novel Thinking

An interesting article on "why do we sleep?"

2008-03-24T19:34:00.000+01:00

Here is the link for an interesting article on "Why do we sleep?"

Good for you. Good for me!

Essential Mobile services - online call diversion can be one!

2007-11-06T09:58:00.000+01:00

The future is mobile. The future is flexibility. Companies want employees on the move and stay ever closer to the customer. Consumers want services that are useful and innovative. Companies are realizing this trend and trying to do their best
in providing what the customer wants and let them have a say. There is a huge scramble for innovative mobile services and giving their customers the power to develop their own. Web 2.0, OMA (Open Mobile Alliance) and the new OHA(Open Handset Alliance)promoted by Google are all steps in this direction. The only company that is still bucking this trend and yet being successful,at least for the time being, is the cupertino based i-novative and secretive 'Apple'.

Despite the huge surge in mobile services in the developed and developing world, operator revenues are sliding down. Though people realize the need for being mobile and the utility of the services that are on offer, the most critical factor "cost" of these services is detrimental. Mobile operators and service providers are doing their best with a double edged sword. On one side the share-holders demanding ever increasing profits and on the other hand, consumers demanding ever decreasing prices. Services cost to be developed and costs time to be deployed and expecting comparable revenues sounds logical. In addition, services are increasingly technically complex, which in turn increases the cost of development and deployment. So, does this mean to indicate that the less complex but high utility services are being already exhausted. Not necessarily!

There are still services that are missing in day to day life that often could be very useful and yet missing. One such service that is missing is "on-line call diversion". Mobile phones are the main conduits to keep people connected. With Nokia we have a
great deal of mobility that many people can solely be contacted with Mobiles. But, every now and then I read or send emails within the company telling others that I cannot be reached today because I forgot to bring along the instrument with me. This causes substantial inconvenience and most times many important calls being missed. But, there is most times a possibility that you have access to some other phone where you can be reached, at least temporarily, and the real problem being just communicating the contact number to the right person who wishes to contact you. Here call diversion helps. But, call diversion has traditionally been done by having access to the instrument. It leaves a person in limbo when he or she does not have access to the instrument. Can a way out of it exist? Yes, it can. A possibility to do the call diversion, guess what, Online!!!!

Internet is pervasive, at least with the techies. Google helps to write most of the world's software code and emails are a substantial traffic in the world's data network. So, any person can have access to the Internet, at least for a short time. So, there is a clear need for a service like an "online call diversion" that offers a possibility to get online and do a simple login, like we do with the public emails, and make a diversion to a temporary number.This service should be relatively easy to develop and deploy and can make a life whole lot easier for forgetful professionals. This can be just as basic as having the diversion possibility on the equipment, especially in this Inter-net connected world. As I know, there are no operators who offer this service at the moment. If they already do, as a consumer and techie, I'm not aware of it. So, they better check out with their marketing department!

Am sure there are more such underdog services that are still missing! Don't look deep, but just look shallow. Most times they are right in front of you and you yourself could be just feeling the need for it. The real skill lies in identifying them.

India needs a correction

2007-11-04T15:50:00.000+01:00

It's a known story that India is growing at a faster rate and very well on the track to create billion dollar individuals. But, is this growth sustainable on a long run. As the PM warned, what happens when the success is not shared with the fellow citizens of India. I'm no economics expert, but I strongly believe India needs a correction and that too an immediate one. Resources are stretched and country seems to be running on steroids without the fundamental things being met. Infrastructure is worn out, yet cars in thousands on the road everyday. Infrastructure building needs labor, but it is in a huge shortage in India. Perhaps we need to consider importing them from Dubai and the rest of Gulf to whom we previously exported. Real estate prices are ridiculous and we are building islands inside India with the poor living just by the side. This trend clearly needs a correction, if the country is hoping to to jump to the next level of development without any social upheaval. A strong correction now in the economy is the only way out. Perhaps, the rising tensions in our immediate neighborhood and the slow down in the US economy can just be start of it.

Think local, act local

2007-10-15T14:21:00.000+02:00

A sunny day and not to mention a weekend means celebration here in Munich. The city of Munich located 50 km north of the northern edge of Alps and the capital of the state of Bavaria, is also otherwise called the "city of singles". The most important place to visit, especially on a very sunny day is undoubtedly the "Englischer Garten". The park stretching itself to the length and breadth of the city has loads to offer. Old couples walking, young couples romancing , aspirants playing football and nude people just greeting the sun, all this and much more. One can't afford to miss the whole invigorating atmosphere on a sunny weekend.

I mentioned everything and myself, an Indian. Can cricket be far behind? Part of the Englischer garten landscape was some cricket too, played by some regulars and some irregulars (which includes me) as Germans wondered and hissed with comments like

"ist das Baseball?" (Is it baseball) ---
"nee, das heisst Cricket" (no, its called cricket), responds another....

We guys enjoyed our cricket with the usual informal accusations and behind the back strokes and some wonderful shots and beautiful bowling, later only to be amused by the wealth of on-lookers. Cricket played by more than 10 nations of the world and a hugely polarizing game in the sub-continent, just makes no-meaning in an another continent, except a passing curiousity. This made me to immediately recall the business philosophy "Think local, act local", if it should interest the local market.

Global warming and India

2007-07-22T07:55:00.000+02:00

Global warming is a topic that attracts my instant attention and the oft repeated fact that India would be one of the worst affected countries due to this global climate change sends shivers down my spines. A billion Indian living under poor and inhumane conditions, going through the suffering, as if they aren't already, mainly spurred by the industrialized nations and increasingly contributed by India and China, again aided by industrialized nations is a pity. An article in NY times says the following about India's fast melting glaciers, which are the main source of water for a billion people.

India’s public response so far has been to blame the industrialized world for rising emissions and resist any mandatory caps of its own. India’s per capita share of emissions is one-twentieth that of industrialized countries, the government points out, going on to argue that any restrictions on emissions would stunt its economic growth.

And yet, as critics say, India’s rapid economic advance, combined with a population of more than a billion people, will soon make it a far bigger contributor to greenhouse gases. More to the point, India stands to bear some of the most devastating consequences of human-induced climate change.

Here is the complete article-->Glaciers in Retreat

An account on Helsinki/Finland

2006-09-22T21:43:00.000+02:00

Very recently, I had the opportunity to visit Helsinki, thanks to Nokia. Best way to understand a country is by talking to the people on the streets and this belief was overwhelmingly justified in this small country of 6 mn inhabitants. It's a country that is waking up to the globalization that is ushered in by NOKIA. This little scandinavian country has always been a nice relaxed place. The elderly people who had always made their money with the fishes and passed time with the adventorous sea sports have to suddenly wake up to the new arrival of foreigners mainly for Nokia.

Nokia has experimented with many businesses before settling on Mobile phones and networks. They manufactured rubber boots, winter tyres, Televisions and Computer monitors before realizing the potential in mobiles. Its a relatively new company in telecommunications when compared to it's peers and many inhabitants still have the vivid memory of Nokia rubber boots and many still own one. Nokia Winter tyres are still manufactured in Finland, although with the same brand name but now owned by a different company. Around late 80's or early 90's Nokia started to get into mobiles and now the world leaders in many markets including India. The beauty of this history is, this all started in a very small real village!!! So, this goes on to prove that there is no reason that a successful technological company has to come from the bases of Silicon valley!

Today, the new economy leader Nokia although still has its biggest base in Finland, is bringing in lots of foreigners for business reasons. And this is a new phenomenon for the relaxed going elderly people. The new arrival of others do makes them feel uneasy but the younger sophisticated lot who are in their, as one elder expressed, "americanization" phase watching "Desperate Housewives" are very much at ease with the different cultured like me. There are around 40 schools in Helsinki and I learnt that they get real good quality education. Some young people I got to meet possess extensive knowledge about India at the age of 15 including the holy Ganges and the plethora of languages and religions that co-exist in our country. When a 15 yr old can know so much of a country on the other side of the world, Globalization is at its helm!

The city as such sports pretty much a Russian look and lots of Russians mainly from St.Petersberg had descended on Helsinki for various reasons. Other mainly visiting foreign nationals are Swedish and Germans. English is widely spoken and shoulnd't be a big problem to strike a conversation with the normal junta and last but not least, religion doesn't count much in reality and the younger lot are happy with it.

choose our choice!

