Where is Rahul Gandhi ..?

Recently Rahul Gandhi was found travelling in train from Gorakhpur to
Mumbai by second class. That news made all heads turn around to see
what this young lad is upto..

The cartoon here sums it all, even Obama is looking around for him in
the countryside.

ge..

How we treat our martyrs ....

It is a pity that cutting across political establishment and army
bureaucracy, the top brasses of both the army and political
establishment have misused their position and acted with selfish
interests.

It may be natural to act selfish, but not with the martyrs of our
country. Though I am being a bit parochial in this regard, every
country gives highest respect for their war martyrs.

How silly it has been of our leaders ! How is it that they amass all
these favours, wealth and buildings for themselves without any remorse
or guilt, while the common man without any contacts and the families
of the war veterans have to slog it out the hard way. How can the
well-off people even sleep and rest with peace of mind when they are
fully aware that the real benefactors are being wrongfully denied
their share due to their selfishness (of these spineless goons !)

Didn't our armed forces chiefs have any sense of guilt or remorse
illegally sitting on somebody else's property ? Or are they banking on
ignorance to prove their innocence..

The fact is, we have now shown our true colours to the martyrs of our
country, how we care for them who have given their lives for the
country.

ge

China extends its technological superiority, develops fastest supercomputer ..

Just the beginning for China and the end for US ? It makes more sense
for US to give heed to this popular adage .. "If you can't beat them,
join them ..".

It is indeed a comforting sight to see the epicentre of the world
gravitating to South and Central Asia ..!! A real shockener for those
who wrote off Asia ..

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Tech-Enterprise-IT-Infrastucture/China-beats-US-with-fastest-supercomputer/articleshow/6828752.cms

Even though India is trying to expand its sphere of influence around
China by signing agreements with Japan. Malaysia, DR of Korea and of
course with our closest ally for decades Russia, in a move to
strengthen its resolve not to be bullied about, China is looking at
ways and means to destabilise and be of nuisance value to India by
cosying up to Pakistan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. In spite of these small
irritants in bilateral relations, India and China know with certainty
that world focus is shifting to G2 ( China and India), long term
allies for centuries ! It is only to the benefit of both these
countries to be together than be at loggerheads.

US may try to sell us the latest F16s from Lockheeds and other
military equipments during the next week's visit of US President
Obama, to destabilise and increase US influence in Souith Central
Asia, but let us understand the devious mindset behind US intentions,
and not be carried out by their sinister and evil designs. Let US show
its sincerity by offering unconditional support to India's quest for a
permanent UNSC seat, with Russia, France and UK having given it
unconditionally .. Only China is undecided ..

Hope Dr Manmohan Singh and Wen Jiabao realise this historic truth and
craft bilateral diplomatic ties with great care and concern in the
coming days, not to destabilise and derail the aspirations of almost
half of humanity !!

ge..

World seemed to have forgotten this tsunami ..

The twin disasters Tsunami i Mentawai Is. and Mt Merapi volcano, which
recently struck Indonesia has brought great suffering there .. Almost
500 people have been killed..

ge..

CET, wide angle shot ..

Beautiful image .. Thanks, Raghu cet86.

ge..

Average time spent on Internet by users ..

As per info from a reputed magazine, an average Internet user of the
developed world spends about 4 hours and 36 minutes on social
networking sites and 4 hours and 24 minutes average on e-mail.

ie. on an average almost one third of the day is spent on the
Internet, one third time sleeping and just one third for the family
and other personal matters. Are we getting addicted to the net ? With
penetration of broadband increasing in the developing world, the
problem is going to be even severe.

Is our generation and the younger ones moving completely over to the
Internet ? Are we going to spend more part of our waking time in the
virtual world of the Internet ( also called cyberspace) ? Are we
finding more peace and comfort in leading a virtual life than a real
life one ?

Our younger generation loves to remain a connected generation. I was
reading somewhere, there has been no other generation in history as
connected as the present day youngsters, even across continents and
geographies. Kids these days remain connected with app 50 users on a
daily basis.

India presently has 706 million wireless and fixed line telephone
users ( compared to China's 815m and US' 285 m, world no 1 and 3
resply..) and 16 million broadband users. With about 20m users going
mobile every month, we will have max mobile phone users in the world
in another 5 - 10 years, almost neck to neck with China.

With mobile banking already widely accepted and mobile money being
planned ( with mobile money ID for each individual), the influence of
wireless networks in our daily lives is going to increase with each
passing day.

