Outshine

SC scraps 122 licences issued by A.Raja

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:04:15 PST

In a historic Judgment SC has scrapped 122 licenses issued by former Telecom Minister A.Raja,who is languishing in Tihar for one year now.The country's political spectrum was eagerly awaiting the 2 G spectrum case judgment of the SC.Justice Singhvi and Ganguly said the issue of licenses were "arbitrary and unconstitutional ".The judges also said enlightened citizens have brought out the huge scam ,for the benefit of the unsuspecting citizens .This judgment is no doubt an indictment for the government.It also implies silent spectators like PM,and Chidambaram the then Finance Minister also failed in their duty to protect the common man's interest and are equally guilty.In this connection,it is noteworthy that the SC has asked the trial court judge to decide whether PC should be inquired by CBI .It must be noted the SC judgment says in allocating scarce resources like spectrum the government should have given wide publicity for all eligible persons to participate.It also went on to say any other methodology would be misused by unscrupulous people who are only interested in garnering maximum financial benefit and have no respect for the constitutional ethos and values."

From the mobile users point of view, if your service provider happens to be one among the canceled licensee ,you may have to shift to another service provider.Obviously some other service provider is going to benefit by this .Opposition parties are surely going to take advantage of the SC judgment and step up their attack of the ruling UPA.

After canceling the licenses ,will the government re auction it ? Will TRAI come out with new guidelines for re auctioning ? . Surely the new auctions should benefit the government monetarily.If the licenses are going to be expensive,will the rates for mobile users go up ?This was precisely a premise on which A.Raja was defending his decision to go for 2001 rates in 2008.He said he wanted to keep down the prices, and penetrate the huge untapped market potential.Does it mean Raja was right ,from the users perspective ?.Not at all,no government can afford to lose monetarily and allow private entities to mint money at the expense of the government .But the flip side of it is, FDI might take a beating in the telecom sector .Already the government has cut a sorry figure in the eyes of prospective foreign investors on the issue of FDI in retail sector.

Another aspect is many Banks in the country have given loans and bank guarantee,against the licenses.Will the cancellation make it a bad debt for the banks ? Pranab has said the government is examining the implications of the SC judgment.If the business of those telecom companies whose licenses were canceled,shut their business,it is going to have an whole lot of chain reactions.If a business is shut,the employees may lose their job,it will have a telling effect on the ancillary industries and vendors,at-least temporarily.

One possible good fall out of the SC verdict could be politicians would be careful henceforth before looting public money.Corrupt politicians going behind bars and the unusual awakening among Indian citizens against corrupt politicians ,should be an eye opener to those politicians and bureaucrats who indulge in looting public money .

My other blogs

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:20:12 PST

Outshine has changed to a new look Home page ,I could not give links to my Tamil and Malayalam blogs ,since the new dynamic template does not support sidebar links .Until such time it is fixed ,temporarily I have given below links to my Tamil and Malayalam blogs.Side bar gadgets would also appear once these issues are fixed .

My Tamil Blog மதுரைக்காரன்

My Malayalam Blog സ്നേഹം കൊണ്ട് മാത്രം

Another abject surrender

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:57:51 PST

India drooped to another humiliating surrender and defeat ,the seventh successive test defeat on a foreign soil .It may not be surprising if it is going to be another 0-4 drubbing ,like last years devastating England tour. There are reports that Dhoni is not his usual self and is disinterested in test cricket. How can a captain make others believe he is disinterested ? He can do it only through his actions and words.Surely Dhoni is guilty of doing both .Else why should Dhoni talk about his retirement from test cricket in the middle of an on going series in a foreign soil ,that too especially when the team is doing badly.Dhoni's remarks about his leaving the test cricket format was obviously out of place . What ever I wrote in my last post ,after the 0-4 series loss to England 'What went wrong with Dhoni & co ' holds good ,for the Australian series also.It was once again a spineless performance,with no will to fight .All is not well with the Indian team .Rahul Dravid is reported to have said ,what is needed is inspiration ! What was he hinting at ?Who was not inspiring ,the leader of the team ?.It is a pity to hear these words from some one like Dravid,whom his team mates looked for inspiration sometime back.I think BCCI and the selectors were carried away by a home series win against west indies.After the defeat Dhoni said, " we need to score more runs and take more wickets " ! .To top it all ,Dhoni has been suspended for the Adelaide test for slow over rates.Dhoni admitted he was informed from time to time about the slow over rates .He was warned for the same offence last time in the test series against West indies. Being the second offence ICC has dished out an one test ban.Why are they not trying young guns like Ajinta Rahane,Rohit Sharma who are in the benches .What is disturbing is that there is not even a semblance of putting up a fight .It is not the question of defeat,that is so humiliating.But the way the Indian batsmen threw their hands up and surrendered like meek goats,that is hurting. World's two leading run getters are in our team,two aging war horses .Despite Tendulkar's best efforts to reach the milestone of scoring his hundredth ton,which is eluding him for some time,he showed his class and put up some fight against the Aussies . Except for Tendulkar and to some extent Virat Kohli,it was a pathetic show.

What should the BCCI do now ? Perhaps this could be the last overseas tour for the likes of Tendulkar,Dravid and Lakshman.Neither Team India nor these reputed players can bask in their past glory and reputation . These seniors wont 'be around for the next tour.Even in the current tour ,they are struggling to find glimpses of their old magic come alive. Age do catch up with every one .Where is the second line ? Why BCCI is not nurturing the second line ? Do we have worthy replacements in the wings, for these retiring legends ?What is National Cricket Academy doing ? Why did Kumble resign as NCA chairman ?Is overdose of T20 format killing test match skills and staying power of our batsmen, at the crease ? Do we need to have specialist players for each format of the game ?There is so much craze among our fellow country men about cricket in India.The kind of money in the BCCI coffers , the money earned by the players for endorsing different brands,the hype and media coverage given to cricket in India are the envy of sports person's belonging to other disciplines.BCCI is the richest sporting body in India.Its financial clout has helped BCCI to flex its muscles in the international arena also. BCCI also gets tax exemptions,a favour not shown to many other sports bodies.Powerful politicians head BCCI and state cricket Associations . When the new sports minister Ajay Maken wanted to introduce a new sports bill,the BCCI's clout in the cabinet, could ensure rejection of the bill.Both BCCI and IOA could scuttle the bill.Because powerful politicians like Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel, Farooq Abdullah, C.P. Joshi, and Vilasrao Deshmukh are involved in the administration of the game.They said the bill interfered in their functioning.Other sports federations are languishing for want of funds. I think it is time for the government to curb the lop sided promotion of cricket in India.Abinav Bindra could fetch India's first gold medal in 10 m rifle shooting in the Beijing Olympics only because of his own preparations.The Association has not helped him in any way.He had to arrange for his own coach .In one of the debates in parliament the former sports minister Mani Shankara Aiyar ,known for his blunt views said "Cubans win 157 medals for every one core of their population, Chinese win about 3.5 medals for every crore of their population and India wins less than 0.5 medals for every core of its population." He also said the heads of the sporting federations in India are not there to inculcate a sporting culture. It is true in the case of BCCI also.BCCI ,wake up before it is too late.

Ec's order to cover elephant statues is Laputan

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 07:51:30 PST

Election commission ordering covering of hundreds of Elephant statues in UP ,since it happens to be the symbol of Mayawati's BSP is funny and laputan.I could not help my imagination running wild ,if the EC were to apply the same yardstick for all parties in all future elections, What would happen to the two leaves symbol of ADMK.Will the EC order covering all trees in TN at election time ,or how would EC prevent day break in TN,rising sun being the symbol of the DMK ? In all fairness the EC should have ordered everyone to wear gloves to cover their hands in UP and ordered all cycles to be off the road in UP,hand being the symbol of Congress and cycle that of SP !.The quixotic order of EC is illogical,on the face of it .The reason given for this funny order by EC is that ,it is ensuring a level playing field for all political parties!.The EC is in fact giving wide publicity to BSP's symbol by covering all the elephant statues in UP.EC has also ordered covering up all statues of Mayawati in UP .A PIL was filed in the Allahabad High court by a social activist against the EC order. I was eager to know how the courts look at this partisan and quixotic order of EC .But unfortunately the PIL was withdrawn ,since the PIL had technical shortcomings.EC has made another funny decision to use only women officials for poll duty in Goa ,since they would be immune to distractions.I am surprised to note,of late the EC is talking through the hat.

Such queer laws are passed by governments and its bodies from time to time.Kerala Women’s Code Bill 2011 has provisions to penalize parents who beget more than two children.The draft bill suggests a fine of Rs 10,000 or three months simple imprisonment for begetting a third child.It simply means a third child can land a parent in jail.The third child will also not be given basic amenities like free education and mid-day meal at government schools.Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer has protested against this proposal of the Kerala government.Such outlandish laws are passed by governments around the world.Here are few examples. in Thailand, it is illegal to leave your house without wearing underwear. It is illegal in Switzerland to flush the toilet after 10 pm.

