Thursday, February 24, 2005

Indo - Pak Nuke war

A nice forward that i recieved today, shows in lighter vein the plight of India and Pakistan. It goes like this:

During the Cold War, if USA launched a nuke-loaded missile, Soviet Satellites would inform the Soviet army in 3 seconds and in less than 45 seconds Soviet counter-missiles would be on their way.

Recent studies commissioned by US department of Defense included one on nuclear war between India and Pakistan :

This was the scenario................

The Pakistan army decides to launch a nuke-missile towards India. They don't need any permission from their government, and promptly order the countdowns. Indian technology is highly advanced. In less than 8 seconds, Indian army detects the Pak countdown and decides to launch a missile in retribution. But they need permission from the Government of India. They submit their request to the Indian President. The President forwards it to the Cabinet.The Prime Minister calls an emergency Lok Sabha session. The LS meets, but due to several walkouts and severe protests by the opposition, it gets adjourned indefinitely. The President asks for a quick decision.

In the mean time, the Pak missile failed to take off due to technical failure. Their attempts for a re-launch are still on.

Just then the Indian ruling party is reduced to a minority because a party that was giving outside support withdraws it. The President asks the PM to prove his majority within a week. As the ruling party fails to win the confidence vote, a caretaker government is installed. The caretaker PM decides to permit the armed forces to launch a nuclear missile. But the Election Commission says that a caretaker government cannot take such a decision because elections are at hand. The ElectionCommission files Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court alleging misuse of power.

The Supreme Court comes to the rescue of the PM, and says the acting PM is authorized to take this decision in view of the emergency facing the nation.

Just then one of the Pak missiles successfully took off, but it fell 367 miles away from the target, on its own government building in Islamabad at 11.00AM. Fortunately there were no casualties as no employee had reached the office that early. In any case, the nuclear core of the missile had detached somewhere in flight. The Pakistan army is now trying to get better technologies from China and USA.

The Indian Government, taking no chances, decides to launch a nuclear missile of its own, after convening an all-party meeting. This time all the parties agree. Its three months since the army had sought permission.But as preparations begin, "pro-humanity", "anti-nuclear" activists come out against the Government's decision. Human chains are formed and Rasta rokos organized. In California and Washington endless e-mails are sent to Indians condemning the government and mentioning "Please forward it to as many Indians as possible".

On the Pakistan side, the missiles kept malfunctioning. Some missiles deviate from target due to technical failures or high-speed wind blowing over Rajasthan. Many of them land in the Indian Ocean killing some fishes. A missile (smuggled from USA) is pressed into service. Since the Pakistan army is unable to understand its software, it hits it original destination: Russia.

Russians successfully intercepts the missile and in retaliation launches a nuclear missile towards Islamabad. The missile hits the target and creates havoc.

Pakistan cries for help. India expresses deep regrets for what has happened and sends in a million dollars worth of Parle-G biscuits. Thus India never gets to launch the missile. Pakistan never gets it right. And both live happily ever after!!!!

Does Google Know more about me than myself!!!

While checking my Gmail account, i noticed Google ads that come up in the page. For a moment, i was taken aback, looking at the relevence of the link to the mail content. For instance,

Mail Content (somewhere in 15 or so lines):
I watch WWE wrestling programs

Google Ads:
3 Ads popped up --> 2 on WWE game cds and one on WWE gift items.

The power of Google's algorithm dawned on me.
The point i am trying to make is, if they are able to track mails to such an extent, wouldn't they have a complete profile of me interms of my interest level in various subjects.
Imagine Google building up profile on each and every individual who have G-mail account. With more space and better features, i am sure G-mail users are increasing everyday and so is the directory with the corresponding profiles. Doesn't it give an enormous business value to the whole concept. Like, when a home loan company is scouting for contacts, Google might be an one point source of information provider to reach individuals across the globe who have interest in buying house.

Can you imagine other implications!!! I leave it to your imagination:-)

Media Caught off-gaurd

All of us who were proud of 15 year old, Saurabh singh for topping the International Scientist Discovery (ISD) conducted by NASA are in for a rude shock. This timesofindia article reports that the so-called whiz kid has taken everybody for a ride. The report says:

NASA says it conducts no such exams and has never heard of Saurabh Singh, the boy who appears to have perpetuated the hoax. On its website, NASA does on even list the so-called International Scientist Discovery examination that Singh claims to have bested from among 200,000 students.

