Hiding Status Message of Friends in Gmail Chat

If you are wondering about this experiment of Google labs- get it form here- http://www.siddharthabbineni.com/tutorials/tips/hide-friends-status-in-gmail-chat.html

Clay refrigirator

Please out the the refrigerator, water fliter, non-stick pan made of
clay. Eco-friendly and healthy!

http://www.mitticool.in/

Is vaccination dangerous for children ?

I got a lot of valuable and surprising information on vaccinating
babies from http://thinktwice.com/ and ordered two books suggested by
them from indiaplaza.in for getting myself educated more.

Sachin on Being Saching

Alternate Schools

If you have a kid and looking for a "good" school which not just
emphasizes on math and science but on overall development as a human
being, here are some. Explore whether they have a branch in your
locality or not.

1. Aurobindo Schools -- http://www.sriaurobindoashram.org/ashram/saice/index.php
2. Montessourie Schools -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_method
4. Jiddu Krishnamurthy (JK) philosophy based schools --
http://www.kfionline.org/schools/index.asp
5. Woldorf philosophy based schools -- http://www.whywaldorfworks.org/
6. Sholai school -- http://sholaicloaat.org/sholai/home.htm
7. Center for learning in Banglore -- http://cfl.in/
8. Maharishi vidyalayas-- http://www.maharishividyamandir.com/index.jsp

Let me know if you are aware of some more such schools.

Tortoise and Hare 2.0

School for Blind and much more...

http://www.rakum.org/

<snip>
Sri Rakum School for the Blind was opened in June 1998, India.The
School was founded for children who are born blind or visually
impaired. Coming from families living below the poverty line, these
children are shunned, denied a childhood and the opportunities to grow
into normal adults. Children from distant villages and tribal regions
come to Rakum where they are welcome with open arms. No one has ever
been turned back
</snip>

Foundation for Restoration of National Values

http://home.valuefoundation.in/

Foundation for Restoration of National Values (FRNV)
The Foundation strives to restore our time-tested National and
Cultural Values, so that people, individually as well as collectively,
find an abiding inner persuasion to be truthful, ethical, patriotic
and committed to wholesome development, in their aspirations and
goals.

FRNV has embarked upon a Value Restoration Movement in an effort to
rekindle the love and respect in the people for their society and
country by awakening them to their National Values.

Swaraj

http://www.swaraj.org/

The Swaraj Foundation is a trans-local initiative that is dedicated to
evolving the conceptual and systemic frameworks for Swaraj and to
supporting each individual in their own struggle for Swaraj. We seek
to create a constructive program for the 21st century and beyond
through contextualized research, dialogue and practices.

A school in Harmony with nature

Sholai School

http://www.sholaicloaat.org/sholai/home.htm

Another site for railways

Apart from http://erail.in which is extremely useful because of its
elegant interface, I recommend http://indiarailinfo.com/ for some more
additional information like average delay, recent history etc-
basically the kind information we usually find from friends who travel
in that route. This site also provides a platform/forum for
discussions.

Pregnancy quota in Indian Railway

The lower berth quota of Indian railways can be availed by 1. Any
woman aged >/=45 years old traveling alone and 2. A pregnant woman. In
the first case, no proof is required a the time of booking the ticket.
It looks like once can book this ticket online using IRCTC also,
though I cam not sure because I have encountered some problems and
sometimes succeeded. One can try clicking the 'Book only if lower
berth is available' option. In the second case i.e. pregnant woman
needs to produce a doctor certificate which certifies that she is
pregnant is required at the time of booking. Since this is a kind of
VIP quota you will always get tickets. Needless to say, you will
always get lower berth only!!

What I am not sure about are

1. Is this valid only if pregnant woman travels alone? Or can another
person traveling with her also can avail this? Later question makes
sense but unfortunately, no these details are not there in any of the
railway websites, afaik.
2. Is there one more requirement i.e. a woman sholud be at least 6
months into the pregnancy to be eligible for this quota. This is
mentioned to me by the booking clerk and I had such a produced a
certificate. But I do not know whether this is a rule!

I have booked a ticket under this quota recently. I found this
information from a news article
[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/now-rly-quota-for-pregnant-women/30536/].

120k Indians hold a third of national income + My comments

Read the news from TOI below and my follow-up comments.

--Hari

See how rich getting richer and poor getting poorer in the present

model of society. Also, we should note here that, the problem is

sharing/distribution of wealth. To solve this problem, we do not need

create some more wealth. We need work on how can we ensure proper

distribution of existing resources.

To make this problem more clear I am adding some details below.

The point here is there is a lack of sharing (because of lack of right

feelings in relationships and lack of understanding at individual

level). Hence, distribution is not proper.

For example, take an example of cluster of families (say, your own

family plus families of all our sisters and brothers). If we add up

all the income and similarly expenditure, it is clear that income is

more than expenditure. And if we do this exercise after 10 years

(assuming the same conditions), the trend will be same. Collectively,

more income and less expenditure. Rich among us getting more richer

but there is no effect on the poor members of this set. Why is this

happening? How can this be solved? Some talk about not having anything

of your own- no private property. That is not going to happen. You can

not achieve change by force.

A simple fact is that, we share our resources when we feel related. We

share with our "own" family members (Irony is that, this definition

of "own" also changes with time!!) because we feel related to them. We

need to establish the systems based on this relationship- not by

rules. This will come from knowledge or right understanding.

Another important piece of knowledge is the understanding the need for

physical facilities. We are trained to believe that there is unlimited

need for physical facilities (money, house, vehicle etc) and life is

full of uncertainties. Most of us are not verifying this statement at

all. Upon verification, one can realize that need for physical

facilities is limited. One can make a plan to reach this limit and

share the resources collected beyond that limit. If one assumes it as

unlimited, there is no way to fulfill it and question of sharing is

ruled out. Much worse is the person himself always feels deprived and

has a continuous need for more physical facilities and hence works for

maximization of position, wealth. This is a vicious circle. One has to

verify, if we can decide upon some limit or not by taking care of all

safety factors. From my own analysis, it turns out that, on average, I

need to earn @ 30-40k if I stay in a town and 40-50k if I stay in a

city with a kid (considering health, insurance, education, own house,

own vehicle etc). I can always spend the remaining with others. This

limit may be double for someone and triple for some but still there is

a limit. It is important to find this limit. Otherwise, like the

famous fight between two brothers of a great industrialist, there will

be plenty like that in every family and hence no piece or happiness in

families.

I have been thinking over it and really felt sad seeing at many

families in which some member have a lot of resources and do not share

with his own brother/sisters/parents!

--Hari

____________________________

Rich getting richer: 120k Indians hold a third of national income

Rukmini Shrinivasan, TNN, Jun 25, 2010, 03.24am IST

NEW DELHI: Last year may have been a cruel year for much of the country

with slow growth and double-digit food inflation, but India's high net

worth individuals (HNWIs) prospered — just over 120,000 in number, or

0.01% of the population, their combined worth is close to one-third of

India's Gross National Income (GNI).

HNWIs, in this context, are defined as those having investable assets of

$1 million or more, excluding primary residence, collectibles,

consumables, and consumer durables. According to the 2009 Asia-Pacific

Wealth Report, brought out by financial services firms Capgemini and

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, at the peak of the recession in 2008,

India had 84,000 HNWIs with a combined net worth of $310 billion. To put

that figure in perspective, it was just under a third of India's market

capitalization, that is, the total value of all companies listed on the

Bombay Stock Exchange — as of end-March 2008. The average worth of each

HNWI was Rs 16.6 crore.

To get a fix on just how rarefied a level it puts them in, we did some

simple calculations that threw up stunning numbers. It would take an

average urban Indian 2,238 years, based on the monthly per capita

expenditure estimates in the 2007-8 National Sample Survey, to achieve a

net worth equal to that of the average HNWI. And that's assuming that this

average urban Indian just accumulates all his income without consuming

anything. A similar calculation shows that an average rural Indian would

have to wait a fair bit longer — 3,814 years!

According to the firms' 2010 World Wealth Report, India now has 126,700

HNWIs, an increase of more than 50% over the 2008 number. While the figure

for combined net worth is not available, it seems safe to assume that as a

class not only have India's super-rich recouped their 2008 losses, they

have even made gains over their pre-crisis (2007) positions. In 2007,

123,000 HNWIs were worth a combined $437 million.

