on Tuesday in China’s latest hot initial public stock offering. The public offering is expected to raise nearly $2 billion in Hong Kong, making its debut offering as large as Google’s 2004 I.P.O. in the United States. Alibaba is now valued at $21.5 billion, close to the market value of Yahoo, making it the most highly valued Chinese Internet company and one of the richest in the world. Alibaba.com, a business-to-business Web site that connects entrepreneurs in China with buyers worldwide, is one of the best-known Web sites in the world’s fastest-growing Internet market. China has more than 170 million Internet users, second only to the United States.
Chrysler to cut up to 12,000 jobs
Chrysler LLC said Thursday it plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs, or up to 15 percent of its workforce, as part of an effort to slash costs and match slowing demand for some vehicles. The automaker will cut 8,500 to 10,000 hourly jobs and 2,100 salaried jobs through 2008. The company already had begun cutting 1,100 temporary workers Wednesday. It will eliminate shifts at five North American assembly plants and cut four vehicle models from its lineup.
The cuts come in addition to the 13,000 layoffs Chrysler announced in February as part of a massive restructuring plan. Those cuts included 11,000 production jobs and 2,000 salaried jobs. The new round of cuts was expected to involve buyouts or early retirement packages similar to those made in February. Chrysler officials said falling demand for vehicles in the U.S. market made the cuts necessary. Chrysler’s sales were down 3 percent in the first nine months of this year, according to Autodata Corp., and the company said it expects sluggish sales to continue in 2008.
Pravda - A tabloid class apart
So one thought that Indian tabloids like TOI are the leaders when it comes to pulp fiction style of news reporting. The readers of Indian tabloids could consider subscription to Pravda to get more juicy pulp. Pravda was the official newspaper of communist party of Russia from 1918 onwards. It was shut down by Yeltsin in 1991. Whether the website http://english.pravda.ru/ is of the same paper is difficult to ascertain.
Here are some of the news headlines appearing on the front page.
· Oprah Winfrey finds herself amid sex scandal at her South African school
· Russian woman gives birth to her son at age 79
· Trial of man charged with killing his Russian-born estranged wife postponed
· Blind boy sees light again after baptism in Russia
· A-380 superjumbo jet offers double beds, privacy and champagne but bans sex onboard
· Thirteen terribly weird facts about women
· CIA feared alien invasion more than Soviet nuclear attack
· Saturn rings still remain mysterious for modern scientists
· Any life on Mars came from Earth
· Scientists examine psychiatrist Wilhelm Reich work on sexual energy
· Thirty-seven men arrested in Malaysia during a gay party
· Paris Hilton prefers beauty contest in Tokyo to Rwanda charity trip
· Woman injures man in attempt to commit suicide in Tokyo
· Men who drive black cars with teddy bears and stereos inside are irresistible for women
· Al-Qaeda prepares to blast USA on Christmas Eve

Field Recordings: Share a Sound Experience - Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:25:00.003-07:00

What does a traveler do, once he reaches the travel destination? A common sight is people clicking photos to store the moments. Recording a video is often preferred to avoid missing that proverbial perfect pose. Often left behind in this process is a sense of sound. A place doesn’t possess unique sights only; it also has an abundance of unique sounds dispersed everywhere. You will see (or hear) the truth in this, if you have ever tried sitting idle on a river-bank with your eyes closed.
Project Quiet American is just such a project started by Aaron Ximm and located at http://www.quietamerican.org/. In his own words, “The world makes its own music, but we rarely listen with naive ears. Quiet American is the manipulation of sounds I hear and record. The project began as I grappled with what it meant to be a tourist in another culture. It continues as I grapple with what it means to be a tourist in my own. The opportunity, the thrill, and the risk of travel is being present to the world. My goal with Quiet American is to sketch in sound the experience of being in an unfamiliar place. The work on this site is not a replacement for travel. But if you are willing to listen, you may be transported.”
His other popular project is “One-Minute Vacations”, which consists of unedited recordings of someplace, sometime contributed by people around the globe.
The tools needed for field recordings are a decent microphone, a minidisc like audio recorder and a headphone to listen it back. Though your best bet might be to rely on your video camera or even better if your mobile phone supports audio recording feature - good quality portable audio recording equipments don’t come cheap, because of their limited demand.
So next time you go on a vacation, don’t forget to carry recording equipment, and lend your ears and prepare your mind for the listening experience.

A Little Fable- Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:25:00.001-07:00

It’s Kafka again. But this one is too short and sweet to be missed out for any reason.
“Alas,” said the mouse, “the whole world is growing smaller every day.
At the beginning it was so big that I was afraid, I kept running and running, and I was glad when I saw walls far away to the right and left, but these long walls have narrowed so quickly that I am in the last chamber already, and there in the corner stands the trap that I must run into.”
“You only need to change your direction,” said the cat, and ate it up.

Book Review: Only Paranoid Survive - Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:24:00.001-07:00

Author: Andrew S grove
Price: 600 INR
Reviewed By: Jayakumar Balasubramanian
Andrew S Grove, or Andy as he is popularly known, is one of the world’s most famous CEOs, who led Intel into the path of microprocessors. In this book he shares his experiences, which can be applied to individuals’ career as well as organizations. Andy introduces a term called ‘Strategic Inflection Points’ (SIP), which has got equal probability to make or break any business. The businesses who adapt these SIPs (paranoids) will be successful, failing which will cause them to shut shop. He explains how businesses are affected by many factors - which he calls ‘10X’ forces - which primarily drive the organization beyond the SIP. These 10X force could be in the form of new technology, innovation, economic reforms, business model etc.
Throughout the book, Andy explains his SIP and 10X concepts with the PC business as an example. In 1970s the PC business was a ‘vertical’ one which was heavily dominated by companies like Digital Electronic Corporation (DEC). By ‘vertical’ he means that the hardware, OS, software, support will be provided by the PC manufacturer himself. Companies like DEC were pioneers of this vertical business model and no-one could even question their domination.
However the 10X came in form of two major innovations:
1. Micro-processors: This innovation caused the computing to become de-centralized and the power shifted from mainframes to Personal Computers (PC). The cost of computing came down tremendously and lot of component manufactures (like memory, keyboard, disks etc.) emerged in the eastern world (Singapore, Malaysia, Japan etc.) from nowhere. Fueled by system integrators (like Compaq) the computing industry was going through 10X amount of change.
2. Software revolution: The first innovation lead to the change in the way people perceive software. From the ‘processor-tied’ approach the software became more of ‘usage-tied’ and Microsoft rode this wave big time. The perception of seeing software only as a ‘freebie’ with the hardware changed totally.
Now the only chance to stay in the business was to adapt to this change. Initially Intel was limited to memory chip manufacturing. When the 10X change happened in the computing industry, Andy made Intel exit from the memory business and move to the microprocessor business. This caused what is popularly known as ‘WINTEL’ phenomenon (Windows + Intel) and the rest is history.
After explaining this 10X, the author extends his discussion into people side. When such change is taking place in the industry, it’s extremely challenging to change the mindset of the people and make them work in the new technology. This is mainly because people still ‘perceive’ that the old technology (say mainframes) will be alive and PC cannot change the world. Taking people through this change is very challenging for any leader and he calls such changes ‘death-valleys’. He also talks about how important it is to listen to lower level employees, who he calls as ‘Cassandra’. These Cassandras would bring informal but important information about the 10X well before it is understood by the top management.

Open Source Science Fiction Movie - Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:23:00.000-07:00

An experiment in collaborative filmmaking, the new ‘Open Source Movie Project’ aims to create a full community of users who collaborate in the creation and execution of a short science-fiction film titled ‘Jathia’s Wager’. The initial script is about a young man living in an isolated community of humans, who must make a life changing decision about his future and his species.
The script was written as an experiment by Solomon Rothman. “I wanted people to get involved and let the collaborative process start happening long before the movie is shot”, says Rothman. Rothman will film his version of the movie and also that of five other community submitted entries, which will be chosen by majority vote from the community. When it’s time to film, he’ll put the casting videos online and involve the community as much as possible. After the movies are done, all the source files will be uploaded online for people to re-edit and reuse. After all the mixes have been released, he’ll put 5 of the top versions together and release a DVD showing the variants; it will also be available as a free download online.
At the moment it all looks mixed-up and the real challenge will begin when filming starts, because that will mean incurring hard expenses like camera, shooting, and production tools. There are already proposals to involve advertisers in different phases of the project to make this initiative financially sustainable. If the advertisement route is chosen, it might become a tight-rope walk for the team to ensure that the creative vision is not compromised. However the most interesting promise of it being open source is not only its making, but also when it is released finally. After the release, anyone interested can modify these movies as per his perspective; and that opens up a few interesting possibilities, barring serious limitations of getting same actors or recreating similar scenes.
It remains to be seen whether movies will derive any real benefit from this open source model. Though software programs have successfully been developed using the open source model, primarily because branching and merging fit naturally there, art forms like movies have often been driven by the creative vision of one individual and any interference in the process have proved to be counter-productive in the past.

Governing The Corporations - Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:22:00.002-07:00

Advocates of free markets stress the need for governments to release control and let the corporations behave themselves under the aegis of corporate responsibility. However, in the past cases like Enron reinforce the need for active monitoring. As some events of past month indicate, governments have a far greater role in ensuring safety and well-being of workers and consumers than recommended by these advocates.
Candy Scandal Stuns Japan
Akafuku has become the latest Japanese food company to be exposed for lying about the contents of its products, tampering with expiration-date labels and recycling ingredients. Akafuku, is a Japanese confectioner that had been selling bean-jam sweets here since 1707. On its 300th anniversary, its top-selling sweets were still indispensable gifts to bring back home or to the office after a trip to Ise Shrine, Japan’s holiest religious site.
According to a government investigation, for at least three decades Akafuku had systematically reused up to 90 percent of its unsold products, using the ingredients to make new sweets or passing them on to an affiliated confectioner. What is more, the company had forward-dated expiration date labels and had frozen and thawed the sweets. Noriyasu Hamada, the 11th president in the family-owned company’s history, first flatly denied reusing unsold goods but was forced to admit the truth within days. The prefectural authorities ordered Akafuku, which declined to answer questions for this article, to stop business on Oct. 19. It is not clear when or if Akafuku will be allowed to resume operations.
In a related investigation executives at a meatpacking company called Meat Hope were arrested for labeling ground pork, chicken and even rabbit as 100 percent beef. Separately, the 76-year-old president of Hinaidori, a poultry company, admitted to mislabeling his chicken products after he disappeared for several days in the mountains in a failed suicide attempt. The nearly daily disclosures have shaken Japanese consumers, who have long been willing to pay a premium for Japanese food products that were, or so it was said, safer than imported goods, especially from China.
EU officials propose ban on genetically modified corn seeds
European Union environment officials have determined that two kinds of genetically modified corn could harm butterflies, modify food chains and disturb life in rivers and streams, and they have proposed a ban on the sale of the seeds, which are made by Pioneer Hi-Bred, Dow Agrosciences and Syngenta. The preliminary decisions, reported by the International Herald Tribune, are circulating within the European Commission, the EU executive, which has the final say. Some officials there are skeptical about a ban that would upset the powerful biotechnology industry and could exacerbate tensions with important EU trading partners like the United States. Banning the applications for corn cultivation also would mark a bold new step for EU environmental authorities, who already are aggressively pursuing regulations on emissions from cars and aircraft that have set it at odds with the United States and angered industries.
The EU environment commissioner, Stavros Dimas cited research from 2007 showing that consumption of genetically modified “corn byproducts reduced growth and increased mortality of non-target stream insects” and that these insects “are important prey for aquatic and riparian predators” and that this could have “unexpected ecosystem-scale consequences.” Europabio, an industry group with 80 members including Syngenta, Pioneer and Dow, stated that the decisions “would be setting a precedent for EU officials to reject products based on non-verified scientific data”. A representative for Dimas replied that the EU was within its rights to make decisions based on the “precautionary principle,” even when scientists have found no definitive evidence proving products can cause harm.
A US jury takes aim at global wrong-doing
A US jury has awarded a total of $3.3m to six workers who claim they were left sterile by a pesticide used at a banana plantation in Nicaragua. Legal experts say the case is significant as it raises the issue of whether multinational companies should be held accountable in their home countries or in the countries where they employ workers.
The workers accused Dole and Standard Fruit Co and Dow Chemical Co of concealing the dangers posed by the pesticide, used in the 1970s. The harmful effects of Nemagon, banned in the US in 1977, include birth defects, damage to the liver and kidneys, and sterility in male workers. The case is the first of five lawsuits involving at least 5,000 agricultural workers from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama, who claim they were left sterile after being exposed to the pesticide. Other growers and manufacturers are named as defendants.

