Harmony

Hiding Status Message of Friends in Gmail Chat

2011-03-15T19:50:00.000+05:30

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

2011-02-24T17:45:00.001+05:30

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 ?

2010-12-28T19:37:00.002+05:30

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

2010-12-21T09:47:00.001+05:30

Alternate Schools

2010-11-19T12:15:00.001+05:30

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

2010-10-06T10:55:00.001+05:30

School for Blind and much more...

2010-10-05T09:11:00.000+05:30

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

2010-09-24T09:10:00.001+05:30

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

2010-09-21T13:36:00.000+05:30

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

2010-09-19T12:24:00.000+05:30

Sholai School

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

Another site for railways

2010-07-01T09:03:00.001+05:30

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

2010-07-01T09:00:00.001+05:30

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

2010-06-25T14:42:00.002+05:30

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

2010-06-07T11:42:00.001+05:30

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

2010-05-28T09:51:00.001+05:30

Innovation wins! Apple beats Microsoft !

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

NGO Clothing the poor

2010-05-21T11:33:00.001+05:30

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

How to reach Amarkantak

2010-05-21T10:30:00.002+05:30

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]

2010-05-06T14:52:00.002+05:30

Swaraj in Hiware Bazar [Sustainable Development]

2010-05-06T14:52:00.000+05:30

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

[Web-Site] Universal Human Values

2010-03-18T10:58:00.001+05:30

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

2010-03-18T10:52:00.001+05:30

http://www.universalhumanvalues.info/

Social Internship

2010-03-08T11:20:00.003+05:30

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

2010-02-08T12:10:00.001+05:30

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

2010-02-04T13:48:00.001+05:30

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

A Complete site on Gandhi

2010-02-03T13:47:00.000+05:30

< 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)

2010-01-31T14:37:00.001+05:30

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!

2009-12-31T15:57:00.000+05:30

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

2009-09-09T12:47:00.001+05:30

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

2009-08-20T20:38:00.001+05:30

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

2009-07-02T19:15:00.001+05:30

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

2009-06-19T23:40:00.000+05:30

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?

2009-06-01T11:53:00.001+05:30

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

2009-05-04T12:47:00.002+05:30

Macbook becomes Macbook Pro

2008-10-16T13:38:00.002+05:30

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

2008-09-24T23:24:00.001+05:30

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

2008-09-18T23:31:00.002+05:30

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

2008-09-18T22:39:00.001+05:30

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?

2008-09-02T23:29:00.001+05:30

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

2008-08-29T01:18:00.001+05:30

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/

2008-08-16T00:40:00.001+05:30

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

2008-08-09T19:28:00.001+05:30

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

2008-07-12T23:57:00.001+05:30

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

2008-06-10T15:34:00.002+05:30

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

2008-03-24T12:22:00.001+05:30

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

2008-03-15T13:19:00.001+05:30

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

2008-03-10T11:45:00.001+05:30

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

2008-03-07T23:31:00.002+05:30

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

2008-02-25T23:40:00.002+05:30

Improbable Research- Crazy !!

2008-01-30T22:38:00.001+05:30

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

2008-01-30T16:49:00.001+05:30

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>

IITian Sarpanch

2008-01-28T01:39:00.001+05:30

An inspiring story. Rangaswamy is an IITian and now a Sarpanch of a village in Tamilandu. He developed village and made it self-sufficient.
Listen to the story here.

World's Thinnest Laptop

2008-01-28T01:23:00.001+05:30

Apple produced another great piece of innovation by coming-up with Macbook Air . It weighs just 3pounts and no big compromises with performance except that optical drive is missing!! See the ad below. It's cool!

IIT Lectures on Youtube

2008-01-27T21:55:00.001+05:30

Here comes the real good news. Now a lot lof lectures by IIT professors are available on an exclusive channel of Youtube. This is a project funded by MHRD of Govt. of India under the program called, National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning .Earlier these video lectures were available only on NPTEL websie. Now they are in youtube so that everyone in the world can make use of it. Really a good move. Please see, HERE .

--Hari

Online Movie DVD Rental Service

2007-11-17T19:01:00.001+05:30

This is simply great service. They have very attractive packages too.
See http://www.seventymm.com/Home/Welcome

--Hari

MacBook with Leopard

2007-11-17T06:05:00.001+05:30

Finally, I own a Apple MacBook (13.3", Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz, 800MHz, 120GB, 2GB) with Leopard (launched on 26th Oct, 2007) in it on 11th Nov, 2007. I bought it after Apple upgraded its hardware on Nov 1, 2007. It is simply great. I am overwhelmed by what it provides. Best part is the extreme care taken in designing every small details. The 'frontrow' along with remote is too good. So is Leopard OS. I get a feel of using an OS which is advanced by at least 10 years than Windows and for that matter, Linux too! There is a philosphy in how a user interacts with machine. Simply great, Steve Jobs! And even cost-wise it is so cheap for its specs. But one can never understand what MacBook means unless he uses it. Specs reveal not even 10% of what it is. I am convinced that Apple products are unbeatable. Thanks to Apple. I tried a third party application called iAlertU.

Thanks to Madan (who actually brought from US), Shivakanth and Venkat of UNLV, Las Vegas. Shivakanth bought it in Las Vegas with his student discount. There is a concesion of ~100$ for students and profs. I bugged them like anything till buying the MacBook!! After all they are my friends!! If not me, who will bug??

Erail: A Better site for Indian Railways

2007-11-14T03:09:00.001+05:30

If you are tired of using IR website especially after the introduction of mandatory specification of date to find trains, you are relieved now. there is better site, obviously not made by IR. Here it is, erail.in

--
hari kumar voruganti, phd scholar. Centre for Robotics,IIT Kanpur.
[http://home.iitk.ac.in/~hari] India, Ph:+91 512 259 7095

A Great "How to" site.

2007-11-14T01:58:00.001+05:30

I found a great "how to" site which explains with videos.
It shows things starting frm 'How to choose a digital camera?'
to 'How to get naked for the first time?'-- al kinds of issues.
Worth visting. It is called videojug.com

--Hari

Donate rice by just playing with wrods

2007-11-11T19:04:00.000+05:30

Here is an interesting web-site. You just go there and play (actually GRE kind of questions)- some synonyms. for every correct answer they will donate 10 grains of rice on behalf of you to the UN. Very good concept. Here is the news on bbc.