Meanwhile, in 2009 alone, an estimated 13.6 million more people in India

became poor or remained in poverty than would have been the case had the

2008 growth rates continued, according to the United Nations Department of

Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). Also, an estimated 33.6 million more

people in India became poor or remained in poverty over 2008 and 2009 than

would have been poor had the pre-crisis (2004-7) growth rates been

maintained over these two years.

The 2009 Asia-Pacific Wealth Report notes that the HNWI population in

India is also expected to be more than three times its 2008 size by the

year 2018, with emergent wealth playing a key role. Like China, relatively

few among the current HNWI population (13%, compared to 22% in Japan) have

inherited their wealth and even fewer (9%) are over the age of 66.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rich-getting-richer-120k-Indians-hold-a-third-of-national-income/articleshow/6088394.cms

Alternate Energy: Gasifier

Read the success story of Husk Power systems [http://www.huskpowersystems.com/].
"Husk Power Systems is using unique technology and processes to tackle the rural energy deficit in India in an environmentally and commercially sustainable way," said Simon Desjardins, an analyst with the Shell Foundation, in a press release. " [http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/24/stories/2009112455240900.htm]

Apple beats Microsoft

Innovation wins! Apple beats Microsoft !

See http://www.pmptoday.com/2010/05/26/apple-beats-microsoft-at-last/

NGO Clothing the poor

Goonj is an  NGO, http://www.goonj.org/index.html who works for
clothing the poor-- right utilization of clothes.

How to reach Amarkantak

Recently, I had been to Amarkantak. I was looking info on "how to reach" but did not find complete information. Hence, I am writing it here. You need to get down at Pendra Road (Rly Stn Code :PND) station if you are coming by train. We have reached in the early hours and
went to Amarkantak by bus (Rs.30 is the fare). Bus starts at 5:30am (sharp) and reaches the destination in 90 minutes or so. Th distance is around 40 kms. But there is another shorter route (25 kms) which can be taken by cars/vans only. Taxi may charge you around Rs. 250-450. Once you reach Amarkantak, there are several ashrams who provide paid accommodation (ex. shankaracharya ashram). One (may be only) good hotel is Sarvodaya Hotel. It is not very good but good enough for a remote place. I found many things are expensive there because of inaccessibility. Moving around in the town is also not easy because of no public transport. You have to hire a taxi which is usually expensive. But if you want to see places around, you can take
a package tour which may cost Rs.350-500. We have seen only Narmada temple. There are some more places as well but I did not find them worth visiting in hot summer! We preferred to just stroll around.

Another important thing to note is there is a power cut. There will not be any electricity during 7:30-11:00 am and 4:00-6:00pm (even in hotel also- no generator during day time). There are no good places to eat. There are 2-3 dhaba-like places.

Swaraj in Hiware Bazar [Sustainable Development]

Swaraj in Hiware Bazar [Sustainable Development]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeSdYOOc46U

[Web-Site] Universal Human Values

http://www.universalhumanvalues.info/

This web-site has all the material required for teaching the course on "Human Values and Professional Ethics" in a professional college like engineering, MBA, MCA institution etc. A course is introduced in UPTU[http://www.uptu.ac.in/], India already from the last year in almost 600 colleges. The material in this site is useful for anybody who is interested in human values and in a happy life, in general. I assure that here, you can find answer to any question you may have. Enjoy reading.

[Web-Site] Universal Human Values

http://www.universalhumanvalues.info/

This web-site has all the material required for teaching the course on "Human Values and Professional Ethics" in a professional college like engineering, MBA, MCA institution etc. A course is introduced in UPTU[http://www.uptu.ac.in/], India already from the last year in almost 600 colleges. The material in this site is useful for anybody who is interested in human values and in a happy life, in general. I assure that here, you can find answer to any question you may have. Enjoy reading.

Social Internship

Posting an eMail received regarding Social Internships.

Are you looking for an internship which will help you change the lives of thousands of people living in rural India? Do you long to use your skills to solve the problems of the Bottom of the Pyramid? NSEF Author is your opportunity to script a story and author a change in the lives of thousands of people who will benefit from your knowledge.  Tell us how you'll author a change and we'll give you enriching, unforgettable, life changing stories. This summer more than 9 eminent social enterprises are waiting to hear your story. A story of change waiting to happen in India.  If you are a student currently enrolled in a university then NSEF Author is your opportunity to script a change. Applications for NSEF Author are currently open. The deadline to submit your entries is March 3, 2010. Please upload your resume along with the essay responses in a pdf or word document (doc or docx format) on our website.  Please visit our website for more details on the application process. If you have any queries or difficulties in registration process, please write to us at internships@nsef-india.org. Feel free to call us at +91-9900595594 or +91-9591369717 for any queries.  
We look forward to working with you on scripting a story of change in India.  Join us as we track the latest innovation in social entrepreneurship. Be a part of the growing NSEF community to engage and network with the leading social entrepreneurs in the country.

Accessing Time Machine Data in Linux

I use external hard disk as my Time Machine device for my macbook and often access the same data using Ubuntu Linux in office. This can not be done readily though solution of the problem is quite easy with this tip . Just sharing  it here so that others may find this quickly.

"Daily Dum" for Composting organic waste from home/office

Here is a great effort for saving the environment. Explore http://www.dailydump.org

A Complete site on Gandhi

< Excerpts >
A Place to learn about Gandhi, his life, work & philosophy.  This comprehensive site is regularly updated & maintained by non-profit Gandhian Organizations in India & has a wealth of information & material for researchers, students,  activists & anyone interested in Gandhi.

http://www.mkgandhi.org/

</Excerpts>

Setup BSNL EVDO USB Modem (Data Card) in Linux (Ubuntu 8.10)

After using BSNL EV DO data card on windows and Mac for the past five months, I am finally using it on my Linux system. I thought setting this card on my Ubuntu 8.10 will take some time. But thanks to the help provided by "Setup BSNL EVDO USB Modem in Linux" page. It is working quite well.

Google Chrome Slow on Mac!

So far, my experience with Chrome on my Mac is mixed. It is quite stable in the sense that, never hanged, never crashed. But it is slow compared to safari and even firefox. 

BSNL EV-DO Datacard on Mac OS X

Yes. I am able to configure this device of BSNL and use the internet in 5 minutes on Mac OS X (Leoperd).

I found the drivers and software from ZTE Site [http://www.ztemt.com/ennewzte/service/ziliao.action] and 

and click..click..thats it..It works well.

Running OpenGL programs on Mac OS X

A very good tutorial with screenshots is here.
<a href="http://blog.onesadcookie.com/2007/12/xcodeglut-tutorial.html">OneSadCookie: Xcode/GLUT Tutorial</a>

Laurie Baker

Laurie Bake is a great architect who developed methods of cost effective, environment friendly housing for all purposes. Influenced by Gandhi, he talks about alternate building materials, designs for energy efficient housing. for more information, http://lauriebaker.net/ . COSTFORD is a voluntary organization who is working based on the principles of Baker.

Google SMS service-- Amazing

Get cricket scores, Indian Railways train schedules & PNR status,
horoscopes, movie showtimes, restaurant information and more ...all
through SMS on your phone at usual charges-- not premium charges.

The number is  9-77-33-00000.

http://www.google.co.in/mobile/default/sms.html

Railway Tatkal Ticket-- Is it a scam?

In the past few months I had horrible experienced with tatkal ticket booking using irctc.

I tried to book the tatkal ticket exactly at 8am before 5 days of journey and tickets gets
exhasted in a mater of few seconds. Today, I tried to book a ticket for Train No:2591 for
6th June, 2009. Tatkal quota for this train is 259 berths in sleeper and 48 in 3AC.
By 0803 hrs, sleeper class availability was waiting list 99 and 3AC was 15 waiting list.
Surprising!!

I am an expert user for irctc and very well know the trend fo this train. I am booking tickets
for this train from past 5 years-- I noticed this problem from the past two months. It looks
like Indian Railways is selling tickets in bulk to agents. This trend has started after irctc
gave official permission to book tickets websites like cleatrip, railticketonline etc. I serisouly
suspect some scam in this scheme.


I searched in the net and some people also faced the similar problem.

http://www.indiastudychannel.com/forum/30915-Tatkal-booking-railways.aspx

http://www.consumercomplaints.in/complaints/tatkal-ticket-booking-through-internet-c165821.html

I wrote to irctc. Let us see what happens.