2006-09-08T16:58:00.000+02:00

A single situation looks completely different depending on the way of approach.The good news is, the way of approach can be controlled by the thinking process. Hence, its within our control to choose our choice.

Work Expands!

2006-09-03T00:37:00.000+02:00

Parkinson's law: "Programs expand to fill the memory available to hold them"

Someone's law: "Work expands to fill the time available for it"

formal and casual!

2006-08-31T07:57:00.000+02:00

What makes one amazingly arcticulate in formal occassions, while the same man is out of words in a casual discussion? or vice versa?

directly proportional to financial success?

2006-08-31T07:54:00.000+02:00

Why does social stigma prevents one being oneself? Why does one has to be extra-ordinarily brave to face the "real" world?

Invariable Life's traditional success (read financial success) is achieved by breaking the stigma and treading the long feared path. So, can we conclude that breaking social stigma is directly proportional to one's financial success?

Strange it may sound, but ultimately its again the acceptance of the world that makes it a Success :))

Strong belief

2006-08-30T21:20:00.000+02:00

A strong belief is a precursor to the reality that follows!

some are won, some are lost !

2006-08-12T10:16:00.000+02:00

the more I learn, the more humbleness it brings along. Learning is an everyday battle, some are won and some are lost. Still..Life moves on!

"one pays for the time"

2006-07-22T19:20:00.000+02:00

One doesn't pay for the work, but for the time. Time is of value. The premium thats paid for the time depends on how valuable the time spent was.

neu schwanstein

2006-07-16T08:25:00.000+02:00

rem the castle in "Disney Cartoons" ? - This castle in Füßen, Germany called "neu schwanstein" is the inspiration.

Maintain Law & Order ? - Ridiculous!!!

2006-07-13T07:20:00.000+02:00

After the bloody terror attack that stroke Mumbai, I was appalled by the response from the Indian government and its machinery. Watching the statements from the PM - Manmohan singh and Home minister - Shivraj Patil, I did not feel a pinch of resolve in their statements to tackle this menace. Rather, the official statements by two of these most mattered people in the govt. appealing for calm, hoping the people of Mumbai have the spirit to get over this and the govt. will do anythiing and everything to maintain law & order. Excuse me!!! are we talking about a strike by bus drivers here???? what makes the PM talk about Law & Order. Ridiculous!!!!

The statements absolutely sound nothing more than formalities. Compare this with the resolve of the Israelis, for one abducted soldier. Yea, afterall India is no Israel, our neighbour is no Palestine and the Indian lives, mainly Hindus, are not Britons in London or Spaniards in Spain. I actually heard more stronger words from Pakistan, than from our own Political junta.

What will Indians do now? - Of course, wait till the next attack to sound many more formality bytes.

Cheering for d semis

2006-07-04T22:41:00.000+02:00

German masters cheering "Wir fahren nach Berlin !!! " in Munich....(It meanz, we are going to Berlin, implying that they would be there for the finals and they expect Germany to be playing )

i luvvv dis pic

2006-07-02T07:21:00.000+02:00

I live somewhere nearby....i luvvv dis pic, do u?

Mittals takeover

2006-06-30T12:21:00.000+02:00

I was one of the happiest person to hear the news that Arcelor board has accepted the more sweetened offer from Mittal, one of our own. I always have a soft corner for him that he still holds an Indian passport, given the benefits he could have accrued just by acquiring an European one, which in his case should not be a big deal. I think, this single decision of him has prompted the Indian government to stand as a pillar behind him and most of all, the people of India to see this as a success by an Indian.

As the dust settles and specs of the deal emerges, it actually looks that Arcelor has taken over Mittal, rather than the other way round. Arcelor will have more board of directors in the combined company and the headquarters of the combined Arcelor-Mittal would be Luxembourg, rather than Amsterdam where Mittal steel was based. Further Lakshmi N.Mittal will will be the President and Joseph kinsch, current chairman of Arcelor would be the acting Chairman of the combined company thereby overshadowing Mittal. Further, Mittal would have less than 45 percent of the combined company. These points raises one important question in any thinking mind. Why did Mittal gave up so much to make this deal?

The answers are fairly clear as pointed out overtly by Business-week report and others. Arcelor bringing in Severstal as the white knight would definitely make things tougher for this Indian born billionaire's Mittal steel to maintain its influence and be competitive in the long run. Moreover, Mittal's meteoric rise in a short span of time could have made him a quick billionaire, but the world's largest steel maker does not have the strong foundation and the empire has the risk of tumbling as quick as it rose. But, by sealing this deal, Mittal could have got out of both these problems. He effectively ousted Severstal out of the game and made his company more stronger and "safer" by combining it with a company that has a long history and often sighted as the jewel of European industry. He also got out of a mess the fast rise of Mittal steel could have brought in the short or long run.

Even though he is relegated to the back seat of the combined company, I see this as a momentary setup. I believe he is going to rise like a phoenix very soon after the deal is 100 percent fixed. So, even though the particulars of the deal and the numbers show it as something that Lakshmi overpaid, but in the long run, Lakshmi has actually fixed up a much bigger problem that was in the anvil. This again stands testimony to this Indian's foresight and perseverance despite all odds. This is the stuff successful people are made of.

My wishes for more success to this man.

roses in ma garden

2006-06-24T13:30:00.000+02:00

Into Hibernation mode !!!

2006-05-28T08:44:00.000+02:00

I am into a short Hibernation mode, won't last long, keep visiting!

Is reverse brain drain to India for real?

2006-05-01T22:25:00.000+02:00

I was just going through the article "B-School grads returning home..." in Economic Times, which says that many B-School grads in the US of Indian origin are considering returning back to India. This prompted me to wonder, what is it with the Indian students here in Germany. Most of the Indian students in Germany take two main routes after studies. Find a job in Germany or fly to the US for greener pastures. The number of Indian students who genuinely consider returning to India is still miniscule and the main reason in my opinion is sudden cutback in the "quality of life" that one should be content with. Having lived in Germany where professionalism is the norm and a minimum quality of life with things like 24x7 Internet access, 24 x 7 hot and cold water are taken for granted, it's not an easy decision for any one to return back after having lived the aspirations of many in India.

Though news about India and the success stories various companies are scripting makes Indians happy and proud of India, it's still a distant dream for many individuals who earn comfortably in India to match the minimum quality of life that these developed countries provide. Having said all these, I asked myself, what could be the genuine reasons today that could encourage an Indian student to return back India?

1. Family and relationships / Family commitments
2. High compensation

would be the main reasons, even today, why an Indian would want to return back to India. It's still not the recent achievements and higher growth India is clocking and the above said reasons are age old reasons why any Indian would return back. So, in my opinion the reverse brain drain is still not real.

So, for a genuine reverse brain drain to happen, India still has to do a lot by mainly eliminating corruption and introducing professionalism, to attract back the educated lot to further the growth of India. But recent developments in reservations in institutions of excellence like IITs and IIMs and the proposal to introduce reservation in private companies are retrograde steps that unfortunately don’t bring much hope!

Indian PM's Germany Visit, what does India lack to leverage the relationship?

2006-04-28T11:22:00.000+02:00

The Indian PM Dr.Manmohan Singh was on a three day official (April 23- 25) visit to Germany recently. There weren’t any hi-fi co-operation agreements signed between the two countries during the visit. The visit also did not have any outstanding media coverage and any visibility given to the visit was because of the Hannover Trade Fair where India was a partner country. The Indian PM held talks with the first woman chancellor from the erstwhile East Germany Angela Merkel, and met the German President, previous Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and other personalities mostly as a courtesy call. India had some good visibility when Germany and India was famously working together when India and Germany together with Brazil and Japan were pitching for a permanent seat in the proposed expansion of UN Security Council. Apart from that, the doubling of the bilateral trade between Germany and India well before 2010, as agreed by the then Chancellor Schroeder’s last visit to India was a highlight. As the visit had come to an end without much usefulness, what can we learn from this visit for our common good?

India an emerging knowledge based economy and Germany too, mostly a knowledge based economy with very strong sectors like Automation, Automobiles, Bioinformatics and even IT and telecommunications gives one the impression that these countries could be an ideal knowledge based partner countries. India with its growing automobile market and growing base of auto parts manufacturing, and Germany with its very famous companies like Daimler Chrysler (Mercedes), BMW, Volkswagen to name a few can realize huge value working together. Germany could very well leverage India’s growing strength in IT and take advantage of the low cost high talented human resource available in India. Despite this high potential between the two countries its easy to wonder, why aren’t they working together as they should be. There are sporadically some Indo-German business development meetings organized by Indians without any active support from the Indian government and hence lack the leverage.

The media too is largely reflecting the mood of the common men here in Germany. Most Germans doesn’t know anything about India and some who do, believe India is just another poor country. Though this is changing by many Indian students taking up work after studies in Germany, it’s still fair to say not enough is being done. The blame for this largely lies on the Indians, who should take the initial steps to reach out to Europe’s biggest economy and world’s largest exporter. Germans are very famous travellers and India is doing a poor job in even attracting the tourists who have mostly visited Srilanka and Thailand. When Srilanka, which the world knows mainly because of its in-country fighting can attract tourists, why not India, a largely peaceful country with so rich a history and culture. Even the Indian consulate in Frankfurt sports portraits of past presidents and Indians in the villages without highlighting any of India’s recent achievements and attractions. Also, the growing presence of Indian student community in Germany largely doesn’t speak very good German and take admission in English taught courses. Although this opens up a cost-effective opportunity for Indian students, it doesn’t help much in, they being India’s real ambassadors to Germany as it’s with the US, where most students later march on to achieve higher goals thereby serving as the true ambassadors of India. The lack of local language knowledge tends most Indians to be reserved within their community and hence gives a very little understanding about Germany and the German ways. This is in quite contrary to the fact that most Chinese students who are comfortably a notch above the Indian student community in terms of numbers, largely takes up German taught courses and 99 out of 100 have a communicable German knowledge. This obviously has its effects with more Chinese restaurants and more knowledge about China among Germans.

Although no one disagrees on the fact that German is not an easy language to learn, the Indian state could still play a huge role by actively encouraging Indians to learn other foreign languages like German, French and Spanish, which would open up huge opportunities for India and reduce our dependency on the American market. Learning a language is like learning another culture and the mere learning of these languages gives an unique understanding of their respective markets, which otherwise isn’t possible. Indian state should encourage institutions starting at nursery school level to introduce foreign languages in addition to English.

India also could do a lot better by running their own advertisement campaigns in local German television channels and newspapers. A cent well spent would have very well returns in Euros, in a long term. So, the two main immediate steps that the Indian state should take are, one, Encourage Indians to learn at least one European language in addition to English and two, increase India’s visibility in non-English speaking bigger markets like Germany, France et al.

Making an important decision !

2006-04-17T20:24:00.000+02:00

The importance of a decision is directly proportional to the difference it makes in the context concerned. A right decision makes the right difference and results in desired results. But, how can one be sure if the decision is right at the moment one makes it? Because, you always have the unknown factor and the bigger it is, the higher the risk of your decision. Most times in life, the value of the unknown factor cannot be correctly quantified and hence the exact risk cannot be quantified when the decision is made. So, only when the difference of the decision is felt, one understands if the made decision was right.

But, how does one make an important decision given that there is always going to be an unknown factor (read risk) !

One way is, consider three possible effects because of the particular decision. Best, Realistically achievable and the worst effect the decision could make. Compare the realistically possible effects of a particular decision with that of the realistically possible effects the available alternative decisions could make. Pick up the decision that has more desired realistic effect. Motivate the team to achieve the best possible effect of that decision. This would ensure atleast the realistic effect is achieved, which makes it obviously better than the alternative decision possible. Anything better than the realistically expected effect the decision could make is going to be an added bonus and the worst effect could be obviated. This approach doesn't consider the fact that in most of the cases the best, realistic or worst possible scenarios cannot be exactly defined, thereby making the comparison of the decisions harder. But, still this is one approach that could give a clarity of thought on making an important decision and help us reduce the alternatives available.

What could be a better approach for making an important decision ? Keep sharing !!!

reservation in instiutions of excellence (IITs,IIMs)

2006-04-09T20:08:00.000+02:00

The decision to reserve almost half of the seats in the insitutions of excellence that are making a valuable contribution to the nation's development and being a force to reckon with, isn't a nice idea. True - the quality of basic education have so much disparity and the people, MOSTLY belonging to SC/ST's and to a certain extent OBC's are victim to this disparity. But, reserving places for them in these institutions of excellence at PG level would mean bringing in the people who lack the foundation for the rigorous education at these institutions and forcing them to qualify at the higher level when they actually lack the foundation for it. So the right approach is to strengthen the basic education right from primary level and expose them to enormous opportunities and encourage them to see themselves at par with any other.This should be done with private-public partnership where the reach of private schools even at villages play an important role in imparting quality education where the government schools simply fail. I believe if one is fed with very good quality basic education and encouraged in the right way, anyone can compete with just about anyone.

So, I think the very practical way to go forward now is to have a time limit for this reservation. So that the up coming generation can be imparted with quality education and enable them to compete for themselves. For the people who have already missed the bus, the reservation may do some good but strict transparency should be ensured in this reservation without diluting the quality of the education these institutions provide.

Whats your take ?

why does a corpse float on water but still weighs heavy on land?

2006-04-02T21:05:00.000+02:00

I have this question suddenly raised in my mind. Its known fact that weight of an object, be it human or any non living object depends on the gravitation pull. The more is the gravitational pull, the more is the weight of that particular object. Some objects sink and some objects float in water. So a non living object which sinks does not float ever. But, how a living object ( like humans, animals) starts floating once they loose their life. Because they do weigh in land even after dying. You still use the help of 4 people to carry a human corpse. Having said that, an object that still weighs on land which, actually means the gravitational pull is still valid, how does it float in water ? May be its a stupid question, but to the best of my knowledge I couldn't decipher.

Let me know if anyone has an answer ! I shall try to come up with an answer soon, if otherwise.

kick off sedentary and welcome dynamic - entertainment!!!

2006-03-31T09:20:00.000+02:00

The kind of entertainment one engages oneself with, plays a huge role in shaping ones thinking and ability. The role of entertainment and other activities that one does outside of one’s academic pursuit could not be discounted. Having said that, the main entertainment most of India engages are movies and television. That explains why Indian movie industry makes more movies than anywhere else and how television channels are able to sustain the eyeballs higher than anywhere else in the world. As a growing up kid, I was also brought up engaging my free time with ever senti tele serials, movies with the only theme that we can think of, “Love”. Although these content are welcome and needs some amount of creativity to sustain the eye balls and engage the grey cells, but what we actually have is a dearth of other kind of entertainment. I can’t stop but compare the content here in German television with that of India TV channels. In main television channel like Prosieben in Germany we see satirical comedy, new technological developments, scientific tidbits, who is germany’s next top model, of course movies and more. Look at the variety in the content. A kid who grows up following scientific tidbits may get interested in that and may actually realize his/her real calling and a girl who looks at who is Germany’s next top model may actually get into modeling or fashion technology. Even here in a country where television is not the main entertainment and they have more dynamic entertainment like dance, fitness center’s, summer sports, winter sports, tennis, football, racing, cycling apart from the usual skin show stuff, they expose people to various possibilities and development opportunities the world offers. To put it short, the content makes people think and may even change their career path. But, why in India where television and movies plays a huge role in influencing the societal trends aren’t having enough dynamic content that could actually influence people in a better way by exposing to various possibilities. More than anywhere else, television should play a responsible role as they got more influence in India more than any westernized nation. If we have to think of any content outside of usual Love theme and family sentiments that we see in Indian movies and soap operas we invariably borrow the others from the successful programs abroad like KBC and Indianize them. Where is all our creativity? Where are all our creative thinkers and informed scholars? Don’t tell me about dedicated channels for sports like ESPN or other good content channels like Discovery. For one they don’t cater to the masses because the they are not played in vernacular languages and the next thing being that most Indian homes doesn’t have more than one television screen at home and have to be shared by the whole family. So the dynamic kind of content should be inserted into channels that most of the family agrees with. May be my mom would not agree with Discovery or ESPN, but may be with Sun TV our whole family might agree. So inserting dynamic and variety content in the main stream channel like Sun TV in tamilnadu can ultimately benefit people and influence society positively. So, my point is this. The main stream television channels, mainly in vernacular languages, should bring in content that may influence the society positively and break the sedentary entertainment tradition and show the kick of dynamically entertaining oneself.