Faculty shortage in IITs

2007-11-10T19:13:00.001+05:30

I was just compiling the stats about IITs to get idea of faculty shortage problem currently faced by all IITs and academia in general in India. See these figures:

IIT Estd Area Faculty Students S/F

Bombay        1958 550 400 5000 11.1
Delhi             1961 320 426 4900 11.6
Kanpur        1959 1200      300         4000 13.3
Kharagpur     1951 2100 470 5500 11.7
Madras          1959 620 370 4900 13.2
Guwahati       1994 705 152 1800 11.8
Roorkee           1847 360 375 1600 4.26

It is clear from the above statistics that IIT Kanpur has alarming Student/Faculty ratio compared other IITs. It seems we have the real shortage of faculty. It is expected because of our geographical location. For someone with that potential to stay in a place like this for 30 years is quite difficult. I wonder out of the present ~300 faculty of ours, how many joined in last 10 years. That should be quite low considering that there are good alternate opportunities and people are more conscious now about "life" like westerns!

ps: Source of statistics, panIIT proceedings, some web-sites. So, not authentic but not really far from reality.

--
hari kumar voruganti, phd scholar. Centre for Robotics,IIT Kanpur.
[http://home.iitk.ac.in/~hari] India, Ph:+91 512 259 7095

A Dilemma:- Individual Vs Team

2007-10-29T02:33:00.000+05:30

This has been one of the harsh realities I realized with time. When you are part of a team in an industry or a lab or a cricket team, you work sincerely with keeping your interests in mind or team interests? As a common human-being always there is a tendency to do the things which benefit "you" most. What happens, when there is a clash between your interests and team/organization interests?

Let us take a case of cricket so that everyone understands. When you are batting on 95 at 45th over and required run rate is around 8 per over- there is a conflict. For you to score century safely, it makes sense to play slowly and not to go for risky shots. But team requirement is precisely the opposite. Those who play for team and get out, end-up with few centuries in their career are forgotten. Those players with huge number of centuries are remembered.

Why is the world like this? It is again a duality in life. Leaving the interests of mine and my family, I work for country, I may end-up as a poor man and no one cares which means, I also should be ready for all these hardships though what I am trying to do is something noble. Is it the current situation of the society or it is fundamental behavior of nature/whole world which will remain so in future also irrespective of your geographical location?

Many times, I feel that it is because people have short-term memory about these things and it is related to value system of a society also. Presently, people wants to earn more and more money and get more and more fame because currently, such people are respected and considered great. What if it is other way around? But who will make it other way around?

Nevertheless, a society/organization needs those selfless people who are scarce to survive and progress. They are the pillars. It becomes the responsibility of the state/head of the organization to change this value system.

See the case of dropping Rahul Dravid from the team. Why selectors are able to take such decision? Because no body will care if Dravid is dropped. Do the same thing with Sachin and Ganguly- huge reactions from fans. Dravid always played selflessly even down the order. Never cared about playing always at No.3 only to make runs for himself like some other players who always want to open the innings! He is a team man. Hence, easy to sack him! What signal you are sending to next generation by this? Get your 50 runs even at the cost of team loss- you are there in the next match. That's it. You can play 400 matches also with this strategy. Not just selectors to be blamed. In fact, I don't know whom to blame.

Similar things applies to anyone. I wonder, will I ever be able to find an answer to this!

Just Walk in

2007-10-26T15:17:00.001+05:30

There is a web-site which lists the notifications of 'Walk In Interview's.
Have a look, http://www.mywalkin.com/

--Hari

TANKER- for Kidney problems

2007-10-26T12:19:00.001+05:30

I received this forward mail from a friend whose full-time job is
forwarding sitting in a PSU. He wants it to be shared with many-
so it came here.

There  is a foundation called TANKER (Tamilnadu kidney Research
Foundation), where they  treat all kidney related problems free of cost.
They even do Dialysis free of  cost. Please forward this message and let
people utilize this opportunity. It  can help people who are in need.
Don't neglect.. Please forward the message.

For  further Details contact:    044  - 28273407 and 28241635. Forward to
all people you know............may be it would be of help to at least one.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Winner Video Clip

2007-10-23T14:15:00.001+05:30

This guy is great and got a tremendous sense of humor!

Online bus ticket booking

2007-10-18T03:02:00.001+05:30

We have seen online train ticket booking, air ticket booking. But why not bus ticket?
Yes, one cam make it. This is accomplished by http://redbus.in which currently
they have tie-up with lot of travels nation wide. They are offering even home delivery
of tickets too. Alternately, you can call and book. I am yet to use it, but a great service.
I have seen such things in Europe and good to see in India too.

--Hari

Online Photo Printing sites

2007-10-16T16:39:00.001+05:30

An interesting simple business is coming up quite fast. I am surprised to see so many players around. I know four of them, merasnap, picsquare, zoomin, snapfish,picsquare,rangeela photos, 123 shots, as of now. Snapfish is form HP and others may feel the heat of competition from it. I used Zoomin to start with. The service is quite quick (I am sitting in Kanpur) but paper quality is something I am not happy with. It is not thick enough. Otherwise zoomin is quite cool. HP is offering cheap prices which they can afford since they produce printers, cartridges etc. I am quite concerned and curious to see how all these people will do business. But then, it is good for customers. Let's see the game.

Must See Movies

2007-10-01T16:16:00.001+05:30

This is top 25 must see Bollywood movies
[source: Indiatimes.com]

Sorted by release date starting from most recent.

Black (2005)
Lagaan (2001)
Satya (1998)
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)
Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988)
Mr. India (1987)
Jane Bhi Do Yaaron (1983)
Arth (1982)
Deewaar (1975)
Sholay (1975)
Bobby (1973)
Garam Hawa (1973)
Pakeezah (1972)
Anand (1970)
Padosan (1968)
TeesriManzil (1966)
Guide (1965)
Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam (1962)
Mughal-e-Azam (1960)
Pyaasa (1957)
Mother India (1957)
Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957)
Devdas (1955)
Do Bigha Zameen (1953)
Awara ( 1951)

I haven't watched many of it released before 1980. I plan to do this soon.

And similarly, you can find the top 250 Hollywood movies list here [http://www.imdb.com/chart/top].
Here, I have a better record. Mostly due to availability of huge pirated dvds within IITK LAN !!

I also wanted to add Telugu movie list which is my mother tongue. But, I am yet find a list online.

