Tuesday, September 1, 2009

On the quest of conquering Moon, Women, Democracy and......malnutrition?????

Chandrayaan-1

Getting started is a big thing and in this regard Chandrayaan-1 has done its job. But we should not be complacent, should understand the problems faced by the craft and try to find out the best possible solution to it. The technical problems faced by the control system, power supply and sensor failures, and other challenges of radiation and temperature require critical analysis. This reiterates the fact that we definitely need huge capital and potential human resource investment in the research and development field to provide us with the superior technologies that help us conquer new heights. And this is the real challenge for the policy makers to strike a balance between problems of present and challenges of future.


Woman Reservation bill

Its really a welcome move. Gender inequity has been a major hindrance on our path to overall development. With this move of the government, women who constitute almost 50% of population will be more encouraged to participate in the state mechanism of growth. One very good thing about involving more women is that it will pave way for their empowerment and at the same time reduce the amount of corruption in the system (which is a serious concern of Administrative system of India). At the same time the state should encourage more women below poverty level to participate so that the benefits reach the needful. We should also be careful that this 50% reservation is not misused, there are been instances were seats are occupied by women of higher class and caste who are controlled by their husband and thus again depriving the deserved. If this condition can be tided over then this reservation bill is for a prime cause of women empowerment and definitely the road to inclusive growth. With this ideology of good governance and people participation UPA government is doing a good job and no political party who supports India’s development can go against this bill.

Victory of democracy

The biggest achievement of India after 62 years of independence is the survival of Democracy and the latest evidence of this is statement made by the CJI to disclose the assets of all the judges including the CJI. This has definitely reiterated the fact that the power vest in the hands of people and no dictatorship in any form is possible. This incident has another hidden dimension also, this particular declaration is not an effect of any legislation by the parliament but it is promulgated by the Judiciary itself through its internal mechanism. This has certainly sent a strong message that Judiciary is Independent and will always act for the welfare and for protecting the interest of people. Its changing face of being more transparent and accountable should be appreciated in its true sense. I am pretty much sure that the statement of the apex court will become a benchmark for the lower courts to follow. And if this encourages our Administrative system to act along the same line then nothing like that. Epitomizing, the changing face of Judiciary is true example of victory of democracy and will of people, which is the soul of our constitution.


The Unsaid story

Everybody knows about Chandrayaan-1, Women reservation bill and the latest statements by the CJI and Swine Flu, and the real problem of India is yet again over-shadowed.

Seriously it is a shame for India that 50% of children under the age of five are malnourished and accounts for the nearly 40% of world’s malnourished children. This a real treat to India’s dream of being a developed country, after all, these children are the future citizens who have to take India to the new heights. It’s very much true that we are inured to statistics and neglect the real problem. If the same seriousness of Swine flu and chandrayaan is shown towards solving the issue of malnutrition, then we can claim that we are on the path of development. It’s the wake up call and real challenge for the policy makers to identify the right chords to strike, to make the perfect sound of social harmony, growth and development. Its time to decide how we tackle this national treat to stir our way to establish ourselves as the fourth dimension;U.S.A,Russia,China and India.

Monday, August 31, 2009

JUDICIARY AND DADAGIRI.

Changing face of Judiciary

The recent declaration by the K G Balakrishnan, chief justice of India on the disclosure of the assets of the judges of the Supreme Court is a welcome move towards accountability and transparency of Judiciary. Judiciary was always conceived unreachable for common people when it comes to issues of this kind. The information of assets and other similar matters were even immune to RTI , but with this proclamation of disclosing the assets of all the judges including CJI, judiciary has set a example which would be appreciated with high moral accolades. If this would encourage our administrators to think along the same line then nothing like that. Summarizing, Judiciary has contended that it’s a institution which complies to accountability and transparency to reflect the example of good governance.

DADRI: Dadagiri or Gandhigiri

What do you call the Dadri story ;DADAGIRI or GANDHIGIRI. The plight of the farmers whose lands were taken away on the name of power plant project which is a part of development plans of the government draws the picture of inability of the government to understand the vibrancy of heart and frequency of the minds of these neglected people of the society. Government had planned to build a gas based power plant in Dadri as a part of their power revolution projects. Reliance power (RPL)has won the project and compensation price for land was finalized at deplorable figure just 135 rupees per sq m whereas the land price in Greater Noida phase 2 is 15000/- per sq m. Simultaneously ,the land is very fertile because its between Ganga and Yamuna and farmers feel nothing can replace this asset of theirs. They have started a strike against the authorities to get back their land which they claim was forcefully taken away from them and many are ready to lay down their lives against this illegal acquisition. When RPL explains this as a cheap tactics of its competitors, the real question remains: Was this the development of farmers and peasants Gandhiji referring to??

