omagaziya

Indian Speed Bumpers

2007-04-12T12:04:00.000-07:00

Speed Breakers in India are planned in a way to punish people who drive fast rather than as a warning for them to slow down. We won't find any signs of a speed breaker untill we are bumped off by them.

Same is the case with RBI rising the CRR. Though it was not completely unexpected, the recent hike has surprised many. A warning sign of interest rate hike would itself have slowdown inflation without toppling the growth rate.

A long term plan on interest rates announced well before would really help SMEs, in fact, everyone to plan better.

Prevention is better than cure

2007-04-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

Very often I have seen people complaining about the Indian mentality. Ex. Rushing into the bus or train to find a seat for themselves. And they admire people from abroad for their discipline ex. Following a queue.

One of my colleagues from US wanted to have the great Mumbai train experience. The first day he wanted to wait for every one to board the time. The train will either be full or will leave before he decides to board. It took us more than 45 mins to just board the train.

The next day, his human instinct made him rush into the first train. He no more waits for every one to get in. It’s not about people being good or bad. There are lot more things that influences people.

I have seen people waiting in a long queue of more than 100 people waiting for the city buses in Mumbai. But the same people don’t follow the queue in railway station. All we need to do is make it a habit and knowingly or unknowingly people would start to follow it and then it becomes a habit.

What we have done for bus queues in Mumbai has to be done everywhere and in everything. Its better to prevent bad habits than to correct them.

Mumbai – The Pareto City

2007-04-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

20 % space of mumbai trains (near the doors) carries 80 % of the people and the remaining 80 % carry 20 % of people.
20 % road space carry 80 % of the traffic and the remaining 80 % is either under everlasting construction/repair work
80 % of the airport land is under slums and the remaining 20 % is used by the air traffic.

come on 24th...come soon...

2007-03-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

csqa is wasting so much of my time. i know, there is not much to prepare and there is no reason to spend time on it.

but my 25 years of 'slow' reading is taking a toll on my time. ;-(

it's 3 pm...felling sleepy !

2007-03-17T02:25:00.000-07:00

its 3 pm..feeling sleepy...don't feel like preparing for my csqa.. ;-( let me write something and go to bed...

Any one who follows a newspaper daily will accept the atrocities caused to dalits even today and the staggering insensitivity of the state machniaries towards them.

The second fastest growing economy with such incredible inequalities can no longer afford to neglect them.

The best solution is to educate them. But will a person who can't even afford his basic amenities be able to compete with other people from good background?

In that sense, the reservations seems plausible. But, inclusion of creamy layer and introduction of reservations in other institutions of high caliber clearly brings out the political motivies behind them.

Reservations should be targeted at the right people or should aim to give equal opportunities to every one by universalization of school education. A politically correct reservation policy is not going to help any one.

But, of course, its going to help me.
Good. let me go to bed now. already back to back 2 posts on reservation..

paradox(s)

2007-03-17T01:46:00.000-07:00

refrigerants(mainly HCFC-22) are used to cool the place. they do so but the green house gases released deplete the ozone layer and the net effect is bilkul opposite - global warming.

And we continue to use them for our own short term benefits and don't care about the long term effects just like my organization and it's SAP(service aggrement policy)

weird analogy

2007-03-16T11:28:00.001-07:00

India & Iran are friends.
Iran complains US for its double standards in civilian nuclear use.
India is benefited bcz of the civilian nuclear policy.
Iran is hampered bcz of the same.
But, the relationship does not get affected.

X & Y are friends.
X complains about the reserveration policy.
Y is benefited from the reservation policy.
But not X though X and Y are equals.
But, these things don't influence their relationship.

action items :(after 24th)

2007-03-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

-join swimming on 25th. stop jogging. more ligament to tear ;-(
-1 hr magazine every wednesday & friday after lunch
-1 novel/book every week
-et+th every day
-prepare resume + job hunt
-gmat preparation

dilemma

2007-03-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

its now 3 and half years with CSC. i have done nothing after coming out of college except reading 365 * 3.5 the Hindu and the economic times. its high time, i have to do something about this.