The EC brought in new initiatives like KYC ,know your candidate in its website ,giving details of all candidates including the declaration of assets by candidates. The details of criminal records of each candidate will be available in the public domain for the first time.While the general public appreciate initiatives by the EC like KYC,it should not become a laughing stock in the eyes of world by passing crackpot orders like covering statues.

Bacterium and Bacteria

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 07:05:13 PST

Today I was watching a Tamil serial in TV by director Balachander .A character in the serial says there are bacteria's every where . The mother character who happens to be a nurse in the serial says it is not bacteria's ,say as bacilli .I was surprised to notice such a blooper in a KB serial. To my knowledge bacteria is the plural for the term bacterium .Nouns that end with ium has a plural form that ends with ia . Eg: Plural for millennium is millennia .Bacilli is the plural for Bacillus . Bacillus is a rod shaped bacterium and one of the three forms of bacteria .In a media like TV care should be taken to avoid bloopers like this,especially when it is emphatically said .

Why this unfathomable kolaveri ?

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 02:09:02 PST

I read a news item that Dhanush received a surprise invitation to attend a dinner hosted by the Hon’ble Prime Minister to honour the visiting Japanese Premier in New Delhi.It was also mentioned PM is also a fan of the kolaveri song .When the song became a craze among youth and a popular hit in YouTube,I too viewed the YouTube video .To be honest, I was not so impressed with the song.There is nothing so great about the song or the lyrics. Yet it has gained international acclaim and many new versions have come out from various sources through out the world.The song could have become a hit, because it is a slow tempo song,can be easily sung by an amateur singer,lyrics is mostly in English and most people could understand the mood of the song .The fact that every one is easily reproducing the song,after hearing the song once, is the real success formula behind the song. The composition and lyrics are very simple. It is an undeniable fact the song has become a big hit world wide . Instant hits like this are no doubt popular,but they can never become a classic.Classic songs are immortal.A song can become popular for many reasons.I don't think kolaveri is an immortal song. It is a passing fad. By no means ,I am belittling the song's popularity .I liked the orchestration of the song .

But I have to admit, I was flabbergasted by the reach of the song.It is incredible and incomprehensible. To start with, breaking the language barrier, a Tamil song became so popular in its original version all over India was itself a phenomenon.The spread and popularity of the song was almost viral.The popularity of the song can be gauged by the fact that ,Chennai,Delhi and Kolkatta traffic police are using the song to promote safety rules in huge hoardings .Hoardings with "Why this kolaveri ?caption says wear helmets !. Another Kolaveri hoarding says "Drive without anger" .Kolaveri in Tamil means "killer rage" .I was surprised to watch the Gujarati and Punjabi versions of the song in YouTube.Software professionals have composed a song aping kolaveri as 'Why this delivery di ? .There are Chinese,Japanese and Auckland versions of the song in the internet.Advertisers are also cashing in on Kolaveri fad. A cola company Ad says " Why this Cola veri ? ".IIM Ahmadabad has planned to hold a session on kolaveri di song as part of its course on contemporary film industry.The kolaveri song has air time on BBC radio and MTV .Time and Economist magazine has mentioned about the kolaveri song in their magazine.There is an unfathomable kolaveri among fans of this song.Whatever be the reason,kudos to the kolaveri team for bringing out a hit number.

Fall out of Fukushima nuclear plant disaster

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:03:24 PST

While there are pro and anti groups actively campaigning for the Kudankulam Nuclear plant,the news from Japan yesterday ,after the Fukushima disaster is disturbing. This could be a shot in the arm for the anti nuclear plant protestors.A Japanese baby food manufacturer has come out with a statement that radioactive cesium has been found in its baby formula and is arranging it to withdraw its product from the market.The company is withdrawing 400,000 cans of powdered milk for infants. They suspect it could be a fall out of the Fukushima disaster.The milk powder company is situated at a distance of 200 miles from the Fukushima plant.The disturbing news is children are more susceptible to radiation exposure than adults.Excessive radiation in vegetables,sea food and water are causing grave concerns to Japanese Health Ministry.Scientists believe 80 % of the cesium released by the plant after the disaster has gone in to the pacific and from there has made its way to other oceans in the world.The Tokyo electric company estimates nearly 45 tonnes of radioactive waste water has leaked from the plant to the ocean.Another report says the leaked radioactive cesium will lose only half of its radioactivity in the next three decades.This means the livestock and human beings in this region will be exposed to radiation risk in the years ahead for decades. We have already witnessed a similar tragedy in Bhopal .Even after 25 years of the tragic incident, still the breast milk of mothers in the region contain traces of the dreaded chemicals.Even today children are still born or crippled in Bhopal.The Union government had filed a petition seeking a compensation of Rs.100 crore from Dow chemicals for environmental remediation costs. This explains why MEA is opposing sponsorship of 2012 London Olympics by DOW chemicals.

It is reported the Fukushima radioactive fallout has reached as much as 73 percent of the daily radiation emitted from Chernobyl nuclear disaster.Iodine-131, the radioactive isotope is also now spreading across the globe.Fukushima continues to leak radiation into the environment, its total radioactive output may exceed that of Chernobyl.Experts say Fukushima has ten times the amount of fresh and spent fuel as Chernobyl.Food and water in Japan is now highly contaminated.The ocean and atmosphere are said to be radio active.It is also reported people are hospitalised with radiation burns.The soil in Fukushima is contaminated .A vast majority of the land in Fukushima can not be cultivated again .Growing crops in such lands have been prohibited in Fukushima now.Chenrnobyl plant was situated in Ukraine in former Soviet union.But it is reported ,still residents in some part of South Germany are not ale to grow mushrooms due to radiation damage carried by wind.It is believed a nuclear accident in China's shores could make Korea and Japan vulnerable to radioactive exposure.Before chernobyl and Fukushima disasters,these were perceived dangers of a nuclear disaster.Now people world over know about the fall out of two dreaded nuclear disasters.It is clear that in the event of a catastrophe, the effects could be devastating.

We know the effects of natural disasters like floods,Tsunami,volcanic eruptions,cyclonic storms,heat waves,quakes etc.But that does not make us live in perpetual fear anticipating the fall outs of such disasters.A nuclear accident like Fukushima is an environment disaster.But an environment disaster of this type can be triggered by a natural disaster.Here again we can not perpetually anticipate a disaster and live in constant fear.From past experience people world over have learnt lessons to face and tackle catastrophes of this nature and moved forward .These are perceived dangers, be it a dam break or a nuclear disaster .Taking best possible preventive steps could be the remedy and move forward,rather than living perpetually perceiving danger.The government should come out with plans for nuclear reactors using alternative nuclear fuel like thorium as suggested by Abdul Kalam ,which is reported to be safer,cleaner and cheaper.It is also true ,we can not altogether do away with nuclear power generation .

Opulent Bus travel

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 01:23:10 PST

A logistic company has launched a bus service called Luxuria, between Chennai and Bangalore ,which boasts of offering facilities that even a business class air travel doesn't offer .The bus service is launched by the Blue Hill Group which runs the Nilgiris Supermarket retail chain. The air conditioned bus has just 21 leather upholstered reclining seats that can recline up to 140 degrees with calf , thigh supports,and adjustable arm rests at the push of a button .Each seat is equipped with a panel to control seat movements and lights . Each seat has a large individual 10-inch LCD display TV with remote control and head phones.The Volvo buses are WiFi enabled and allow passengers to watch on-demand movies and songs.The bus has Dish Tv connectivity with 100 plus live TV channels.The bus also provides laptop chargers and a foldable table before each seat. The Luxuria buses also have airline-style pursuers who will serve food and beverages .A bathroom with wash basin is located at the back of the bus.The seats are arranged in 2+ 1 rows. The Bus has been specially designed by famed designer Dilip Chabria. They have pressed in to service 12 buses initially between Chennai and Bangalore and plans to increase the fleet strength and connect key Indian cities with Luxuria buses later.Luxuria could become the favourites of the corporate world,since the fare is almost three fold of a normal multiaxle volvo A/C bus between the two cities. With better roads and better buses luxury buses of this type could become popular soon.

Mullaiperiyar issue

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:33:24 PST

The issue is blown to the present level by politicians of both the states.The release of the movie 'dam 999' has raised the heat ,with people coming to the streets in Kerala and protester's tempers running high .TN politicians are planning to retaliate by stirs in TN side .Before it snowballs in to a big issue,the politicians on either side should stop playing to the gallery and resolve, an essentially technical issue on purely technical grounds and not based on parochial agenda. I wrote a post on the effects of screening the dam 999 movie as early as December 1,2009 in my post called Dam 999.As stated in my post then ,the question of the dam withstanding tremors or the increased water level to 152 feet is a technical issue.It should be left to dispassionate experts .Impartial experts can throw light on the safety of the dam and allay the fears of the people living in Kerala.Alternatively if Kerala's fear's of a dam collapse is foreseen by experts ,the best technical brains in the nation can come together and suggest ways and means to overcome that and come to an amicable solution acceptable to both the sides.

I happened to watch two video's produced by some engineers of TN giving lot of technical inputs that have gone in to the reinforcement of the dam .Both the videos have voice over in Tamil with English subtitles.The video has also traced the brief history that led to the construction of the dam years ago.I am not an expert to comment on the technical aspects shown in the video,but it was very informative .I have given below links to both the videos.Interestingly the second video's concluding part has few suggestions and a way out for the imborglio.

http://www.vinavu.com/2011/12/01/mullai-periyar-video/

http://www.vinavu.com/2011/12/01/mullai-periyar-video/

In my post India in retrospect,I mentioned last year "The conflict between states about sharing river waters across state boundaries needs to be resolved without delay.This could very well become a serious issue in the years ahead.The inter state disputes ACT has not helped to resolve these issues.This should not become the cause for political instability and civic discords."

One earnestly hopes better sense would prevail among politicians of TN and Kerala and the issue would be resolved amicably and people of both the states would remain well-disposed to each other for ever.

An appeal to politicians - please introspect

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 07:19:38 PDT

I read a news item that the Jaya government in TN is contemplating to convert the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai inagurated by the DMK government towards the fag end of their regime in to a super speciality paediatric hospital and shift the library to the proposed knowledge park in the DPI complex.Any dispassionate person, would disapprove it.I also felt that way . I wondered if the Jaya government is yet again taking a wrong move out of political vengeance,because it was a dream project of former CM Karunanidhi.It is true Karunanidhi has a penchant for creating monumental buildings like this in his regime.It has to be admitted that the library was planned meticulously to be a world class one ,and is the biggest library in Asia.The library was constructed at a cost of 172 crores.Now to convert the library to an hospital and to build another library of this nature ,with all the facilities available at ACL would cost the state exchequer almost double the amount .Is it being done to please some one's whims ? Should Jaya ,supposedly a good administrator, behave the Mayawati way and squander government funds?.If she persists with the move ,I fear she would earn the displeasure of the apolitical common man.More over on the face of it, it appears as an unwarranted and politically motivated move,because it has already become a landmark building in the city.Above all the library is fully functional and is used by a host of people belonging to the cross section of the society like,scholars,students,writers and researchers.This move of the government would surely make it unpopular among the public.Already many sections including students and eminent writers have come out in the open against this decision of the government.A super specialty hospital for children is welcomed by all.But why should it be housed in a functional library with world class infrastructure facilities ? I am at a loss to understand why is the government so partiular to house the proposed hospital in the ACL library building ? Does it not smack political vendetta ?Karunanidhi stoically said that 'I would leave it to the wise Tamil people to react '.

It is nothing but one-upmanship by politicians over their rivals whenever they come to power.Unfortunately this is done at the expense of public money to satisfy their whims and to settle scores .During her previous regime Jaya wanted to build a new Assembly complex in the beach road ,where the Queen Mary's college is functioning.Then DMK was in the central ministry,the environmental clearance was not given by T.R.Balu ,who was a central minister then .When the DMK government constructed the new Assembly building, Jaya opposed it and in one of her election speeches said if she is returned to power she would shift assembly back to the 17th century St.George fort .Karunanidhi then made the heritage Assembly chamber, a reference library for Central Institute of Classical Tamil.The moment Jaya came to power the library with collection of 37,000 titles and 3,000 compact discs containing 41 classical works was shunted out and the Assembly was reverted back to its old place.She also said the new Assembly complex would be converted in to a Multi speciality hospital in the lines of Delhi's AIIMS.

It is high time our politicians mull over their politics of vendetta and realise that one can never get ahead of a person by trying to get even with him. When in opposition they are evaluators ,but when they sit in judgement they fail to distinguish the thin line between justice and vengeance.when justice leaves ,vengeance begins.Mulayam singh says when he returns to power he would raze down with bulldozers all monuments built by Mayawathi. What else is this other than vengeance ?They forget what Gandhiji said "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind ".They should realize revenge is a sword that wounds the one who wields it.Team Anna members are being subjected to vindictive politics and each member of the team is targetted.The Bhushans,Kiran Bedi and Kejriwal are not spared. Ramdev is accused of FEMA Violations . My surmise is why all this is being done after they voiced against the government ?Does it not smack vindictive politics ?I would like to remind them about what Churchill said about vengeance "Nothing is more costly, nothing is more sterile, than vengeance”.This is an appeal to our politicians , please introspect before you indulge in political vendetta. If you are still not convinced ,before you set out for revenge, be sure to dig two graves.

World Elder's week

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 05:37:34 PDT

World Elder's day was celebrated on 1st October ,all over the world.The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro sciences (NIMHANS),Bangalore celebrated for a week from september 30 to 1st October as World Elders week.The UN declared October 1st as the World Elders day on its 20th anniversary.As age advances , there will be a decline in reasoning, memory, and other mental abilities .The decline in the cognitive functions finally leads to difficulties in carrying out day to day activities .Medically this condition is called Dementia.This senility is most common in old people and is a NOT a normal part of ageing.Experts say there are underlying medical conditions for dementia.It is believed dementia can be reversed with treatment before it gets worse.People with dementia become totally dependent on others for their care.They may be conscious ,but will have short term and long term memory loss.In a country like India ,where family ties still carry some degree of hallow, dementia will have a negative impact on relationships and quality of life of a person.

The Dementia India Report 2010 says " In 2010, there are 3.7 million Indians with dementia and the total societal costs is about14,700 crore . While the numbers are expected to double by 2030,costs would increase three times . Families are the main carers and they need support " .The Dementia India report calls for a National dementia strategy.This will be a huge challenge posed to the health care sector.The report also says our helath professionals must be trained to treat dementia and depression,two major health problems of the aged.

The elderly care is the best in Sweden.The older people represent a majority in Sweeden's population.Most of them are active and lead a healthy life and live in their own homes.Sweeden invests a sizeable portion of its GDP on its elderly people in comparison to all the nations in the world.Sweeden has the largest proportion of people aged 80 plus.Only 4 % of the total cost of the elderly care in Sweden is borne by the patients.The elderly care is taken care by muncipalities in Sweeden. Most muncipalities have contracted out their elderly care to Public or Private operators.The elderly have the option to choose the public or private operator.Older people who continue to live at home can obtain various kinds of support to make life easier. Almost all municipalities in Sweden offer ready-cooked meals to the homes of the elderly and disabled.Most municipalities also provide communal meals for the elderly at special day centers. A few organize small groups of the elderly into teams that cook their own meals.When an older person is not able to cope with the demands of everyday life,they can apply for assistance from the municipal home-help services. The extent of such care is subject to assessment. Older people with disabilities can obtain assistance around the clock, and remain at their home throughout their lives. The elderly and disabled also qualify for transportation services in taxis or specially adapted vehicles. When planning housing and housing areas, Swedish municipalities are required to ensure that they are adapted to the needs of older people and people with disabilities.Older people with disabilities can apply to their local municipality for home adaptation grants, the aim being to enable them to continue to live there. The municipality pays the entire cost if the grant is approved, regardless of the financial status of the applicant.(Courtsey www.sweden.se.)
What can the younger generation do to make the elderly a happy lot ?.A lonely forlorn person can never make new friends ,sitting at home most of the time.Someone willing to listen to them can go a long way in making them understand they still mean something to someone.When coping with aging they should be apprised of the ways to approach the situation with postive attitude.It is estimated Rs 10,000 crores may be required in India to take care of all dementia patients.This number will triple by 2020.Currently only 10 % of the patients are diagonised and treated.Our policy makers are busy in protecting themselves from institutions that would probe their corrupt deals .They are trying to find newer avenues to loot the nation .They must realise a good nation takes care of their elderly population and their soldiers.

How safe is koodankulam nuclear power plant ?

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:05:57 PDT

The indefenite relay fast by the local villagers against the koodankulam nuclear power plant, a coastal village in Tamilnadu has entered the seventh day . 24 people who went on fast are reported to be critical.TN government has woken up and sent a strongly worded letter to PM on the unresponsive attitude of the centre to the issue.PM has agreed to send central minister Narayanaswami to reassure the villagers. But the moot point is how safe is koodankulam Nuclear plant in the wake of the recent disaster in Japan's Fukushima nuclear reactor during the Tsunami.Very recently there was a radio active leak and blast in the Marcoule nuclear plant in France.The blast killed a person in Marcoule.It is quite but natural the koodankulam people are panicky. Though not a nuclear disaster,the Bhopal tragedy and its after effects on the Bhopal people even after a quarter century of the disaster, looms large in the minds of the people of the tiny coastal village koodankulam in Tamilnadu.The most disturbing fact is, there is a hamlet called Idinthakarai just 10 KM away from the plant site.The waste from the nuclear plant will be discharged in to the Bay of Bengal.Kanyakumari is just 25 Kms away from Koodankulam.Koodankulam itself is a fishing hamlet.The release would affect the marine wealth of this region.The plant is expected to be commissioned in December.When the plant was concieved there was a weak protest in some quarters citing the chernobyl disaster,especially because the koodankulam plant is also a Russian assisted project.But the recent Fukhshima disaster pressed the panick button,justifiably too.It should be noted that Mamta's Trinamul congress has announced recently that Haripur nuclear power project had been abandoned in West Bengal.The rethinking by the WB government was prompted by the Fukushima disaster.After the Japan disaster,world over all countries are re examining their commitment to nuclear power plants.Germany has decided to close all its nuclear reactors by 2022. Italy has banned nuclear power generation altogether.The carbon free elecricity generation was considered as the most favourable point for nuclear power generation.But it is the only source of power that uses radio active waste.Radio active spills can harm the land and the living organisms of the region for centuries.Any failure in safety measures could be catastrophic.But at the same time it is also true nuclear power generation is required to meet the increased power demands which is progressing geometrically.This is true especially in the wake of climate change concerns .So whether we like it or not nuclear power will stay all over the world,to tide over the increased power genration crisis everywhere.The scientists have to devise ways and means to make it safe and secure.Experts say the Generation III plus nuclear power plant technology is much superior and safe.But the current nuclear plants in India is using a technology 4 decades old.As on date there is a potential risk and it can not be ignored or brushed aside by any one .The safety concern raised by the koodankulam people are to be addressed.