--Hari

--
hari kumar voruganti, phd scholar. Centre for Robotics,IIT Kanpur.
[http://home.iitk.ac.in/~hari] India, Ph:+91 512 259 7095

Animator Vs Animation

2007-09-30T15:21:00.000+05:30

I find this particular animation very very interesting. Hats-off to the creator.

Animator vs. Animation by *alanbecker on deviant ART

Cow explains it all !!

2007-09-22T00:20:00.001+05:30

FEUDALISM:
You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

PURE SOCIALISM:
You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a
barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all the
cows. The government gives you as much milk they think you need.

BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM:
You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a
barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken
farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took
from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk
and eggs the regulations say you should need.

FASCISM:
You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take
care of them, and sells you the milk.

PURE COMMUNISM:
You have two cows. Your neighbours help you take care of them,
and you all share the milk.

RUSSIAN COMMUNISM:
You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the
government takes all the milk.
CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM:
You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.

DICTATORSHIP:
You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

PURE DEMOCRACY:
You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY:
You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you
who gets the milk.

BUREAUCRACY:
You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can
feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk
them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the
milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms
accounting for the missing cows.

PURE ANARCHY:
You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price
or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

ANARCHO-CAPITALISM:
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

Literal Meanings:

feudalism
       n : the social system that developed in Europe in the 8th C;
           vassals were protected by lords who they had to serve in
           war [syn: {feudal system}]
capitalism
       n : an economic system based on private ownership of capital
           [syn: {capitalist economy}] [ant: {socialism}]

anarchy
       n : a state of lawlessness and disorder (usually resulting from
           a failure of government) [syn: {lawlessness}]

bureaucracy
       n : nonelective government officials [syn: {bureaucratism}]
fascism
       n : a political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical
           government (as opposed to democracy or liberalism)

Why are we here?

2007-09-06T01:21:00.000+05:30

Essays of Prof. John Perry, Stanford University

2007-08-09T11:29:00.001+05:30

There are several essays written by a Philosophy professor at Stanford university, Prof. Johh Perry. There are some light essays too. It makes a good reading. I enjoyed them a lot. The topics vary from advice to undergrads to procrastination to laptops and lab manuals! In an essay he says, "I never could get into Stanford as an undergraduate or as a graduate student, so I took the only route I could to get here as a faculty member, for which the standards are considerably lower."

Invisible Water !!

2007-08-05T23:51:00.000+05:30

Procrastination

2007-07-31T23:57:00.000+05:30

Procrastination is an interesting stuff related to human behavior! I really liked it. More so after I read Prof. John Perry's articles. I will write my view about it soon here.

Best Movies I watched recently

2007-07-31T12:21:00.001+05:30

These are the some of the best movies I watched.

English/Italian/Korean :

1. Enemy at the gates
2. American History X
3. Good shepherd
4. Goodwill Hunting
5. My Sassy Girl (korean)
6. Forest Gump
7. Green Mile
8. Munich
9. Schlinder's List
10. 300
11. Momento
12. Counts of Monte Cresto
13. Illusionist/ prestige
14. Birds
15. No man's land
16. Malena (Italian)
17. Spring summer fall winter (korean)
18. L.A. confidential
19. A Beautiful mind

Many of Matt Damon, Tom Cruise, Hitchcock movies. I don't like psycho
movies and also it is difficult for me to enjoy animation movies too though
I like Incredible.

Telugu:
1. Anand
2. Godavari
3. Many of K. Vishwanath movies
4. Mounaraagam
5. Bommarillu
6. Nuvvu naaku nachaavu

Hindi:
1. Dillagi
2. Cheeni Kum
4. Guru
5. Lagaan
6. Rang De Basanti

May of Amitabh, Hema Malini, Raj kapoor movies.

Kalam's Remarks at Anna Univ.

2007-07-31T12:02:00.001+05:30

Dr Abdul Kalam was delivering a lecture at Anna University last week week. In his conclusion of speech he made the below remark. Full text is here .

Since I am in the midst of Professors, faculties, Scientists, Technologists, I thought of sharing with you an incident about Sir CV Raman –a Nobel Laureate in Physics for discovering Raman Effect. Raman was in the first batch of Bharat Ratna Award winners. The award ceremony was to take place in the last week of January, soon after the Republic Day celebrations of 1954. The then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad wrote to Raman inviting him to be the personal guest in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, when Raman came to Delhi for the award ceremony. Sir CV Raman wrote a polite letter, regretting his inability to go. Raman had a noble reason for his inability to attend the investiture ceremony. He explained to the President that he was guiding a Ph.D. student and that thesis was positively due by the last day of January. The student was valiantly trying to wrap it all up and Raman felt, he had to be by the side of the research student, see that the thesis was finished, sign the thesis as the guide and then have it submitted. Here was a scientist who gave up the pomp of a glittering ceremony associated with the highest honour, because he felt that his duty required him to be by the side of the student. It is this unique trait of giving value to science that builds science. This environment is very important for nurturing science and research.

Random Thought: Conflicting World

2007-07-09T23:17:00.001+05:30

Once I realized that many things (probably, everything) is the world is conflicting in nature I was surprised and found it difficult to comprehend the rationale behind it. When I say conflict I mean this. For example, say, one enjoys drinking beer. So he drinks..drinks..then his liver will be spoiled! One enjoys..smoking..he smokes.. smokes..will soon find his lungs useless. Why it should be like that. Why something which gives momentary joy is harmful? Why can't we have such a lungs which gets better and better by smoking? A lever functions well with consumption of alcohol? Same with capitalistic economy and free market. Globalization and localization.
Job which give more money means less satisfaction and vice-versa (software and academics). Beautiful girls come at empty brains ! More power means less mileage for a bike! Everything in nature is conflicting type. God only knows why!

If I talk in my usual language. The real world is multi-objective in nature. There are multiple objectives. What we are seeing are solutions of such a problem which are designed using many such objectives. Mystery is we don't know all the objectives. Finding the objectives is a inverse problem which means hard to solve. This, in spiritual language, called searching for "purpose of life". So, when viewed from different objectives solutions are definitely conflicting in nature. Conclusion is god gave us life which is "an inverse problem" !!

--Hari

WiTricity: Wireless Electricity Transmission

2007-06-12T10:57:00.001+05:30

See now. This is no more fiction. You no need to laugh like last time when I say electricity transmission should be wireless like wireless internet. It is real now!! The concept is proved by a Prof. Peter Fischer of MIT physics department. Check the news. The principle behind this transmission is called, "Magnetically coupled resonance" about which I have no clue! Read the story-- the non-technical part of it is very interesting. This is exactly what I mentioned to you people many times!