*my civil service dreams are moved back to the pipeline
*no more tinkering with cat

don't have much time to think/act. thinking of

*doing gmat. i can get into a good college in aug next year
*job switch. as i m pretty much decided not to continue fighting with computers, its time to switch now to a non technical field
+ do some social work for sometime as mooks has suggested
+ into consulting or financials as kunal has suggested

let me finish the interview on 22nd and the exam on 24th & then plan out well.

something from my CSQA

2007-03-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

quality assurance vs quality control?

one is doing the product right and the other is doing the right product

some more punch lines ,

-don't reinvent the wheel
-the squeaky wheel gets the grease

leader vs manager

2007-03-09T00:41:00.001-08:00

a leader takes an organization with him while a manager moves along with his organization

i may not be able to take an organization along with me and at least i should at least be able to take my project to a stage where it's not people centric.

a leader would create a leader while a manager would project himself as the only leader

i somehow feel that my organization is looking only for managers and not leaders. when i try to create opportunities for other people or try to bring out the best of other people, even my manager looks at me as if i m born to loose everything.

Golden jubilee!!

2007-03-09T00:16:00.000-08:00

Today is my 50th day without a cell phone.

It’s really really easy to live without a cell phone. I still have access to all my family and friends as every one of them has one. Whenever I feel like talking to some one, I give them a call. I find it okay as long as I have access to everyone. But, everyone else is really pissed off with me. ;-(

The only difference for me is that now I have to setup the alarm in my table clock when I go to bed and I have to peep into my desktop to look for time while working. But no one disturbs me during my afternoon naps away from work or in the middle of movie or during the day dreams.

The advantages seem to far exceed the limitations. Hopefully I will celebrate my diamond jubilee soon!

Ban Child labour ?

2006-10-13T03:39:00.000-07:00

Government has now banned child labor almost completely and thereby has blocked access to their already exiguous aliments. Banning child labor is not going to divert even a meager portion of these children towards schools. Instead it’s going to just push them towards more surreptitious illegal work

Govt could have at least perfected the already dilapidated Universal elementary education program before banning the child labor. Some of my solutions would be

1. Without completely banning child labor in non-hazardous jobs, we could have shifted some of the responsibilities of educating these children to their employers. May be a 4+1+4 hour schedule with 4 hrs for work, 4 hrs for study and a free lunch.

2. Instead of following the age old textbook-classroom teaching, these children could be given more of vocational training in special centers after identifying their inherent skills.
This would make them self-employed (carpenter, electrician, handicrafts, handlooms...) or at least help them in getting employed immediately after their education. The Govt could itself market some of their creations/ products and the profit shared with the children.

With access to education, food and money, children will be inherently attracted towards our vocational centers and our goal of Universal elementary education can be easily achieved.

What next infinity?

2006-10-11T00:28:00.000-07:00

We have the distinction of inventing zero but we never cared to think beyond infinity. And now, our friends in West have taught us what actually exactly lies beyond this eternity.

Now, the story!

Some time back, in the West, a college dropout called BG, wanted to know what the hell lies beyond infinity. He had nothing with him to start with but worked hard day by day to accumulate his wealth hoping that one day he would reach infinity and beyond. The more he worked towards infinity he found there is lot more work to be done.

One fine day, he realised that addition and multiplication of his wealth wont work and he started to differentiate and integrate them. He started B&MG foundation, differentiated what ever he had aggregated till now to the needy & poor for them to integrate the wealth individually, so that he can finally aggregate them to infinity.

When he was trying solo to add on his wealth, he had a lot of problems & lawsuits to face every day. But now, he has gone back to nothing after differentiating his wealth and he now finds his popularity integrating day by day. He shared his discovery with one of his close friend WB and even our WB has joined this Diff-Inf band wagon.

So folks, there is nothing beyond infinity and no need to rush towards that. Better start differentiating today.

Social Responsiblity & the way we practice it !

2006-09-08T04:15:00.000-07:00

Social Responsibility is gaining a lot of importance among the Corporates today.

Just to cite a few examples in our company...

1. During Independence Day celebrations and other functions, we invite people from old age home. We conduct a lot of cultural programs. We play/conduct some games with/for them.

2. The other day, we had people from Deepalaya selling their books, cards and other stuffs at our cafeteria.

3. Our Social Services committee regularly conducts blood donation camps.

But, most of these programs are the result of some employee initiative. What is the company's contribution as a whole. What’s the cost to company on these programs? Actually nothing. Very often, the money spent on these programs is less than the money spent in advertising these Social acts.

Is this Social responsibility desired?

1. When TATAs and NLC build a township for the people at their plant sites, some companies don’t even care for the people/place around their premises.
The pot holes and water logging before the vitreous buildings clearly points out how good the social responsbility of these companies are !