Zoomin: Good way to order prints of digital photos

Macbook becomes Macbook Pro

That is true. From many angles, the new macbook released yesterday it as good as Macbook Pro. Especially the design part, key-board. The Unibody concept is a breakthrough. All this again at the same cost s previous ones- $1300. Apple rocks!!

Kinematic Sculptures

There are amazing people who create wonders. The kinematic sculpture is a real example for mixing of art and engineering. Check out

http://woodthatworks.com/index.html

and

http://www.shanegibney.com/article.php?story=20070718185924799

Google Phone

I think wait is going to over soon! The much talked about Google phones will be out in a week or so! But What Google phone meant is a phone sold by a carrier like T-Mobile, manufactured by someone but running Android OS with Google branding! That is amazing combination. There are news about it all over internet. To compete with iphone, the cost is expected to be well within $199. There are few demos by Google in youtube.

One more demo which seems to be more recent is below.

IIT Hyderabad Website

Finally,  IIT Hyderabd website is up and working though there is not much information as of now. The site is appealing. Important information is that they started recruiting faculty. I am sure it will IITH will attract lot of talent and will become one of the best IITs in very short time say a decade. It will have lot of advantage because of geographical advantage. Let us see. Meanwhile, visit http://www.iith.ac.in

Google Browser: Chrome?

Here is a browser from the kitchen of Google. Google Chrome. Sounds great. Here is a very well written blog entry about it. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html And there is an interesting comic strip about it. Here it is.

Add your site to Google

If you are not finding your website in Google search results, don't get disappointed. There is a way to add your site to Google. Just go to http://www.google.com/addurl.html and add.

India website http://india.gov.in/

Here is a official great web-site about India. It has almost everything about India and authentic being a government website. I liked and want to share with other. Worth looking at. See http://india.gov.in/

Iphone release in India on Aug 22

Finally, the wait is going to over!! iPhone will be available through Vodafone and Airtel from August 22 onwards. But bad news is that the instrument cost will not subsidized as in US. the expected cost will be anything around Rs.20,000 ($500). Certainly, this restricts the possible user base. A college going youth can not afford this much.

I was wondering why they are not subsidizing phone? the reaons may be, less size of user base, no existing support system, nature of users in India (nobody honours contracts- people sign contracts and find someway to brak it!). Anyway, I am sure the prices will comedown within a year and everyone of us wull be proud owners of iPhone.

News Source is Here

Mozilla Weave: Alternate to Google Browser Sync

It was a bad news when we came to know that Google Browser Sync is not compatible with Firefox 3. With so many great feature, we can not stay away from using FF3 but we were not ready to forgo the comfort of Browser sync either. Then came the Mozilla Weave. We faced quite a few problems during initial days. The latex 0.2.3 version seems to be a reasonably decent. Now I don't get any trivial errors.

iphone 3G

Yes. Finally, The iphone 3G is out. There were lot of rumours speculating several things. Many of them came true. It has 3G support and GPS. What is exciting is the cost of it. The price is reduced by 50%. True, now it costs just $199 (8GB version). Unbelievable. Great move by Apple.

What is more exciting is, very soon it is going to be available in 70 countries. Everywhere it is going to costs at max $199 only. Not more than that. Now, I accept that, it is actually going to change the way we look at it phone. Thanks Apple.

And for Indian customers, there is a good news. It is official that, iphone 3G is going to be available in India through Airtel towards the end of year. Official news is here.

Talks

One of the best parts of a life as a graduate student is that, you will have opportunity to listen to great speakers from all walks of life who otherwise highly inaccessible. I particularly make it a point to not to miss any of the interesting talks irrespective of which field they belong to. In addition to these, I look around web for interesting talks to quench my thirst. With youtube.com we are never short of such resources. Among all the sources, I find the following two sources very useful. They hot very interesting talks by really eminent people.

1. TED Talks

This is quite valuable information. This site, http://www.ted.com/  , hosts several *Inspired talks by the world's greatest thinkers and doers*. The talks are very popular and really interesting. They last for just 18 minutes. they say, come and deliver your "*talk of life*" for 18 minutes. Talks are classified into , inspiring, funny, jaw-dropping etc categories.

TED stands for* Technology, Entertainment, Design.* It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

2. Talks@Google

Google invites all kinds of experts for talks at their company. Topics vary from politics to economics to technology. It could be anything. I enjoyed several talks. Have a look at some of them. One particular talk I liked is, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QalNVxeIKEE .


Enjoy talks!!

[JP Blog] JP Calls Upon the Brightest to Enter Politics

Below are few thought provoking articles by Jayaprakash Narayan of
Loksatta. Please read.

*JP Calls Upon the Brightest to Enter Politics*

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan (Dr. JP) has
underlined the need for ensuring that the best of people enter politics
since never before
in India's history the opportunities for resolving people's problems are
as many as they are today. "There are no problems, which are really
intractable any longer, except old age and death, and perhaps taxes. In
fact, most problems are amenable to simple, practical solutions, if only
we leverage our strengths".

Paraphrasing Charles Dickens, Dr. JP has said it is the best of times
since we have the means and technology at our disposal to resolve
people's problems and it is the worst of times since we do not have many
people who enter public office with competence, commitment, and
integrity and with a passion for public service.

Addressing a gathering of software professionals and others on
'Leadership in 21st Century India – Opportunities and Challenges', Dr.
JP today bemoaned that the conditions in India are so rotten that an
eminent person like Dr. Manmohan Singh, roundly defeated in the 1999 Lok
Sabha elections, had to go to distant Assam to become a Member of the
Rajya Sabha by a false declaration of residence.

Dr. JP said: "We, as a society, have enormous strengths. But as a
society, building, nurturing, and developing leadership is certainly not
one of them".

Dr. JP said large sections of people feel that everybody in government
-- politicians, bureaucrats, judges -- is a scoundrel -- and generalize
that all rotten people in the country go into politics and all good
people stay back. "Shunning politics and public office with such notions
is, however, unwarranted and irrational. There are some very fine people
in government just as there are very fine people in other walks of life.
It is, therefore, absurd to conclude that scoundrels enter government
and saints stay away".

"Politics is perhaps the noblest of all endeavors because it is about
reconciling the limited resources with unlimited wants, and reconciling
seemingly irreconcilable conflicts among various groups in society,
particularly in a very diverse and complex society. Without governments
many things that are vital cannot be done.

"But unfortunately, politics has become the playfield of people who do
not deserve to be there. Some are there because of their pedigree while
many are there because of their money power or caste or muscle power.
Strange circumstances catapult some others into high office.
"Such leaders rule the roost not because Indian people are stupid or
irrational but because the problem is systemic. In the past 25 or 30
years, we have created disincentives for the right kind of people, and
huge incentives for the wrong kind people, to enter politics".

Dr. JP pointed out that there are answers to most problems. "Leadership
is about identifying those answers, leveraging our strengths, and
dramatically transforming the situation in the shortest possible time".
Dr. JP added that great changes in history all over the world had been
wrought only when middle classes, the elite and the media joined hands,
built appropriate platforms and launched concerted movements. "Do not
expect the masses to be at the forefront of historical changes."
.
Dr. JP specifically dwelt on certain sectors, which call for
transformational leadership.

Electoral system: While most of the countries, including Britain, are
giving up "first-past-the-post" electoral system, we stick to it
validating Macaulay's observation, "Indians are the last living
Englishmen". It is time we switched to proportional representation.

Healthcare: We have one of the most disgraceful systems where public
health expenditure is 17% and out of pocket expenditure, mostly by the
poor, 83%. We rank with Cambodia, Burma, Afghanistan, and the Republic
of Georgia all of which are at the nadir. We can introduce National
Health Service as in Britain to provide access to quality health care to
every citizen. In China, doctors in hospitals are paid their salaries
from a county-level health fund. The people have the choice of going to
any one of the 20 or 30 hospitals in the county. You have to attract
patients and provide services to earn your salary. Money follows the
patient.

Education: The failure of higher education has now hurt school education
very badly. We have people with degrees like B.Ed's and M.Ed's but they
cannot teach. Although we have one or two per cent of degree holders who
are a match to the best in the world, the average university degree
holder does not hold a candle to an average graduate in most of the
civilized countries. We allowed this decline because of lack of
leadership. We choose vice-chancellors based on their caste or region.

Dr. JP concluded by saying that we have to build incentives and
institutions to change people's attitudes. "Leadership is about creating
institutions, identifying solutions institutionally and finding those
things that work in the circumstances in which we are placed. We are not
doing too badly despite all these impediments. But we can do much more."