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Jaswant singh,shashi Tharoor....and Reeda Shaikh.

Clean bowled: Jaswant singh
Jinnah-India,partition,Independence what a book, well I have not read it but the feathers it ruffled with its entry into oval ground of controversial books was very evident with its impact on the Indian politics. The incidents if compiled scrupulously can be edited into the second part of the same book with a the title Jaswant-India,partition,Independence. Well his partition from BJP,which is a sinking ship is definitely a sigh of freedom. But banning of his books is highly condemnable, this act by the C.M of Gujarat is direct transgression of the freedom of expression conferred upon the people by the constitution of India.The C.M,who once abbreviated C.M as “COMMOM MAN’, does not understand the meaning of fundamental rights given to the COMMON man, It’s really unpleasing.

Ente Pere Shashi,Shashi Tharoor
Well Shashi Tharoor has become a household name in urban India and very soon his efforts of good governance through a congress ticket would definitely fetch him the same phrase in rural India. A well read and travelled man, certainly knows what he speaks and more importantly a wise man who is a part of solution than a problem. Well his foray into Indian politics, which is considered the battle ground of crooks and cowards, has reiterated the need for people of real caliber to streamline India to the actual path of social and economic development. One good thing that congress as done in the last election, is definitely the introduction of Shashi Tharoor to the political arena. It time to prove how the legendry Shashi Tharoor unfolds his visions and imagination for the betterment of his own land; India.

Reeda Shaikh????.......

Well Shahsi Tharoor ,Jaswant singh’s are common heard names, but the real India and the real problems are always the forgotten. Reeda sheikh is a 14- old girl, first to succumb to the most brutal endemic disease, SWINE FLU. As on 24 th august 74 have died due to this Influenza. The big question is that has the union government done enough to control the spread of this disease.Gulam Nabi Azad,our Health Minister asserts that he has things under control. In a land of 100 crore people,to control a epidemic disease is a real challenge for any minister and the people has to cooperate and more importantly,should not panic as Swine flu is curable disease, one should be alert and wise get it diagnosed at the earliest. The delay in diagnosing can pay way to more Reeda Shaikhs .So lets not push the panic button rather lets spread the awareness of the symptoms of Flu and the belief that it is curable among the masses to regain the harmony of the society.

Friday, August 7, 2009

S.M KRISHNA :YO MAN!! E.U.M.A

The most important agreement signed during the visit of US secretary of states ,Hillary Clinton was the End use Monitoring Agreement (EUMA).It empowers United states officer from Pentagon ,to perform timely inspection of the weapons ,devices and technology imported from US ,to check if the end use of these comply with the purpose for which it is imported.

S.M Krishna, the external affairs minister of India explains signing of EUMA as victory for India ,as two years of back breaking negotiation with US has earned dividends. US has agreed to the India’s clause, that the inspection would be done at the place and time, mutually agreed by the two nation and not at the discretion of US. Even though our external minister is confident that this clause would safeguard India’s security concerns, the Army, Navy and Air force chiefs have shown utmost concern over this issue. This has become a heated issue in the parliament after Mr. Manmohan Singh’s statements supporting the agreement raised a few eye brows and invited ferocious counter arguments. Fellow parliamentarians showed concern, anger and great need for rational rethinking on the issue.

The concerns are many and danger to India’s security may be lurking on every bend of the agreement. The primary concern being the US officer can inspect each and every weapon, devices and even technology that is being imported from US. It is highly impractical and most often impossible to separate out technology or may be a device that has been imported and installed in already established indigenous systems, in India’s high security zones. Even if it is separated out for inspection , what is the guarantee that it will adhere back to the system again effectively. If such situation arises, then the only way out for the US officers to check the end use ,will be by accessing this high security Indian zones. This is a direct encroachment to India defense system and its internal secrets. Another aspect of this is the Indigenous softwares used in these established systems might be of superior technology, which might have been unknown to US, would come to their knowledge with this kind of end-use inspections.

Secondly, may be the more importantly ,no other country from whom India has been importing weapons ,had never asked for any end use agreement compliance .Russia being a long time friend of India and major source of weapons, device and technology that India is still using ,has never asked for any end use agreement. The sukhoi 30 MKI ,fighter jets purchased from Russia is one of the latest in technology and is superiority is been appreciated by even US. The latest introduction of INS Arihant, nuclear powered submarine by Indian navy, owes a lot to the support extended by Russia on the technological know-how and with design level expertise. It is not just Russia that we import weapons, other European countries like France are also a part of the pool of nations from were we import and they never asked for any EUMA agreement. By signing this EUMA of US, have we send a wrong message to our existing friends?. Tomorrow if EUMA is adopted by Russian and later by other nations, then logically India would be forced to comply to maintain the relationship. If this happens then, signing of EUMA of US would be the strategic flaw in Indian history.

The antithesis to this would be the philosophy of strengthening ties with US .India understands the need for having a strategic relationship with US and this agreement would definitely help in cementing the bonds. America see India as a strategic point through which it can control Asia and India foresees a rapid development with this relationship. The worsening of relationship with Russia over the Admiral Gorshkov deal gives relationship with America, a new dimension. Now a million dollar question arises, Is India compromising its principles of Non-Alignment for its interest of rapid devleopment and eventually forgetting its old friends as it strives to become the fourth dimension; US, Russia, china and India?

Its obvious EUMA has paved way to rethink our international polices,
India should not be a cause of another polarization of the world. The leaders of the country should handle this in such a manner that ,its exclusive to India and at the same time there is a dire requirement of reconsideration on EUMA. It has its share of advantages and disadvantages, it will be beneficial only if India can tide over its pernicious clauses which are sobering concern for our security and sovereignty. Definitely the future lies in the hands of the intellectuals of this country ,whom we elected , to produce the best for the country. Shashi Tharoor has written in one of his books The great Indian elephant has awaken from his deep slumber of over 50 years and its slowly changing into a tiger, with heart and size of an elephant but still young and proactive in first decade of the 21st century, its time to say whether the stripes on the elephant grows to permanency or whether it will fade away, forever.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

do you think drugs should be legalized.??..think again...

I was jolted out of my morning blues with one half being in the dream where my friend is still debating on the point that “Narcotic drug should be legalized in India” and my other half highly disheartened of the fact that its 8:20 on the clock. As I got on with my morning ablutions, the thoughts of last night talks haunted me and I was deeply moved by some of views of my friend.

According to him narcotic drugs should be legalized because

1.Right now the budget allotted for the rehabilitation of the drug addicts is very negligible or in other sense they are neglected. so if you legalize it then, the revenue obtained would be more and can be used for rehabilitation processes in a better way and can be used for generating awareness among masses about its harmful effects.
2.The crime level comes down drastically.
3.The money spend on the proceedings of court cases related to narcotic drugs sale and distribution can be avoided by which you are saving the revenue of the state.

Keeping in mind the problems faced by the contemporary India and of being a student of sociology it was not that easy for me to digest it .So as the first step of its analysis I started searching for its dictionary meaning of narcotic because my friend said there are many narcotic drugs which are not that addictive and cause problems, and dictionary says:

narcotic /nar·cot·ic/ (nahr-kot´ic)
1. pertaining to or producing narcosis.
2. an agent that produces insensibility or stupor, especially an opioid.Harmful and highly addictive if used repeatedly.

And if you analyze the entire range of narcotic drugs you would find that majority are addictive in nature and cause mental instability. Now one might claim that it can be used as an pain killer and for other therapeutic use .But by making it legalized and letting the common people use freely wont lead to its appropriate use especially in a country like India where bribery, adulteration ,trafficking and vested interest are the mindset of the people will lead to its absolute misuse.

Secondly, looking into the crimes associated with the narcotic drugs sale, distribution and the crimes committed by people who gets addicted by these drugs, one would find that in current scenario crimes of the former kind is higher than the latter kinds of crimes as claimed by my friend. So my friend says if you legalize it then crimes of the first kind will disappear and the crime as a whole would eventually come down. Now to think that way is a different level of irrationality because to decrease crime which is nothing but violation of law you change the definition of law it self, by which it is no longer a crime and hence claiming that the crime rate is reduced is highly illogical.
But does the immorality associated with this act get washed away??.NO,before immorality was associated with people who were selling it and once it is legalized it is the state ,the immorality factor has just shifted from some people to the state.

Thirdly, let’s assume that we have made narcotic drugs legalized. In such a situation every “paan” shop and every petty shop which are selling cigarettes and “gutkas” would now starts selling narcotic drugs in various forms. And majority of people who consumes gutka’s and cigarettes would switch to drug variant of these. People who take breaks between their work to “fag”of the pressure will start to “dope” of the pressure .And then different varieties of “indigenous drugs “will also come into the market and spurious forms of these will lead to different social tragedies. The biggest example is the fact that alcohol which is legalized in India is causing a lot of major social problems. The mirror image of these problem is the recent hooch tragedy. One can’t even visualize its social implications. Death toll reached 112,think of those family who lost their beloved ones, who were the only earning member of the family ,think of the mother’s who lost their sons and those sister’s who lost their loving brother. I know its hard to think unless it happens to one,right. Its implication in society does not stop there. This has resulted in a political clash between the major parties of the place . The “bandh” organized has affected schools, colleges, shops and all the major institutions of the state, the harmony of the state is disturbed.112 dead many more in the critical situation .If alcohol was not legalized then tragedies of these kinds won’t have happened in such a larger sphere.

The above example just implies that things of narcotic nature will cause mental instability in the society and in case of drugs its going to be more severe because if majority get addicted then the very existence of society looks bleak and hazy. If people itself is not there to listen to, whom will you give awareness with the revenue obtained as a part of legalizing drugs. And about the crimes its highly illogical to change the laws to abate its violation ,to reduce crime. And we should not forget that when one crime stops, another would appear for eg:if drug is legalized then drug trafficking(which now is severely punishable by law and is controlled to a large extend) would emerge has one of the major crime and controlling that would be impossible because only if victims are in their senses they can refuse and retaliate or help find the criminals . So eventually in india crime would rise . On the other hand it might be true that there must be places were drugs would have made legalized and things would have become better ,that’s because of the reasons that the administration over there would have been very effective in regulating it, at the same time majority of the people over there would be well aware of the harmful effect of narcotic drugs. And very interestingly you would not find the strong family values in those places. In short legalizing narcotic drugs in India in current scenario would eventually lead to serious crimes , physically and mentally would weaken the majority of young people who is the backbone of developing India and eventually ,causing a instability in society which would hamper the traditional values and pluralism which is the Soul of India.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

The "REAL" reserved plz stand up...plz stand up.

Reservation is the most talked, debated and fiercely contentious subject of the contemporary India. To critically analyze it you need to take a Hegelian approach. By 2001 census there are 16.6% SC population, 8.4% ST population, by B.P Mandal commission report there are 52% OBC population which i feels is irrational. A survey done in 2004 reveals that OBC population is between 40-44% So lets take OBC population has 40%(since 2001 census never counted the OBC population).So in short 25% SC/ST ,40% OBC and 35% general population are there in India.

For 25% of SC/ST population seats reserved is 15+7.5=22.5%
For the 40% OBC population the seats reserved =27%
For the 35% general population the seats reserved =50.5%

To understand who is the “REAL” reserved is 6th standard mathematics. And the irony of the situation is that more and more caste wants to get this OBC status and think that they would be protected under the so called reservation of the 27%, don’t you think these people just forget or fail to understand basic mathematics of percentages. But at the same time we should take into consideration of the fact that how much % of the population of backward classes are actually using the reservation provided. The people in the general category are socially and economically forward so the % of people competing is definitely more as compared to the other category. This high competition scenario has created another genre called “MERIT MONGER”. This is were we need to understand the basis of reservation in India. I wont be surprised if the illiterates believe that it is caste based. But the reality is that even the literate’s believe the same and I call this genre of people the “ILLITERATE LITERATES”.

The reality is that the reservation system in India was introduced to provide education and to promote socially and financially those people who could not get the equal start in life. When the State identified these people, majority of these people were more or less the people belonging to the lower caste and tribe. So the state made separate list for both of these communities. But unfortunately with time this became a myth that reservation is caste based. The so called merit mongers believe that this caste based reservation has to be stopped and it should be based on the financial status of one. It is a very logical claim, but the big question is that when you believe that caste based reservation has to be stopped, don’t you believe the existence of inequality in a caste based society??The real fact is that the biggest inequality is the caste itself. And it is common sense that to remove caste based reservation what has to be removed is the Caste system itself.
If we can abolish caste system, the reservation based on caste system would be eventually be abolished. Which might sound impossible to many I suppose? When these merit mongers cry their heart out for a change, I fail to understand their incapability to understand this root cause. Or is it because the caste gives them the societal highness that they don’t want to give up this so called indestructible gift of birth by society.All these just projects out one thing when one enjoys reservation of lower caste in selection or recruitments or the reserved high caste status of upper caste in society which is very predominant in social function like marriages, will never criticize the system and only when one is deprived of reservation of any kind ,criticize the system..