2. Instead of being a once in a month/quarter activity, SR should be reflected in their day to day operations.
Things like properly validation of the employee reimbursement bills will ensure that we pay the right amount of tax to the government.

3. Finally, Initiatives should be taken so that every employee really feels part of it, so that he always acts responsible to the society.
When our colleagues bring people from old age home to our company for I-Day celebrations, they forget to help the same people to cross the road on other days.

Bad, worse and worst !

2006-08-28T03:11:00.000-07:00

The reservation story is taking a really ugly turn.

"you dont repair a leaking water supply pipe by increasing the pressure of water"

1. The oversight committee on reservation for other backward classes should have been headed by a neutral person of high calibre instead of a politician. That would have been a good start.

2. There should be an exit clause to prevent concentration/predilection of chances.

3. Reservation should be limited only to entry levels as Resevation was introduced just for equality on opportunities.

Management lessons from a tea stall

2006-08-23T05:04:00.000-07:00

I have heard of a lot of win-win situations. Some how or other I usually find some discrepancies in them. But,

This morning, after our morning jog, we went to a tea stall next to the park. Pretty much at 6:30 am, we were his first customers. We were asked to wait for sometime as the guy went to the nearby pan-shop and bought some dailies even before he switched on his stove.

In the next 10/15 mins, till the time we left, the people whoever came seemed to be more interested in the newspaper than the tea (At least we felt that). They were pretty much happy to spend just 2 bugs for the tea and a 4 rupee newspaper. The tea wala, in turn, was able to multiply his profits with an additional investment of not more than 10 bugs.

That was really cool. Felt like a lot more M-lessons can be learnt from our daily routine than from a 2 year stint @ IIM.

Lets stop brain drain ?

2006-06-21T00:20:00.000-07:00

I had my Primary education at a school just yards away from my house. Then, I (was) moved to a different school for my Upper Primary education. Then to a different school at the nearest city for the Secondary education.

Why was that I moved to different schools in spite of the earlier ones following the same model and syllabi? Just that I was told that they are better schools.

Let’s dig deeper now. In my case, after Xth std, our school topper decided to stay at the same school for his secondary schooling. The 2nd and the 3rd rankers moved to different schools. But the secondary school results were no different. My Xth school topper was still the topper and the 2nd and 3rd were still 2nd & 3rd, in spite of different schooling.

Are schools getting better bcz of better students joining them (or) Are students getting better bcz of the better schools? It’s more of a Catch 22. But the first choice seems to be better!

So, is it good to force people to study at the nearest school? No, it looks absurd! It’s against the law of economics. It prevents competition and develops complacency. Schools should do their best to retain their best students.

But, if the analogy can be applied to people moving abroad, I would say
i) Same people would have attained the same level of success even if they had stayed in India bcz of their hard work
ii) Indian institutes should do their best to attract their best people instead of complaining about BRAIN DRAIN.

The fallacy of Price Control !!!

2006-06-13T01:21:00.000-07:00

This is an extract from ET editorial...

The author argues that the price control of the drugs would do more harm than good for India. He cites example of Germany, where the price control of drugs has benefited about 18$ billion in reduced drug prices but has driven out 22$ billion in R&D investment.

His solutions:
He wants health insurance to play a major role and thus sharing the risk of medication among the people.
He wants Government to play a major role in R&D funding so that cheaper products can developed and shared.

If deregulation of cement prices can make India the second largest producer of cement & delicensing of telecom can drastically reduce the phone bills, so can the phara industry.

His argument seems to be absolutely right. We should concentrate on improving the reach of health insurance, so that every one has access to quality drugs and facilities, rather than tinkering with the drug prices. But until then let people have access to cheaper drugs.

a bit of common sense ?

2006-06-09T03:12:00.000-07:00

India seems to be really fast developing. So, what should be done to further accelerate the pace? Infrastructure, Finance, FII, FDI,...? More than these, what we need is a bit more common sense on what we do now.

Power:
The power sector growth hardly touches 5 %. Government has already tried pulling private sector, giving tax sops and a lot more options. What could be done is,
The T&D losses in some states are around 10% while in other states they are around 50%. T&D has now become a synonym for power theft. If this can be plugged, it would result in
1) 40 % more availability of power at zero financial cost.
2) less subsidy for the discoms as they now get paid for what was lost earlier.
3) less electricity bill as T&D losses are generally added to our elec. bills.