Turbulent Greenspan - Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:22:00.001-07:00

The process of globalization has resulted in complex relationship between global finance and international politics. This article covers some thoughtful insights on this topic, as expressed by former Fed Chairman in his autobiography.”
The Age of Turbulence is the autobiography of the former Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan. To know how the Fed chairman saw international politics and finance, this book is a must read. The book is based on public information and yet the opinions of Greenspan differentiate this one from several others on the subject. Here are some of the rather unique excerpts from the book:
On Financial Crisis in other countries
U.S. played a role in bailing countries out of the financial crisis in 1990s. This is what Greenspan has to say about the crises and the handling by U.S.:
“In Late December, Mexico revealed that it was in the brink of financial collapse…
None of us had forgotten the Latin American debt crisis of 1982, when an $80 billion default by Mexico had triggered a cascade of emergency refinancing in Brazil, Venezuela,
Argentina, and other countries. That episode nearly toppled several giant U.S. banks, and had set back economic development in Latin America by a decade…
In the following weeks, the administration huddled with Mexican officials, the International Monetary Fund, and other institutions. The IMF was prepared to offer Mexico what help it could, but it lacked the funds to make a decisive difference. Behind the scenes I argued … that US intervention should be massive and fast. To forestall a collapse, Mexico needed sufficient funding to persuade investors not to dump pesos or demand immediate repayment of their loans. This was based on the same principle of market psychology as piling currency in a bank’s window to stop a run on the bank – something the U.S. banks used to do during crises in the nineteen century…
The [IMF] and other international bodies more than matched some $20 billion of guarantees from the Treasury [Of U.S.] to offer Mexico … $50 billion. These weren’t giveaways, as opponents had claimed; in fact the terms were so stiff that Mexico ended up using only a fraction of the credit… The [U.S.] actually profited $500 million on the deal.”
He also talks about the Asian crisis in 1997 placing special emphasis on S. Korea:
“A default by a nation of Korea’s size (of economy) would almost certainly have destabilized global markets. Major banks in Japan and elsewhere would likely have failed, sending additional tremors through the system. Shell-shocked investors would have withdrawn not just from East Asia but from Latin America and other emerging regions, causing development to stall. Credit would very likely have become much tighter in the industrialized nations as well.
About Creative Destruction
Greenspan says that creative destruction is the process of destroying the old in order to create new and is integral to the capitalism. While he concedes that this causes great discomfort to the masses, he says efficient reallocation of capital means that a sector that is not able to grow fast enough is punished. As an example, he quotes GM’s decision to cut 30000 jobs.
“…In expectation that the growth will continue, investors bid up the total market value of Google stock to eleven times that of GM’s. In fact, the General Motors pension fund owned Google shares – a textbook example of capital shifting as a result of creative destruction.
“…And then we arrived in Venice. As necessary as creative destruction is for material standards to improve, it is no coincidence that some of the world’s most cherished places are those that have changed the least over the centuries.
“…nothing is more stressful for people than the perennial gale of creative destruction. Silicon Valley is… an exciting place to work but its allure as a honeymoon destination has…gone largely unrecognized.”
Workers in Capitalism
While he is all praise for the ability of capitalism to deliver growth and raise the living standards of people, he also admits that the growing job insecurity is not a healthy trend.
“Most companies … maintained extra inventory and backup teams of employees…
Standby inventories and workers are all costs, and standby work hours produce no output. They produce no revenue or added productivity.
“Job insecurity, historically a problem mainly of blue collar workers, became an issue starting in the 1990s for more highly educated, affluent people. This came through dramatically in survey data: in 1991… 25% were afraid of being laid off. In 1995 and 1996… 46% were afraid.”
Stock Market
Stock Market, one of the most visible institutions of finance capital is all the more important today because most of the households are invested in the stock market. Greenspan returns to the questions related to stock markets again and again, and examines various aspects of the same. Some interesting observations are:
“America was turning into a share holders nation… at $9.5 trillion, [market] now was 120% as large as GDP. That was up from 60% in 1990, a ratio topped only by Japan at the height of its 1980s Bubble.
“…for most economists, price stability referred to product prices… but what about the prices of income earning assets, like stocks or real estates? What if those prices were to inflate and become unstable? Shouldn’t we worry about the price stability of nest eggs and not just the eggs that you buy at the grocery store?”
The following section is as relevant as it was at the time of 2000 dot com boom:
“How do you draw a line between a healthy, exciting economic boom and a wanton, speculative stock-market bubble driven by the less savory aspects of human nature? As I pointed out dryly to the House Banking Committee, the question is all the more complicated as the two can coexist: “The interpretation that we are currently enjoying productivity acceleration does not ensure that equity prices are not overextended.” An example that intrigued me was the epic, multibillion dollar competition involving Qwest, Global Crossing, MCI, Level 3, and other telecom companies. Like the railroad entrepreneurs of the nineteenth century, they were racing to expand the Internet by laying thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable… There was nothing wrong with this … except that each competitor was laying enough cable to accommodate 100 percent of the projected overall demand. So while something of great value was being built, it seemed clear that most of the competitors would lose, the vale of their stock would plunge, and billions of dollars of their shareholders’ capital would evaporate”
On Americans
“America’s isolation runs so deep that people still haven’t let it go. There is always a presumption that since America is better, we should go it alone.”
He is ostensibly referring to the Monroe Doctrine propounded in 1823 which advocated neutrality of America in the military affairs of Europe. But the doctrine is anyway a history at least since 1900 when America attacked Philippines.
Nonetheless, he goes on to explain that there was a major shift in the thinking of fed in that it should not only look at internal issues but also at things like “warning signs of a possible international financial breakdown”. And once this thinking was clear, he goes on to tell:
“Behind the scenes,…I began to try to coordinate a policy response. We argued, quietly but urgently, for the need to increase liquidity and ease interest rates throughout the developed world.” This argument led to G7 issuing a joint policy statement on combating inflation and fostering growth.
Conclusion
Greenspan expresses his opinions on a variety of topics. In this, his praise of capitalism, limitations of managed economies like USSR, third world etc., and the ideological premises of market economics are the themes he keeps on visiting again and again. While it is difficult to agree with him on many of the opinions he expresses, the book is a must read for anyone who is interested in modern finance and international politics.

Cancer Studies Wasted Millions - Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:21:00.003-07:00

Charity is mostly well intentioned, but easy availability of money to those receiving charity may result in less than efficient use of the same. On November 20, BBC reported that millions of pounds of charity donations and taxpayers’ money have been wasted on worthless cancer studies.
Thousands of studies have been invalidated as some scientists are reportedly not carrying out simple and inexpensive checks to ensure they are working with the right forms of human tumour cells.
Earlier this year eminent cancer specialists from the UK and USA wrote to the US health secretary urging tough action to end this waste of time, effort and money. As per the report, the US authorities observed that there appeared to be “abundant evidence” that many studies and publications had been compromised.
While this is specific to cancer research, it may raise questions on the efficacy of charity based research for other medical ailments as well.

Emergency in Pakistan - Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:20:00.000-07:00

“Emergency in Pakistan is being treated as a logical extension of Parvez Musharraf’s effort to hold on to power. This article explores some crucial issues, which may not be unknown; but not emphasized enough.”
In his address to nation after the declaration of Emergency, President and General Parvez Mushrraf cited two primary reasons which forced him to opt for emergency. These two reasons were the rise of militancy and the overreaching interference of judiciary. Mohammed Hanif, the head of the BBC’s Urdu Service gave an insight as to why Mushrraf can’t be trusted with his statement. According to him, to understand the difference between the general and the president, one only has to look at the lists of people detained and released on the night of the coup. The first people to be arrested after the imposition of emergency were not the leaders of Pakistani Taliban, nor their sympathizers in Islamabad. There was no crackdown on sleeper cells that have orchestrated a wave of suicide bombings across Pakistan. The people he has arrested in the last few days besides judges and lawyers have included peace activists, teachers, artists — basically the kind of people who have done more than anybody else to push ahead his avowed agenda of moving Pakistan away from religious militancy.
On the night he declared the emergency, General Musharraf released 28 Taliban prisoners; according to news reports, one was serving a sentence of 24 years for transporting two suicide bombers’ jackets, the only fashion accessory allowed in Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled areas. These are the kind of people who on their off days like to burn down video stores and harass barbers for giving shaves and head massages. In what can be seen only as a reciprocal gesture, the Taliban released a group of army soldiers it had held hostage — according to the BBC, each soldier was given 500 rupees for good behavior.
Emergency or democracy: US doesn’t bother
The Time thinks that Bush does not care much about emergency in Pakistan. “The two [Bush and Musharraf] haven’t spoken since the dictator declared a state of emergency across the country Saturday, putting the Bush Doctrine at odds with Bush’s War on Terror. What communication there has been has hewed to the pattern of a schoolyard romance on the rocks. Instead of calling the Pakistani leader himself, Bush delegated Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with the task of conveying a list of demands. “We expect there to be elections as soon as possible,” Bush asked Rice to tell Musharraf. Furthermore, Musharraf “should remove his military uniform,” said Bush.
The article further states that Musharraf has a uniquely powerful hold over the White House. The Bush Administration continues to insist it wants Musharraf to stay on the path to democracy, relinquish his position as head of the military as he promised and hold elections before January 15. But it is still unclear what happens if Musharraf doesn’t do any of these things. Bush’s pro-democracy goals for the country seem as much in conflict as ever with the U.S.’s other goal — to stamp out the Taliban in Afghanistan and dismantle terrorist networks operating inside Pakistan.
The U.S. has given Pakistan more than $10 billion in aid since 9/11, most of that directly to the Pakistani military to fund its efforts ferreting out al-Qaeda leaders taking refuge in ungoverned tribal regions that border Afghanistan. This cash, which comes to roughly $150 million a month in aid, is the U.S.’s only real leverage with Pakistan. Rice said Sunday that she would be reviewing the funding in light of Musharraf’s coup d’etat over his own civilian government.
Currently, the funding arrives either in the form of military equipment or as virtually unfettered cash, for Musharraf’s government to do with as it pleases. But the options are limited. The U.S. might get the Musharraf government to focus on counter-terrorism by cutting off money that would otherwise go toward paying down Pakistan’s debt. However, that might just help the Musharraf’s military in silencing the opposition. Pakistan watchers are concerned that U.S. money is being diverted from counterterrorism to anti-democratic crackdowns like this one.
Courts in lockdown
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry - fired by Musharraf on Saturday - in a phone call to a gathering of lawyers urged them to go to “every corner of Pakistan and give the message that this is the time to sacrifice.” Musharraf’s declaration noted a “visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks” and it blamed a judiciary that was “at cross purposes” with his government’s efforts “to control this menace.”
Opposition leaders, however, suggested the judicial activism Musharraf was really targeting was an expected Supreme Court ruling that would bar him from another term as Pakistan’s president.
About 3,000 Pakistani lawyers, rounded up since Saturday, November 3; sit in jails across the country with no courts operating to which they can seek release. Pakistan has an estimated 12,000 lawyers. Police earned cash bonuses for beating and arresting hundreds of lawyers who had gathered outside of Lahore’s courthouse, police sources said.
Over 150 terrorist attacks in 2007
Some 667 people were killed and 1,821 others were injured in 157 terrorist attacked this year in Pakistan, which reflects the grim picture the country has to confront, according to Interior Ministry spokesman (Retd) Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema. The spokesman said that the difficulties were compounded by a lack of understanding in the higher echelons of the judiciary that the law enforcement and security agencies needed a little more room and leeway to deal with the extraordinary situation. Cheema said that the measures taken by the country’s leadership last Saturday came after thorough deliberations. He said that there was no other option but to act firmly to avert the mounting dangers to national security and integrity.
Making way for elections
On Nov 23, The Supreme Court in Pakistan has ordered the Election Commission to declare Gen Musharraf the winner of October’s presidential election. Pakistan’s Supreme Court, now staffed by judges seen as loyal to President Pervez Musharraf, has upheld the imposition of the emergency. “All acts and actions taken are also validated,” the new chief justice of the court, Abdul Hameed Dogar said, the Associated Press news agency reports.
All main opposition parties have signed up for the January 8 parliamentary election, but former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, both back in Pakistan after years of exile, have said they may still boycott the vote which is being organized under emergency rule.

Monitoring Millennium Development Goals - Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

“A slogan like making a world free of poverty and hunger by 2015 raises skepticism. This article tries to explore what is tangible and what needs to be done in this regard.”
The United Nations launched a new web site http://www.mdgmonitor.org/ on November 1, 2007 that will show how and where the world is succeeding or failing in meeting the Millennium Development Goals on ending poverty. The Millennium Development Goals derive from earlier OECD ‘international development goals’, and were
officially established at the Millennium Summit in 2000, where world leaders adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration, from which the eight-goal action plan, the ‘Millennium Development Goals’, was particularly promoted. India is among one of the 192 nations who are signatory to this initiative.
The target
A listing of these goals as they appear in the declaration is important to gain perspective on priorities and scope of issues identified by world leaders.
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty
q Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day
q Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
q Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
q Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
q Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health
q Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
q Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
q Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
q Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources
q Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation
q Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
q Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, nondiscriminatory trading and financial system (includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction; both nationally and internationally)
q Address the special needs of the Least Developed Countries (includes tariff- and quota-free access for Least Developed Countries’ exports, enhanced program of debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries [HIPCs] and cancellation of official bilateral debt, and more generous official development assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction)
q Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small island developing states (through the Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and 22nd General Assembly provisions)
q Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term
q In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth
q In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries
q In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications technologies
Some unasked questions
Making the world free of poverty is a complex task, and probably that is what has led to design of these goals guided by management principles - the goals should be quantifiable, step based and palatable. Recently media campaigns have started in India with the aim to create awareness about these goals. In a typical style of making poverty reduction sustainable without losing commercial interest, the newly launched channel 9x from the INX Media has joined hands with Endemol India and the United Nations to put together a start studded musical reality show to create awareness about the MDGs in India. Though U.N. officials and outside experts have warned that achieving the goals set in 2000 by the target date of 2015 is looking increasingly difficult - even more so in the context of India there seem to be some obvious contradictions -, at the same time an effort of this proportion deserves good monitoring by the citizens of the world, so that it may not become a case of broken promises. Some of the observations are:
As per National Sample Survey of India, the official poverty line for urban areas was determined at Rs 538.60 per month and Rs 356.30 per month in rural areas for the period of year 2004-2005. On an average that comes to Rs 15 per day. That is way below $1 per day limit. Having a designer goal, that seems to arbitrary choosing a limit based on roundness of a number, shows a sign of insincere efforts. Moreover, it intends to compare between 1990 and 2015; a comparison of income for a period apart 25 years and without accounting for inflation.
UN-HABITAT’s annual report on the status of the world’s cities shows that number of slum-dwellers is expected to cross the 1 billion mark in 2007, which means that one in three city residents will live in inadequate housing with no, or few, basic services. That is going to put a lot of pressure on cities limited resources, and prevalent trend of development happening around few big cities will not be able to cope with this. This disparity threatens one of the key Millennium Development Goals: to improve the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers by 2020. The irony is that even if this goal is achieved, it will still be affecting only 10% or even lesser number of chosen group. That is aiming too low, for such an ambitious project. The basic problem seems failing to account properly for the fast changing world dynamics.
One of the goal states, “Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, nondiscriminatory trading and financial system”. The present trading and financial system neither comes anywhere close to being predictable, nor are there any efforts towards making it predictable.

Parallel Universe - Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:17:00.000-07:00

By: Vikram Gakhar

Examining Inflation Figures - Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:15:00.000-07:00

“In the hype around numbers, their relevancy is often left unquestioned. This article explores serious limitations of calculating one such index, Inflation.”
The 2.97 per cent year-on-year WPI increase for the latest recorded week ended October 27 is the lowest-ever since the 2.86 per cent level of July 20, 2002. The current headline inflation rate has, thus, touched a 275-week low. While that may seem impressive for the habitual number-cruncher or policymaker, it is unlikely to, however, cut ice with the common man.
To better understand these numbers, some background information will be helpful. At the national level there are four consumer price index numbers. These are:
q Consumer Price Index (CPI) for industrial workers (IW),
q CPI for Agricultural Labourers (AL),
q CPI for Rural Labourers (RL) and
q CPI for Urban Non-Manual Employees (UNME).
While the first three are compiled by the Labour Bureau in the Ministry of Labour, the last one is released by the Central Statistical Organisation in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The CPI numbers are considered only partial indices as each caters to a specific segment of the population with different base years. The State-level CPI numbers lack uniformity with the oldest base year being 1939 (for a segment of Bihar). Fewer than 20 States compile and construct an index. Only a few States have base year after 1981-82.
The major concerns and discussions stem from the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) compiled by the Office of the Economic Advisor (OEA) in the Ministry of Industry on a weekly basis based on the price quotations collected by official and non-official agencies.
The problems of assessment
Even if the limitations of gathering reliable consumption data is overlooked, an inflation index based on average consumption data often doesn’t reflect the travails of the common man. Professor R. Vaidyanathan of IIM Bangalore has written articles highlighting these limitations and the reasons can be broadly summarized as follows:
q The index tracks the wholesale price only, whereas there is significant gap between wholesale and retail prices because of accessibility and various other local issues.
q Regional variations are not accounted for. For instance, wheat impacts people in the North more than in the South, and so on with different type of dals and oils.
q The weights given to the different components for calculating index, is not in sync with needs of common man. For instance, food items have around 22 per cent weightage in the WPI but it is well-known that they constitute more than 60 per cent of the consumption basket of the vast majority of people. To compare another set of data, the recent inflationary episode has been largely food articles-driven. While the annual WPI increase for the week ended October 27 may have been only 2.97 per cent, hidden within this overall number are corresponding rates of 11.68 per cent for edible oils, 12.92 per cent for tomatoes, 8.27 per cent for milk, 6.10 per cent for rice and, well, 108.76 per cent for onions!
q Though questionable for the lack of uniformity, CPIs are comparatively more relevant, where the combined weight of food is 40 per cent for UNME and 46 per cent for IW. The WPI-based annual inflation during September averaged 3.39 per cent, but the corresponding CPI rates were far higher: 7.89 per cent for agricultural and rural laborers (AL), 6.4 per cent for industrial workers (IW) and 5.74 per cent for urban non-manual employees (UNME).
q Another issue is the suppressing of price increase by government decisions or by subsidies, as in the case of kerosene, LPG, sugar or electricity. Hence, there can be a temporary freeze on the prices of some items to minimize logical rise due to demand-supply mismatch.
q The non-inclusion of a number of services in the WPI, distorts the real inflation picture. For instance, doctor’s fees have gone up by more than 100 per cent in the last three years as also the cost of education and rentals. Yet, most of these are not reflected in the WPI.

Muscle Power and Credit Card Industry - Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

ICICI Bank was slapped a fine of 55 lakh recently by a consumer court in Delhi. The reason was that the recovery agents of the bank mercilessly beat a person and threw him out of the car. The person sustained multiple fractures and was hospitalized for a long time.
While everyone who has ever held a credit card knows that the companies use force and intimidation to recover money, banks seem to think otherwise. In an interview published in Business Line, ICICI Bank’s Senior General Manager – Customer Service Phone Banking Group, Mr B. Madhivanan, said: “When a customer has skipped a payment (sometimes because of records not being updated), we treat it as a service issue. But when it becomes a question of intent to repay, not capability, we have no option but to hand it over to an agency. I can only say now service is the problem. One or two cases turn negative. We are sorry about it. We condone it. But if you look at the total number of complaints — it is in double digits — compare that with the total base of customers of 25 million. If we take 3 per cent as NPA, then we have about 7.5 lakh customers who have collection issues. I have got only about 50 complaints.”
Clearly, the Indian consumer is used to take things lying down. 50 complaints over a base of 9 million seem too low to be true otherwise. Other important implication of this passive attitude of the customer could be high interest rates he is forced to pay. The SGM gave an evasive reply to why interest rates were not coming down in response to stiff competition.
With average spends on credit cards at about Rs 30,000 per annum per card, and the high interest rate charged from the customer as well as the dealers, the credit card industry is obviously sitting on a huge profit even after discounting for NPAs.
Not that the central banker is not aware of these problems. Repeated warnings from RBI as well as by different courts have resulted in acceptance by the banks that the consumer is lured by false promises. However, Madhivanan cleverly put the blame on the customers, absolving the banks of any violation of ethics: “We are telling [customers], please understand what you are getting into. Don’t be naïve. As a culture, Indians don’t read — forget the fine print, even the core print. Please understand what you are getting into. In the developed world, education is mandated. We have started that process of trying to educate the customer.”
Recently, Indian Express ran an article that illustrated the loan recovery of the banks as a four stage process, the last stage of which was sending recovery agents to take possession of the asset under question. This kind of reporting creates a false impression that banks have right to use muscle power to recover asset if ‘everything else fails’. Contrary to this impression given by the banks and some of the newspapers, the legal stand, as propounded by various courts is that like any other institution in this country, the banks should also use the legal route, after which a court can pass directions to the law enforcement organs of the state, like police, to take appropriate action against the offender. The question being asked by citizens is: Under what pretext is this illegal recovery business being conducted under the very nose of the government?

India to Promote Homeopathy - Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

“Homeopathy is being questioned for its scientific validity since long time. There is very little debate on this, even when government of India officially decides in favor of its use.”
There are reports that India will promote homeopathy for bettering mother and child health in areas like anaemia, asthma and diarrhea. ‘Homeopathy is used by many people in India but the usage is very patchy. Through a concerted campaign, we are going to promote homeopathy across the country, especially for mother and child health promotion,’ joint secretary health V. Samuels said. Under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the government has decided to promote this form of medicine at the national, state and district level. ‘All the hospitals and homeopathy practitioners will be brought under a network to facilitate the success of the program,’ Samuels said at a function.
Speaking at the Valedictory Session of the National Campaign on Homoeopathy – Workshop for Healthy Mother and Happy Child, the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss said today, that these national campaigns being launched by the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) will be serving a very useful purpose of focusing attention on the urgent need to integrate the Indian Systems of Medicine and
Homoeopathy with mainstream health care in the country. He further noted that the integration of AYUSH services with mainstream health care has long been the stated policy of the
Government, but practical integration has not really taken place in most parts of the country, and that, by focusing on specific AYUSH interventions for common health and disease conditions, these national campaigns will generate more enthusiasm among health administrators for integrating Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy with mainstream health care in the country.
It is a common knowledge that Homeopathy is unsupported by modern scientific research. The most ‘potent’ medicines are pure distilled water with not a single molecule of medicine even in millions of gallons of preparation. The idea that any biological effects could be produced by these preparations is inconsistent with the observed dose-response relationships of conventional drugs. The proposed rationale for these extreme dilutions - that the water contains the “memory” or “vibration” from the diluted ingredient - is also counter to the accepted laws of chemistry and physics and has failed to get any support from scientific community.
Any positive results obtained from homeopathic remedies may be purely due to the placebo effect, where the patient’s subjective improvement of symptoms is based solely on the power of suggestion, due to the individual expecting or believing that it will work. Critics cite the lack of viable scientific studies for the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies as evidence that they are not effective and that any positive effects are due to the placebo effect. They also contend that homeopathy is inherently dangerous, because homeopaths offer a false hope to patients who could be getting proper treatment.
However, the supporters say that millions of persons are benefiting from homeopathy, and that popularity of the same is a testimony of its curative powers.
Different countries have different stand on this system of medicine. While FDA of USA allows it on the pretext that placebos don’t harm anyone, some European countries as well as India have more favorable approach towards it.
It is worth noticing here that a few decades back, when Indian Parliament passed a bill allowing homeopathy to be considered as one of the national systems of medicine, the main supporting reason was its low cost – which was important in a country like India. Now that metros are dotted with 5-star homeopathy clinics, and the revenue flow is quite comparable with the allopathic clinics, the game has certainly changed.

Indigenous Technological Development Shows Promise- Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:12:00.000-07:00

“India is termed as IT superpower, but performs poorly when it comes to being in control of core technologies. News of achieving excellence in fields like space science and supercomputing is a welcome step towards the path of indigenous development of emerging technologies.”
ISRO develops cryogenic engine technology
A crucial ground test of the indigenously-developed cryogenic engine that will replace the Russian-supplied upper stage of India’s three-stage Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) was carried out successfully on 15 November. The stage is powered by a regeneratively cooled cryogenic engine, which works on stage combustion cycle, developing a thrust of 15,620lb (69.5kN) in vacuum. Describing the 720s test as “completely successful”, Indian Space Research Organisation chairman G Madhavan Nair said: “It was a fantastic achievement that has boosted the confidence of ISRO.” With the indigenous cryogenic engine, the launch capability of GSLV, which is now around 2t, would be boosted to 2.5t “after some fine tuning”, he says.
ISRO took up the cryogenic upper-stage project in the 1990s after Russia, under pressure because of US concerns about proliferation of missile technology, dropped plans to transfer the technology to ISRO. Russia did supply a few cryogenic engine stages for the GSLV, the first two stages of which are derived from the modules of the Indian space workhorse, the four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
Commercialization plans in place
Tata Motors is gearing up to roll out India’s first hydrogen-fuelled vehicle in a partnership with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). This will be a mini-bus scheduled to debut in 2009. ISRO will provide its recently tested cryogenic engine technology. A car is tipped to be next in line. “We have been successful in adapting the system for a bus or car engine and are fine-tuning it. The vehicle will be ready in two years. It will emit only water vapour and will not pollute the environment,” ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair told in an interview.
The steep cost of fuel cells for such cars means a prototype can cost Rs 1 crore but once it is into mass production, prices could be comparable to petrol-driven cars. People working on the project said though the optimum fuel tank size and efficiency are yet to be arrived at, a ‘normal full tank’ hydrogen car can drive for about 300 km. The team is also working on prototypes mixing hydrogen with CNG for lower pollution and higher fuel efficiency.
A supercomputer from India ranked 4th in world
For the first time ever, India has placed a system in the top 10 of the Top 500 Supercomputer Sites List with Computational Research Laboratories - a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons in Pune. The Tata supercomputer is called EKA, the system uses 14240 Intel’s high-speed (3 giga hertz) ‘quad-core’ Clovertown (Xeon 53xx) processors in nearly 1,800 computing nodes put together on a Hewlett-Packard Cluster Platform 3000 BL460c system. This supercomputer achieved 117.9 TFlop/s (`teraflops’ or trillions of calculations per second) performance. Though system is assembled using off-the-shelf components; the innovation the Tata researchers have made is in terms of software optimisation, routing technology, and cooling techniques to achieve higher speeds.
Supercomputing Vision of Dr. Narendra Karmarkar
Interestingly, however, the release from the Tata Group fails to make any mention of the main architect and prime mover of the project, Dr. Narendra Karmarkar, an alumnus of IIT Bombay. The CRL was established in July 2006 by a group of “like-minded alumni of IIT Bombay,” as the CRL website states. However, earlier this year, Karmarkar left the Tatas (along with his core team) when they fell apart following differences over the overall plan and the set of goals and objectives of the HPC project, which included that the first system should be given to the Indian government.
According to Dr. Karmarkar, only five percent of his ideas, which he had shared with the Tatas, have been made use of in the current architecture. “With even this, if it can make it to the fourth place, the system can surely make it to No.1 when all my ideas are incorporated,” he says. A key limiting factor in achieving very high computational speeds in current HPC parallel architectures is the bottleneck caused by the numerous interconnects between the many parallel processors. The new architecture, according to its inventor, Prof Karmarkar, uses a new theory of interconnects based on the mathematical principles of `projective geometry’ to overcome the problem. However, the initiative seems to be lacking collaborative effort between scientific communities, which is crucial for the success of a project of this scale.

Newspaper Readership Statistics- Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

