Friday, October 30, 2009

Police needs protection

The move has created deep & widespread resentment

A vulnerable Gujarat Police has sought and been granted permission to post guards outside all state police stations. A Police Bhavan notice says armed guards will protect all security personnel and police establishments round the clock.

There were moves to station them sixth months back, but for some reason the proposal was then shelved.

The recently implemented order has raised question whether law enforcers should be given protection. The common refrain is what kind of cop is he who can’t protect himself?

Local newspapers are full of reports of murder, rape, kidnapping and robbery. And how bad the state of affairs is has been acknowledged by state home minister Amit Shah himself. Shah startled all in the Lower House when he read out the gruesome details: 191 cases of murder, rape, robbery and loot in Ahmedabad alone in the past two years.

It is shameful that Ahmedabad police have failed to nab a single culprit in 41 cases of murder, 11 of robbery and 735 of loot. Between June 2006 and May 2009 the city witnessed 267 cases of murder, 59 of robbery and 1,254 of loot.

Rape cases too have shot up steeply. The 2009 crime statistics show that at least one woman in the state is raped every day. This has made the case for guarding policemen all the more untenable.

While there is indeed a comic element in it, women activists do not find the police department’s move in the least funny. An activist who did not wish to be identified said the state’s cops were a lethargic and corrupt lot, and thus had no business to squander taxpayers’ money to pay for their own protection.

What the police should be doing, say crime watchers, is to institute the long needed reforms that have so far remained in office files. Like some other states, Gujarat too faces severe shortage of security personnel. These same guards could be used to bolster police manpower in the crime-hit areas.

But the police will have none of this. Argues RJ Sawani, commandant of the SRP group at the ONGC camp, Mehsana: “It is nothing new for the police department to have guards protecting their establishments. As a matter of fact it has all along been a tradition, and there is a provision for granting such a facility in the Police Manual. All security norms have a place for it. In Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Jharkhand police stations are easy targets for Maoists, and hence the need for security.” According to him people are as safe as their protectors are.

But this is what the officer says; among the people the move has created deep and widespread resentment. And this anger mounts as steadily as the crime graph climbs. This is one more problem that the cops in this violence-ridden state are having to cope with.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
Read these article :-
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better
IIPM fights meltdown
IIPM

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

“Nanotechnology will not compete with nature”

As chairman of the scientific advisory council to the prime minister and the national nano mission council, and honorary president & linus pauling research professor at the jawaharlal nehru centre for advanced scientific research, professor cnr rao’s credentials as the father of indian nanotechnology are far from ‘nano’. the pragmatist’s views on the futurists’ fancies…

Do you agree with Ray Kurzweil when he suggests that in the future, nanobots will substitute for RBCs, and bionic hearts will perform critical functions, and that “we can look forward to a world where humans become cyborgs, with artificial limbs and organs"?

I do not believe nanoworld is a fantasy world. It will be based on high science and technology. One should not therefore create a picture of a world where the functions of the heart or blood will all be replaced by something nano. I think that we will have technologies similar to what we have today except that they will be miniaturised. We would have transistors which are extremely small and computers which are very tiny. The main thing is that we will be using very tiny materials and tiny devices to accomplish the same objective. We will probably use nanotechnology in nanomedicine, medical imaging and such applications.

Nanotechnology sounds like competition to nature; is it a good thing or a bad thing?

Nanotechnology will not compete with nature. This is a completely wrong idea. I have been doing research in this area for more than twenty years; I have not seen any occasion where I have to think of something that would compete with nature. In fact, we will borrow ideas from nature to do things in the laboratory. For example, nature has always used the concept of self-assembly and we use the same concept in nanotechnology.

In brief, what is the role of nanoscience in medicine? In what ways does nanoscience bear upon longevity/immortality?

In medicine, nanoscience and technology have many benefits. For example, in delivery of drugs we can use nano delivery systems, which will give slow release in small quantities as required medicine. In addition, gene delivery would be possible. More importantly, tissue engineering which will help in building new types of organs (which are lost or damaged) would have great applications. For example, if we can grow a new spinal cord or artificial skin, it would be wonderful. There are already applications of nanoparticles of silver and other materials in purification of water and also in creating bandages for burn victims.