Roads:
NHAI is doing a really good job in building world class roads. At the same pace, it would take decades to bring the same infrastructure everywhere. More important than building the roads is to make people follow some road rules.
1) A through license test before issuing a driving license would reduce the road accidents more than what the traffic signals and the sign boards would do.
2) Enforcing some basics like wearing helmets, seat belts would drastically reduce the no of lives lost in accidents.

Irrigation:
The 600 thousand crore river interlinking project is highly debated and still in proposal stage. Should we spend so much of money in disturbing an ecosystem? Don’t we have a better solution?
We definitely have a lot of implementable better solutions
1) Instead of disturbing the ecosystem to suit our irrigation needs, can't we better change our irrigation needs to suit what our ecosystem supports. What is needed is just a bit of education for the farmers on what their piece of land could support.
2) Gujarat has really demonstrated how better water management could solve the problems of farmers.
3) Dry land farming. With escalating oil prices, Jatropa and other oil seeds could be a better option for dry lands.
4) The thousands of crores could be spent on building cold storage and creating better market for the agricultural produce.

to be continued...

I'm not lovin' it

2006-05-09T09:35:00.000-07:00

Are the SMART really Pragmatic ?

2006-05-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

The death of IIML graduate, Manjunath, a year ago is really made me think whether the SMART people produced by the IITs and the IIMs are really pragmatic to the Indian scenarios. Had it been an other country, the owner of the petrol pump would have been arrested and Manjunath would have got atleast a double promotion.

The same happended to an IIT Kanpur Alumni, a NHAI engineer, SKDubey a few years back in Bihar. These are not new to India, I would say these people must have acted pragmatic. But for sure I m not here to complain about the IITs or the IIMs. My point is that we should be happy that the so called red tape bureaucrats were atleast able to save their lives all these years.

Even AnbuSelvam IPS lost his Jyothika in the Climax...What we need is today is more of Aruch'SAMY's...Lets wait and see what Lok Paritran has to do with all these !!!

150 years of lethargy

2006-04-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

Why is that people prefer Road transport to Railways ?
Why is that Road network is so vast but not the Rail network ?
Why is that we are able to buy bus tickets instantaneously but not the Rail tickets ?
Why is that Rail tickets cost more when compared with bus tickets ?
Why is that still Trucks carry most of the goods compared to Railways ?
Why is that there is no sync between the diff. modes of transport ?

You would have got a lot of answers for these questions by now ! The answer is simple ! Lack of competition.

If we have privatised Railways and increased competition, we could have very much saved our forex against Oil bills. Though Rail network is as important as Road and has its inherent advantages, we hardly try to improve them. We have NHAI. But do we have NRAI ?

Let's be a Communist !

2006-04-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

We are all programmed to be born as Communists. But then we are tuned to act as Capitalists. Communism is the survival of the weakest and Capitalism the survival of fittest.

We still practice Communism within the four walls of our home. Out of home, we become Capitalists. Parents care the most for the youngest child (or) a new born baby. The weakest survives. So, Capitalism makes no sense within the same family.

So the problem is that we are looking ONLY at our home as home. Once we start looking at the entire world as our own home, then Capitalism will make no sense as a whole and Communism will do its best for the survival and betterment of the weakest.

The Indian WalMart

2006-04-06T01:12:00.000-07:00

The Indian Walmart, PDS(as we call it) is really doing a good job in guzzling the indian Tax payers money. The only similarity it HAD with the Walmart WAS the price of the products. But the price reduction at Walmart is due to increase in their efficiency and the price reduction at our Indian counterpart is due to increase in the subsidy.

Walmart has its own supply chain right from the farm, if not it goes for the best of the best products in the international market while the Indian Walmart is very much dependent on its sole supplier FCI ( an other guzzler ) which stocks its products atleast for a year before delivering it to the market.

In PDS, the diversions and leakages alone account for 36% & 20 % respectively. The only good job its doing is diverting the well to do people out of its customer list. With more private players coming into retail chain, its time for PDS and FCI to re-invent themselves.

If the inefficiencies can be plugged, PDS could prove to be a role model for the world (atleast the African countries) to follow. Its pitty none of the IIM graduates take up challenging jobs like this.

The West Asian Melodrama

2006-03-30T05:29:00.000-08:00

The West Asia is really getting dramatic.

The death of PLO leader, Yasar Arafat. Aeriel Sharon’s offer for a Palestinian State. The Gaza withdrawal. Sharon getting out of HIS OWN Lukid party and forming Kadima Party. Sharon unconscious at hospital. Palestinian Islamic Militants, Hamas, winning the democratic election by a huge majority.

And today Kadima has won the Israel election and the Isrealians have opted for peace in favour of furthur withdrawal and formation of the Palestinian state.

Hope that Ehud Olmert completes the job that Aeriel Sharon has started.

From the slums to IIM-A

2006-03-29T22:56:00.000-08:00

Excise cut for small cars

2006-03-28T05:07:00.000-08:00

PCs intension was to make our country a manufacturing hub for auto components, the most prospective sector after textiles and services.

There was a loud cry that this move would congest the already congested city roads. I beg to differ on this.

1) The reduction of mere thousands is not going to tempt the customers in going for a car as the price gap between the two wheelers and four wheeler is already pretty high.
2) The ever galloping Oil prices will make him/her think twice.
3) The already congested roads and the increased travel time will itself make the travelers opt for a better mode of transport.

So, lets not worry about the excise cut and concentrate on builing MRT systems..

Leasons from my MBA preparation

2006-03-27T05:33:00.000-08:00

Today its 27th March. All institutes have made it clear that I m too good to sit in their classroom benches for this year. I would have been happy to hear the same except for the expenses incurred for their application forms.

FMS(GM) - 500 FMS(MS) - 500SPJAIN - 900SNAP - 500 ( for the exam ) SIBM - 1200XAP - 750 ( for the exam ) XLRI - 850

ONE ) I dont complain about the high tution fees charged by the IIMs and other B schools. As ROI is going to be pretty high, we would be able to pay back the loans(which has become very much compulsory these days to purse PG course in Management).

ONE.ONE ) Charging a higher fees for appearing exams and applying for institutes hinders a poor chap from even thinking of these institues leave alone fee charged by coaching institutes.

ONE.TWO ) I m also of the view that the high tution fee makes one think more of his accumulated educational expenses and stops him from starting a NGO or joining a startup or joining a government service. I kills the entrepreneurship in himself.

TWO ) And why is that we are asked to apply for some institutes even before we sit for the entrance examination.

Delhi - The rape capital of India

2006-03-24T01:01:00.000-08:00

Inspite of our government efforts, the sex ratio in India still stagnates at 922/1000. Does it mean, that for every 1000, there are 78 singles controlling all their sexual and emotional aspirations.

Does this, in any way, contribute to the ever increasing incidents of rape in India. Yes..Could Be... In capital, these incidents become headliners and in other parts of India goes unnoticed.

so whats the solution ?

We can't increase the sex ratio all of a sudden. However, can't we legitimize prostitution ?

"The legalization of abortion in the United States has reduced the number of unwanted children – children who are more likely to become criminals – and thus has reduced crime in recent years" - Steven Levitt.

then I m confident

"The legalization of prostitution in India should also reduce the number of stray incidents in our country"

Burning my Cals.....

2006-03-23T01:07:00.000-08:00

when i find it hard to burn 150 cals a day with tonnes to them accumulated at my bottom belly, its heartening to know the average cals intake among the BPL people is just 1600 cals a day.

The wealth distribution is getting so worse these days, if we have a mechanism to directly transfer the extra cals from APL to BPL people, India would easily meet the WHO Poverty Alleviation deadlines in less than a year.

the conflicts continue....

2006-03-16T22:53:00.000-08:00

Wars never end... I can'T blog each war...I give up !!!
My last list...

2001 - 9/11 Al-Qaeda strikes Twin Towers
2001 - Afghan Invasion
2003 - Iraq Invasion

The Congo War(s)

2006-03-16T22:52:00.000-08:00

1996 - 1997 First Congo War(Zaire)

*1994 Rwandan Genocide & Burundi violence made members of Hutu group flee to Zaire.
*The War began as Rwanda grew increasingly concerned that members of Hutu were carrying out cross-border raids.
*The new Tutsi-dominated Rwandans began to give arms to Tutis's of eastern Zaire(Banyamulenge).
*The military dictator of Zaire, Mobutu(sup. by West)vigorously denounced this intervention.
*In 1997, rebel leader, Kabils(Communist) with his Tutsi fighters was able to overthrew Mobutu and proclaimed himself as president. Zaire become DRC.

1998 - 2003 Second Congo War

*In 1998, Kabila removed Tutsis from govt. & ordered the Rwandan, Ugandan officials out of DRC.
*The two countries turned against formed client, sending troops to aid rebels in DRC.
*Four main armed groups
**Tutsi-aligned forces, supported by Rwandans.
**Hutu-aligned forces, include Hutus reponsible for 1994 genocide.
**Ugandan-aligned forces, its national army interested in DRCs natural resources.
**Kinshasa-aligned forces, congolese national army.
*In 1998, Banyamulese erupted into mutiny. Kabila supports Hutu militants to suppress Tutsis.
*In 1999, Uganda & Rwanda clash for control over Congo territory.
*In 2001, Kabila was killed and his son Joseph Kabila was sworn in as President.
*Peace Agreement in 2002 at Pretoria on withdrawal of Ugandan, Rwandan troops & dismantalling of Hutu militants and come to effect on 2003.( Pretoria, executive capital of South Africa, Capetown being the other one, Bloemfontein,judicial capital)

The Sundan War(s)

2006-03-16T22:51:00.000-08:00

1955 - 1972 First Sudanese Civil War

*Until 1946, the British administered south Sudan and north Sudan as separate regions.
*At this time, the two areas were merged into a single administrative region.
*The north is inhabited by Arabic Muslims and south by sub-Saharan Christians & animists.
*South is a more fertile plain of Nile and also has most of the Oil resources.
*The South demand complete automony from the government and hence the Civil War starts.
*The civil war comes to an end with the Peace Agreement of 1972.

1983 - 2005 Second Sudanese Civil War

*In 1983, the then President campaigned for the Islamization of the entire state of Sudan.
*He declared state of emergency in 1983. Though emergency was recalled in 1984, the act of opression continued. Thus he became the reason for the second civil war.
*Sudan supported Saddam Hussein in the 1990-91 Gulf war.
*Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda moved to Sudan in 1991 and carried out their terrorist attacks outside Sudan. In 1996, he was expelled from Sudan & he moved to Afghan.
*The war comes to an end with the peace treaty in 2005 at Nairobi.

The Gulf War(s)

2006-03-16T22:50:00.001-08:00

1980-1988 First Gulf war(Iran-Iraq war)
*Border disputes between Mesopotamia(Iraq) & Persia(Iran)
*Iran Revolution, 1979(Ayatollah)-Iran became an Islamic state from being pro-Western.
*US supports Iraq(Saddam)'s invasion with arms and aid. WMDs, Chemical and biological weapons were sold to Iraq.
*Iraq also purchases arms from SU. Backed financialy by Arab states, Kuwait & Saudi Arabia.
*Iran too had US weapons(bought from Isreal)
*The war left nothing changed and both nations suffered huge casualities.

1990-1991 Second Gulf war(Iraq-Kuwait war)
*Iraq was heavily indebted to Kuwait (& Saudi Arabia) due to First Gulf war.
*1990, Iraq invades Kuwait. Iraq in a better position even to invade Saudi Arabia (Hama Oil fields)
*UN(US) demands unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi forces.
*Coalation forces wage war against Iraq.
*1991, Iraq agreed to Soviet proposed cease-fire agreement.
*CIA sponsors internal rebellion for overthrowing Saddam.
*Economic sanctions on Iraq. UN introduces Oil for food programme.

1979-1989 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the aftermath

2006-03-16T22:50:00.000-08:00

*Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan(PDPA) ruled Afghan with close ties to Soviet Union
*Marxist-style "reform" program was confronted by religious establishments & other Afghans.
*1979, Soviet steps in to help PDPA to supress the internal revolt.
*Soviet struggled against mujahideen rebel forces backed by US, Saudi Arabia & Pak.
*Soviet withdrew in 1989 and Afghan continued to be land of warlords.
*Mujahideens overthrew the Afghan government (Mohanmmad Najibullah) in 1992.
*However, Mujahideens soon broke into two Northern Alliance and Taliban.
*Taliban(Osama Bin Laden) was able to capure the power in 1996.
*In 2001, Northern Alliance ousted the Taliban from power and formed a new government under Hamid Karzai.

1946-1976 Vietnam War

2006-03-16T22:49:00.001-08:00

1946-1954 First Indochina War

*After France's attempted recolonization failed in 1954 by Viet Minh,
the country was partitioned in two by DMZ along the 17th parallel
above which Viet Minh established a Communist state
below which anit-Communist state was established with American military presence.

1954-1976 Second Indochina War

*1956, After South Vietnamese Premier Dinh Diem cancels reunification elections, the communist Viet Minh decides on war.
*1961, John F Kennedy increases military and economic aid to South Vietnam.
*1963, President Diem is overthrown and killed in a coup mounted by his own military.
*1964, Lyndon B Johnson authrized to take any action in South East Asia.
*1968, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong launch all out offensive
*1970, Richard Nixon orders troops to invade Viet Cong sanctuaries in combodia.
*1973, Richard Nixon accounces that Paris peace agreement in process.
*1975, North Vietnamese Army conquers all of South Vietnam, forcing US to flee by air & sea.
*1976, North and South Vietnam are united in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

1950-1953 Korean War

2006-03-16T22:49:00.000-08:00

*Was invaded and ruled by Japan from 1910
*After WW II, US, USSR proposed a division of Korea along 38th parallel to be administered temporarily.
*The nothern part became a communist government under USSR and southern came under USA.
*The UN elections, 1948 was boycotted by the northern part.
*1950, North Korea struck across the 38th parallel and the allies were driven to a small aread around city of Pusan.
*Truman went for UN approval. UN troops drove the North Koreans back past 38th parallel.
*China issued warnings of confrontation if South Koreans cross 38th parallel.
*Chinese & North Korean forces recapture Seoul.(Jan 1951)
*The war came to an end with a peace treaty in 1953 with the creation of Demilitarized zone(DMZ)

1945-1990 German Division & Reunification

2006-03-16T22:47:00.000-08:00

*The WWII resulted in partion of Germany and Berlin
with West Germany and West Berlin occupied by Allies
and East Germany and East Berlin occupied by Soviet Union.
*The flight of East Germans thru West Berlin led to erecting of Berlin Wall by East Germans in 1961.
*In 1989, East German authorities unexpectedly allowed East Germans to enter West Berlin and West Germany.
*This led to the acceleration of the process of reforms in East Germany
that ended with the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990.

Aftermath of Omagaziya !

2005-10-11T02:52:00.000-07:00

Everyone joins Civil Services with lot of dreams in their mind. The majority of the aspirants are from middle class or from below middle class. This can be one of the reasons that motivated them to join Civil services.

This holds true for those who joined Civil Services a year back or a decade back. And they too must have joined Services with their own dreams. Its not that they were corrupt when they joined. But what's the ground reality. The bureaucrats now are as corrupt as the politicians.

why is the change then ?

Though the constitution has given them more powers than the legislature, in reality the bureaucrats are always dependent on their 'corrupt' political counter parts. More often they are forced to accept bribes at the risk of their life. (NHAI engineer's death in bihar)

Once the senior officer starts taking bribes, even the lower cadres are forced to follow the hierarchial chain leading to a complete mess.

It was only recently, some exceptional bureaucrats realised their own powers and made others realise them. Ex. T.N. Seshan.

cant we come out of this mess ?

yes..we can..we just need some strong minded officials..as we said, majority of the aspirants are from the economically weaker part of the society. will they be able to stand against a mighter politician or a billion dollar industrialist. they are always at a comparitive disadvantage.
giving them a better remuneration solves ONE of these problems. we should also acknowledge that every one have their own (financial) commitments. at times, this must have forced them to accept bribes.(looks absurd, but in reality it happens)

this can be the reason why our friends say that the pay package is less.

what i feel is that the pay for civil services is as per what the current market demands. when we take all the allowances into consideration, it should give us a better picture.

the other one is, u r given a chance to lead one of the fastest growing economies in the world. for all the good work u do , u would be recognized not only in ur pay package but also by the entire society. no other job gives u such a responsibility or a recognition.

once they get responsibility and recognition, what are these bureaucrats looking for. financial stability?

is this reason why lot of NRIs turn to NGOs after contributing to the reverse brain drain.
they have pounds & dollars. what else are they searching for now ??
job satisfaction ? responsibility ? recognition ?

TN ~ separate statehood ?