What went wrong with Dhoni & co ?

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 01:54:44 PDT

Defeat and victory are like two sides of a coin in sports and are unavoidable.But the average Indian cricket fan is incredulous after the dismal performance leading to a 4-0 series loss,losing the only T20 match and losing the 2nd ODI yesterday ,after the first one being washed out due to rains. Dhoni has conceded 'Nothing went right for us ' after each defeat.Has captain cool's luck run out ? Has IPL taken a toll of the Indian players ? Are the key players over the hill ?India has lost test series with a margin of 3 or more 14 times,earier also .But this time they were the number 1 test ranking team before the 4-0 white wash.So the margin of the defeat is all the more humiliating.The Indian team went in to submission without putting up a fight. That would have made the loss more honourable.It is believed by many experts the downward slide of the Indian test team has started.Indian test team reached the pinnacle on the strength of its strong batting line up and not on its bowling strength.India inched towards the number one slot due to contributions from Ganguly,Kumble,Tendulkar,Dravid and Lakshman in the last 5years.The first named two do not play for India now.The other 3 are on the wrong side of 30's .Unless a worthy second line to replace the veterans are groomed soon,the hope of regaining the number one ranking would just remain a wish list.

The other factor that has contributed to the the team's failures is lack of fitness among key players.Lack of fitness coupled with poor bench strength has resulted in the current poor form of the team.Former Captain Pataudi has rightly said BCCI has no vision and even after the humiliating defeat it would function the same way.This bad performance is due to excessive limited overs cricket.Some argue there were no match preparations before the Test matches .Practically no practice matches were played on English conditions before the Test match started.In contrast former coach Kristen wanted BCCI to send the team in advance to get acclimatised to SA conditions before the last SA tour. No one wants India to win every match it plays.But the opponent team outplaying India in every department of the game does not augur well for Indian cricket.It was a spineless performance against an England team which had no great names. With this England team,greatness was a matter of spirit,a quality that the Indian team was lacking.Former Indian coach Gary Kirsten has said that he is bit surprised on India's poor performance.Kirsten feels that downfall in the hunger to win after winning the World Cup could be a one of the reasons of India’s shameful defeat against England."It's not easy to carry on a run of success. It's hard to reach the top and stay there. They won the World Cup, which was enormous for them, but then they've had a tour of West Indies and some injuries and perhaps the hunger to win games goes down a little," he said.

The injury list of India includes the names of Sehwag, Gambhir,Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan, Ishant Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar.All these players except Rohit got injured last year.But all of them were fit for the IPL 4.I feel Ranatunga is rigth in saying, the BCCI is carried away by the IPL and India's drubbing is due to BCCI.The players also do not want to lose the IPL cash .But when they were called to do the national duty during the west Indies tour,many of them opted for a break due to fatigue.I agree the players need a break and rest. But who is scheduling the tournaments and tours ? BCCI is interested ony in filling its coffers .One Sunil Rajguru has aptly said in the internet that "BCCI is Board of Control of Cricketing Injuries".Pataudi has questioned the attitude of the players for playing the IPL with injuries.Like Ranatunga pataudi also felt the drubbing at England had lot to do with injuries and IPL .MSD has also stressed many times the need for adequate rest for the players.Kumble also said India's poor show was due to "fatigue, mental and physical, lack of culture for fitness ".Former Pak captain Mushtaq Mohamed has also blamed BCCI for too much cricket and Indian players wantng IPL money has shown their lack ofresponsibility.Indian teams former mental conditioning coach Upton opines If a team indulges in playing relentlessly, the players start suffering from "mental fatigue".Upton says "because of too much cricket , suddenly the high-profile Indian players are looking an average bunch."

BCCI has a cup full of woes to address .Will the BCCI wake up and address the issues ?

Mr.Hussain -Please spare the donkeys .

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 09:04:14 PDT

In another controversial remark the Chennai born former England Captain Nasser Hussain in his role as a commentator compared some of the Indian fielders to donkeys recently in the only T20 match between England and India.He was obviously refering to the agility of some of the Indian fielders .He made this comment when Parthiv Patel missed a catch.He said the difference between the two teams is in the fielding ."While there are 3 or 4 good fielders in the Indian side ,I see a couple of donkeys too " .Adding insult to injury another former England captain Vaaughan wrote in his blog that he saw not a couple but 4 of them are donkeys.The Indian media was infuriated over this remark of Nasser Hussain and Vaughan.Hussain was involved in a spat with Shastri over DRS review in the on going series. Vaughan also accused VVS of using Vaseline to dump the Hotspot Technology .one can understand the outrage over Hussain's comments. But it is a fact that Munaf Patel and Rohit Sharma are poor fielders.Gavaskar had commented derisively about Munaf's fielding abilities many times.Probably it is the time for reversal of cricketing honours between England and India.India was once the T20 World Champion.But the current reigning T20 world champion is England.We have also lost the number one position in Test ranking to England by losing the series 4-0 to England.But the 'donkey' remark is surely a barbing jibe.Former Indian cricketers and BCCI expressed displeasure over Hussain's remark as expected. I agree with Anshuman Gaekwad that there should be a code of conduct for commentator's too.Few years back Dean Jones former Australian player turned commentator called South African Player Hashim Amla as a "terrorist " in a match between SL and SA at colombo.Hamla took a catch to dismiss Kumar Sangakara.Jones said the " the terrorist has got another wicket" .Any amount of explanation by Jones did not help him save his commentator's job.He was sacked as a commentator by the TV channel which employed him.Another commentator to make blunt comments is Boycott.When England lost 5-0 Ashes Test series to Australia Boycott said the team does not deserve to have the 'Most Excellent Order of the British Empire'(MBE) honour and added he is going to tie his MBE on his cat's neck.Those days commentators used to be neutral and graceful.They were never biased.Our Indian commentators Bhogle and Gavaskar were also guilty of biased commentary during the 2007-08 Australia -India Test series.Comments by them regarding the controversial catch of Michael Clark was certainly prejudiced.During the radio days the commentators brought before our eyes vividly the action through their commentary.Be it cricket,soccer or hockey,People glued to their radio sets used to visualise every move of the player .But today we see the action live as it happens in TV.So the commentary becomes a commonplace remark.The audio commentary is a suppliment to the real time video and does not excite a listener like a radio commentary. But that is not a good reason to make the commentators insensitive and make controversial remarks.

But one thing I don't agree with Hussain is that he has not paid any respect to donkeys.Donkeys are the most maligned animal in an unjust manner throughout the world.The popular belief that donkey's are dumb animals is a misconception.Donkeys are highly intelligent and stronger than a horse of the same size.The donkeys have astounding memory.It is believed donkeys can recognise areas and other donkeys they were with 25 years ago.Donkeys are not easily startled like horses and have a keen sense of curiosity.Donkeys have a reputation for stubbornness.In fact there is a saying “That which is called firmness in a king is called obstinacy in a donkey”.Unfortunatley even in protests, donkeys are being ridiculed by protesters with a bad and cruel sense of humour.Donkeys are subjected to cruelty in processions against corrupt officials and politicians in India.But these guys don't know that roughly 1.6 million donkeys in India do hard labour.Even during the recent Lokpal agitation by Anna Hazare an appeal was issued to him to " spare the donkeys" by the Federation of Indian Animals Protection Organisation.Mr.Hussain Please spare the donkeys.To the tardy Indian fielders I would like to say “If one man says to thee, ''Thou art a donkey',' pay no heed. If two speak thus, purchase a saddle.”

How to end Lokpal impasse ?