The bandages have tiny nanoparticles of silver. Many semiconductor nanoparticles are used widely for biological tagging and in diagnostics.

I do not see nanoscience giving you immortality or longevity. Other things that we are doing in health sciences, medicine and other areas would improve our health. If human beings can live with discipline and use their mind and body properly, the lifespan would be extended. Nanotechnology may contribute to some extent, but will not be a main reason why humans will live longer.

Would nanotechnology be affordable by the masses?

Nanotechnology is affordable by all people. Already, there are many results of nanotechnology which are in common use.

For example, in textiles and cosmetics. Nanotechnology is routinely used in catalysis (in chemical industry) which produces millions of tons of materials used by everybody. When eventually transistors made up of nanotechnology will come about, everybody will use them. It is not as if only rich countries will have the benefit.

Would nanotechnology have to contend with moral and ethical concerns, much like abortion and stem cell research issues?

The main ethical concerns one has in nanotechnology relate to toxicological uses. We have to be careful and make sure that we do not work with free nanoparticles and nanotubes and such materials in open laboratories and elsewhere in such a way as to cause damage to health. Lot of research is being pursued on toxicological effects of nanomaterials. On the positive side, nature itself has large quantities of nanoparticles floating around, yet they do not seem to have caused much harm. I would certainly advise people not to eat nanotubes for breakfast and be careful in general. We should not use nanomaterials inside biological systems without knowing their toxicological effects. Use in other devices may not cause any harm.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better
IIPM fights meltdown
IIPM

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Jagan Jolted

YSR’s son is rising no more. Naresh Nunna finds out why the high command won’t have him

The Congress has been quietly ignoring the shenanigans of the YS Jaganmohan Reddy camp. Jagan acolytes, scared that their power centres might crumble if the dynastic principle were not upheld, had first threatened to resign en masse. Some even went so far as to tear off Sonia Gandhi’s posters amidst rallies and hunger-strikes – but the Congress called their bluff. On the other hand many others in Andhra Pradesh kept wondering why none from YSR’s own family figured in the 600 “shock deaths” after his helicopter crashed on September 2. Though of course right now what everybody wants to know is not whether these figures were manipulated, but what might lie in store for Jagan. He and his followers minted crores, while the common man was bought off with poorly funded welfare schemes.

“The orchestrated demand for installing Jagan as successor was because YSR loyalists feared losing their power base if anyone else was placed at the helm,” a senior Congress politician told TSI on condition of anonymity. Significantly, Congress spokespersons and senior leaders, including Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Shakeel Ahmed, Jayanti Natarajan and Manish Tewari, have been insisting that the present CM Rosaiah is not a temporary fixture. This is as unambiguous a signal to the Jagan camp as can be – that the man should consider himself out of the race. Incidentally, the income-tax department is believed to have sent notices to companies owned by Jagan and their investor companies.

Jagan’s companies have been making news for all the wrong reasons. For instance a rival of the late YSR has alleged that Jagan leveraged his father’s position to raise money from industrialists in a favours-for-equity quid pro quo. Jagati Publications, owned by Jagan, raised money from business houses such as India Cements (Rs 34.02 crore), Lanco, Eres Projects Pvt. Ltd, part of the Ramky group(Rs 7.77crore), Trident Life Sciences Ltd (Rs.6.8 crore), sister concern of Aurobindo Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Gilchrist Investments Pvt. Ltd (Rs 52.66 crore), Matrix Laboratories Ltd and Hetero Drugs Ltd (Rs 13.12 crore), Karvy group, Pioneer Infrastructure (Rs 19.44 crore) and Sandesh Labs Private Limited (Rs 23.44 crore) of Tanla Solutions Ltd.


When Telugu Desam Party leader and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu alleged that there was a nexus between the government and the companies, most of the firms claimed that the investments were made by the owners’ family members in their personal capacities.