All these developments does it bode well for the human race or are we
going to be affected adversely by these developments ? Deserves much
serious thinking. Can we at all reverse of even decelerate the pace of
these developments ?

ge

Commonwealth games inaugural ceremony ..

A very good snap.. (courtesy Juhi Mohan)

The conduct of this Games has definitely improved our standing in the
comity of world nations, no doubt, even though we have a lot of
anti-social elements, I mean of the political and contractor class,
working at cross purposes against the interests of the nation and
pulling it in different directions, all for their selfish interests.

ge..

Sony Walkman bids adieu !!

I very vividly remember that evening of Nov, 1980, on a holiday, from
my college SD College in Aleppey, we friends went straight to our
friend Anand's house. His father and mother had just come on a short
holiday from Brunei and brought with them the latest electronic
gadgets. Sony Walkman was one of the items. It was a big surprise for
us to listen to crystal clear sound from headphones. Listening to the
cassettes of Beegees was our favourite pastime then. In short we
respected Sony for brining useful things so close to the customer.

Yesterday Sony has said bye bye to that one item which changed the
future of personal entertainment in the world for ever !! and brought
world focus on miniaturisation.

One of the biggest examples in innovation which I still keep quoting
in my classes. It was marketing and innovation combined. Sony did
enough work in the market to create a need for a product for personal
entertainment and then manufactured it to world class quality levels,
in fact, mass produced it.

Till they bid farewell two days back .. Indeed sad ..!

ge..

NAAC peer team photos ..

NAAC peer team visit to T John College photos

Evideyum daivakaram maathram ..

A writeup / interview on Jiji Thomson (IAS) which came in Shalom TV. Jiji
Thomson was the Special Director General of the Commonwealth Games
which concluded in Delhi recently, He was appointed by the PM Dr
Manmohan Singh to join the team four months back, when the things were
not going according to original plans, corruption was rife ..

http://www.sundayshalom.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2527:2010-10-22-08-36-02&catid=128:2009-10-19-05-51-00&Itemid=557

george..

Airtel Broadband 512 Kbps ..

Recently I took a 512 Kbps Airtel broadband connection in
koramangala, Bangalore.

The connection is working finr.. But the first bill has come, Even
thoguh I had applied for a 3 GB monthly pachage, they have charges me
for each MB I have downloaded. Also an unknown charge of Rs 500.00 has
been put there..
I do not know how it has come there ?

One person takes the first chequeof Rs 500.00, another person sells a
modem for Rs 800, installs and leaves.

Airtel co. comes at the end of the month and charges me Rs 900 for
just 10 days usage in the month.. What ridiculous !!

--
Sincere regards,

George Easaw
Airtel No (080) 42211821

Anand took this snap of mine..

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=43a7d648c9&view=att&th=12bc2ebbaec89beb&attid=0.1&disp=inline&zw

ge..

Skeletons tumbling from CWG closet ..

The order from PMO not to release any OC official till corruption
probe is over and asking former CVC Shungloo to start probe into the
alleged graft that has taken place in the CWG preparations has sent
the first skeleton tumble from the cupboards. For the Talkatora
swimming pool complex, payment to the tune of Rs 200 crores, was made
twice by the CPWD, coming under Urban Dev Minister, Jaipal Reddy. The
complicity of Ministers cannot be ruled out when such large payments
are made.

Let the investigations start in right earnest and as a citizen of this
country, I have all right to know how each paisa of my tax has been
spent on the CWG preparations. Rs 1000 crores was spent to just
refurbish the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium where the inaugural and
concluding sessions of the games happened. With that money we could
have built at least three such stadia.. More skeletons are going to
fall !!

Finally this is a golden chance for the political leadership to instil
the sense of accountability into the system. You may spend money for
public utilities, but cannot absolve anyone of the accountability of
the same. The person in charge owes an explanation to the common man
in the country as to how his money was spent. Hope the PM Dr Manmohan
Singh, a man of such credentials and credibility is able to gain
confidence of the common man in his administration by such striking
administrative steps.

It surely is a sure shot recipe to achieve greater goals for the
country in the long run. The incredible growth of the economy may give
us the financial muscle to host even greater events in future, even
the Olymopics with much grandeur and pomp than the Chinese, that does
not mean, wealth should be squandered. If put to proper use with the
appropriate accountability mechanisms built in the system, it will
work wonders. The world will look up to us with great hope, to lead
the world into the next century and provide the needed global
leadership for the same ..

ge..

Water - the new oil of the 21 st century ..

The countries and companies controlling that vital ingredient for life
on earth, WATER, will in fact control the world in the coming
centuries ..

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/08/the-race-to-buy-up-the-world-s-water.html

We will have to exploit the vast reserves of frozen water on Moon for
inhabitants on earth. Means of Efficient Water Management is top on
the agenda for companies around the world..

My friend showed me a Dutch contraption, made of silver,
http://www.sandostine-preval.nl/?lang=en&pag=pres, which when fitted
directly to water taps / shower taps helps reduce water consumption by
as much as 30 - 70%, costing app Rs. 1900.00, guarantee for life ..
More such innovations need to come in the market to ensure that we as
a nation take enough precaution ..

ge..

Tata donates $ 50 million to Harvard Business School ..

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Harvard-gets-biggest-international-donation-in-102-yrs-from-Tata-Group/articleshow/6752185.cms

ge..

I declare the games shut, let the audits begin ..

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/randomaccess/entry/i-declare-the-games-shut-let-the-audits-begin

A good blog ..

An insatiable judgement on Ayodhya ?

The Ayodhya judgement has raised different responses from different quarters ..

The only sore point where the HC judgement has lacked in merit was the impression it gave that the judgement was based on faith and not on facts ..! Some politicians have reacted sharply to this.

I felt it was a soothing judgement than an adjudicating one, not what the
court is supposed to do.

Let us hope the SC will look at the matter in its entirety !

As TN CM Karunanidhi pointed out, the ASI had no problems in exactly
locating the birthplace of Ram, some 18,00,000 years old event, but
failed in locating the Chola empire, which is just 800 years
old.

The fight is actually not between any communities, but between some
fanatic groups on either side. Else why should the Ram idols appear
mysteriously one fine morning, stolen in by somebody inside Babri
Masjid on one night in 1949 ? Just to create mischief and to rake up
an issue ?

The court did not differentiate the parties while deciding on the
judgement, one group who based their arguments on the premise of being
in possession of the land for 460 years and the other jointly in possession for the
past 60 years ..

Faith played a big role in the verdict than facts, wrecking it's
credibility ! Judges have finalised the verdict based on the potential
of the verdict to initiate violence. Fear has influenced the judges'
mind more than facts.. Isin't the judges expected to just adjudicate and not go beyond that ?

The issue is not over as yet, though the fundamentalist, fanatic Hindu
groups want to go for an "amicable" settlement based on a partial judgement from a High Court, now that they have a seemingly upper hand ? Other than the members of these fanatic
groups, nobody is interested in raking up this issue..

Let the SC finally decide !!

Read this interesting and absorbing piece from Newsweek
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/11/india-flubs-the-ayodhya-verdict.html

ge..

First of 33 Chilean miners rescued ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR8mTntp5Jw&feature=player_embedded

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/68-days-later-first-of-33-trapped-Chile-miners-rescued/articleshow/6739451.cms

Trapped underneath for 68 days.. a miracle ..

ge..

Karnataka on the boil ..

Karnataka is on the national radar for the wrong reasons now a days.
lot of intelectuals are clearly following all the acts of the petty
legislators who are trading in crores. A bunch of petty politicians
who have got exposed through numerous land scams are trying their
level best to save their skin by wanting to sit firmly in the govt to
prevent any inquiry into their roles in these scams.. Right from the
CM to the minister Katta, the whole system is rotten ..

A group of disgruntled MLAs, who are not the favourites in this money
grabbing and land grabbing exercise have raised their banner of revolt
within the party and are standing out as rebels.

Tomorrow, 11 Oct 10 am, the vote of confidence will be tabled against
the BJP govt and the whole assembly will vote. The major opposition,
Congress is keeping itself away from this tamasha..

The other interesting development is the action by the speaker at the
behest of the BJP govt to disqualify MLAs who are raising a rebellion
against the govt. The Governor sent a note to the Speaker asking him
to desist from such actions which are very much partisan in nature.
The speaker in a very hasty move has asked the Governor in a language
which is akin to asking Governor to mind his own business. The speaker
representing the legislature, is speaking to the head of the
executive. The Governor, a practicing lawyer in the Supreme Court and
a much illuminated, informed and well read legal luminaiary does not
need advice from a petty politician like the Speaker ..

Tonight we can expect some interesting developments in the state
capital. Either the assembly can get dissolved and Presidential rule
can be imposed or BJP will sail through comfortably tomorrow in the
assembly. Let us wait and see..

ge..

Lucky number ..?

Today is the tenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of the
third millennium after the death of Christ. ie 10/10/10, wherever in
the world you are you cannot get mistaken for the wrong month or day.

ge..

Xiaobo, Liu wins the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize ..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/08/nobel-peace-prize-liu-xiaobo

ge..

Water - the weapon to fight the next world war ..

Recently I was talking to some senior friends from the Industry and
consulting. They were mentioning to me that in the next hundred years
the battle will stop over land, it will be over water - the right to
control the storage and supply.

Already IBM is diverting lot of its resources at water management
systems, efficient usage and distribution of water.

Have to wait and see how global interest in the conservation and use
of water will increase over the years.

ge..

Risky fossil fuel supply chains fuel innovation into non-conventional sources..

The fossil fuel supply chain from US to remotest parts of Afghanistan
to power US camps in those areas is proving to be very challenging for
US over the past few months. The long convoys of fuel tankers are easy
targets like lame ducks for the Taliban from Pak and Afghan side.

The costs of managing this supply chain is tremendous. Continuous
drone attacks by US on Taliban hideouts are happening on a daily
basis, killing militants, prompting them to retaliate on NATO fuel
supplies. The Taliban suffering (?) is documented here ..
http://www.newsweek.com/2009/09/25/the-taliban-in-their-own-words.html

For every $1 spent on procuring a gallon of oil from different parts
of the world, it costs another $600 to transport it to the remotest
parts of Afghanistan. The costs of managing its movement securely across Pakistan and Afghanistan is adding to the costs in a big way. So far almost 54,000 gallons of oil have been burnt off from about 60 tankers. The human cost is also high, with one soldier lost for every 24 convoys despatched.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11484222

http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/08/stories/2010100854411300.htm

This has motivated US defense dept to step efforts to adopt quick
implementation of non-conventional sources of energy, like solar and
wind, for lights, cars .. This should accelerate research in these
areas which will percolate down to the commercial applications for
civilians..

ge..

India to putpace China .. Grim day scenario ..

India to soon outpace China - Economist ..

With the right person at the helm of affairs in India and the right
time where global companies are looking to invest, India is very
fortunate with its democratic credentials and a young population to be
at the right place at the right time..

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/India-will-soon-start-to-outpace-China-Economist/articleshow/6689962.cms

I have come out with a broad scenario comparing the three top
economies of the world. SCENARIO ANALYSIS  ..

India presently has  a GDP of $1.2  trillion, China $4.0 trillion and
US, $14 trillion ( WITH A $13 TRILLION NATIONAL DEBT, THE HIGHEST BY
FAR AMONG ALL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD AND INCREASING AT THE RATE OF $ 2
 BILLION EVERY DAY. living beyond its means..). Ordinarily this would
result in pauperism but if US continues to attract talent and
intellectual coolies from India, who migrate in droves, the scenario
would not be that grim.

Consider a scenario where India grows at a very modest  annual rate of
15 %, China at 5 % and US contracts at a rate of 5%. ( due to the
double recession and loss of competitiveness and lack of innovative
spirit )

After 20 years, the scenario will be like this ( GRIM DAY SCENARIO ..)

India would be a $19.6 trillion economy, China would be a $10.6
trillion economy and US a $5 trillion economy.
ie. India would be twice as big as China and China would be twice as big as US.

If US were to shrink at only 3 % every year, after twenty the scenario
would not be that grim, it would be more or less like India now, but
with GDP of $ 7.5 trillion.

The misery of shrinkage would be much more than the luxury of growth
as evinced by the utiles theory in decision making.

All other nations including Japan, Europe and Russia have been
excluded as they would be insignificant players in the world market
then or the undeveloped or under developed nations of the world..

This is not an utopian scenario, but the demographic and democratic
dividends of India would reap much bigger and better rewards.

ge..

Ashok Kheny's excellent speech in TJC, 28 Sep, 2010.

Ashok Kheny was at his best speaking to students and faculty at T John college on 28 Sep, 2010.

It was simply excellent as he did not miss any opportunity to finger the bureaucrats and politicians who have messed up with him and the project and made life miserable for him all these years.

With his indomitable spirit and never-say-die attitude, he overcame all hurdles and has rolled out a section of the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) road from Electronic City to Gottigere, Kanakpura Road and beyond to Mysore Road.

His lofty plans for the state and many philanthropic projects were appreciated by the student and faculty community alike. An ardent connoisieur of the arts, Kheny also is a lover of music, arts, drama, films etc..  His maiden Kannada film will be released soon.

What caught my attention was his very bold stand to fight lethargy, inefficiency and graft. Always wanting to be honest and play by the rules, he has at the same time become the darling of the poor, rural masses and the fear of the political class.

His claim that he has created more crorepatis than anybody else in India was not at all a tall claim going by the way his birthday is celebrated every year by the rural people who have been beneficiaries of his many projects.

T John College link ..

ge.. 

The power of social media ..

Can the social media very much in use , accelerated by the acceptance of the Internet, bring about lasting social, political and economic change to the millions of the underprivileged sections of society ?? 

Read this very informative editorial in The Hindu of 5 Oct.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/05/stories/2010100551661000.htm

ge..

G2 ....

Another article on the unending demographic debate between India and China.. 

The debate here is stretched a bit more to include the democratic advantage and freedom of expression of the billion plus people. 

As world discussions and debates go to the G2 as different from the influential G8 and G5, India unmindful of the double recession hitting US and some countries in Europe marches on ..

ge,

Mahindra's donation does not match Gururaj Deshpande's ..

Arvind Mahindra donates $10 million to Mahindra Humanities Centre at Harvard .. Great donation, especially when he remembers the full scholarship given to him by HBS to pursue his MBA there years ago..

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Mahindra-gifts-10m-to-alma-mater-Harvard/articleshow/6680992.cms

Does it match the $ 100 million given by Gururaj and Jayashree Deshpande to IIT Chennai some years back ?? 

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/Gururaj-Deshpande-inducted-in-Obama-council/articleshow/6203240.cms

ge..

Karunanidhi's reference to Ayodhya verdict ..

Oblique reference to Aryan dominance mindset of we Indians.. A dravidian CM has responded to this .. Was the verdict was based on faith and not facts ?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Aryan-culture-is-planting-superstitions-Karunanidhi/articleshow/6680639.cms

ge

visit by NAAC team ..

The next two and a half weeks is going to be real hectic with the visit of NAAC team on 18 and 19 Oct.

Meetings and review of preparations, docs and so on..

ge

Photo essay on life of M K Gandhi

Land grab by politicians in Bangalore ..

They say everything in the world can be made except land !! So grab it, left and right, front and back.. The ploy being used by politicians these days in Bangalore..

Land is scarce and this explains why builders world over are taking over land in order to convert them to residential properties, to sell at huge profits. Some of the richest people in the world are also real estate developers who have exploited this innate desire for any individual to own a house for himself and his family.

Everywhere else the govt protects the interest of the common man and farmers from these land sharks. In Bangalore the situation is slightly different. Here it is the government which is leading the charge. Fooling the farmers, the real owners of the land and after underpaying them to sell their land at throwaway prices to the government, it then allocates this farmer's land to influential people, namely politicians and their families at throw away prices. 

The present CM of Karnataka, the oft found crying and soft hearted, supposedly honest CM was exposed recently by a Right To Information (RTI) inquiry into a land denotification he recently carried out to benefit his sons and son-in-law. After all, doting fathers are always doting, whatever corruption they have to do and when they have to cry out their innocence in public !! After all, he did it not to anybody for any consideration, but only for his son . What is the problem after all ?

Another politician, the foolish IT minister and former Industries minister, Katta Subramanya Naidu and his son ( now cooling his heels in the prison..), purchased land from farmers after enticing them with false promises and higher remuneration for their land. After acquiring this land from them, not paying the farmer what was promised, he got it bought or sold it at exorbitant prices to the Govt, through different benami names, to help set up the Special Economic Zone in Chikballapur area. In some cases the same land was bought twice from different parties. The Lok Ayuktha has exposed these these land scams and the Minister is facing expulsion from the corrupt cabinet headed again by a corrupt CM,  He may not go silently, but will take the corrupt CM also along with him in most likelihood in the next few days.

Land thus is the reason for a lot of heartburn and lot of enmity in the present scenario in Bangalore. Politicians excessively greedy are looking to grab as much land as possible while they are in power and then if they have to quit disgracefully, who cares, live like a King !! Everyone from across the political spectrum do it ..

But do all these politicians live peacefully afterwards ? Most of them have broken marriages, sons who are criminals and cooling it off in prisons, kids who are mentally retarded, the burden of benami ( holding property in somebody else' name to avoid public / govt scrutiny) holdings and the fear of benami holders running away with the property constantly haunting them !

They say, greed and ill-gotten property only begets disaster to the families. When the politicians realise they can do anything and get away with it scot free, they continue doing it blatantly violating all norms and rules.And suffer at the end ..

Only if they had some intelligence to understand this fundamental law of nature..AS YOU SOW, SO YOU SHALL REAP !!

ge..

dr Paulos Mar Gregorios video ..

A life worth emulating and living many times over !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1yiFh_ThmE

ge..