The findings of a newspaper readership survey were presented in the last issue of this newsletter. While the results of surveys are more debatable, here are some of the official statistics as reported by the Registrar of Newspapers for India. The data is based on the number of annual statements of the year 2005-06.
The publishers under Section 19D of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, are required to submit Annual Statements to the Registrar of Newspapers for India.
During 2005-06, 2074 new newspapers were registered. As on 31st March 2006, there were 62,483 registered newspapers on record as against 60,413 at the end of March 2005. The total circulation of newspapers increased from 15,67,19,209 copies in 2004-05 to 18,07,38,611 copies in 2005-06. The highest numbers of newspapers were published in Hindi (4131), followed by English (864), Gujarati (775), Urdu (463) Bengali (445), and Marathi (328).
Among language dailies, Hindi leads with 942 newspapers followed by 201 in English. The languages that published more than 100 daily newspapers were Urdu (191), Telugu (147) Marathi (130) and Gujarati (100).
Circulation-wise, Hindi dailies maintained their dominance with 3,76,42,520 copies. English Dailies followed with a circulation of 1,29,14,581 copies. Hindi newspapers continued to lead with 7,66,98,490 copies followed by English with 3,41,06,816 copies. Gujarati Press with 98,44,710 copies came third. Urdu and Malayalam language press closely followed with 92,17,892 and 82,06,227 copies respectively.
The Times of India, having six editions in English with a combined circulation of 25,42,075 copies came first among multi-edition dailies. Dainik Bhaskar in Hindi having 18 editions, claiming a combined circulation of 21,81,948 copies stood second. Dainik Jagran, (Hindi) with 14 editions and a combined circulation of 21,11,316 copies, occupied the third position.
Among periodicals The Hindu, English weekly from Chennai topped with a circulation of 11,02,783 copies, while The Sunday Times of India, English weekly, published from Delhi came second with a circulation of 10,38,954 copies. Out of the total 6343 periodicals, 4238 dealt with News and Current Affairs, while 421 were dealing with Social Welfare. Apart from these there were other periodicals, dealing with various subjects, such as Religion and Philosophy, Medicine and Health, Education, Finance and Economics, Literature and Culture, Children, Women, Law and Public Administration, Film, Commerce, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Science, Sports, Engineering and Technology and Industry etc.

123 Nuclear Conundrum - Nov 2007

2008-03-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

The UPA-Left committee on the India-US Civil Nuclear Cooperation in its meeting has given the government limited consent in going for “talks with IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Secretariat for working out the text of the India specific safeguards agreement.” But this is a limited consent for discussions of an exploratory nature before finalizing or signing any draft agreement and the outcome will be presented to the committee for its consideration. The committee will finalize its findings.
The government and the Left parties also agreed to have a discussion on the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal at the beginning of the winter session of Parliament starting on November 15. This decision removes one of the major inconsistency of the government’s stand, where it maintained that Indo-US nuclear deal is a boon for the country, but not important enough to be discussed in Parliament.
BJP which was so for showing ambivalence, changes track and goes for harsh criticism of the deal. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani on 29th November assured the nation that if the BJP-led NDA was given a mandate, it would re-negotiate the Indo-US civil nuclear deal or even drop it as it was detrimental to vital and long-term national interests. Raising another issue during debate in Parliament, Advani wanted to know from the government why it had backtracked from signing an agreement on supply of two additional reactors for Kudankulam, during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent visit to Russia. Though India had officially announced that it could not sign the agreement because of Russia’s insistence on India getting endorsement of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for the nuclear deal, it was reported by a leading newspaper that India had actually backtracked under US pressure.

Past Issues of Newsletter: Open Window

2007-12-01T03:30:00.000-08:00

The Jan 15, 2008 Issue, of the newsletter Open Window is available Here (PDF Version). Due to lack of resources, the next issue is postponed to Feb 15, 2008. Calling volunteers NOW!!!

The December 31, 2007 Issue of the newsletter is available here (PDF Version)

(Cartoon by Vikram)

The December 15, 2007 Issue of the newsletter is available here (PDF Version)
(Cartoon By Vikram)

The November 30, 2007 Issue of the newsletter is available here (PDF Version) . (Or here (HTML version)

The October 31, 2007 Issue of the newsletter is available here (PDF Version). OR here (HTML version)

The October 15, 2007 Issue of the newsletter is available here (PDF Version) . OR here (HTML version)

There are some other similar community efforts at a much larger level. Here are some of the links, that would give you an idea of what we are talking about. Please note that we do not endorse any of these websites.
Link TV
Free Speech TV: DISH Network ch. 9415
Democracy Now! | Radio and TV News

Note: 1. Subscription service has run into some issues and we are trying to fix the same. Till then, you will have to visit this website to access the news letter.
2. We recommend PDF version over the HTML one

A brief on the question "WHY"

2007-11-17T22:59:00.000-08:00

While we were resisting a justification of the newsletter on the grounds that the content should speak for itself, a few words are warranted because so many readers are asking similar questions.

Every newspaper has a website - Yes, so do we. Vaishviki dreams of competing with nonsense news by developing community supported news program. We can’t think of any other way of saving news from commercials.
What about electronic media – In India, electronic media is more dependent on advertisers and also more inclined towards creating masala news to attract masses. We hope to influence the channels by evolving our own community of likeminded persons.
Google news is already here – Yes, and it is great. But it is more ephemeral. This community creates something that you can keep and refer to even after a few months.
What about wiki news – Wiki is a great collaborative tool and wikipedia has great information about many things, but as experience shows, handling controversial topics requires wiki to adopt stringent moderation. We are aware of this, and hence combine community participation with responsibility.

The current report card of the newsletter can be accessed now.

News for the people by the people

2007-10-01T10:29:00.000-07:00

You can win 5 Toyota Corollas

You can win 500 laptops

You can win a trip to Mauritius

Every week, every week, every week.

News is big business today. In the race to big profits, big media houses in collaboration with the marketing teams of Corporations are manufacturing consent. When people buy news they buy advertisements. In fact advertisements are subsidizing the news. No doubt its almost impossible to disseminate news with freedom.

Unless the society decides to bear the cost of news with collaborative effects.

Currently we are putting 500 man hours worth effort of news per month. With a cost of roughly 50,000 – 2,50,000 Rs a month depending on how you value our man hours. If we have to charge it to you we need 2500 readers to be cost effective and competitive in the market.

So with us you don’t win any of the things mentioned above; but you get news. Unbiased, honest, unopiniated; in short, news without prejudice, news as it is, news not to bloat the profits of advertisers.

This is an attempt to start a newsletter moderated, controlled and generated by the community for the community. Do join us and contribute.

How you can contribute

To contribute, you need to login to http://unopinionatednews.blogspot.com

Simply drop a mail to vaishviki@gmail.com with 'contribute' in the subject line and you will be assisted.

Rules for news contributors

They are no written rules at the moment. The guiding principles are fairness, impartiality and democracy.