The other fallout of this incident is the reporting in Indian media. All roads led to the village Ballia, to record the event, without the least of verification. He even entered the portals of PMO and Rashtrapati bhavan gaining instantaneous spotlight. Why didn't the media take care to verify when it is reporting such an acheivement? It is for them to answer this question. Is it neccessiated by the race amongst themselves to grab eyeballs?...

Did any of us checked the NASA website!!!! Try to answer it yourself.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Trip to Murdeshwar


Murdeshwar
Originally uploaded by kbvenkat.

Yesterday, me(extreme left) and my friends (from L-R: Souveer,Nitin,Aseem,Krishna,Santosh and Chox) went to murudeshwar. Located on the main Mangalore-Karwar highway, Murudeshwar is sandwiched between the picturesque Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. Its main attractions are its beach, the awesome Shiva statue and the famous Shiva Temple built on a hillock which offers a magnificent view of the sea. The gigantic statue of Lord Shiva overlooking Murudeshwar entices tourists every day. The sea surrounds the temple on three sides, a fabulous site to watch.

Situated 110 kms from Manipal,nearly two-and-half hour drive along the coast. The drive along the coast was an equally enthraling one. Along the way, near Turtle bay beach resort, which is 12 kms from Kundapur, the highway almost converges with the sea. On one side of the highway, we have the Arabian sea and on the other side we have rivers and backwaters. It was an unbeleivable sight to watch.

We had a nice, peaceful dharshan of Mahabaleshwara. The temple built in the Dravidian style depicting Chalukya and Kadamba sculptures on a hillock has some beautiful carvings and statues. After the dharshan we had our food and spent nearly two hours on the sea shore.

We started from there around 4:00 pm and on the way we again stopped near the Turtle bay beach resort for a panoramic view of the arabian sea, glimmering and shining with beauty. The enthralling beauty did not allow us to move from that place for another half-an-hour. We draggfed ourselves from the sea shore and reached Manipal around 6:00 pm.

This is a one of the series of trips we had planned in the next one month, before we leave the Oxford of the East. Bookmark this site to know more about another tourist attraction of the region......very soon.

Saturday, February 19, 2005

Best days of my Life...Should i call so!!!

Should I...for...............
having found new friends who are equally good or better than my school or college friends

Should I...for .............
having developed a flair and understanding for Hindi

Should I...for............
completely and fully understanding the significance of Parkinson's Law

Should I...for............
having watched more films during the two years in TAPMI than probably in my entire life

Should I...for............
mastering the habit of sleeping even when a blarring music party is on

Should I...for............
learning the art of composure by tolerating some really non-sensical, moronic freaks

or may be
Should I...because............
Everybody says so!!!

or atleast
Should I...for............
having gained a PGDM which i hope will give me a good start in my carrier....

or for what else Should I.....

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Other Blogs

It has been a while i have blogged. I had spent the whole of last week...just reading others blog. It was time worth spent. I came across many blogs, everyone unique in its own way. Different views, ideas, means of expression left me wondering. I believe each blog is " A castle of an individual", built with great care and dreams.
Some of the blogs, i really enjoyed were,
indiauncut by amit varma and oxlog by David, Josh and Patrick from Oxford.

Amit, if you happen to read this blog: The note below is addressed to you :-)
Your blog was really an eye opener. I am a nascent blogger, i started blogging just a month back. I happen to see your blog during Tsunami reporting and i really got impressed and probably thats the reason why i started blogging.

I see this space as a means to express my ideas, opinions and feelings on as varied topics as possible.


You are allowed to pop into my blog, but leave your footprint.

Saturday, February 05, 2005

Primary education in India

I am trying to develop a business model for an NGO, whose focus would be on primary education. In the process i came across facts related to primary education in india. Some of the facts that caught my attention were, the number of school drop outs, child labor and female literacy rate. Such many more facts took my attention beyong NGOs role. NGOs can supplement the work in the field of primary education, should it take the responsibility of providing primary education to all childrens? Then, why do we have a government.....on a lighter note, with the amount of aid and benefits we are getting from other countries, can India be termed as a "Mother of all NGOs".
Ok, jokes apart!!! lets now get to the business.
At the outset, for a nation as diverse and as sprawling as India, it is definitely a daunting task. But, it is not the reason for absolving itself from the issue.
The Government in the recent years have come out with lots of initiatives to provide primary education.Let me tell you about some initiatives.
  1. Initiatives for expanding the provision of primary formal and non-formal education to realise the goal of Universilisation of Elementary Education (UEE).
  2. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan :It primarily focuses on providing education for all.
  3. Education cess collection towards primary education

I was pleasantly surprised to see so many schemes that have been started by GOI. But as any Indian citizen i was doubtful about the implementation of these initiatives and wanted to explore the results of some of these initiatives.

I would like to highlight some of my findings on the schemes which were obtained through secondary research from various websites.

  1. Center to allocate more funds for education only from next year.

"The funds are not expected to be allocated to the two schemes due to low absorptive capacity of the primary education sector", senior human resources development ministry officials said. Can anybody help me by explaining what does "low absorptive capacity" mean?

2. India ranks 105 out of 127 countries in Unesco education report .

Where does all this lead to.....staggering number of school drop-outs....probably the number of illiterates in our country now would out number the population 25 years back.

I am not trying to paint a bad picture on the initiatives taken by the government, but trying to stress on the fact that we need more...more...more...and more attention.

I feel that GOI should do a lot more in imparting primary education. But, i feel i can contribute something to this cause in a small way. This idea gave me focus to developing a business proposal for a primary education knowledge center...... call it by what ever name you want to. My idea is to develop a new model of school, attractive and easily accessible to the needy children. The model should be flexible enough to be implemented in any part of the country.

I believe and hope, i am not the only soul having such feelings about the sorry state of primary education in India. Anybody, who share my belief can contribute in their own way.

My focus is on providing education to those children, who are forced to work to support their family or to those who have been denied the oppurtunity of attending schools due to financial constraints.

My proposal is based on the answers to some of these basic questions:

  1. What should be taught?
  2. How should we teach?
  3. How to motivate the children?
  4. Creativity in Education!!

The questions mentioned here cover only a part of the study. Another important issue is making these instituions financially self sustaining. This is one of the most important aspect of the model to make the initiative sustainiable. Hence, it becomes imperative to develop a revenue model for the proposed school.

(to be continued....)

Friday, February 04, 2005

Larry Ellison: Read to believe

Ellison speech, Yale 2000: Read this to believe it.
This is the speech that Larry Ellison (Oracle CEO) gave at Yale University to the graduating class of 2000 last month and he was ushered off the Stage because of it:
"Graduates of Yale University, I apologize if you have endured this type of prologue before, but I want you to do something for me. Please, take a good look around you. Look at the classmate on your left. Look at the classmate on your right. Now, consider this: five years from now, 10 years from now, even thirty years from now, odds are the person on your left is going to be a loser. The person on your right, meanwhile, will also be a loser. And you, in the middle? What can you expect? Loser. Loserhood. Loser Cum Laude.
In fact, as I look out before me today, I don't see a thousand hopes for a bright tomorrow. I don't see a thousand future leaders in a thousand industries. I see a thousand losers. You're upset. That's understandable. After all, how can I,Lawrence "Larry" Ellison, college dropout, have the audacity to spout such heresy to the graduating class of one of the nation's most prestigious institutions? I'll tell you why. Because I, Lawrence "Larry" Ellison, second richest man on the planet, am college dropout, and you are not. Because Bill Gates, richest man on the planet-for now anyway-is a college dropout, and you are not. Because Paul Allen, the third richest man on the planet, dropped out of college, and you did not. And for good measure, because Michael Dell, No.9 on the list and moving up fast, is a college dropout, and you, yet again, are not. Hmm ... you're very upset. That's understandable.
So let me stroke your Egos for a moment by pointing out, quite sincerely, that your diplomas were not attained in vain. Most of you, I imagine, have spent four to five years here, and in many ways what you've learned and endured will serve you well in the years ahead. You've established good work habits. You've established a network of people that will help you down the road. And you've established what will be lifelong relationships with the word "therapy." All that of is good. For in truth, you will need that network. You will need those strong work habits. You will need that therapy. You will need them because you didn't drop out, and so you will never be among the richest people in the world. Oh sure, you may, perhaps, work your way up to #10 or #11, like Steve Ballmer. But then, I don't have to tell you who he really works for, do I? And for the record, he dropped out of grad school. Bit of a latebloomer. Finally, I realize that many of you, and hopefully by now most of you, Are wondering, "Is there anything I can do? Is there any hope for me at all? Actually, no. It's too late. You've absorbed too much, think you know too much. You're not 9 anymore. You have a built-in cap,and I'm not referring to the mortarboards on your heads. Hmm ... you're really very upset. That's understandable.
So perhaps this Could be a good time to bring up the silver lining. Not for you, Class of '00. You are a write-off, so I'll let you slink off to your pathetic $200,000-a-year jobs, where your checks will be signed by former Classmates who dropped out two years ago. Instead, I want to give hope to any underclassmen here today. I say to you, and I can't stress this enough: leave. Pack your things and your ideas and don't come back. Drop out. Start up. For I can tell you that a cap and gown will keep you down just as surely as these security guards dragging me off this stage are keeping me down..." (At this point The Oracle CEO was ushered off stage.)