###

*
Why there is a demand for criminals*

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said today there is a
market demand for criminals in our society because justice is so
inaccessible. "People have to create criminals to get rough and ready
justice through devious means. Or else, they have to swallow injustice
and suffer silently".

Addressing a gathering of IT professionals, Dr. JP said, "Criminals are
legitimized and seen as Robin hoods by many because they render
privatized justice. For a price, of course. And from there, they
graduate into politics."

Dr. JP said: "Our judiciary is in shambles. We are all being very
polite, partly because we do not want to destroy the one remaining
institution with some semblance of authority and credibility and partly
because we are afraid of the contempt of court law. But the reality is,
the judiciary is as appalling as other institutions of the State".

Dr. JP said: "Nobody in India dares to go to a court of law unless one
wants to stall some decision by way of a stay order or to harass
someone. If you have the misfortune of going to a civil court and if you
have the good fortune of getting a verdict delivered during your
lifetime, you must be lucky, goes the folklore in Andhra Pradesh. If you
lose the case, you lament in public and if you win the case, you cry in
private. It is a tragedy for both."

Dr. JP said that building a quality justice system, accessible to
ordinary people costs Rs.500 to 600 crore a year. "Such a system is
necessary for small cases because it fosters a culture of law, a rule of
law".

*The three unwholesome traits*

Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan in his address to IT professionals dwelt on
three peculiar traits of Indians, which need to be corrected. The first
is that we have no sense of equality. We accept inequality by birth as a
natural condition of human life. There is no moral outrage at this
inequality. It is not an issue of morality. We cannot live in a modern
democracy, in a market society, without respecting labor, and human
beings for what they are.

The second is lack of trust. Trust is required in dealing with people
and across groups. It is there inn a caste or religious group. In a
profession, it is there as a trade union. But across groups, it breaks
down. We cannot afford that because it ultimately undermines all of us.
We require leadership to build bridges and institutions for trust.

Finally, we lack a sense of common fate. Nothing can be better
illustrated than by our practice of keeping our homes clean and dumping
the rubbish on the road. What you give comes back. There is no choice
and that is why we have spotlessly clean homes and filthy streets. We
fail to recognize that injustice anywhere will affect us in some form or
the other everywhere. There is no escape from that.

[Article] I did a PhD and did NOT go mad

I found these two articles quite interesting with lo of sarcasm and fun. Worth reading. But don't take offensively :-)

1. About PhD:

I did a PhD and did NOT go mad

http://www.richardbutterworth.co.uk/PhDtalk.html


2. About PhD Supervision:

An Article on How to Prevent PhD Completion!

This document is intended for supervisors of students registered for higher degrees in just about any University department anywhere. Though the presentation of the document is deliberately light in tone, the contents are based on a collation of feedback from a fairly large number of students currently pursuing their studies for a Ph.D.

http://www.scre.ac.uk/personal/pb/phdsups.html

Story of Stuff

Please visit www.storyofstuff.com and watch the small video to realize how we are exploiting out natural resources and running into danger. It gave me lot of interesting insights. Great part is the stuff is presented in a extremely good manner. You just open it and watch for one minute- I am sure you will not close in between.





From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Dr Jayaprakash of Loksatta Speech at CII summit

Improbable Research- Crazy !!

There are some peope who do really crazy research. The definition of crazy/improbable is "Research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK". For instance, how about designing an alarm lock which tries to run away when you try to stop in the morning? sounds funny? But actually, it was designed. find it here . And do you believe, that there is a person who took the picture of whatever he ate from last 3 decades? He gets a Ig nobel prize  for this!! If you do something like this don't forget to publish it in Journal of Improbable Research .

A new giant University in India with $1bn donation coming-up in 2009

It is called Vedanta Uniersity.

<snip>
Vedanta University will span more than 6,000 acres on the Puri-Konark marine drive in Orissa and will be home to more than 100,000 talented students from around the world. With an estimated investment of more than 15,000 crores, supported by a thriving ecosystem of knowledge in a breathtaking physical environment, the University will transform Orissa into a primary centre for knowledge in India; the institution will join the ranks of the world's greatest Universities such as Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford.
</snip>