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 04:04:22 PDT

The lokpal bill stalemate is becoming murkier as each day passes .Anna's fast enters the sixth day.He and his team is steadfast that their draft bill should be tabled in parliament to end the impasse.Another social activist Aruna Roy has come out with another lokpal draft bill and she has presented it to the standing committee . The government wants Anna to present their draft bill also to the standing committee,which team Anna has rejected. Team Anna alleges the standing committee has corrupt leaders as its members.Aruna Roys's draft suggests separate institutions to deal with corruption. A lokpal for MP's including the PM , a vigilance Commission for bureacracy and a separate lokpal for Judiciary without compromising its independence.On top of it a public grievance lokpal to address citizen's grievances and whistleblowers.Aruna Roy is also a member of the National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi. It could be an orchestrated move by the government to wriggle out of the impasse and weaken the Anna team.Aruna also said the Left parties and BJP are favourably inclined to her draft.

It must be noted none of the major political parties except TDP have come out openly in support of the Jan lokpal bill draft by Anna's team. The left has announced country wide protests on Aug 23 for withdrawal of government's lokpal bill.But they have not explicitly said they are in favour of Anna's draft bill.Left merely said let the government bring a new bill.Karat said at a meeting of the so called third front, a unanimous decision was taken that the government's version is ineffective.But at the same time Karat said they did not discuss Jan lokpal bill.The nine parties are the four Left parties, Telugu Desam Party, Biju Janata Dal, Rashtriya Lok Dal, AIADMK and the Janata Dal (Secular).Perhaps this is what Kejriwal claims that he has the support of nine parties except BJP.But team Anna should remember they have not said any where they are in agreement with their version of the bill,Probably they want to play it safe .Because of the hype created by the media and the angry mood of the public,political parties want to line up with the popular sentiment.
All parties are vociferously protesting only over government's attempt to stifle democratic protests and they are not supporting Anna's draft..Because many of the provisions of anna's draft are against the political class.Another reason for the silence on the part of the political parties on Jan lokpal draft is the fact that there is growing support to Anna's movement .All political parties have guaged the public anger against graft and corruption in high places.The BJP is also staging a country wide protest to highlight UPA scams and government's attempt to suppress protests. Look how carefully these political parties have given reasons for their protest .No where they have said they are protesting in favour of Jan Lokpal .But at the same time they want to cash in the popular sentiment against the incumbent government.

Varun Gandhi of BJP is moving a Jan lokpal draft as a private member's bill in parliament But it is not clear if he is doing it with the permission of the party .But BJP is non committal about their support to Anna's bill.Independent Rajya Sabha member Rajiv chandrasekhar is also moving another private member's bill incorporating few provisions of Anna's draft bill.Probably the parliament can debate the salient features of all the four bills and arrive at a commonly agreed version and get it passed by the parliament. But it remains to be seen ,how far it deviates from the stringent provisions of Anna's draft bill.But both these bills are unlikely to be taken up in the current session of parliament,since a private member's bill can be introduced only after a month's notice.On the other hand Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Kiran Bedi want the government to come forward and start negotiations to resove the impasse.The silence of all leading political parties on Anna's Jan Lokpal bill is intriguing. The ruling UPA is beleaguered.It is apparent none of the political parties want a detailed discussion on Jan Lokpal bill in parliament.But Varun Gandhi introducing the jan lokpal bill as a private member's bill will force parties to break their silence.

It was quite a funny sight to see children less than 7 years holding 'I am Anna' and "we want Jan Lokpal bill " placards in one of the protests.Surely some one was behind these protests by kids. But it has to be conceded that suddenly Anna has become a youth icon.Youngsters across the nation have taken an aggressive position against the central government.It is true that Anna has awakened India for a noble cause -fighting corrupton.In fact all political parties and political leaders are baffled over the support Anna has garnered nation wide.

Somehow the impasse over Lopal bill has to be broken. Deadlocks can be resolved only by dialogues and compromises.Team anna refusing to budge from their rigid stand gives the impression that they are stretching it too far .Forcing the government to table "'my bill or no bill '' will never bring the government to the negotiation table.Due to the frenzy created by the popular support for the agitation ,Anna gave an ultimatum to the government .This did not go well with many.From the government side , the argument that corruption can not be completely curbed by lokpal or petty corruption can not be wiped out does not in any way help to pass a strong lokpal bill. We have to make a begining somewhere.I feel when corruption at high places are curbed corruption at lower levels will also start to mitigate. Anna being a Gandhian is refusing for a compromise .Strong men don't compromise .But Team anna and government has to find a middle ground where they can broadly agree and end this impasse.But utmost care should be taken to draft a bill with all possible good clauses and no loopholes.Everyone can recogonise a good compromise .Becuase it works and makes sense.

Why does government want to stop Anna's fast on Lokpal ?

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:05:51 PDT

Last time when Anna went on fast the government was caught unawares.The unprecedented support to Anna's movement against corruption made the government to extend the olive branch, since few states were going to polls.The government offered to have a dialogue with Anna's team, in the hope that the temporary respite would make Anna and team to reconcile, once a joint committte is formed to draft the bill. But Anna proved a hard nut to crack or to buckle under pressure. Government tried all possible tricks.To start with, they maligned the Civil society team.But it did not carry conviction with the general public.They tried to stagemanage another fast by Baba Ramdev and unfortunatley it backfired on the government with the police mishandling the Baba Ramdev agitation.Finally the government said Team Anna is undermining the parliament,which is supreme and only parliament can draft bills.They went to the extend of saying Team Anna is blackmailing the government to pass a bill to the whims and fancies of five individuals.Technically the government may be right,that only parliament has the right to enact bills and not a handful of individuals.But the government has not read the pulse of the public and the mood of the nation .After all the MP's are representatives of the voters.Finally government managed to place on the table of the house,their version of the lokpal bill that does not include PM,Judiciary,and beuracrats.If the government's intention is to enact a bill to prevent corruption,why should they exclude them ?When Congress spokeperson Ambica sony asked if Anna can guarantee corruption would end once lokpal bill is passed,shows they want to enact a bill without any conviction .This shows motive of the government is not to enact a bill that would stem corruption in this nation. They have merely unwillingly submitted themselves to the pressures to enact a bill to save their face.This explains why passage of this bill was deferred 8 times for the last 42 years .The government must understad Anna and team is reflecting the mood of the nation.It is apolitical.The general public is disgusted with widespread corruption and the government's inability to bring out a strong lokpal bill.On one side the PM in his independence day address says the government is committed to enact a strong Lokpal bill.In the same breath PM says corruption can not be stopped by fasting,in a vieled attack on Anna .But the draft committee from government side rejects all stringent provisions and congress spokespersons doubts the efficay of Lokpal bill to stem corruption. Why this contradictions?These contradictions brings out the fact that the government does not want a strong Lokpal bill.When Anna threatened to go on an indefenite fast from august 16th ,this time government wanted to preempt Anna from going on fast and mobilise public support once again.The bitter lessons learned over quelling Baba Ramdev's agitation made the government to react differently this time. The government first refused permission for the venue of Team Anna's choice.Later they gave conditional permission for an alternative site and imposed 22 conditions.Team Anna rejected 6 conditions .Police promulgated section 144 and detained Anna and team,even before they could start the fast,on the hope this would make the fast lose its steam and fizzle out.Sadly the government is ill advised once again and has taken a wrong step forward.Last time the government was forced to relent on Lokpal bill by Team Anna .My surmise is that goverment has unwittingly triggered another popular uprise of the Indian people against corruption and the UPA government.Anna and team had foreseen the government move .Anna said even if he is arrested he would continue his fast in jail.The government must realise the bottomline for the agitators is a mechanism that would deal with corruption effectively.The detention of Team Anna and the protestors would only snowball in to a bigger movement.I am at a loss to understand ,why the government should be so insensitive,to an issue that can rock their boat.The country was put to shame by huge scams in 2010.Even after such revelatons,the government is shamelessly trying to espouse the cause of the corrupt lot by pleading for a weak lokpal bill.It is hightime the government understands the mood of the nation and acts prudently.I read somewhere 'intolerance is the curse of every state '.Unfortunatley UPA government is trying to prove this statement right.I wish the government knows the Wayne Dyer Quote "Everything you are against weakens you. Everything you are for empowers you."

S.M.Krishna's gaffe's

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 05:09:07 PDT

Gaffes go hand in hand with external affairs minister S.M.Krishna .Answering Brinnda Karat's question in Rajya Sabha, about Pakistani virologist Dr.Mohammad Khalil Chishty who is in Ajmer jail,Krishna said "the government of Pakistan must consider his (Chishty’s) release on humanitarian grounds." Obviously Krishna was confused with Indian spy Sarabjit Singh, who is in a Pakistan jail on death row.Prime Minister noticed the faux paus by SMK,quickly intervened and clarified.Is age catching up with SMK or is it negligence?But gaffes are nothing new to SMK.Not long ago at UN he spoke for 3 minutes,the text prepared for the Portuguese delegate.The funniest part was he did not realise when he read about those lines mentioning about the 'the happy coincidence of two portugese speaking countries" .Fortunatley the Indian envoy for UN realised the mistake and interrupted SMK and gave him the correct text and asked him to 'start again'. It was his first speech at UN.It is very clear that he did not even bother to go through the text once, before delivering the speech prepared by his speech writer. This is evident from the fact that he thought his speech writers were mentioning about Brazil .He also said so many papers were spread before him .By mistake he took the wrong paper and there is nothing wrong in it.Before SMK made his speech the portugese delegate had delivered his speech in portugese.The English translation of the speech was with SMK .By mistake he started speaking that text.During his recent joint press conference with Hillary clinton,Krishna was asked by an American journalist ‘Mr. Minister, what assurances did you receive from Secretary Clinton about President Obama’s plan for Afghanistan? Are you persuaded that Washington will not allow a deal that will leave the Taliban in power? And more broadly, do you feel that President Obama’s plan can work? Or do you think that we should also be working on a plan B?’Krishna responded by saying: ‘India has been closely following the happenings in Afghanistan, though we are not immediate neighbours.’India is surely a neighbour of Afhghanistan.But Krishna's reply stunned the foreign journalist.It was a pathetic sight to see an Indian foreign minister committing such gaffe's in the presence of a visiting foreign diginatory.

Many celebritites also have committed such faux paus earlier.The CWG fame Suresh Kalmadi addressed former President Abdul Kalam as Abdul Kalam Azad, in the recently concluded CWG Games ceremony.Abdul Kalam Azad was a freedom fighter.Later addressing the media in a press conference,Kalmadi said "prince Diana" attended the opening ceremony.What he meant was "PrinceCharles".Princess Diana died in an accident in 1997.I am reminded about a similar incident during my working days .In one of the internal Quality circle presentation meetings,a speaker addressed the person in chair as "Julius Ceaser ",whereas the person's name was Julius Sathyaseelan.President Obama is also known for such glaring gaffe's.President Obama began his speech reading the opening lines of Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen's speech in 2009.This goof up was due to a mix up of their speeches at the teleprompter.President Obama,once addressing soldiers said "I had the great honour of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honour".But this person was killed in 2006 and was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.Obama on a state visit to UK signed a guest book with a wrong year,as 2008.The monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh flew into the American capital for a two-day stay .President Bush was about to say the monarch's had toured the states in 1776.President Bush also winked at the queen by mistake.It was reported the queen gave him a regal glare.Realising his blunder Bush immediately said jokingly that she "gave me a look that only a mother could give a child." President Ronald Reagen was once checking his microphone before going on air.“My fellow Americans,I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.”Reagen was not aware the video tape was running .Once Vajpayee wanted Railway minister Lalu to resign on Sabarmati Express mishap in parliament.Striking a moral highground posture,vajpayee said “Maine sansad ki garima aur maryada ka kabhie paalan nahin kiya.”The house broke inlto laughter.ABV realised his faux paus.Vajpayee immediatley said "It was a human error " ,taking a dig at Lalu,for attributing the train accident to "a human error".Praveen Rashtrapal,an AICC member from Gujarat once addressed Sonia Gandhi as Indira Gandhi in a meeting .Buckingham palace once gave a reception to British Indians.The number of invitees were close to 400.Guests lined up to meet the queen and the Duke.Looking at the name badge of businessman Atul Patel,the Duke said 'There is a lot of your family here in tonight'.The Gujarati businessman took it as a joke and said he was not offended.Unlike olden days, with the widespread usage of cell phones,video camera's and internet, the gaffe's by celebrities are flashed instantly around the world,these days.It provides entertainment to us .

Robotic revolution

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 08:42:53 PDT

Foxconn is the world's largest maker of computer components.Foxconn assembles products for Apple,Sony and Nokia . Foxconn the Taiwan based IT giant was hit not long ago by a spate of suicide by its work force .Now Foxconn is planning to replace its workforce with a million robots in a phased manner in the next three years. Foxconn has more than 10,000 robots doing jobs like painting,welding and assembly line jobs currently.So it won't be a surprise if Foxconn executes its plans by 2014 as planned .it is believed by 2030 humanoid robots will be widely used by the western world and many jobs currently done by human beings would be replaced by robots leading to widespread unemployment .The most disturbing news is that robots would be employed to make robots and repair robots by 2050.It is also said by 2040 desktop computers with CPU that matches human brains would be available.I don't think these predictions can be taken lightly or ignored.When robots excel human beings,what would the poor human beings do ? There is no question of human beings competing with the robots,since they would not be in a level playing field at that time.The most populous nations like China and India will have new challenges to find employment opportunities for its citizens.I don't think it would take longer time for the robotic revolution to hit the Asian countries.Of course there may be a maximum time lag of one decade ,before such robotic revolution hits Asian countries also.Marshal Brain predicts an unemployment rate of 40 % in US by 2040 due to robotic revolution .It is believed robots will interact with humans in the days to come and human beings will have robotic assistants to do domestic chores and take care of elderly people.All this can never be dismissed as wishful thinking by a select few.I have some far fetched imaginations .When robots invade every conceivable field ,should there be a need for an ethical code for interaction between a robot and human being ?Should the governments enact special laws to this effect ? will the robots have voting rights ?Will robots become part of a human family ?What will happen to family values when the robot outlives the family members ?On technological advances of robots,will there be a junk yard for robots ?with robots doing everything will the human brain degenerate over the years?Will the robots kill human beings ?.No one knows what is in store for our posterity ! I don't want to extend my figment of imagination any further as I shudder to think about the possibilities.

Gamesmanship Vs Sporstmanship

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 05:23:51 PDT

Gamesmanship means the use of dubious ,although not technically illegal ,methods to win a game. Sportsmanship means fairness in following the rules of the game. Strangely the Indian cricket Captain M.S.Dhoni was jeered by the crowd for gamesmanship before tea break in the second test at Trent Bridge between India and England and soon after the tea break he was cheered for his sportsmanship . Here is a classic case of a jeer turning in to a cheer. It all happened because of a bizarre controversial run out decision of Ian Bell by the umpires.Ian Bell and Eon Morgan were at the crease.Morgan played the ball down the leg side and Praveen kumar dived to stop the ball.The ball bounced of his leg to the field of play and kumar fell over the boundary.Kumar throws the ball apparently under the impression it was a boundary ,MSD collects the ball and throws it to fielder Mukund,who removes the bails.Not knowing what was happening Bell and Morgan were going back to the pavilion thinking ,the umpire had called for tea break. Obviously ,it was the last ball before the tea break.The umpires after consultation with television umpire Billy Bowden, ruled Bell was run out.

Soon after the tea break Ian Bell was recalled since MSD had withdrawn his appeal.In the interest of the game and to uphold the spirit of the game MSD had withdrawn his appeal. The crowd cheered MSD and the Indian team .Two former England captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan reportedly said they would have also made an appeal for run out under similar circumstances as MSD did in the first instance.ICC has applauded Indian teams gesture to recall Ian Bell.But what happened during the tea break to make MSD reverse his decision and withdraw his appeal ?.It is also reported that during the tea break England captain Strauss and Coach Andy Fletcher went to the Indian dressing room and asked whether India would like to reverse the appeal and recall Bell .It is believed after consulting team mates MSD agreed for the reversal of the appeal.Since MSD and the Indian team has agreed to reverse their appeal ,now everyone is lauding the Indian team and MSD. If the Indian captain had stuck to his decision , he and the Indian team would have been blamed for not upholding the spirit of the game,by the entire world media.

England has also once rescinded an appeal overnight against Haynes in an England Vs West Indies match, since it was the last ball of the day.But it must be borne in mind that during an ODI England bowler Ryan Sidebottom obstructed Kiwi batsman Grant Elliott, who was subsequently run out.England captain Paul Collingwood chose not to recall Elliott after being given the chance.But Rahul Dravid did reveal what happened in the dressing room during tea break that led to the reversal of the appeal."Once he was out and we came back in for tea, the discussion started in the dressing room and you could sense there was a feeling that, while it was in the laws of the game, it probably wasn't in the spirit of the game." During the recent West Indies tour India had to face a similar situation .But at the carribeans the Indians were at the recieving end. A stumping off India batsman VVS Laxman during the recent West Indies tour, when he was in his crease but had inadvertently raised a foot while the bails were taken off, helped India to reverse the appeal against Ian Bell."The stumping of Laxman in the West Indies left a little bit of a bitter taste in our stomachs," Dravid said.When it happens to one of your guys, well if the tables were turned, I don't think our guys would have felt nice about it. That was one of the themes that was being discussed when we came in, what if it was one of our
guys?"

If MSD had not reversed the appeal ,will it have the strained the diplomatic relations between the two nations? .Well you can't say for sure.During the famous 1932 Ashes series where the infamous bodyline bowling was used by the England captain against the Australians,an Australian player termed it 'unsportsmanlike'.Diplomatic cables were exchanged between the two nations demanding withdrawal of the insult.There were talks of a trade boycott. Finally after the intervention of the Australian PM the row was settled.In 1981 Australia bowled underarm to New zeland to ensure the Kiwi's do not tie the series.The New Zeland PM called it as the "most disgusting incident I can recall".More recently IPL teams refusing to sign Pakistan players was considered a snub to Pakistan .

Even the mood at the commentary box in the current England -India series is intense .Thanks to the spat between India's former captain Ravi shastri and England's fromer captain Nasser Hussain. Nasser made a comment that all test playing nations have agreed to the DRS system to review poor lbw umpiring decisions except India and it is a disgrace.He made this comment after Harbhajan was given out lbw though it was a thick inside edge on to his pads.Ravi was infuriated by Nasser's 'disgrace' remark .Ravi said England is hitting at whatever BCCI does,because they are jealous about IPL,India's number 1 ranking in test cricket and India is ICC world champions .Nasser replied I have earned the right to call it a disgrace ,I have played 96 test matches and I am paid by ESPN to air my views and opinions.Ravi's defence was India has every right to take the DRS or reject it .India has rejected it because it is not fool proof.Whatever it is, India's stay at the number one spot is little shaky now. It is also true many people rejoice it . Boycott said in a TV interview to Memom "your crown will be off " .Ian Chappel writes in a news column "The surprise is not that India could lose their No. 1 Test ranking but rather how they managed to retain it so long." He said India has managed to stay at the number 1 spot so long because of the 'attacking threat of Virender Sehwag' and the 'shrewd manoeuvring of the captain MS Dhoni.' . Shewag is back from the third test . Will the shrewd captain atleast manage to square the series and retain the number one spot ?.It remains to be seen.Good luck to MSD and the Indian team .

My Musings

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 01:00:57 PDT

In this post I have shared my thoughts on two current topics grabbing attention of the common man in Tamilnadu.Let me first start with the current mess in education in Tamilnadu.I feel the Jayalalitha government acted in haste and impulsively on the uniform syllabus issue.The present government may have many reservations about the content of the current uniform syllabus or the way the committee's other recommendations were ignored by the previous government.Without going in to the likely repurcussions, in view of the short time at its disposal,failure to anticipate legal wrangles, the government acted hastily.The governments decision to appeal to the apex court has only precipitated the issue further.The government should have allowed the already printed books sans the objectionale content,in the first place.The government could also have taken the academicians and the general public in to confidence and made public

its plans to revamp education in the state from the next academic year.Ater all they are going to rule the state for the next five years.This would have facilitated two things.The government could have placed on record its protest on how the uniform syllabus was implemented by the previous government and would have had ample time to discuss threadbare and arrive at a convincing and acceptable solution to all sections on its revamp plans.The basic idea of the expert committee are 'Uniform education ' and not merely 'Uniform syllabus'.Uniform education encompasses many other things other than uniform syllabus.It relates to many other non-curricular amenities and facilities also.

I personally feel,this should be a national initiative and there should be a national uniform educational policy.All schools through out the length and breadth of the country should have only one syllabus from class one to plus two.The only variant could be the medium of instruction.Throughout India both English medium and the officialy recogonised vernacular medium of the state should be available in Uniform syllabus.The students should be given the choice to select the medium of instruction.Though English is a foreign language ,rightly or wrongly that is the only link language for India's diverse and multilingual population.The national education policy should also make few basic amenities and facilities such as infrastructure that includes laboratory equipments,library and separate toilet facilities for girls and boys .These facilities coupled with an uniform syllabus should be made mandatory.Other extra-curricular facilities like playgrounds for each sport/game,indoor games facilities,auditorium,transport facilities,hostel facilities,boarding facilities etc may be made optional .Schools may be graded based on the extra-curricular facilities available.In other words basic amenities and curriculum of all schools throughout the country will be on par .The fee structure should also be common for all schools with basic amenities.(However there could be minor differences in fees between a metro/urban/tier two city and rural school in fee structure.)For other schools based on their grades there can be a unform fee structure through out the nation. Those who can afford would opt for such graded schools,while others would prefer schools with mandatory amenitites.But the important thing to be remembered is that there won't be any discrimination between schools in curriculum.This would ensure irrespective of the amenities or grade of the school,a basic school student can excel over a graded school student,since the curriculum is one and the same.It is hightime,the disparities in the content of the education is done away with.

I also wanted to share my reflections on the spurt of land grab cases that are surfacing day in and day out in TN.Politicians of all hues,including the current ruling party,law enforcing authorities like police and governement officials were hand in glove in many such illegal activities.All sorts of forged documents were made and registered with impunity with the connivance of officials and support of thugs.Gullible public were coreced ,intimidated and forcefully evicted from their rightfully owned premises.Police refused to file cases against such atrocities.On the other hand false cases were registered to implicate and threaten genuine owners on behalf of encroachers.How could such things happen in a civilised society?Does IPC say might is right ?If those in authority behave in this fashion what is the recourse available to the common man ?It is shocking to note in some cases the top ranking police and government officials were also involved in such henious crimes.Where are we heading ?This is a very dangerous trend and should be nipped in bud.

There is a paucity for upright and honest law enforcing authorities.This is the root cause for raise of such crimes.It is a pity that civil servants and police rank and file have political loyalties.These days it is hard to find an official who is impartial and non partisan.Law enforcing authorities are better known by their political affinities.There are very few neutral officials.These blue eyed boys of each regime have contributed to the decline and fall of standards and integrity among civil servants. Without the tacit support of civil servants and police officials such crimes can never take place.Steps should be taken to stem the rot immediatley.Apart from erring politicans ,erring officials should be punished severly as a deterent.Else we would soon relegate mankind to the jungle life of olden days where might was right .

Was PM right in terming Aiyars forebodings on CWG as 'purely ideological ' ?

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 08:05:36 PDT

The PM in an interaction with the media said that former Sports Minister Mani shankar Aiyar's letters to PM about CWG were "Purely ideological" . In fact Aiyar warned him about the financial improprieties as early as 2007 through a spate of letters running to 63 pages,as has been recently exposed by a TV channel.But Aiyar did concede that his fault was that he did not carry conviction,as his primary concern was ideological.Aiyar did initially say, given the levels of poverty and under-development in the country, expenditure on the CWG appears wasteful.But in his subsequent letters to PM he has pointed out huge gaps between initial expenditure projections and the revised expenditure projections.He even sought a meeting with the PM to discuss about the "profligacy of CWG OC chairman Mr.Suresh Kalmadi " .Aiyar also says though his primary concern was idelogical, he also realised about the alarming financial impropriety and this was also conveyed in his letters to PM. Aiyar goes on to say "Everyone thought it was a personality clash" .But what is intriguing is that, despite Aiyar bringing his letters to the notice of the PM,Cabinet and GOM (group of ministers ),no body took his charges seriously and he was overruled in the GOM by the finance Minister.How can the FM turn a deaf ear to a complaint about extravagant spending against projections ?.Aiyar also said since now the letters are in public domain,it will refresh the PM's memory. Aiyar says the next step was he was sacked and Kalmadi was retained.Aiyar said he did not not want to share a cell with Kalmadi in Tihar jail.It is surprising that PM said his office has no mechanism to look into all minute details .In his letters Aiyar wrote Kalmadi violated all norms.Does not the PMO has mechanism to verify violation of norms ?It is also surprising that Aiyars letters did not get any reply from the PMO .The PMO's office also did put to cold storage Subramaniam Swamy's letters to PMO regarding 2G scams .The PMO replied Swamy only after court's intervention .Aiyar had also written a letter to PM’s Additional Secretary that he would initiate talks with Sonia Gandhi about the scam. But his efforts to convince Sonia also did not succeed.The VK Shunglu Committee which probed the CWG scam did mention about the letters written by Aiyar to the PM, but the committee was silent on the PMO's silence .It must be borne in mind Aiyar was seeking PM's intervention to stop corruption in his own ministry.He was the Sports minister then.May be, the PMO believed Aiyar's letters were due to a personality clash between him and Kalmadi.But it is an undeniable fact that the corruption in the run up to the CWG was known to the PMO ,but for some strange reason PM was inactive.It may be noted that Aiyar did also send a letter to then Finance Minister P Chidambaram giving all relevant details of CWG Organising Committee (CWG-OC) chief Suresh Kalmadi violating norms, but it did not evoke any action from Chidambaram. It is reported that Kalmadi managed to release funds directly from the Finance Ministry without even giving proper account of the expenses.Aiyar in his letter, addressed to Chidambaram on Dec 5, 2007, had requested the Finance Ministry to remove the Sports Ministry from the procedure of allotment of funds to the CWG Organising Committee.It is a pity PM ignored a spate of letters form his own ministerial colleague and when the shinglu comiittee tabled its report ,the Media advisor to the Prime Minister, Harish Khare, said "The Prime Minister has taken a serious view of the findings in the first report of the Shunglu Committee" .Was the PM trying to close the stable door after the horse has bolted ?And when the PM's media Advisor said the the report has been sent to Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar for "immediate examination", it was highly incongruous.