“Jagan bought over a sleeping company Sandur Power Generation Ltd in Karnataka and hydel power generation began after his father YSR became CM. The same year Rs 124.60 crore were raised by allotting 1.75 crore shares of Rs 10 face value at a premium of Rs 61 to Mauritius-based Shell companies 2 i-Capital and Flurry Company. In 2005 nearly a dozen companies were floated as subsidiaries of Sandur Power. Carmel Asia Holdings is one of those subsidiaries,” says Telugu Desam leader Nagam Janarthan, who filed a PIL in the high court challenging the allotment of thousands of acres of government land to the Jagan-owned Brahmani Steels. According to him, Sandur Power invested Rs 15 crore in the Carmel Asia Holdings and purchased shares at a face value of Rs 10. “The CM’s son generated Rs 82 crore by divesting 31 lakh shares of Carmel Asia Holdings with a premium of Rs 253 crore (Rs 263 running rate),” he adds.

Jagan launched two other subsidiaries for Carmel – Jagati Publications and Indira Television – and taking advantage of the political clout and interest shown by “opportunistic” industrialists the Jagan clique raised hundreds of crores by hiking the share premium up to Rs 350 per share of Rs 10, he says.

The high command is said to be closely monitoring these, as also Athena Energy, which is planning to generate 14000MW within seven years, and the Rs 6,500-crore Bharathi Cements (earlier Raghuram cements) of Jagan. “The high command understands that the desperation in the Jagan camp is simply due to fears that their fortunes might melt down if Jagan is not made CM. Madam (Sonia) has also noticed this,” say well placed sources in the AICC who monitor Andhra affairs. That puts the biggest question mark yet on Jagan’s succession prospects. According to the same sources, 10 Janpath also sniffed the interests of YSR-loyalists, who are moving heaven and earth to ensure Jagan’s accession.

Senior Congress leaders from Karnataka, including Veerappa Moiley, Mallikarjuna Karge, SM Krishna, Muniyappa and Oscar Fernadez, are also known to be against Jagan, who is a business-partner and close associate of Gali Janardhana Reddy, a cabinet minister in the BJP government in Karnataka. During the general elections Gali Janardhana Reddy was slinging mud at Sonia when she contested from Ballari against Sushma Swaraj. The man had allegedly been funding the BJP campaign from the earnings he made, thanks to the corrupt assistance received in Andhra Pradesh during the YSR regime. It was also alleged that YSR stayed out of the Congress campaign in Karnataka’s Telugu-speaking areas to avoid embarrassing Janardhana Reddy.

Meanwhile present Chief Minister K Rosaiah is being supported by several senior Congress leaders, including V Hanumantha Rao, K Kesava Rao and Uppunutala Purushotham Reddy. Besides, pressure along caste lines is mounting on the high command that Rosaiah should continue as CM. Rosaiah hails from the Vysya community – one that rarely had the privilege of heading a state.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2009
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Monday, October 26, 2009

Vedic Astrology - The light of God

Men in different societies have always been curious to know the future. Thus they developed various methods of predicting the future. The Egyptions, Greeks, the Chaldeans and the Chinese have their own methods. Vedic Astrology, which originated in India 6000 years back, is one of the stronger forms of Astrology. It forms an integral part of the Vedangas. Vedic astrology dazzles modern scientists till date as with correctly given date, time and place of birth of an individual or Jataka, it can describe in details not only what the future holds but also the entire characteristics of an individual. It also gives ample information about people associated with the Jataka. It accurately predicts everything about an individual - his parents, siblings, married life, service life, his boss, his karma and even his death. Astrology is today being used extensively for election analysis, predicting world affairs and global events, finding solution for medical problems, criminology, prediction of weather and match-making

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2009
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Himalayas - More than a mountain

Geographically, the Himalayas are the world’s highest mountain system stretching majestically across six different countries; for many Indian communities, though, this ‘abode of snow’ is where their gods live. The Himalayas are woven into the mythology of not just Hindus but also Buddhists and Jains.

The Ganga, which is said to flow from Lord Shiva’s matted locks, finds its source in the Himalayas and so do the Indus, Sutlej and Brahmaputra. In the Hindu pantheon the Himalayas are Giriraj, the king of mountains, holding within his folds three of their holiest shrines: Kedarnath, Badrinath and Amarnath. “The Himalayas are the connection between the seven heavens and seven worlds,” says Sonaram Sarma Burhabhakat, a preacher from the Kamalabari Satra set up by Sri Sri Xankardeb in Assam’s Majuli island.

For the Sikhs, Hemkunt Sahib in the Himalayas is where Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last guru, is said to have meditated in his previous life.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2009
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative