Astitva - Search for an Identity

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013 – Details

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 01:29:10 PDT

Feeling of having own home and living there is indeed special. However, purchasing an apartment/ independent home from a builder, getting all clearances and mandatory documents may often turn out to be a Herculean task. Questions like; will builder complete the construction and handover the key in time? Whether plan is approved my municipality/ corporation/ other concerned statutory agencies

India – A dangerous country for women to spend holidays? Certainly not, but ...

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 06:33:44 PDT

This is what exactly I feared. Continuous news feeds of single and gang rapes coming from different parts of India are creating an impression that, nation is not safe for women. Unfortunately it is spreading an erroneous message - being a woman is enough to get raped, it doesn’t matter whether one is eight year old or eighty year old. This may not be authentic, you can cry that more than

434 PhD in a year!!! UGC to go after a private university

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 06:25:35 PDT

Awarding 434 PhDs in a year!!! This is not the total number of PhDs issued by all universities in India, not even the total number PhDs issued by any state in India, but this miraculous feat was accomplished by a single private university in Meghalaya. UGC already set up an expert committee to check, how CMJ University, Shillong, Meghalaya made it; probably beating all other universities in

Waking under monsoon rain in Bangalore

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 07:06:18 PDT

It’s raining in Bangalore. Sound of big raindrops hitting the roof of office building was irresistible. I woke up from chair and went outside, there was a lot of people standing in the steps. Some had umbrellas. After waiting for some time, four to five people opened their umbrellas and walked out. I thought some guys will be ready to walk without umbrella in that rain. After all office hours

RANBAXY’s $500mn settlement with US regulators – An Overview

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 03:55:34 PDT

Probably there is not much love left in western European and North American capitals towards Indian Pharmaceutical companies. Reasons are plenty. Most of those countries have their own mammoth pharmaceutical companies, whose interests are not aligned with the rise of Indian generic manufactures and Indian Patent regime- which according to their accusations are not strict enough. Western

Indian Universities - Transfixed in old world

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 04:10:43 PDT

President of India - Pranab Kumar Mukherjee - during the fourth convocation of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) at Lucknow told, "... there is a need to change the mechanics of rendering education and the time for it is now... our universities must deliver education of international standards... Every university should identify one department that can be developed into a Centre

Blocked highways - Manipur required Angioplasty and bypass surgeries

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 01:33:58 PDT

Manipur - Road connections to rest of India This North-Eastern state is connected to rest of India mainly through two highways - NH 39 (connecting Manipur to Dimapur, Nagaland) and NH 53 (connecting Manipur to Silchar, Assam). Apart from this Manipur has an airport in capital Imphal - Tulihal Airport, Changangei. In short, all essential items have to come to the state through these three

Law Commission of India released Consultation paper on Electoral reforms: Last date to submit suggestions - June 30

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 05:35:59 PDT

1.2bn people, 1.2bn ideas. Out of that, a good percentage will definitely turn out to be effective as well as practical. However, an idea which looks perfect in paper may be a monumental failure in practical scenarios. As someone said, we don’t need to have perfect solution for all problems, what we need is a solution which can handle practical scenarios. What make democracy better than

Dakshinayana Part Fifteen – Pune: The Maratha heartland

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:36:48 PDT

Sitting in front of Delhi Gate, Shaniwarwada, Pune At 10.30 in night, I left Aurangabad for Pune in bus. Less than 15 people were on board, so I moved to an empty seat in the back and slept. After some time, someone started calling me. At first, I thought I was hearing that sound in dream. Then I opened my eyes and checked time in watch – 2.30 in the morning. A well built man standing

Private Universities In Maharashtra: Delivering Baby On Seventh Month?

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Thu, 30 May 2013 07:06:02 PDT

I like to see private sector companies competing with each other and public sector in majority of business areas. In fact, government should open up more sectors (and remove the upper cap to foreign capital – both FDI and FII - as well) which are currently out of their limits. However, Universities shouldn’t be there – at least for time being. According to a recent report in Business

Because of the Government or In spite of the government?

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Thu, 30 May 2013 01:14:38 PDT

Economy to grow 5-6% regardless of any govt: P Chidambaram - Business Standard When I read the statement, first thing came to my mind was the title of Gurucharan Das's book - 'India Grows at Night'. Chidamdbaram trying to prove Gurucharan Das right?

Dakshinayana Part Fourteen – U shaped Ajanta

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:38:57 PDT

Me in front of the cave complex On that eventful day of April 1819, when John Smith (Company officer from Madras Presidency of Colonial India) woke up in the morning, he may not even imagined that, what he was going to see is one of the icons of ancient India. His tiger hunting party, accidently found out the caves which were abandoned long time ago, covered by re-grown forest. Inside a

Dakshinayana Part Thirteen – Ellora Memories

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:39:37 PDT

A view from a distance On that morning, from Aurangabad central bus stand, I boarded an old government bus to historic Ellora caves (29km). City’s traffic slowed us down; after city limits we gained speed and passed through the lanes which were once frequented by armies of Devagiri, Delhi Sultanates, Mughals etc. At a distance, one can see the bald head of hills sweating under bright sun.

Making Strategic Decisions

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Tue, 28 May 2013 02:15:21 PDT

We often face situations, where we have to take decisions. It may be quite as simple as, selecting the flavour of an ice-cream or as complex as the selection of a life partner. In both cases, we have to face the consequence of our choices. Choices, selections, alternatives, affordability of a making a mistake, procrastination etc plays a big role in life. For e.g. how often you can switch your

Dakshinayana Part Twelve – Aurangabad: The City of Gates

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:39:50 PDT

Taj of Deccan - From the front I left Nagpur around 8 in the night, in a state run bus to Aurangabad (722 INR). 476km long Nagpur – Aurangabad route passing through Amaravati, Jalna etc took the rest of the night. One of the bizarre incident happened during this journey was, a ticket checker woke me up around 3 am in the morning. I am still wondering, what was the need for checking

35% reservation for women in Bihar Police

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:56:27 PDT

"Bihar Cabinet... passed a proposal...to grant 35 per cent reservation for women in recruitment of constables and sub-inspectors in reserved and as well as unreserved categories." Bihar Cabinet nod for quota for women in police - The Hindu I am not a supporter of reservation, but chronic under-representation of women in Indian law enforcing agencies really demand it. Effectiveness of Police

Dakshinayana Part Eleven – Sevagram: Walking with Gandhi

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:40:12 PDT

Shalimar Lokmanya Tilak Express was supposed to start at 1.40 in the afternoon. Train was not crowded, but neither had any vacant seats except in berths. Finally I decide to sit at the door itself, watching countryside of Maharashtra for next one hour. An old man – a regular traveller in Lokmanya Tilak – sat next to me. He was more interested in explaining about railway stations than anything

Draw your dream home, take a printout using 3D printer, and sleep inside

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 03:33:58 PDT

Grab your mouse and start drawing a home in computer screen; if you don’t like some part, erase it; If you need to modify some parts, just erase that portion and redraw it. Show the design to your family, relatives and friends, and ask for their comments. After finalizing, just hit the print button and forget it. Come back after some time, your home will be there... ready to occupy.... This

Public apathy towards accident victims in Jaipur tunnel. Ask what you could do...

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:14:38 PDT

24 * 7 people are complaining in social networks, workplace, seminars, articles etc that Indian administrative system is corrupt from top to bottom, government is not doing this, not doing that etc. But how many of us, as citizens, are doing our part of job? Yesterday, there was an accident inside a new tunnel in the city of Jaipur - just 265 km away from National Capital New Delhi. In this

Are we running backwards to Stone Age? Tribal warfare?

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:04:35 PDT

"Thirteen people of the Ror community have been arrested and heavy security deployed in Pabnawa village of Kaithal district in Haryana, after a 400-strong mob allegedly launched an attack on 150 Dalits on Saturday, causing some 200 Dalit families to flee the village. Their houses were allegedly looted and women humiliated...sequel to Dalit boy Suryakant’s marriage with Ror community girl Meena

Western Ghats and 'Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP)’ Report

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:44:41 PDT

Silent Valley - A View from observation tower For a long time, thought-out my childhood days, Western Ghats remained as a permanent fixture in my life. Living close to Ghats, I could see the mighty mountains standing on a side, with mysterious mist roaming around it. Even now, every time I cross Palakkad Gap, that saintly figure used to come to my mind. Human thirst for development

Caste discrimination, victims in one case became preparators in another

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:41:05 PDT

Over 300 Dalit families of Deveerahalli Village (Tamilnadu).. allege that they are being denied work by intermediate castes of the village and of six other nearby villages. “A love affair is the reason for denial of work to Dalits” - The Hindu This is a classic example of discrimination. When upper caste stick with discrimination, both intermediate and lower caste, including dalits, protests;

Doctor and medicine is available but syringe refuses to work - a tragic saga from Uttarakhand

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:08:27 PDT

"The Rs 793-crore UN-supported livelihood enhancement project in Uttarakhand is facing political and bureaucratic hurdle" "...sponsored by the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), a UN body, the state government would receive funds totaling Rs 793 crore for livelihood enhancement project in the state. "Due to the stalemate, we have not received any funds so far," said a

Continuing tragic saga of fuel linkage in Indian power sector

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:46:39 PDT

"At least four states have asked Coal India Ltd...to curtail supplies to power plants, complaining excess fuel stocks are causing frequent fires" "This, however, does not mean the coal shortage for the power sector has been eliminated. What has happened is a sharp reduction in the number of power stations with a critical coal stock level" Problem of scarcity becomes problem of plenty - BS ".

Cleaning the dying rivers in India (again)

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev k) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:06:41 PDT

Bharatapuzha - Kerala How often do you find clean running water in rivers, which are unfortunate enough to have major cities in her banks? As my friend once told about Musi River flowing through Hyderabad city, “it’s not river, it’s just a drainage channel”. I had to see it with my eyes to understand what he really meant. According to recent press release from Ministry of Environment