Manmohan singh is often referred to as the architect of India's economic reforms.But of late he is seen as an avatar of inaction.Why is he not acting decisively ? Some time back in a meeting with media men, PM said there were coalition compulsions to explain about his in-actions in the 2G scam . But in CWG scam, a ministerial colleague from his own party was doing everything possible to bring to his attention about an "gargantuan gap " between projections and actuals of CWG expenditure .Unfortunatley PM did not act on the warnings of his ministerial colleague.Fingers were pointed to PMO in 2G Scam Antrix,Devas deal ,appointment of CVC and now CWG scam .Will the PM call this also an error of judgement ?It is unfortunate a world renowned economist's ,clean image is taking a beating ,because of his inactions. Manmohan Sing per se may be honest .But as an honest person he should not have allowed persons to loot the nation.The PM wants public commendation for his honesty .But he is shying away to fight the corrupt lot around him.

Indian Navy acts finally to save TN fishermen

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 21:51:27 PDT

I read a news item that Indian Navy saved a large group of Tamilnadu fishermen when they were allegedly chased by Sri Lankan Navy .It is reported the fishermen were just close to the International Maritime boundary (IMBL).But they were chased by the Sri Lankan Navy.I have wondered many times ,when Sri Lankan Navy is able to chase and arrest Indian fishermen straying in to their waters,why was there no presence of Indian Navy near the IMBL ?.This would have served the twin purpose of preventing Indian fishermen from straying in to Sri Lankan waters and also would have provided the needed succour to Indian fishermen.It is reported, seeing the Indian Navy,the Sri Lankan navy retreated. The fishermen were obviously happy and had a good catch ,it seems.After 500 to 600 Tamilnadu fishermen have lost their lives and a change of guard at the Tamil nadu government,the Indian Navy has finally asserted itself.This should have been done long ago.It was believed the fishermen's issue also contributed to the rout of DMK and Congress in the recent elections to Tamilnadu assembly.Has the election results prompted the central government to act ?Anyway,all is well,that ends well. One hopes,this exercise by Indian Navy is not an one off affair.This protection should be extended until normalcy returns and Indian fishermen may no longer have to face any threats from Sri Lankan Navy .Indian fishermen should also ensure they do not cross the IMBL and there ae no breaches from their side.

Singapore getting ready to launch Tamil and Chinese IDN's

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 07:06:19 PDT

Singapore announced the launch of Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs). The launch will take place in the following phases:Sunrise Phase -1, 4 July 11 – 15 August 11,Sunrise Phase- 2, 12 September 11 – 8 November 11,General Launch- 14, December 11 onwards.This would enable URL typing in Chinese and Tamil once it becomes operational.Registrations of IDNs can be made with any of SGNIC’s participating accredited registrars and will only be available at the 2nd level i.e. “.新加坡” and “.சிங்கப்பூர்” which represent “Singapore” in the Chinese and Tamil languages respectively.Applications during the Sunrise Phases will be batch-processed while applications for the General Launch will be on a first-come-first-served basis .

Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) are second- and third-level domain names or web addresses, represented by local language characters.The native language domain name is followed by the Latin script top-level domain (TLD) such as .com or .net.IDNs improve the accessibility and functionality of the Internet by enabling domain names in non-ASCII characters.IDNs have the potential to transform the Internet into a truly global and multilingual tool by enabling Internet users to navigate and communicate online in their preferred script.You can use these applications to navigate the Internet, send email, and ftp in your native-language script. IDNs may be registered in any character set or script identified in Unicode5.2.Following Indianlanguages are covered by unicode Bengali Devanagiri Gujarati Gurmukhi Kannada Malayalam Oriya Saurashtra Tamil and Telugu.If everything goes well as planned, India will be ready to have internationalised domain names (IDN) on the internet in seven Indian languages — Hindi, Bangla, Punjabi, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu and Gujarati — by the year end .

Retirement Age

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 08:26:25 PDT

I read a news item last month that the government is planning to extend the retirement age of all central government employees by two years — from the current 60 to 62 years.It was believed, 'in principle' a decision has been taken on this regard and a formal announcement was expected any time .However contrary reports appeared in the press today that the government has rejected the proposal to increase the retirement age from 60 to 62 .It was said the government is in favour of an younger beuracracy .Such conflicting reports over this issue has been circulating since 2009 .What ever it is, there is no uniform policy regarading retirement age in the country .Among private institutions/organisations and quasi government bodies also the retirement age varies. The teachers and judges have a retirement age beyond 60 .Is it not discriminatory in a democracy ?What is the logic behind this ! I beleive the UGC pased resolution increasing the retirement age of University teachers from 62 to 65. I presume there would have been some UGC official in the age of 62 who took this decision !.Recently Mr.P.K.Bansal minister of science and technology said the government is planning to increase the retirment age of scientists from 62 to 64 years .The reason put forth by the minister is that "We do not want to deprive the government of the services of talented people".But this could be applicable to anyone in any profession.In 1962, Nehru increased the retirement age from 55 to 58 after the Indo-China war .In 1998 Vajpayee government extended the retirement age from 58 to 60 to defer Rs 5200 crores as retirement benefits expenditure.At that time all state governments and public sector undertaking followed suit.It is believed this helps government to defer lumpsum payment of retirement benefits and makes more funds available to the government at its disposal. On one side we call people above the age of 60 as senior citizens and bestow many benefits to them and on the other side we are planning to increase the retirement age from 60 to 62 !.Is it not an oxymoron ? World over, the retirement age has been increased gradually .Currently in most countries except US and Germany the retirement age is 65 .In US and Germany the retirement age is 67.But I feel it should be looked at in an Indian context and prespective.

It is true the government has to make a huge pay out as retirment benefits to those who retire. I am at a loss to understand the logic of defering an expenditure,especially an expenditure which can not be deferred for ever.Any day it is an expenditure.If not today ,after two years the same expenditure has to be made.The benefit derived by defering a payment could only be a short term benefit to the government. It must be borne in mind , there is great difference between the salary of a senior government employee and a newly recruited employee.Besides the benefit derived as the difference in expenditure will be long term .If it is a fiscal decision, to increase retirement age beyond 60,I don't think,the decision takes in to consideration other cascading effects of the decision on the youth of the country.Once the retirement age of the central government staff is increased,this would again be followed by all state governments and public sector undertakings.Our nation has the largest youth population ,a sizeable number of them, more than 50 % of the population are below the age of 25.It is claimed this is the greatest demographic advantage of India over other nations . But increasing the retirement age from 60 to 62 would be perilous to their empolyment chances.One can imagine the gravity of this decision in a country with high unemployment rate.I hope government would stick to its present decision and would not increase the retirement age on the plea of defering lumpsum payment of retirement benefits.

PM under Lokpal bill's ambit

noreply@blogger.com (outshine) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 19:42:19 PDT

The Lokpal drafting committee meetings have come to a deadlock on the question of including the PM under the ambit of the proposed Lokpal bill.While the government is opposed to including the PM ,the civil society members insist on including the PM also under the ambit of the Lokpal bill. The civil society members are trying to make the bill fool proof, by plugging many possible loopholes.This is obviously a thorn in the flesh for the government side .Especially, they seek an amendment in the Prevention of Corruption Act to allow special judges to conduct trial of cases under the Lokpal on a day-to-day basis with no adjournments.They also insist on recording reasons for adjournments in writting, in case any adjournment is granted.They have also suggested constituting special benches to hear cases only under this Act and no other cases.While the civil society members are trying for stringent provisions in the Lokpal bill,the government is not serious in its intent for enacting a bill to stem the rot that is plaguing the nation.I agree with Mr.Shanthi Bhushan that the discussions at the Lokpal committe meeting should be aired,to enable the public to judge the conduct of both sides at the meeting in drafting such an important bill.If that happens,that would be a quantum leap towards transparency in governance.We often claim every body is equal before the eyes of law.But when it comes to the question of enacting a law to prevent corruption, we seek immunity for a sizeable population who are corrupt prone .This attitude form the government side is shocking to say the least.Most importantly government has not put forth convincing arguments to exclude MP's judiciary and PM from the purview of the act .When these people are left out who else will come under the purview of the act ?.Gone are the days when the judiciary was beyond reproach.The recent scams that have hit the nation makes it imperative that the provisions of the bill should be all pervasive .Strictly speaking any person getting government salary directly or indirectly should come under Lokpal purview.

It is believed that the government feels, if PM is brought under the purview of the Lokpal bill ,any one can undermine the office of the PM and it would be against national interests.This is true to some extent ,becuase most of our parties are politically expedient and for them the end justifies the means.But if one looks at it from another point of view, a PM with honesty,confirmed integrity and moral principles would come unscathed from the rigours of a stringent Lokpal bill. If we have a PM material with such exceptional calibre, no one would hesitate to include PM under the purview of the Lokpal bill.It must be remembered truth always triumphs.The hesitation to include PM under the purview of the bill would make the common man believe the PM could be vulnerable and susceptible to criticism, persuasion or temptation.Hence what I feel is that, the best legal brains in the country should find ways to strike a balance to protect the dignity of the PM's office as well as bring him under the purview of the Lokpal bill,in the event of some specific triggers or instances .One can also go to the extreme and pose a query what would happen if the Lokpal becomes corrupt and is influenced by the government of the day .It can not be ruled out in our nation. Anything can happen in our nation.But man lives on hopes.One sincerely hopes that would not happen and we would not ask foxes to guard the hens .