Do you agree?

Structuring thought process

2006-03-30T14:22:00.000+02:00

Writing is the expression of thought process in words. Expressing oneself with the right words require right vocabulary. The nuances of the words used in a writing, makes the main difference between good writing and not so good writing. Words form a sentence. A well structured flow of sentences makes it a good reading. A good reading is again a process of assimilating what you read. So again, assimilation is a thought process.

So a thought process written in words as sentences are read and assimilated and transferred as another thought process into an another soul.

I think this thorough understanding of, the purpose of writing is to communicate your thought process to your intended audience, makes your thought process more structured. A more structured thought process brings out a good writing. So boyz and girlz, the first step is to structure the thought process by answering the following questions:

1. What do you want to communicate? - content
2. To whom do you want to communicate? - intended audience
3. Why do you want to communicate? - purpose

did I get it right ???

Bangalore to Bengaluru?

2006-03-29T20:18:00.000+02:00

Living in Germany, not a day passes without mainly china and most times India being talked about. Roaring economy and discussions about the distinctions in weather, culture and language invariably takes the front seat when it comes to India. China with its amazingly fast infrastructure development and an attractive market cannot be compared evenly to India, a country with its all well known bureaucracy and crumbling infrastructure even in the best of our branded city like Bangalore. Bangalore is a brand and brand means value. It's too far away for my understanding, how people even think of killing this fat brand by thinking of renaming Bangalore to Bengaluru.

Rechristening Madras to Chennai and Bombay to Mumbai, our politicians have been killing the brands as a regular endeavor. But, should renaming Bangalore be perceived as just another renaming endeavor? Or it means more, not just to the city but to the nation as a whole?

When I got a chance to meet the chancellor of the University where I did my Bachelors just after his short term course at Harvard, he was surprised that Bangalore is so well known among his fellow participants than even Delhi and Mumbai. This was more than a year before and lots changed since then. Obviously, since then many more countries and many more people have been exposed to the brand that’s Bangalore. Imagine, New York and London is not called so anymore. Would you recognize them? Would you have the same passion for the renamed cities that you feel for them now? How many years of tireless brand building took these majestic names to be established as a brand in many hearts of this world? If renaming New York or London sounds a distant possibility, how renaming Bangalore could just be a reality. How do we even dare to kill our golden goose that’s Bangalore and surprisingly there is not much of an uproar in a land where a German woman being apparently raped makes the main headline in the largest selling Indian news paper, TOI. Where are all the journalists and where are all the business tycoons who should be more concerned than anyone else.

The brand Bangalore was not built by the politicians. Many software engineers added thousands of lines of code from the city which ultimately made it valuable and these engineers have flocked Bangalore from all over the nation. The best thing the politicians did, they were off the scene. Also, the contribution of the various Indian and multi national companies for building this brand cannot be belittled. The politicians of Karnataka could not even keep pace of the infrastructure development with the city's growth. If you cant help don’t hinder. Hopefully before it’s too late, the private companies, people and the government rescues Bangalore’s from its infrastructure woes. The politicians would also do a lot well if they keep their hands off anything that’s detrimental to the development of the city. This issue should be immediately sorted out at the highest levels, so as not to create any confusion in the minds of investors and hundreds of hearts thats being exposed to this brand that's Bangalore.

Snow's melting, Spring's coming!!!

2006-03-25T11:17:00.000+01:00

I moved to Munich in one of Munich's worst winter, in years . As I see spring coming and Sun showing and more people on the roads and sometimes too little on them....yea it's spring that's coming. At Marien Platz, the city center, its tribal fashion. You know what, so it's translated to Indian fashion. Some still bet, India is a tribal country, yet. And at Neuperlach zentrum, slim and tall, elegant and graceful girls walking the ramp, presenting the fashion of this Spring. It wasn't tribal, so it wasn't Indian :). Amazing it was, what a display by the girls...Kudos!!! Mesmerized meeee !!! oops, there were some guys thrown in too !!! :) Did I mention that, they were simply amazing in the closing session....Let me give them their due......am a guy too :)

So, everyone here in Munich is welcoming the Spring and snow's melting away, paving the way for, perhaps what could be my last spring here in Germany.....

US residents of Irish ancestry, 9 times Ireland population

2006-03-17T20:00:00.000+01:00

Do you know the number of US residents who claim Irish ancestry(34.3 mn) are almost 9 times the population of Ireland itself (3.9 mn)?

Real interesting stat!!!!

Will Globalization ever happen?

2006-03-12T10:50:00.000+01:00

The recent acquisition of Dubai Ports World of Britain based ports giant P&O, inturn getting control of six main US ports, the subsequent opposition from the US congressmen and a final "give up" by DP-World, was an important episode that should not be missed to understand the larger picture. This should also be seen in the context of Spanish government's opposition to German based E.ON energy, the energy giant, taking over Endesa, citing Energy security and French government's opposition as a stake holder of Mittal Steel attempt's to take over Arcelor, a fellow steel giant citing job losses.

What does this mean to globalization? How would these developments help develop a conceptual understanding of what could future have in store for globalization. Globalization, as I understand, is any time any access to any market. But in a true sense could this ever be a reality, as long as there are geo-political obligations and aspirations. America, would never give up its super power status and all its strategies, be it the Nuclear deal with India floating NPT or its unilateral action on Iraq citing WMD, shows America's vision to control the world. No other country is going to give up any of its strategic infrastructure that could seriously alter the geo-political leverage the country has. So globalization will only be possible to the extent , exempting the Nation's security based infrastructure and businesses like Energy, power, transportation, Telecommunications to a certain extent the stock market. So there will never be an uncontrolled globalization happening and there will always be concerns expressed, if any other Nation's company attempt's to take over the above said strategic infrastructure. So, this explains why the US opposes the ports deal and why Spain opposes the Energy deal. But, this still leaves us into oblivion, why France opposes the steel deal, which does not directly come under the purview of any strategic need of the countries concerned. Its business ! so, why does France and Luxembourg happens to be opposing the deal and what are the reasons cited, its job losses as I said !

Hmm, sure it is. Western companies want access to the ever expanding Asian markets, want to take a slice of the pie of the growing Asian middle class and want to satisfy its ever hungry share holders. But why is that not one single Asian company truly leveraging the benefits of globaliation and getting access to Western markets. If am not wrong, Mittal steel, although not an Asian company, is the only private (forget about Chinese government owned giants) Asian owned company that is scaling up such huge heights. Asian giants like Samsung, LG have its own sphere of influence but none has scaled up to become the World giant, as Mittal steel's acquistion of Arcelor will make it.

Clearly it shows the double standars of Western nations, which always "encourages" developing nations to open up its market, as they themselves are increasingly, closing their markets. So this means "Globalization" is nothing but a strategic weapon to make the developing countries open its market but increasingly making the developed countries closing up their markets.

Will this be the future of globalization ? leave your comments !!!

US plans "stealth shark spies"

2006-03-04T09:50:00.000+01:00

check out: Now shark's can be spies !!! How good is that ?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4767428.stm

light moments

2006-02-18T10:50:00.000+01:00

Mr.Churchill sat down next to Lady Astor at dinner one day. She turned to him and said, 'Mr.Churchill, if I was married to you I should put poison in your coffee.' Mr.Churchill turned to her and said, 'Madam, if I was married to you.........I should drink the coffee'

hehehhehe....

by d way, who is Lady Astor ?...leave your comments

pj

nice ones....i write as i remember

2006-02-17T21:33:00.000+01:00

When the going gets tough
the tough gets going

- anonymous (atleast I don't know)

Winners dont do different things
they do things differently

- source (whoever said it - I know it thru Shiv khera)

Tagore's own words

2006-02-16T22:19:00.000+01:00

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By the narrow domestic walls
Where the words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arm towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into the ever widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

Rabindranath Tagore

philo beats

2006-02-16T21:50:00.000+01:00

I wouldn't ever want to forget this ever green and ever true statement:

"Necessity is the mother of all inventions"

Every day, an arduous journey BUT truth remains the same !

2006-01-08T17:53:00.000+01:00

I wake up every day hoping for the best, striving for the better and working till it lasts. So are many humans in this world, and not a single day passes with all the un called and un expected times that one come across. Over the years, everything changes, the kind of times have changed. You are more worried about your emails being hacked than your snail mails being missed out and you think of your flights being missed out not anymore of making it to the correct time for the unpredicatable train. As time changes, many things changed but neverthless, the truth and the response for your un predictable and un expected times have always been the same. You work harder, think further and strive better as always and life just moves on, only leaving the hopes behind and letting you taste the bitterness of reality. Life makes even this bitterness sometimes sweet, thats how you even enjoy times, sometimes. Everyday life proves an arduous journey and today's life doesn't spare anyone and atleast in it, it is truly secular. Nothing is fool proof and nothing is ultimately secure, air or land or sea and you the better individual or the worst individual - life treats you the same. You have the same risk irrespective of your status, quality and ability. Atleast its being im-partial. This all makes me wonder, what God has in mind. HE, has a reason and there is an ultimate truth that there is a HE who decides who and when ?

So, life is an everyday journey, take one at a time and thank god till it lasts. As some miner said, when he is about to die when trapped while mining in West Virigia !!!

It wasn't hard, Just went to sleep !!! I Love You !

I am just going to cherish, till I sleep !

kane

Attitude on an external factor ?

2006-01-02T08:21:00.000+01:00

Does attitude depends on something external and its not imbibed internally ? and can attitude be learnt and forgotten on will ? or attitude is something in born in you ?

The answers for these questions lie within. Attitude is how you take things that come your way and Character is how you react to those things. Attitude is how you perceive and character is how you answer. So the perception for the challenge posed lets you answer by your character. So how does attitude gets shaped. Attitude is something that's being tamed and polished by your upbringing. The environment one was brought up in, the friends one makes up in the years of formation plays a huge role in shaping one's attitude. But attitude is not completely unchangeable. The years of formation are important but not the only deciding factor in one's attitude. The most important point is to realize what he really is and by sincere efforts and perseverance one can change his attitude by forcing himself to see both side of things. Basically in an argument, most of the times both sides are right and it's just the way one sees it makes the difference. For example you see a person in the front and say, hey he has a nose , two brown eyes and a one shitty mouth and some other person sees at his back and say, he just has some kinda black hair , a neck and a.., ya you're rite, a BACK. So both of you see the same person but the only difference is you see the different sides and most times the argument is he is not the same person as the other person sees. But the truth is, both are same and its just the way you perceive is different. So coming to our point of Attitude and perception and changing attitude on will. One should understand or have the ability to understand all sides of the argument and come to the most plausible conclusion. So for a better or the right attitude one should first develop the ability to see all sides of the issue and if one has it, then he can change his attitude on will and most of all have the right attitude.

As someone said, The Best way to handle a problem is to solve it.

cheers
kane

Bird Flu - Take steps for prevention

2005-12-18T18:53:00.000+01:00

There is a "Bird Flu" scare all over the world. The virus is called "H5N1" and I would like to list out the important points I came to know in a CNN report.

How can one catch Bird Flu:

1. If you come into close contact with birds (specially chicken's)
2. There is also a chance to get it from already infected people, but scientists are still puzzled about the capability of the virus to do it
3. mainly in countries like Thailand, Indonesia its very much happening
4. Suspected continents infected with Bird flu are Asia and Europe, still not detected in the US but already a sense of pandemic is in the air among the researchers

Symptoms:

1. You came in contact with a poultry or chicken or someone who is in common contact with poultry and attacked by fever within a week - It could be a clear case

Prevention is better than cure:

More than wearing masks and taking any innoculation the most important things to do are more simple but not simply done

1. Wash hands as often as possible with soap
2. Dont come in direct contacts with poultry
3. Can eat chicken but make sure YOU cook it and cook it more than 150° F

Worst case feared:

1. Severe pandemic outbreak
2. not enough vacinations not even in US
3. At the most can prevent infected people from dying, but not suffering

Be cautios, I am gona be too. My today's lunch was chicken, and that's now scary.

Better be informed.

Related link : http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/

kane

2005-11-26T12:13:00.000+01:00

One, for whom I have huge "respect" .
Mr.G.Viswanathan --> Chancellor --> Vellore Institute of Technology

2005-11-24T12:03:00.001+01:00

Also taken at Fraport, would be great if anyone can let me know who this is !!!

2005-11-24T12:03:00.000+01:00

A cool one from Fraport (Frankfurt Airport) - no rewards for the right guess !!!!

whatz cool !

2005-11-19T08:02:00.000+01:00

Oh ya , wats cool yaar !

Cool, I was inspired to talk abt wats cool by the kewl little impromptu get together we friendz had at appu's place. It was cool that 6 (appu, Dilipu, naturalich, eeaaanna, Complan boy and Dr.Rao) of us got together and started cooking an almost complete south Indian dinner (palak, cauliflower fry, butter gemüse with rice and two kinda pickles) After this kinda cool "party", if others let me call it so, I wondered what other guyz would be doing on Friday nites and if they would enjoy what I enjoyed!

Friday nites are kinda cool and people enjoy as they say the "wochenende" and one can see night clubs pubs over flowing with youngies having a blast. As an Indian student in Germany with most Indian students speaking limited German, we have limited choices to define wats cool for us and wat we enjoy the most. My interests, even though I don't follow them all the time for all reasons you can find on earth, are travelling (love it, more bcos with my limited budget, it makes me an innovative spender. I wonder if I would still love it the way I do it, if I have enough of budget), chatting (yea my friends say, I do it all the time wen I have time ,which I have most of the time :) ) , cooking (I do really enjoy it, even though some of my friends wana shout their mouth out that I am the contrary) and I like designing websites, only to start all over when am about to upload them ( some of my friends know what I mean). This is what I do most of the time apart from keeping me updated in world economics, politics and current affairs.

When I was thinking all that I told you, my imagination went on a more serious note. One of my Dad's friend was suggesting him that he should take more time out for his family and for himself.
My dad quipped, some profound words that left me thinking forever with a different perspective, "who said am not enjoying ?". Enjoyment is subjective and I enjoy working hard, working more and working good. So, I do what I enjoy and I enjoy what I do and that keeps me going. So, for my dad working hard and working good is cool and these words plunged me into a more deeper thought. What do I enjoy the most. For me, work is part of life but not the whole.But, work calls for complete dedication and that is ideal.

Not for all, going to discos and pubs mean "life lived king size". Imagine if there were no Graham Bells and Einsteins and more and anonymous people working on more anonymous technologies and if they do not enjoy what they do, what will be in store for our future!

so whatz cool is Subjective ! and thats what keeps the world moving ! Get on and rock ! is what I would like to conclude.

luv
kane

You See me ?

2005-11-16T23:52:00.000+01:00

2005-11-16T23:47:00.000+01:00

Darmstadt - Main train station

2005-11-15T11:27:00.001+01:00

One more frm Bollywood night @ Darmstadt, Germany

2005-11-15T11:27:00.000+01:00

Bollywood night @ Darmstadt, Germany

2005-11-15T11:26:00.000+01:00

Diwali 2005 Pooja @ Darmstadt

2005-11-15T11:23:00.000+01:00

@ Frankfurt Hauptwache - watcha kewl !!!

2005-11-15T11:18:00.000+01:00

Food @ Diwali and Ramdan Fest hosted by Sathish and Jaffer Khan - Was cool

Best choice !

2005-11-15T08:51:00.000+01:00

As someone said, Life is defined by the choices one make's. Life offers you some times enormous choices and sometimes very limited choices. This always calls for the question, which is the tough decision to make ?. making one if you have many choices or making one if you have very few choices. If one has more choices one has to limit his choices anyway and so it works in a reverse direction. You do not choose by choosing but you choose by eliminating. You eliminate the choices you are not interested in and you choose the choice that is left. This is the case when you have many choices.

But as it's always you have atleast 2 choices, only then you can call it a choice. what if you have very few choices. If you have limited choices again you have very limited options. But the best option would be, you first make your choice and then you eliminate the other choice or rest of the choices.

So one can conclude, if one has many choices - theory of "elimination" works better and if one has limited choice "choose first, eliminate rest" works better.

Please leave your comments.

with luv,
Kane

2005-11-13T11:46:00.000+01:00

Hauptwache Frankfurt

2005-11-13T11:44:00.000+01:00

Mainz Karnival 2003

2005-11-13T11:41:00.000+01:00

motivating

2005-11-13T11:37:00.001+01:00

ECE block (My Block) @ VIT

2005-11-13T11:37:00.000+01:00

Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore

2005-11-13T11:28:00.001+01:00

CEBIT 2004 from Hannover

2005-11-13T11:28:00.000+01:00

Nice one from Hannover

2005-11-13T11:27:00.000+01:00

Frankfurt

Is Human inaudible machinery possible?

2005-07-04T08:45:00.000+02:00

today morning, my friend called me over phone, but he was completely inaudible to me bcos there was a heavy machine running beside me. I knew that human ear cannot decipher sound beyond 22kHz (20-22KHz audible range). So, I just wondered if its possible that we can make machinery that will scream only beyond 22 KHz , so that humans hear nothing and we get rid of the noise pollution that's all around the city you live on the names of cars, heavy machinery, construction machinery oooh, if something of that sort is a possibility, I wonder how enormous the effect would be on the world. Being a telecommunication engineering masters student, I am not sure...but just a thought and wouldn't like to pass...so wrote it out here...

Praveenjothi
Darmstadt
04th July 2005

At Darmstadt Hbf Park

2005-06-25T21:20:00.000+02:00

Today around 20:30, as always, I wanted to be alone, sitting and talking to myself. So, as I used to, I went to the park that's still coming up in front of my hostel. Though the park is yet to be completed, there are plenty of benches around for people to sit. I was sitting in one of them and talking to myself about my opinions on the article that I just read in FORTUNE about China's IP protection and the multi national companies views on it. To sum it up briefly, although China consists of 22% of world market today, it has 95% piracy. So, it means there is not enough IP protection, but surprisingly the counterfeit producs using another International brand, say Nike, is not at all bad and actually good if not the same as the original. So, the conclusion was, once china build's its own brands, it will become more active in safe guarding the Intellectual properties. I was talking about all this to myself.....and about 20 metres aways there was a man sitting...for me he was looking like a nomad and dressed as one. Whenever, I see these kind of people roaming around in streets in Germany, coming from a developing country, India, I used to wonder, why are these people roaming like a nomads despite having the gift of being born in a developed country like Germany. My justification for these kinda thinking was, either these people should be learned or of course can get some jobs if they want (my feeling was despite the record unemployment there are always enough jobs for people who genuinely try for it) or at the least would get money from the government for keeping themselves moving. Then , why are these people even roaming like this. As, I was thinking this, I suddenly noticed the man was approaching me. With all the obvious questions in my mind, I was waiting to see what's gona happen. This man came near to me and said, Hallo, Ich habe eine frage, (I have a question). and he continued in german and asked for some paper. Despite my german is not good and me having a good interest to learn it, I didn't respond this time as usual asking whether he speaks english. I wanted to manage this with my own german knowledge and also try to communicate with him in german. yea, he asked for paper and as usual I was carrying 2 papers for scribbling my thoughts and with all due respect to him, I communicated to him in my own german, I can give you half bcos I want the rest for my own use now (read scribbling). He replied, no, I dont want even half of it, a small bit will do for smoking this tobacco. Laughing at myself, I gave him a small bit of it and he said Danke schön (Thank you) and left back to his bench 20 m's away.

But, this left me with so many questions to ponder with. What he did was, he came to me and asked for a bit of paper with all due respect to me.I gave it to him and he thanked me and left. Fine and cool. You may be wondering what's there to ponder about. Well, I asked the same question to myself. The answer was, I am fine and really cool about what he did, but as an Indian I cant stop comparing the same with his Indian counterpart, not so learned and almost a nomad person. How is his behaviour different from his counterpart back home. His counterpart, back in India will almost do the same, but the difference is, I felt this person's thanks so genuine but I don't feel the same when his counter part thanks back home. Because, I as an Indian always have a feeling that his counterpart may go and bad mouth on back of me and that is a big MAY and such a possibility. But, I didnt feel the same with this person. What am I missing on here. Is it because even though I was living in Germany for around 2 yrs I dont understand Germany or its because these people are genuine in what they say. Should I blame it on cultural differences.

This left me with one conclusion. For all the people to respect all others no one should be deprived of basic necessities and I always have a feeling 99% persons of not so good people have been like that because they lack basic necessities of life and in their fight for their very existence they dont have respect for his fellow human's and their lives.

Praveen jothi

Sting operations

2005-06-25T09:34:00.000+02:00

Recent revelations and Sting operations in and about India

Sting operations in and about India are among the glamorous things happening today. After following religiously almost all the sting operations starting from Tehelka to today's Bollywood casting couch and most recent one by SUN of Britain about Indian BPO's. Sting operations and its aftermath have always been exciting. It gives one a justified scenario, like the, yea I told you, Bollywood is like that and yea ofcourse they are Indian politicians what else you expect kinda responses from people.

So sting operations, now let's ask some basic questions. Ah, Sting operations, why are they for? and what do they try to accomplish ?, Does it benefit some or more?...these questions should be answered with all honesty one can muster.

Sting operations, no matter what they expose are always with one motive behind. Publicity. Think of corrupt politicians, its most certain, if you are the one who is following the news, you dont miss out on Tehelka. Think of so called casting couch in Bollywood, it certainly brings India TV to my mind, which I have never heard before the expose. Lets come to the British tabloid SUN's revelations of the corrupt and insecure Indian BPO's. SUN is arguably more famous than their Indian cousins Tehelka and India TV , but then , why should SUN do it. well come on guys grow up, after all there are many people who are losing their jobs or living in insecurity of losing their jobs. wouldnt this be the perfect opportunity to increase the circulation. would you miss on something , so much of interest and almost be damn sure about the increase in circulation. So, as we said Sting operations are done always in some way or the other to help the source, in our case, Tehelka, India TV and SUN. But, what are these news diseminating vehicles justifications for these sting operations.

Ask Tehelka, India TV or SUN (tabloid not the TV), you certainly will hear arguments that they are serving a higer purpose by bringing corrupt politicians to light, exposing lusty actors to the people and thereby trying to eliminate "casting couch" out of Bollywood and finally exposing to the world and the people how bad is it to outsource for short term profits and how risky people's personal & confidential data are in INDIAN BPO's.

So lets take it one by one. Tehelka, handling bulks of currency to politicians who does not have enough power in their hands. India TV exposing actors again who doesnt have any absolute influence and guarantee in the industry. Revelations,by SUN that an employee of an Indian BPO, Infinity e-search , sold the personal and confidential data to the SUN reporter. But the irony being, Infinity e-search is not a BPO and certainly does not deal with any confidential data.

Come on guys, if there should be any real impact on the people's mindset and you want to see a change, you should not beat around the bush but directly hit the bull's eye. You want to expose politicians, expose those who are at the power. You want to expose the casting couch, expose the big wigs of the industry who set the rules. If you want justify anti-outsourcing do it the right way, differentiate how bad is the risk compared to your own country. One has to prove, the risk is considerably worser than doing it in your own country. Personal and confidential data are ultimately guarded by humans, and any human can be lured. So any way out.

My take:

Sting operations are good, only if it impacts a change in the society.For the change to happen, hit the bull's eye.

regards,

Praveen jothi

Why Siachen Matters - the highest battle post in the world 22,000 feet

2005-06-16T11:52:00.000+02:00

Why Siachen matters
June 16, 2005

Source : www.rediff.com

When the India-Pakistan secretary-level talks took place in Islamabad, the demilitarisation of the Siachen glacier was one of the issues on the agenda.
I had predicted there would be no breakthrough on the issue. The reason was Chief of the Army Staff General J J Singh's categorical statement that any agreement would have to proceed from recognition of the Actual Ground Position Line.
Siachen talks inconclusive
Pakistan is loath to accept this since it would mean admitting it lost the Saltoro ridge and the Quaid Post (named after the founder of Pakistan) now renamed Bana Post after Param Vir Chakra winner Subedar Bana Singh who captured it.
Interestingly, the post was held by the much heralded Pakistani commandos and was captured by the India Army's 'ordinary' infantry.
Having said all this, one must admit the utter futility of the fight over the Siachen Glacier. The area is over 22,000 feet high, offers no military advantage to either side, cannot be either a viable defence line or a launch pad and has no habitation and no economic significance.
Strategically, tactically, it is a useless piece of real estate.
The cost is horrendous, a chapatti delivered to a soldier there cost Rs 500. Even the excreta of soldiers manning these posts has to be lifted by helicopters and brought to base for disposal!
More soldiers have died there due to weather and accidents rather than enemy action.
In Siachen now weather the only enemy
Then why is the Indian Army insisting on recognition of a line on a map, and Pakistan resisting it?
World's highest battlefield
First and foremost is the lack of trust between the two sides.
A discussion organised by the Observer Research Foundation on May 4 unanimously recommended that unless Pakistan recognised the existing positions, India should not agree to demilitarisation.
The story of Pakistani perfidy on Kashmir goes back to 1947. Then it claimed that tribals had invaded Kashmir, while the truth was that regular Pakistani soldiers and officers were part of the invading force, a fact later admitted.
Make Siachen a peace mountain: PM Singh on Siachen
In 1965, it maintained a fiction that Kashmiri civilians had infiltrated.
In 1999, in Kargil it similarly claimed that 'mujahids' had crossed the Line of Control, when even tea shop owners on the Lahore-Islamabad highway knew the Northern Light Infantry was involved.
What is to prevent Pakistan in future from claiming similarly that it has withdrawn the military from Siachen, but 'mujahids' or freedom fighters have occupied it?
But the real unsaid reason for the Indian Army's reluctance lies elsewhere: The lack of trust in our civil leadership on military issues.
This may seem a harsh comment, but what has been the past record?
Kargil and Post Point 13620 offers a classic case study in decision making.
This post overlooks Kargil town and the Srinagar-Leh road, for long the sole lifeline to Ladakh. Artillery observers from this post used to bring down accurate fire on the town and the highway at will.
In May 1965, while the attention of the Pakistanis was focussed on fighting in the Rann of Kutch, a Rajput battalion in a daring daytime attack on May 17, 1965 captured the post and made the highway secure for the first time since 1947.
But under UN pressure, it was handed back to Pakistan.
When infiltration in the Kashmir valley began on August 9, 1965, the Indian Army again attacked Post Point 13620 and captured it. But then came the Tashkent agreement of January 10, 1965, and along with the strategic Haji Pir pass, the Kargil post was again handed back to Pakistan.
Finally in 1971, the Ladakh Scouts under the inspiring leadership of Colonel Rinchan captured not only Point 13620, but the entire ridge during the December war.
It is difficult to find a parallel in world history of an army capturing a mountain post at great human cost and giving it back to the enemy not once, but twice!
The strategic importance of the Kargil heights is self evident even to an amateur but that was never an input in political decision making in India.
In 1971 when Indira Gandhi had all the aces up her sleeves, she still bargained away the advantage and did not secure binding Pakistani commitment on Kashmir. To her credit, like Lal Bahadur Shastri, she at least did not give back territory won in Kashmir.
The errors of Simla
Closer to our times, in the Kargil conflict of 1999, we unilaterally declared that we would not cross the LoC.
The argument that India's restraint won it global support holds no water. The West (meaning the hyperpower, the United States) changed its stance not because the justice of the Indian case on Kashmir had suddenly dawned on it, but because it was a part of its re-assessment of the world in the post Cold War era.
By our lack of understanding and timidity, we have now established a 'rule of the game' that while Pakistan can cross the LoC we will not, even when it is tactically unsound. Thus, the duo of then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and then defence minister George Fernandes forced our soldiers to adopt virtually suicidal tactics to re-capture the Kargil heights.
Lack of geo-political vision
India never understood the vital strategic importance of the Northern Areas of Kashmir (comprising Gilgit and Hunza). This is an area where India, China and Central Asia meet.
The British, well schooled in the art, engineered a revolt in Gilgit (led by Major Brown and Captain Matheson) and unfurled the Pakistani flag there on November 3, 1947. Lieutenant Colonel Sher Jung Thapa then defended the Skardu fort for nearly eight months. But without ammunition and supplies, he finally surrendered on August 14, 1948.
Major Brown's action were not in isolation. A year earlier, a freelance explorer, Sir Francis Tillman, had undertaken the arduous trek from Urumachi in Chinese Sinkiang to Chitral. Right from the early days Britain saw Pakistan as an imperial outpost of the West in Asia (V K Krishna Menon in Michael Breacher's Krishna Menon's View of the World).
In 1971, we had a golden opportunity to concentrate our military efforts in the direction of Northern Areas, if the military was told in advance about the intention to keep territory captured in Kashmir.
It appears that no such directive was given and retention of land captured in Kashmir was an afterthought at Simla. The success achieved in capturing Turtuk and various peaks in the Partapur sector was a 'freelance' operation by the great Colonel Rinchan, almost a solo effort.
A solution for Siachen
Imagine the strategic situation today if we could have cut off land/airlinks between China and Pakistan, and had a direct land link to Central Asia and Afghanistan (the Panjsher Valley). Could the Pakistan-China nexus have flourished if the contact between the two was through the long sea route?
Pakistan China to sign fighter jet deal
It is this dismal history of lack of strategic thought in India that sends shivers down the spine of any serious soldier when our politicos enter into 'peacenik' competition (the latest entrant into this is L K Advani of Secular Jinnah fame.
What is the guarantee that some future Pakistani general/president will not re-occupy Siachen with 'freedom fighters'? And a future Indian government will not ask the armed forces to take back the Soltoro ridge?
This factor is a bigger obstacle in solving the Siachen issue than even Pakistani untrustworthiness.

Colonel Dr Anil Athale (retd) is a former joint director, War History Division, Ministry of Defence.

VoIP-SIP

2005-06-15T07:34:00.000+02:00

SIP and VoIP combination is winning the world and giving nightmares to telecom companies. In today's scenario VoIP (Voice over IP) is all set to win the world replacing the traditional old telecom and the concept of billing based on the time one uses it. SIP, the signalling protocol of everyone's choice because of its flexibility to work in many scenarios is the killer protocol for the moment and I have found some sites on SIP and VoIP
www.voip-sip.de

www.sipforum.org

www.sipcenter.com

www.iptel.org/sip

www.voip-info.org

www.cs.columbia.edu/sip/

SIP cook book

http://mit.edu/sip/sip.edu/

SIP-Wiki

http://www.toyz.org/cgi-bin/sipwiki.cgi

You can soon find more information and sites on my soon to come personal home page on a yet to name - domain name

luv all
Praveen jothi

Own the BRIC-Sleep with a kick

2005-06-11T15:37:00.000+02:00

Four Countries You Must Own

Every investor needs a stake in Brazil, Russia, India, and China

Once in a great while a trend takes hold that's so powerful, it transforms the entire global economy: the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, the modern industrial nation in the 19th century, and the emergence of cheap computing and communications in the 20th century.

The newest megatrend? It's the rise of the BRICs. That's shorthand for four dynamic developing nations with large populations -- Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The four now account for less than 15% of the economies of the G6 nations. But collectively they could be larger than the G6 in just four decades, say economists at Goldman, Sachs & Co. (GS ). That depends, of course, on whether they get the fundamentals right: sound fiscal and monetary policies, free trade with the outside world, and massive investment in education. "It's a story for the future," says Robert Hall, portfolio manager for global emerging markets at Russell Investment Group.

That means you might want to start making investments now. You can choose individual equities or take a basket-of-stocks approach with exchange-traded indexed funds or actively managed mutual and closed-end funds. Don't invest a huge lump sum at once. Instead, put your money in over time. The markets are volatile, and there will be pullbacks offering cheaper entry points.

These economies have weaknesses, too. For instance, foreign capital is pouring into China so quickly that some economists fear the combination of a speculative frenzy and a backward banking system will eventually burst the bubble. Watchdog group Transparency International ranks India among the rampantly corrupt nations in its latest Corruption Perception Index. And investors are questioning Russian President Vladimir Putin's commitment to capitalism after the recent crackdown on oil giant Yukos. Any one of those could derail the markets or the economy for a bit.

Still, there is precedent for making a long-term bet on an emerging frontier. In the years after the Civil War, America's industrial output lagged far behind that of Germany, France, and Britain. Yet from 1870 to 1914, America's economy expanded fivefold, and the U.S. became the world's leading industrial power. Along the way there were about a dozen sharp downturns and a handful of financial panics, yet stocks returned an average of 6.5% a year after inflation. "If you can close your eyes for years, you'll probably do well," says Stuart Schweitzer, global markets strategist at JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management in New York.

In part driven by the economic performance of the BRICs, the entire emerging-market sector put on a stellar show this year. The Morgan Stanley Capital International Emerging Market Index is up some 14% through Dec. 10, vs. 6.8% for the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index.

And 2005 looks good, too. Emerging-market stocks are cheap, with valuations about 40% lower than in the U.S. The sinking dollar is prompting investors to send more money abroad, says Brad Durham, a managing director at Emerging Portfolio Fund Research in Boston. Currently, global mutual funds and pension funds are underweighted in the BRICs. As investors become more familiar with the BRICs, says Durham, more money will flow to them.

One strong global theme that benefits the BRICs in particular is demand for industrial commodities. Brazil's Bovespa stock index is up some 15% this year, powered by companies such as Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, a major exporter of iron ore, and CSN, a major steelmaker. Rio Doce, CSN, and other basic industry companies should continue to do well considering the world's voracious appetite for raw materials, especially in China. Russia's Gazprom, for instance, will account for a quarter of world gas production, and it will be one of the international oil giants after buying a chunk of rival Yukos. "It's Russia's Aramco," says James Fenkner, chief strategist for Troika Dialog, a Moscow investment bank, referring to the Saudi Arabian oil company. "You don't need to be born into the House of Saud to benefit from Gazprom."

While commodities are expected to remain strong, many global investors believe rising incomes and growing employment in the BRICs will make consumer companies golden. In a decade, say the Goldman economists, the BRICs' middle class will total more than 800 million, greater than the populations of the U.S., Western Europe, and Japan combined today. The BRICs' middle class now number more than 250 million, says Goldman, and those consumers are already spurring demand for cars, cell phones, and better food, furnishings, and clothes.

Investing in the consumer sectors of these countries has been hard because of a scarcity of good, publicly traded companies. But that's changing. New opportunities are opening in Brazil, for example, after a rash of initial public offerings there. Among the IPOs were Natura, a cosmetics company, and Grendene, a footwear maker. In Russia, mobile-phone companies such as Mobile Telesystems are benefiting from growing usage. When Putin came into office in 2000 there were some 1.5 million cell-phone subscribers in Russia. Now there are more than 50 million. India's Pantaloon Retail is building both food hypermarkets and clothing stores that appeal to young buyers. Same-store sales are expanding at a 12% to 15% annual pace.

FOOLHARDY -- OR FARSIGHTED?
In China, consumers are also inveterate savers, salting away some 40% of their incomes. That's good for financial-services firms such as China Life Insurance (LFC ), a favorite of Agnes Dang, an investment manager for Standard Life Investments in Hong Kong. China Life is the country's biggest insurer, and its premium income is growing at 15% a year. Phillip Ehrmann of Gartmore China Opportunities Fund, a U.S. mutual fund, expects a number of state-run Chinese banks to go public in 2005, and they may make attractive investments. You heard that right. China's banks have a reputation for bad loans and poor management, yet Ehrmann thinks some of them will clean up their acts because the government wants them to go public.

For sure, those who invest in those Chinese banks -- or in the BRICs -- will be called foolhardy by some doubters. But much the same was said in the 19th century about those who invested in a wild and raucous nation called America.

By Christopher Farrell with Frederik Balfour in Hong Kong, Jason Bush in Moscow, and Jonathan Wheatley in São Paulo

Source:Business Week

Sanskrit at MIT

2005-06-10T07:04:00.000+02:00

hello peeps,

offlate was not able to write.......so here i come with another interesting news ....

SANSKRIT CHANTS AT MIT GRADUATION

- something that you cannot think of in India with majority of Hindu Population....you tend to flourish when you are a minority...

BOSTON: Amid chants of Sanskrit prayers on a bright and sunny morning, some 2,300 students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) received their graduate and undergraduate degrees in Cambridge. Swami Tyagananda, the institution's Hindu chaplain, offered an invocation in the language of the gods to reflect the large international crowd's spirit of unity and goodwill at one of the best-known educational campuses in the US. "May we come together for a common purpose - common be our prayer, common our goal," Tyagananda, who also quoted from Swami Vivekananda's works, told the institution's 139th commencement exercise. "May the one and the same divine reality lead us. May we be granted clear understanding and the courage to pursue the goals of social justice, non-violence, harmony and peace," he said. "Peace. Peace. Peace be unto all." Barun Singh, president of the Graduate Student Council, saluted the Class of 2005, echoing the themes introduced earlier by key speakers, Irwin Jacobs, the co-founder of Qualcomm, and Susan Hockfield, MIT president. "We celebrate the hope and promise of times to come in the world we all share. You have demonstrated the ability to reason. Be open to unconventional solutions. Keep alive your passion and drive," Barun Singh said. "The world needs this, and it waits for you." Rohit Gupta, president of the senior class, presented president Hockfield with the senior class gift, $31,000 for a new student lounge. MIT has 2,724 international students - 348 undergraduates and 2,376 graduates - registered for the current academic year, with a bulk of them from India and China. Among the international students, 45 per cent of the students and 41 per cent of the scholars are from Asia. The institution has a vibrant Vedanta Society, which even holds a 'satsang' of prayers and discourses every Tuesday. The hour-long programme also comprises guided meditation, study and discussion. Even though the programme is primarily designed for the MIT community, students from other campuses also attend the programme.

2005-05-30T20:44:00.000+02:00

An interesting article on TCS's research !

India Seeks To Upgrade Outsourcing Image May 27, 2005 12:18PM "A program is taking away what a person would do," said Ravindra Datar, the principal Indian analyst for the outsourcing industry at Gartner Group, a leading global research firm. "If the program is written well, the quality of work that you'll get out of the program is going to be better. The speed will be higher. The cost will be lower." .......

follow it up on
http://www.newsfactor.com/news/India-Seeks-To-Upgrade-Outsourcing/story.xhtml?story_id=132008USV100

regards
Praveen jothi

Sitting in my room

2005-05-18T13:24:00.000+02:00

Am sitting in my room...I started my day with a perfect plan to learn RMI and Session tracking in java and also thought of getting more acquainted with Netbeans and Dreamweaver. But things didnt work out the way it should...guess what ....yet to start with my plan..as usual I started my day with www.timesofindia.com and www.rediff.com both went on fine as long as I saw A,B,C's of blog an article in rediff...which hooked me to get an account and start blogging...which i wanted to do for long....now armed with everything, as my user name, I am already into blogging mania.....already....this is my second post for today and am hungry now....lazy to cook i see some bread with cream...i think i will eat it and come back to blogging again later in the day...will update u...

First blogging !

2005-05-18T09:21:00.000+02:00

Hello people,

oooOOH...am Praveen Jothi, my first blog...gr8 feeling...as I say this I think what I want out of this blog...well ......people reading this should get some value out of it?...well yea that could be a possibility but am juz new to blog and for getting myself acquainted with blogging...uhh...will take time...so then how could I get acquainted with blogging and still get some value out of it....

well yea I think lemme begin with writing about me.....be honest, no pretensions, no hypocrisies nothing...jus b myself...and as I write..I shall write what I am doing...what I want to be...how much I meet my own expectations and what impresses me, my interets, wat upsets me...its more of my personal diary...say as I turn back and see this say after a decade I will see as a young person on the verge of deciding on my career...what did I think of....What were the possibilities I had...why I did what I did....I think though I cant refuse that my personal priorities will have a lot of say in my decisions on my career...but I have an inhibition to publish my personal concerns online...well lets c....well praveen...good luck with ur blogging...