2005-10-11T02:35:00.000-07:00

agriculture
we in tamilnadu depend mostly on groud water and the monsoon rains for the agriculture. with depleting ground water level, the agriculte seems to be more dependent on the rainwater. govt initiative towards rain water harvesting in tamilnadu seems to a right move in right direction. with very few monsoon fed rivers, cauvery, vaigai & palar, the agriculture turns to be a very risky business.
with a separte statehood, will it be possible for us to get water from karnataka. even now, with so much of pressure from centre and supreme court order we find impossible to solve cauvery water dispute. with so much of our state dependent on agriculate, will it be possible to survive on our own.
even chennai awaits krishna water from andra for their drinking water. even the desallination plant proposed for chennai is CENTRAL GOVT funded.
education :
we do have lot of good institutes in tamilnadu. but after a separate stood hood, we would have 1 anna university, 1 IIT, 1 REC. only three institues where are broadly recognized. and two out of the three are CENTRAL GOVT funded. we would have to again look at INDIA for IIMs. will a small government be able to fund these institutes from now on?
electricity :
very few states in india has surplus power and lucking tamilnadu is one of them. thanks to lot of PSUs and atmoic power stations in tamilnadu. NLC is the main supplier of electricity not only for tamilnadu but also for most of the south indian states. we have atmoic power stations at Kalkappam, chennai & kudankulam, tirunelveli. all of them central govt funded.
being a seperate state, we cant even think of maintaining these power station not only bcz of the cost involved but also bcz of the geopolitical situation and the risk involved in nuclear reactions. The international pressure on Iran is a live example.
economy :
'size does matter'. we now see our GDP growing at around 8%. indian market is too big for any one to ignore. with over a 1 billion population we could have our say in the world politics. BRIC countries are dictating the policies of the WTOs.
the dream canal project, sethusamudhram, would cost the exchequer 25000 cr. this would be great boon for the costal regions of tamilnadu. tuticorin could now easily get itself transfored to a international hub. the point is that we gain more from being together.
chennai is becoming a dream location not only for services industry but also for all manufacturing industries, say from autocomponents to electrical accessories not just bcz of the govt policies and the accessibility of the port but bcz of the big, unexplored domestic market. chennai would lose its great adv. in case of a seperate statehood.

even in case of natural disaster, we would need to look at some one else for help. dec 26, 2004 should help us realize this. we were not only able to come out of that black day , but were able to help out indonesia & srilanka...
we are also not free from regional terrorism. LTTE still has an upper hand in srilanka. It wont take much time for them to influence TN. naxalite is also becoming a bigger problem today. It would always be better to be part of our mother India.

we were lucky enough to be brought up well by our mother at the cost of our siblings. now its not fare to leave them halfway and move away looking for greaner pastures. its how we help them from now on lies the crux.

Population Control !

2005-10-11T02:32:00.000-07:00

the focus should be on educating people and creating awareness on population control. a target free approach would yield better results.
dis-adv:
*would create gender in-equality as people prefer having male child. this in longer term would lead to more singles. this would again disturb the social balance of the society.
*would lead to more abortions. in a highly advanced medical world, people would tend to
adv:
*once educated people themselves would serve as ambassadors of the program. making people recognize the advantages is far better than one time incentive.
*getting away with the incentives program would have less financial burden on the government. this would in turn help in carriying out the program more succesfully with less financial need. there is very less probability for corruption.
in India where infant mortality is so high, it would be hard for any one to make people accept the two-child norm. so a equal weightage should go for improving the health of people BPL, reducing the infant mortality and uplifting of the society as a whole.
population control program executed alone would yield very less result. it should be a part of a family welfare program.

More Quotas ?

2005-10-11T02:16:00.000-07:00

in the 1950s, FCs were educated & economically sound and BCs were mostly uneducated and they were stuck just with their own family occupation. so it made sense to make reservations based on the caste system.
beware, that we have
general quota where FCs and BCs compete and
BC quota ONLY for the BC students.
in the 50s, BC students would have found it extremely difficult to compete with the FC students. general quota must have been occupied with FC students and BC seats occupied with BC students.
Now, the second generation of these students (FCs and BCs) are in the same cadre( i mean they have the same facilities and resources). so these BC students find it easy to compete with the FC students. there is nothing great in this. this explains the reason why FCs are admitted less and BCs are getting more seats.
Dis-adv :
* this "OUTDATED" system would soon prove its too costlier for the FC students.
the FC students dont have a level playing field for them to compete(with the second generation BCs)
* this may push the FCs to the bottom ladder in a longer run. FCs are so moving more towards the private instis and orgs.
* the second generation BCs find it very easy to compete with their first generation counter parts(BC students). I mean, the the current system is more benefial to those who has already reaped the benefit out of it..
so, what s the solution ?
the second generation students should be able to compete with the FCs and they should not be given the same advantages of their fathers and forefathers. this would make the system really helpful to the downtrodden people. this should be accompanied with the increase in the no of general quota seats. but the vote bank makes the government increase the BC/MBC/SC/ST seats . thanks to SC order for stalling these vote bank politics. this would soon bring every one to the same level playing field.