The biggest example is right in front of us, but since many were a part of it no one really criticized it. So here we go .I think most of us know about the AIEEE examination, lets analyse the selection procedure to the premier institutes of the country other than IIT’s which is through this AIEEE examination. The basic philosophy of AIEEE procedure is “STATE WISE QUOTA” .50% seats are reserved to the students of that state in which the institute exists and rest 50% is distributed among the other states proportional to the population of respective states. In such a procedure a the last rank holder who can get admission in Electronics and Communication branch (taking in view the demand for ECE is maximum) can go beyond AIR 20,000+ (general category), where as if it was pure merit based it wont even cross AIR 8,000.Is this not inequality for the merit monger’s, Doesn’t the MERIT FACTOR get discriminated here? OR is it because the people who are affected by this is comparatively less in number than the people who are affected by the so called reservation to the backward classes. My friends we need to understand that reservation is everywhere, seats in public transport buses are reserved for ladies and physically challenged people, reserved seats on train is the biggest example of the fact that if reserved seats could be bought then criticizers are negligible, So it is up to us to take reservation in the true sense of its requirements to the need. The basic reason for the government to implement state based quota is to bring in equality of opportunity to everyone in its territory and for a balanced social development in the country.

PROBLEMS IF IT WAS PURE MERIT BASED.

The problems if it was pure merit based is that it would have accumulated people from some particular region/community to a particular field in the society which would cause instability in society and the very cause of the inclusion of the word SOCIALISM in the preamble will be lost.

But at the same time importance of merit should not be forgotten because it is the merit that is the essence of everything. There should be a balance between merit and social equality which was envisaged very well by the creator’s of the constitution of our country. So when one think about reservation he should take into consideration of both sociological and the economic aspect of the society to understand reservation better. Just because your friend who studied along with you got ahead because of reservation does not imply that the true essence of reservation for development of the downtrodden people is neglected. It is true that there are some people who actually don’t require this extended benefit of reservation also avails it but this number is very less and we shouldn’t forget the real ones who actually benefits from this. And definitely once the unique identification number system is implemented if in the right way, many more who really requires will get benefitted with reservation. I call upon the ILLITERATE LITERATES to which I myself belong, to have a macro view to identify the real meaning of the word reservation, to understand its implication on the society and keeping in mind that reservation is everywhere and we should understand the requirement of the need and it is equally true that we fail to appreciate it when we are benefitted and we criticize it when deprived. Only time can prove how people mould their thoughts to project it as an act of equality or inequality.

Monday, July 6, 2009

THE MAGIC BOOK

This book is a set of rules which defines the power, functions, jurisdiction of the different organs of the government and provides authority on the basis of which the different organs performs its task for the welfare of the people. All the institutions of the government and most importantly the people of the state attain power from this “BOOK OF LAW”. The fundamental laws written in this book ensures protection of life and dignity of individual along with unity and integrity of the nation. It promises equality of status and opportunity. It propagates brotherhood, harmony and unity among its diversified communities. This book is a perfect example of obvious truism of humanity. The book which has lived the age of an average human being projects itself with sense and sensibility and when interpreted rationally surprises one and all. A book that advocated its primacy and supremacy and at the same time empowers all its uncommanded commanders with the right to rewrite the commands in the book retaining the dignity and integrity of all its commanders. The book names judiciary its guardian and awards it with the powers to interpret the book at the time of adversaries. It gives each one under it equal opportunity to be the most powerful person of its territory and at the same time gives provisions for stripping him of his powers if he refuse to perform his responsibilities. The book has prevailed the time of extreme political and social adversaries and the criticism of illiterate literates. But one must appreciate this living creation which is a amalgamation of thoughts and vision of great men like Shri Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr. B.R Ambedkar whose thoughts were tuned to tears and vibrant heart beats of the downtrodden people. The existence of this book speaks for the vision and value of those people who envisaged a new order ,a change which people can believe in for the equality of one and all. This is truly a magic book which swings its wand all over its territory advocating peace and security, equality and prosperity and creates wizards to promote brotherhood and to protect its people. As a freeman who breathes fresh air and enjoys liberty on its territory ,salute this magic book “THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA” with great respect and for the fact that it arouses in me the feeling of patriotism ,civility and makes me realize the responsibilities I bear being a citizen of this country, INDIA to which this book owes its allegiance, JAI HIND.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

"cast of caste"

Human birth is manifested as gift of god but the irrational and indestructible cast of caste by the society is a dishonor to this creation of the supreme one. Nowadays caste is a eternal gift for one’s who are at the apex of the system and immutable curse for the one’s in the lower strata. In some society it is still the binding force which is helping the continuity of tradition and is a medium for the transfer of knowledge and skills which made one dextrous in their field .Unfortunately people have forgotten the importance of each caste and started advocating for the supremacy of their caste. Today’s world, caste is a form of discrimination .It is a gridlock where vertical movement is immobilsed .In the modern society caste is a major operative unit in social function especially in marriages. The spectre of casteism has engulfed our society and it is time to decide how the illiterates and more importantly the illiterate literates attain the literacy of equality of birth to shape the ethos of the future society.