--Hari

IIT Professor's Science Blog

2007-06-09T16:43:00.001+05:30

Here is a blog written by Dr Arunn Narasimhan a faculty at the IIT Madras. He writes on a wide range of topics related to science. Many things are quite interesting. Read them, here .

--Hari

Water Pipe Mechanics-- videos

2007-06-07T15:46:00.001+05:30

I observed an interesting thing in the lawns of our hostel in IITK.
The water pipe which is freely left in lawn was waving without any
external activation really well. Subhash captured it in his phone-cam
which I uploaded to YouTube. See two videos below.

And

--Hari

Movies and Video Songs

2007-06-05T00:02:00.001+05:30

Watch all movies includin newly released and very old movies of Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Panjabi and other Indian langauges here. And you can watch the songs of these movies here.

-- Hari

A website with environmental and social goals

2007-06-03T23:45:00.001+05:30

I have come across this interesting website called SocialWay with environmental and social goals that targets sharing and reuse.

One could create communities, and share stuff within them. Like you want to share books, CDs, PCs or anything else. You can chose to give away stuff that you no longer need, or lend/borrow, and website will keep track of what you have given to whom (or borrowed from whom), for how many days, etc.

It has all the hallmarks of a P-2-P system, like building trust, except that it is about sharing of physical things and not just digital stuff.

This site has been created by alumni of IITK. The URL is: http://www.socialway.com
Dr Dhiraj Sanghi of CSE, IIT Kanpur informed us about this in newsgroups of IITK. Almost the same message I copied here!

--Hari

ps: The funny part is, recently, I saw one of the students here announcing his under garments here to give away for free! There are all kinds of people!

Some Linux Tips and a Tutorial

2007-06-03T23:32:00.001+05:30

Before I started blogging, I used to write tips in my home page.
You can find them here and some interesting stuff also in my
home page. A tutorial for the beginners which I wrote a year back
for a new student in the lab is also here.

And here is one more useful thing:

Recovering data after rm -rf !

This we may need some times if we delete files/folders
using rm or rm -rf in Linux. I found a good tutorial here.

Recovering data after rm -rf !

2007-06-03T23:30:00.001+05:30

This we may need some times if we delete files/folders
using rm or rm -rf in Linux. I found a good tutorial here.

Save Power: Air Conditioner Temp. Setting

2007-06-03T23:12:00.001+05:30

I came across a common sense thing related to A/C temperature
setting which will save lot of power.

Usually what we do is: we set the temperature to minimum possible
18c which will never be reached by a window A/C in a decent sized
lab/house ( in fact, it will not be comfortable if it reaches by
chance!). Still we set it so that actual attainment will be at least
20-22. But this is the precise problem. In asking A/C to reach some
temperature which it can not reach in current circumstances, we will end
up running a/c all the time for no reason. Waste of power!

Instead if you set the temp. to 24 (ideal) then it is practically
achievable by a/c. Once it reaches the 24 the compressor will be
shutdown and only fan runs there by saving lot of power. Though
common sense, I found many people don't follow it.

Try this. See the difference yourself. It matters a lot!

--Hari

--
hari kumar voruganti, phd scholar. Centre for Robotics,IIT Kanpur.
[http://home.iitk.ac.in/~hari] India, Ph:+91 512 259 7095

Special Greeting to Madan and Madhumati on their wedding anniversary

2007-06-03T19:27:00.001+05:30

This is the special innovative greeting I made for Madan
to with him on his mar rage anniversary. Send me the comments!

--Hari

Pervasive computing

2007-06-02T01:37:00.001+05:30

It seems changing the way we humans interact with computers and
other digital devices is going to be new revolution which will lead to
different interesting products. I really like this direction of work.
After all machine should understand me not that I understand machine.
It should read my manual-- I don't read it's. To name a few developments
iphone, surface etc.

When I was thinking that iphone of Apple is a great piece,
Microsoft came-up with a similar piece called Microsoft surface.
Both are product of a research called multi-touch interface.
All these fall under a big umbrella called pervasive computing which
is being perused actively by AI lab of MIT under a project called Oxygen !
Read about it. Quite exciting!

--Hari

Robotics lab student's discussion group

2007-06-01T19:31:00.001+05:30

We have started a discussion group of students of
Centre for Robotisc, IIT Kanpur. For details, see
http://roblabcharcha.blogspot.com

-- Hari

Our value system and the future of India

2007-05-26T01:27:00.001+05:30

Our value system and the future of India

C N R Rao
Source: Hindu [http://www.hinduonnet.com/2006/11/27/stories/2006112704791100.htm]
Copied from there without permission! think about the issues rised.

In the last few years, I have noticed a tendency in the media, in the Government, and in society to give undue importance and much publicity to commercial successes, foreign investment, sensex, profits in the IT sector, new billionaires, and such matters, like nowhere else in the world. Great recognition is given to salaries being offered to IIM graduates. There are frequent competitions in the media to pick the most popular personality in the country or in any given city. The choices given are so skewed, that only sports personalities, cine stars, and business leaders hit the spotlight. Nowhere in the world do sportsmen earn as much as in India through sponsorship. The heroes of today therefore appear to be those who have made big money or have been successful in commercial ventures. Nobody can be jealous or critical of these things, but it is a matter of concern that repeated recognitions of this sort have affected our value system seriously and changed it into one that is mercenary and commercial. This situation does not augur well for the future of the country.

With all the difficulties that we have had in the last few decades, India has continued to progress as one country, by and large because of our Indianness. Indianness involves aspects other than money and commercial successes. Furthermore, if we want India of the future to be a country that is advanced in all spheres, we have to take greater pride in intellectual and creative accomplishments. It is therefore important that our leaders, politicians, intellectuals, teachers, and others should talk about these matters in public and highlight our innovations in science, arts and literature, theatre, and other aspects related to human creativity.

One is not asking for monetary support here, but moral support, and a commitment of society to all spheres of creative activity so that a balanced future for the country is assured. As a country with great traditions as well as cultural and philosophical content, we cannot forget this aspect. When we see what has happened in the last few years to cities such as Bangalore, my worries become real. Bangalore is slowly losing its soul. We see large numbers of young people busily moving around, making money from BPO, IT, and other service sectors, but there is hardly any concern about other matters. There is still a chance for us to develop a country of a different kind.

I am, by no means, downgrading or undermining the importance of economic development and industrial growth, but if our primary concern is only FDI, commercial benefits, and the number of millionaires in the country, it will distort our development as a society and the values of young people. Young people should be encouraged to take up studies of their liking, get involved in creative endeavours in whatever sphere they like most, since we do need extraordinary people in all spheres, for a great India of the future. It is not enough if we routinely create professionals and managers.

It would be good to see a great scientist talking to Parliament once a year; a literary personality or a theatre personality should do the same. It would be nice to hear the Prime Minister and other important persons talking about our efforts and accomplishments in various creative directions and about the vision of a great India, in speeches on Independence Day and other occasions. It is not enough if we say that India will be an international centre for producing machines and materials or for a specific service sector. It is not enough if we take pride in the export of certain goods from India. In these days of economic boom, we should think equally about export of ideas and philosophical thoughts from India, if we have to be a major global player in a future knowledge-powered world.

Let us not forget that the countries in past history that we admire most are not necessarily the economically prosperous ones, but those that made major contributions to our cultural heritage. Our aim should be to make India a country that is recognised throughout the world and throughout history as a country that has significantly advanced the progress of science, art, and literature.

Our rulers and planners should therefore come out with an enlightened policy that provides the environment necessary for scientific discoveries and creative successes. While government funds generally imply greater control and less freedom, we need to create a general atmosphere where there is the realisation that good accounting, while necessary, does not lead to good science, art or poetry.

(The writer is National Research Professor & Linus Pauling Research Professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. E-mail: cnrrao@jncasr.ac.in.)

--
hari kumar voruganti, phd scholar. Centre for Robotics,IIT Kanpur.
[http://home.iitk.ac.in/~hari ] India, Ph:+91 512 259 7095

Search any language web-pages

2007-05-24T23:07:00.001+05:30

Search without boundaries concept by google is a good one.

Worth trying. Go google..go! We would like to see a lot such tools in future.
I am waiting for Google OS, too! At least google flavor of Linux!

--Hari

Dr. Vashishtha Narayan Singh: Indian John Nash!

2007-05-22T19:49:00.001+05:30

I guess, very few of us know about this great Indian mathematician
who did his PhD from University of California but now mentally
deceased and staying in a small village in Bihar.
He is Dr. Vashishtha Narayan Singh. Please read about him
at Here .

--Hari

Some Interesting pictures

2007-05-22T16:55:00.001+05:30

Below are some picture I found it interesting and were sitting in my
disk for ages. I though this blog is the perfect retrievable waste-basket
in which I can throw!! Here is the result.

1. Sanchi gate built by Ashoka [Further Reading]

2. I am stranding on a bringe on the way to my hostel in the Berlin for a picture!
That was a morning Independence day of 2005.
3. Andhra Pradesh marked with different regions. I belong to white region, Telangana
and our people are currently demanding for a separate state!

4. Four stages of life are explained in a single picture elegantly!!

5. Different regions of present day Jammu and Kashmir are shown in detail here.

6. Every monkey has its day!!

7. An ancient mechanical calculator [Further Reading]
8. Peacok in IIT Kanpur campus-- a regular beautiful feature.

9. An example of cut-throat competition. Read the three ads from bottom
to top direction.

10. Father of the Nation: Mahatma Gandhi

11. Current president of India and architect of Indian nuclear power.
This was a new year greeting sent to me from him.

Academic/ research jobs in india

2007-05-18T22:00:00.001+05:30

Do you know that, in India we have plenty of academics job for people
with B.Tech and M.Tech?

At the moment our lab itself needs few Research Associate(RA) with B.Tech/M.Tech
preferable in mechanical engineering.

Typically in all IITs, every lab will be doing lot of projects for
Govt. R&D companies, MHRD, DST etc. For the execution of these, we
need RAs from outside in addition to our own strength of M.Tech
students and PhD students here. We usually publish those jobs in our
website which get less visibility. Few enthusiastic people do look at
those places and come but not all!

RA position involves working a project related to your specialization.
Its a temporary job. You will be treated like a IIT student. Salary is
typically between 7k-15k. But that is not a big deal at all as the
amount of learning you do in IIT is enormous. It is an ideal platform
for launch into abroad universities or industrial jobs as you get IIT
stamp and probably a recommendation letter form professor you will
work.

Putting it simple, the gaps remained in your knowledge after B.Tech
will be properly filled here.

For IIT Kanpur, see http://www.iitk.ac.in/dord/DORD/projvacancies.htm
Similarly you can search for other IITs and also IITs etc.
IITB went further ahead and made the RA job more attractive.
See http://www.ircc.iitb.ac.in/~fellowship/

--Hari

--
hari kumar voruganti, phd scholar. Centre for Robotics,IIT Kanpur.
[http://home.iitk.ac.in/~hari] India, Ph:+91 512 259 7095

Telangana Issue: Practical View

2007-05-01T12:42:00.001+05:30

Yes, I want to ask this question. Except the fact the this party
utilizes sentiments of the region to survive and earn is there a
connection between
how Telangana state formation and TRS, seriously?

Now see, even if TRS wins all the 17 MP seats from the Telangana region
what is the guarantee that they will be in a position to pressurize
the party at power in center? See the case of Mulayam of UP. They have
a strength of 42 now. They withdrew the support to UPA. Nothing
happened, right?

So, practically it is not only important that TRS does a good job but
equations at country level plays a bigger role. Now, this way leads to
a conclusion that it is better to believe a national party which
clearly believes in Telangana.

I am not saying this after the split of KCR and Narendra. Practially issue
has been like this only. But yes, even with his dirty politics, he is
keeping the issue alive. Credit goes to him. I wonder why KCR believes
in Congress more than BJP. If minorities the only reason then I would
say thats a bad strategy.

But things are very clear, don't get worried by this barking. The more
they bark the more the issue alive! No loss as Telangana formation
does not depends on TRS at all. The internal fight in TRS does not
mean weakening of T-sentiment. All parties know it.

I was just thinking about this and these are few ideas. Let us think
practically. Not emotionally/telangana-cally !!

--Hari

--
hari kumar voruganti, phd scholar. Centre for Robotics,IIT Kanpur.
[http://home.iitk.ac.in/~hari] India, Ph:+91 512 259 7095

Shell Scripting

2007-02-13T17:20:00.000+05:30

Finally I started learning serious shell scripting
whic is pending for so long. As a serious Linux
geek it was a really handicap not knowing much
of shell scripting so far but I am no more uneducated
in scripting community!!

Centre for Robotics IIT Kanpur

2007-02-05T00:22:00.000+05:30

Unconcious Competency: Final stage of Learning

2007-02-01T00:47:00.001+05:30

Below are the four stages of learning a skill explained with an example along with.

1. Unconscious incompetency -- At 6, you can not ride a bike but you are not aware of incompetency

2. Conscious incompetency -- At 15, if you still can not ride a bike, but you know about your incompetency

3. Conscious competency -- At 18, Riding a bike with L-board, meaning riding is a conscious act

4. Unconscious competency -- Later you ride a bike without any effort, it will be as easy as walking. This is the final stage in any learning.

I liked this classification of skill level. Drop me a line if you find it interesting!

Buffalo Theory

2007-01-23T18:18:00.000+05:30

Buffalo Theory

"It's like this...
A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo.
And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the
back that are killed first
This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the
general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the
regular killing of the weakest members.
In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the
slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills
brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain
cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the
weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient
machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."

-- Written by an Unknown scholar and a great Thinker…

Goodlines found in a random web-page

2006-12-10T00:20:00.000+05:30

It was Dec 12, 1968, and the stars were aligned to their proper
positions to bring about the combinations of carbon atoms to
construct me. I was a hyperactive child, and was sold into the
circus. Don't believe all that you read.

--
hari kumar voruganti, phd scholar. Center for Robotics,IIT Kanpur.
[http://home.iitk.ac.in/~hari] India, Ph:+91 512 259 7095

Chinese growth is not just "Economic Growth"

2006-11-10T11:47:00.000+05:30

I was deeply impressed by the below article and Dr Arun Shourie.

Here is Chinese growth is not just "Economic Growth

The facts mentioned make me afraid and insecure. I hope
appropriate measure are being taken by government of India.

Those who are interested in such stuff, I suggest to look at
the books written by the same author on different topics.
The list is here.
--Hari

Comments to "Suicides in IIT"

2006-11-06T15:32:00.000+05:30

I think, not much can be done w.r.t suicides in IITs. The "pressure" and
"depression" are key-words in IIT system. Reducing or eliminating thise
means finding a method to stop sweating while working on a
sunny day. You get sweat in any hard work. The question is how do
you handle it. Out of the 10,000 students in IITs, every year we see
1-5 people committing such an act. What can be done? For
undergraduates they did already. Putting upper bound on maximum
number of attempts one can write JEE. Before this rule people without
a natural skill used to get into IITs with a lot of coaching and 3-4
attempts who finally struggle as they lack some skills. But if M.Tech
and PhD students who are supposed to be mature commit suicide
it is very difficult to digest. As someone said "attitude test" can not
predict whether a person will commit suicide after 5 years. As far as
I know and experienced people change a lot once they enter IIT.
They are no more the same person. So I guess such tests will not
help much. But what can be done is awareness and counseling
during course of study which, as I can see, being given now. There
are more that 5 workshops during this year for stress control in our institute.
But again it is not compulsory and can not be made compulsory also in the
sspirit of IIT freedom. So it is expected that a person should be bold
enough to handle all kinds of situations. If a person commits suicide
for the fear of exam, I think, even if he is saved in that particular
incidents he is vulnerable and he may commit the same even if he
is caught by traffic police one day!!

--Hari [http://home.iitk.ac.in/~hari]

questioning LANGUAGE as basis for formation of a state

2006-10-31T15:16:00.000+05:30

As the occasion of "formation of Andhra Pradesh" is
tomorrow, there are some issues that come to my mind.
They puzzle me and suffering me which made to dug out
some facts. But in this biased world and with so many
people spreading their propaganda, finding facts is a difficult
task. Still my doubts are:

1. Can language be a bsis for formation of state. Imagine
Hindi language state in India!!

2. Why the State Reorganization Commition (SRC) recommendations
are neglected?

3. How justified is the demand for Telangana state?

Even though I have not concluded anything yet. But P put here some data
I collected.

SRC excerpts: [from Wikipedia]

On November 1, 1956 against the recommendations of the State
Reorganization Commission, Andhra State merged with the Telangana
region of erstwhile Hyderabad Stateto form a united Telugu-speaking
state of Andhra Pradesh, the former capital of the Hyderabad State,
was made the capital of the new state Andhra Pradesh.

In early 1950s, there was Vishalandhra movement in both Andhra and
Telangana regions which called for the merger of Andhra region and
Telangana region to form a single Telugu speaking state. The movement
is stronger in Andhra region than in Telanagana region. Andhra
mahasabha was a powerful organisation existing in Telangana which
advocated a "Visalandhra"( larger Andhra). However there were concerns
about the merger in Telangana.

The concerns about Telangana were manifold. The region had a less
developed economy than Andhra, but a larger revenue base (mostly
because it taxed rather than prohibited alcoholic beverages), which
Telanganas feared might be diverted for use in Andhra. They also
feared that planned dam projects on the Krishna and Godavari rivers
would not benefit Telangana proportionately even though Telanganas
controlled the headwaters of the rivers. Telanganas feared too that
the people of Andhra would have the advantage in jobs, particularly in
government and education.(Source: US Library of Congress)

The States Reorganization Commission (SRC) set up by the government of
India in early 50s to examine the question of reorganization of states
of the country was, in fact, not in favour of merging the Telangana
region with the then Andhra state. After a very careful examination of
the issues involved the SRC recommended: "... It will be in the
interest of Andhra as well as Telangana if, for the present, the
Telangana area is constituted into a separate state which may be known
as the Hyderabad state, with provision for its unification with Andhra
after the general elections likely to be held in or about 1961, if by
two-thirds majority the legislature of the residuary Hyderabad state
expresses itself in favour of such unification". (SRC Report: Para
386)

The commission further recommended: "Andhra and Telangana have common
interests and we hope these interests will tend to bring the people
closer to each other. If, however, our hopes for the development of
the environment and conditions congenial to the unification of the
areas do not materialize and if public sentiment in Telangana
crystallizes itself against the unification of the two states,
Telangana will have to continue as a separate unit". (SRC Report: Para
388)

The Commission came to this conclusion after a dispassionate
assessment of feelings of the people of Telangana and the fears
entertained by them. Elaborating the reasons for recommending
statehood for the Telangana region the Commission observed: "One of
the principal causes of opposition to Visalandhra also seems to be the
apprehensions felt by the educationally backward people of Telangana
that they may be swamped and exploited by the more advanced people of
the Coastal areas...The real fear of the people of Telangana is that
if they join Andhra they will be unequally placed in relation to the
people of Andhra and in this partnership the major partner will derive
all the advantages immediately while Telangana itself may be converted
into a colony by the enterprising Andhras". (SRC Report: para 378)

Further, the SRC cautioned the nation against the dangers involved in
reorganizing the Indian states solely on linguistic considerations.
One of the rational criteria recommended by the Commission, while
reorganizing the states, was: "... to reject the theory of 'one
language one state' which is neither justified on grounds of
linguistic homogeneity, because there can be more than one state
speaking the same language without offending the linguistic principle,
nor practicable, since different language groups, including the vast
Hindi speaking population of the Indian Union, cannot always be
consolidated to form distinct linguistic units". (SRC Report: para
163)

In addition, the Prime Minister of the time, Jawaharlal Nehru, also
was not in favour of merging Telangana with the Andhra state. He
ridiculed the demand for Visalandhra as an idea bearing a "tint of
expansionist imperialism". (Indian Express, October 17, 1953).

The central government decided to ignore the recommendation to
establish a separate Telangana state and, instead, merged the two
regions into a unified Andhra Pradesh. However, a "gentlemen's
agreement" provided reassurances to the Telangana people. For at least
five years, revenue was to be spent in the regions proportionately to
the amount they contributed. Education institutions in Telangana were
to be expanded and reserved for local students. Recruitment to the
civil service and other areas of government employment such as
education and medicine was to be proportional. The use of Urdu was to
continue in the administration and the judiciary for five years. The
state cabinet was to have proportional membership from both regions
and a deputy chief minister from Telangana if the chief minister was
from Andhra and vice versa. Finally, the Regional Council for
Telangana was to be responsible for economic development, and its
members were to be elected by the members of the state legislative
assembly from the region.(Source: US Library of Congress)

Why Telangana FAQ? (from TDF web)
[I myself did not like the language used. But use your descetion and get an
idea about history]

Telangana: Education for the doubting Toms.
(From: Telangana Rashtram-Oka Demand by Kothapally Jayashanker, 2nd
Printing :March 13, 2004)

Every time Telangana people open their mouths, doubting Toms raise
some concerns and doubts and questions. Some of these doubting Toms
don't know the historical background, some others don't understand
political strategies and outcomes. Some are protecting selfish
interests while others think they are protecting unity of Telugu
speaking people. Whatever the motives and basis for these doubts or
questions and concerns, investigating and finding appropriate answers
backed by facts, is essential.

Why are we hearing separate Telangana slogan again?
The demand for a separate state of Telangana isn't new. Telanganites
have very clearly expressed their opposition a decade before Andhra
Pradesh was formed. They reasoned that in a united Andhra Pradesh they
will not get justice. Even after five decades, this demand is
continuing. The reason for this is the experience of past 48 years
that justice will not be done to Telangana and belief that it will
continue to be denied to Telanganites in united AP. (Please see
pages112 –117 for historical facts).

Isn't Telangana slogan the creation of unemployed politicians?
Telangana demand is a peoples' movement born out of their problems.
Are all the people robbed unabatedly, continuously for the 48-years
and raising their voice again , unemployed political leaders? Who are
the unemployed political Leaders? Are they the farmers that have been
suffering for lack of drinking water, irrigations water, and cuts in
electric supply? Are they the workers who lost their livelihood due to
lack of new industries, and closure of existing industries? Are they
the unemployed youth whose job opportunities are hijacked by
outsiders? Are they the innumerable people who have been labeled and
suppressed as terrorists because they raised their voice for
Telangana? When people are subject to robbery and injustice and take
to the streets, it is natural for leaders to enter the fray. Just
because out of power politicians support Telangana statehood, does it
stop being peoples' movement? In any movement, politicians in and out
of power join in. Some even deceive and attempt to side line the
movement, but they can't stop the movement. Movements continue until
justice is served to the people. The educated that are the pillars of
this movement aren't unemployed. They aren't even after employment for
themselves.

Why didn't the Chief Ministers that came from Telangana area work to
develop Telangana?
It is true that PV Narasimha Rao, Marri Chenna Reddy (twice), T.
Anjiah from Telangana were Chief Ministers of AP. Altogether they were
in power for 6-years in four terms. It is also true they haven't made
any noticeable development of Telangana. Jalagam Vengal Rao was a
settler. He never assimilated himself in Telangana. He is credited
with the disservice to Telangana by extending Nagarjun Sagar left
canal. Then what about, Rayala Seema? There were stalwarts from Rayala
seems that were in power for twenty years. (N. Sanjeeva Reddy-2terms,
Damodaram Sanjeeviah, K. Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy-2 terms, CB Naidu-2
terms). Why is Rayalaseema backward? Fact is they slaved for the
Coastal Andhra wealth and the privileged few of these wealthy that
control the politics of the state. Fazal Ali commission recognized the
consequences of mixing a developed area with a backward area and
recommended that Telangana be kept as a separate state. If this
country's politicians had the wherewithal to listen to the wise men,
we wouldn't be in this situation!

Isn't it detrimental to Indian national unity if small states are
continuously created?
Out of the 35 states currently in India (28 states and 7 central
possessions), 70% are smaller than Telangana. Telangana's population
is 30 million plus. There are 25 states that are smaller than
Telangana. If these twenty-five don't cause national unity issues, why
would creation of a larger state be any dangerous? (See P119-120 for
details)

What would you do if the backward districts in Telangana want a
separate state of their own after formation of Telangana state?
Backwardness of Telangana is a major reason for the Telangana state
demand but not the sole reason. All ten Telangana districts have same
historical background, geographic closeness, cultural commonality,
language unity, and mutual understanding among the people. These
factors are all foundation for unity of thought. Never did the people
of Telangana districts express a desire or sentiment to be separate
from the rest of the districts directly or indirectly. There isn't an
opportunity for such either. In our country there are some other
backward districts in various states. Are they all demanding a
separate statehood? It is meaning less and baseless argument.

Why do people with one language need two states?
If one language, one state is the norm, why do we have 9-Hindhi
speaking states? Next to Hindi, Telugu is the most spoken language in
India. What is wrong with having two states that speak Telugu? Some
people claim that Telangana Telugu isn't the proper Telugu. Some
others say it isn't even Telugu. Why should these people that make fun
of Telangana language and ridicule its culture should be objecting if
Telangana is separate state?

Isn't a separate state, a nation dividing, people separating, demand?
If the desire of a people of a region to have their own state is a
divisive act, then all states formation is a divisive act. In fact
language based state formation itself is a divisive act. Same reasons
that Potti Sriramulu the architect for separation of Andhra from
Madras state, presented are the reasons Telanganites want their own
state. The same argument used by the Andhras in the past is used by
Telanganites now. If it was not an objectionable demand then how could
it be objectionable now?

How long should states division continue?
Staes re-organization is a continuing activity in India. Even before
Fazal Ali commission this process has started, Example: Formation of
Andhra, split from Madras. It has been continuing ever since, Ex:
Eastern states division, Maharastra,Gujrath, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Jarkhand, Uttaranchal, Chattisghad. Why should there be any
objections for Telangana formation when there were no such objections
for these states formation?

There are other backward areas in the state. Why should only Telangana
people have a separate state of their own?
Just as Telangana, Rayalaseema and north Andhra have been
discriminated. True. But, additionally Telangana has been systemically
robbed. Diversion of this regions natural resources, water, under
ground resources and their income to other areas, the robbing of jobs
from the region's people, Colonization aren't directed at other areas.
Additionally the Telanganites have been subject to ridicule with
respect to the language and the politicians have been looked down upon
to the extent they lost their own self image. To preserve their self
respect and to protect their region's natural resources, people of
Telangana want their own state.

Aren't Naxalites the cause of Telangana's backwardness?
Only people that don't understand or like to conveniently ignore
historical facts would ask such questions. Naxals aren't the cause of
Telangana backwardness. They are an effect of Telangana backwardness.
Naxals came up in Telangana due to this region has been subject to
continues neglect and systematic theft of its resources.

* If Naxals are the reason, then districts where Naxals activity
is less should be more developed than those with strong Naxals
presence. Then why is it that Mahabubnagar where naxals presence was
low is further behind Naxals strong holds of Karimnagar, Warangal and
Nizamabad?
* Similarly, why is Vizag one of the important centers of Naxals
activity is a flourishing industrial center not just in state but also
in the country?
* How is the Kothagudem thermal station which is in the middle of
forested area able to complete its expansion under the schedule?
* How is National thermal electric center in Ramagundam (even
though its electricity isn't used for Telangana) operating without any
problems?
* How is the coal from Singareni mines being mined and sent to
Andhra and Rayalaseema?
* How are Andhra settlers that bought off locals are able to
flourish safely and prosperously in many Telangana areas?
* In Warangal forests how is AP rayons, a private factory, operating?
* How are the cement factories in Nalgonda singareni coal belt,
those established by the Andhra Capitalists, able to operate and make
profits?
* Who is responsible for the closure of Ajamjhahi mills, Sirpur
sirsilk mills, Anthargam spinning mills, DBR mills, Alwyn factories,
Republic forge, fourteen milk cooling plants? Didn't Naxals object to
such irresponsible Government mismanagement?
* If Naxals are the cause of Telangana backwardness, how is the
current Government who promised to complete all pending projects
within three years in Telangana going to do it?
* The cause of 1969 Telangana revolution was the Governments
partiality. There were no Naxals then.
* Who doesn't know that the powers that are used to the stealing
of Telangana resources and neglecting Telangana for the past 48 years
want to continue to do the same, and are using Naxals as an excuse?
Otherwise why would the Government that started talks as a response to
people's wishes is throwing stones in the talks process?

Instead of asking for a separate state, why can't you fight for
development within the frame work of united AP?
The promises of Telangana development have been made for the past 48
years in united AP. Before and after the formation of AP, Which
promises were kept? Which agreements were respected? Which projects
were implemented? Which principles were they bound to? From the first
day of AP formation, till to-day, agreements are being broken. What
were the united AP wishers do? Did they even express any concerns? How
long should the Telangana people bear this and put up with this
injustice?

Isn't separate Telangana state an anti-Andhra people's movement?
Emphatically, no. Telangana people don't bear any animosity against
the coastal Andhra or Rayalaseema people or the ordinary migrants from
those areas to Telangana. Telangana people's anger is with: The rulers
that are raping Telangana resources. With their supporters in Andhra
and also from Telangana. Those that came to Telangana and think they
are the rulers of Telangana. Those that control the state Government
with their financial strength and rob Telangana. Those that ridicule,
Telangana language, culture and their mannerisms. All those that
become a part of Telangana and share in the happiness and sorrow of
Telangana with the locals are welcomed and, respected and loved.

What is there to be gained by the SC, ST and weaker sections in
separate Telangana?
What did these groups gain in united AP in 48 years? Apart from
Sanjeeviah being CM for few months, when did any of these classes have
any power? What is the status of these peoples leadership? What is the
attitude of current Congress, BJP, both the communist parties, TDP?
Not only the weaker sections, even the forward classes of Telangana,
do they have any opportunity to exert any real power? For these
classes to gain power they have to become active. For the past few
years these people are rising, becoming active. No matter how active
they become, in the united AP, not only these but other classes of
people will also not progress. At least the forward class in Telangana
have come to realization that it is unavoidable in the society for all
people to a rightful share in the political power. Because of this
there is opportunity in Separate Telangana for true democracy
represented by all people, to prevail.

Andhras have built Hyderabad. Is it fair to ask them to leave it now?
Hyderabad was a beautiful city built by Nizam on the sweat of
Telangana villagers. One of the reasons Andhras eyed Telangana was
Hyderabad- a ready made beautiful Capitol city. It was fifth largest
city before AP was formed and it still is fifth largest city. If
Andhras contributed to Hyderabad, it was not out of love for Telangana
but was for the convenience of the rich Andhras that have made
Hyderabad their home. Hydearabd is still growing but not from Andhras
coming to settle but from the middle classes and forward classes of
Telangana moving to the city for security and for services and
livelihood, as the village economy in Telangana is all but destroyed
by neglect of the ruling class, and failure of monsoons. Besides,
nobody is asking anybody to leave any place. India is a free country
and anybody can go and stay and pursue their livelihood anywhere in
India. Hyderabad is a cosmopolitan city and people from many languages
and all states of India call it their home. Also, this isn't a
separation of people like Pakistan and India. It is merely a
separation of political and administrative machinery so people of
Telangana can control their own destiny. The settlers are welcome to
stay, contribute and share in the success of Telangana.