What it means to have a Girl friend!!!

I got a forward from my friend. thought people would enjoy reading....

********* U have to think twice b4 committing to a North IndianGirl**********
1. At the time of marriage, a north Indian girl has more boyfriends than her age.
2. Before marriage, she looks almost like a bollywood heroine and after marriage you have to go around her twice to completely hug her.
3. By the time she professes her undevoted love to you, you are bankrupt because of the number of times you had to take her out to movie theatres and restaurants. And you wait longingly for her dowry.
4. The only dishes she can think of to cook is paneer butter masala, aloo sabji, aloo gobi sabji, aloo matar, aloo paneer, that after eating all those paneer and aloos you are either in the bed with chronic cholestrol or chronic gas disorder.
5. The only growth that you see later in your career is the rise in your monthly phone bill.
6. You are blinded by her love that you think that she is a blonde. Only later do you come to know that it is because of the mehandhi that she applies to cover her gray hair.
7. When you come home from office she is very busy watching "Kyonki saas bi kabi bahu thi" that you either end up eating outside or cooking yourself.
8. You are a very "ESpecial" person to her.
9. She always thought that Madras is a state and covers the whole of south india until she met you.
10. When she says she is going to "work out" she means she is going to "walk out"
11. She has greater number of relatives than the number of people you have in your home town.
12. The only two sentences in English that she knows are "Thank you" and "How are you"
13. She thinks Hritik can dance better than Michael Jackson.


******WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE A South Indian GIRL-FRIEND***********

1. Her mother looks down at you because you didn't study in IIT or Anna University.
2. Her father starts or ends every conversation with "... I say..." She shudders if you use four letter words.
3. She has long hair, neatly oiled and braided (The Dubai based Oil Well Company will negotiate with her on a 25 year contract to extract coconutoil from her hair.)
4. She uses the word 'Super' as her only superlative. Her name is another name for a Goddess or a flower.
5. Her first name is longer than your first name, middle name and surname combined (unless you are from Andhra)
6.When she mixes milk and rice you are never sure whether it is for the Dog or for herself. 7. For weddings, she sports a mini jasmine garden on her head and wears silk saris in the Madras heat without looking too uncomfortablewhile you are melting in your singlet.
8.She thinks Mohan Lal is the sexiest man alive.
9. Her favourite cricketer is Krishnamachari Srikkanth.
10. Her favourite food is dosa though she has tried North Indian snacks like Chats (pronounced like the slang for 'conversation')
11. She bursts into songs with her cousins in every movie. She bores you by telling you which raaga each song you hear is based on.
12. You have to give her jewellery, though she has already got plenty of it .. Her thali (Mangal Sutra) weighs more than the championship belts worn by WWF wrestlers.
13. She is more educated than you.
14. Her father thinks she is much smarter than you...

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

The Real Tsunami

Last week, me and my friend krish had a discussion about Tsunami. While we were discussing about the natural tsunami, suddenly i asked him, what would be your reaction if it was man-made calamity. He was taken aback.
My point is, if some one wanted to do something like this, can it be done artificially? What could be the motives of doing so? why would anybody do so? the discussion went on for about an hour, till we felt bored about the topic.
Then the topic lost its relevence the next day. we did not think much about it. But today morning he came across some news article, on the same lines as what we have been discussing a week back.

The article can be found at, http://vialls.net/subliminalsuggestion/tsunami.html.
This article was interesting, intriguing, scaring and what not......
Though the article seem to be so convinced about the incident, i have few reservations over the article.

1. Will US run the risk of including more than 10,000 of its men in the operation and can still hope it to be covet operation?
2. I doubt the veracity about the involvement of Austraslian government in the whole operation.
3. Was it supposed to be a low key operation, turned into a monster or was it intented to harm the region?
4. Will anybody try some serious operations in others territory knowing the fall out of such an event?

and so on.,..... as and when i get time i had decided to fill up my reservations in this post, despite being a good read!