HOW SAFE IS INDIA’S SILICON VALLEY…?

How safe is India’s Silicon Valley…? Is a very vital question to be answered at this juncture? Within the span of few weeks, two major incidents have taken place which has gained a good deed of national significance. First, how the Bangalore based girl was raped and murdered. I have already discussed that. Second, even more significant because this has put the state’s security in jeopardy.

Normally all the major institutions like Indian Institute of technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has a good number of security personnel’s to guard. On 27th December, 2005 there was a function held at the premises of IISc in which nearly 30 foreign delegates were to participate and you have a gun fire. What did gun fire have to do in a place where education is the key? On the sad side, a Delhi IIT professor falls a prey to the gun shots.

So far none of the so called ‘militant groups’ have taken responsibility, which I find totally rubbish and idiotic. These militant groups do the nonsense and after which claim responsibility so that confusion does not arise among them. Funny…though…!!

I would blame the ruling congress party for this security lapse. How can they allow an Ambassador car to enter the premises without being checked? The car could not have barged through some opening; it should have passed through one of the gates. Where were all the security guards? To add to the security lapse, the Karnataka Government had received RAW information that some attack would take place in their state, have they been a bit careful they could have saved a precious life. As a result of this, all the southern states have been put on high alert. What’s the point…?? Do they expect one more..?

This has by far put a lot of headache to the Government of the state, security problems. Already Bangalore has been facing the music for lack of or rather poor infrastructure. This has added to their misery. Companies like Infosys, Wipro and other major IT companies have beefed up their security, thanks to the Wednesday attack.

So, end results…will the state wake up to overcome all these challenges, if not I think another election may be round the corner coz Bangalorians as they liked to be called will not tolerate this for too long.

1st ANNIVERSARY OF KILLER TSUNAMI

On December 26, 2004, Tsunami struck the Indian coastline in the east and caused wide spread damage not only to lives and property but also to the psyche of the people, who were in its path.

Now that 1 year has gone, how far has the re-habitation work been carried out? The sorry state is that ht Government cannot point out any village where every boat has been repaired, where every net has been replaced, where a single house has been completed. Most of the work however has been done by NGO’s.

The killer waves caused widespread damage not only to India but also to many parts of South – East Asia. Indonesia was very much affected and the tourist spot Phuket was badly damaged. I recently saw in news that Indonesia has indeed set up a Tsunami warning system and a mock test has already been carried out. This has been done by a country that in many ways poor than India and we are yet to fix the system…INDIA – The land of difference.

So come again December 26 – many people would have horrid memories of last year. I was told there are going to be special prayers for the deaths as a mark of remembrance. The greatest tragedy to hit the subcontinent. Tsunami has become a common household name – some say it will never happen again for another 100 years and some say if the earthquake is on the ocean bed it can trigger one. Personally I am for the second one; if an earthquake of that velocity occurs again on the sea bed it can trigger a Tsunami again.

So, on December 26, 2005 – India is standing on the same platform where it stood on December 26, 2004, off guard to the killer waves which till day remains as a Black Sunday.

WAKE UP CALL

In the recent years India has become the most sought destination for outsourcing – thanks to the English speaking crowd. This has contributed to the growth of the national income of the country. This being one side of the coin, the other as many people debate is whether ‘The country’s culture – lost’. The employment opportunity in the country has risen, as the only major qualification to join a BPO would be to speak good fluent English, which many Indians do with ease, thanks to the British. As a result, there is more money in the hands of youth who care a little about saving. They are willing to spend on anything they fancy, which unlike the parents would abstain from doing.

In BPOs people work according to the timings of their client and since they work for a major companies in the US, they are forced to work at erratic times. As you may be aware, safety for a female citizen of the country is to barest minimum. The father of the nation Gandhi once said that India will attain freedom only when a woman is able to walk all alone in a night.

So, we have still not attained freedom. Those who have read the paper would know about what I am talking, for the unknown it’s about how a Bangalore based girl was raped and murdered. This has called for wide spread protest all over the state.

The girl worked for Hewlett Packard, its off shore outsourcing unit in Bangalore. She was in night shift which means the employer sends a cab to pick her up at 1 am. As usual the cab did come but the driver was not the one she was familiar with, a stranger who kidnapped her, raped her and ultimately murdered her. The driver was to pick 2 more girls but they declined from boarding the cab, had this girl too been wise enough to decline she could have saved her life.

So, whose fault is this – the employer or employee? I would say both are to be blamed, but a bit more on the part of the girl. At first, there should be some mechanism where by if the driver is changed the staffs should be intimated. Secondly, why can’t a staff of the company come along with the cab driver, atleast during night shifts?
But…is it technically feasible…??? When cabs come to pick one up in the middle of night, I strongly feel a senior staff of the company comes along preferably a male (the risk is less or nil… should I say?). By this, one can prevent cases of this kind.

We talk about globalization, economy boom, a market rise beyond the 9000 mark…but is the country actually developed or developing. I would be against it, what is the need for all these developments when we are not able to provide the basic security for a woman. All these developments go down the drain. This has been a wake up call for all the state governments as well as the employers. I would like to be optimistic, so I hope all the necessary decisions are taken to safeguard woman of the society and wish people learn a lesson from this and be careful enough to stop it from happening again.

INDIA – MAN POWER (or) MONEY POWER

hi all,
actually this is the article which i wrote for a competetion to Sulekha.com. i have just copied the same..its for 200 words..so less

INDIA – MAN POWER (or) MONEY POWER

Well, this is a question which has been kindling my mind for a very long time now. Are we known for Man or Money power? After pondering over this for quiet some time, I have come to this conclusion, of which I am quite sure of – India is definitely known for man power, be it in the past or present or future. India will be known for this.

There used to be a popular joke, “Indians only source of entertainment – giving birth”, but now it’s the greatest advantage for our country. India has got more number of people between the age group 25 – 40 years…youth who will definitely contribute to the growth of country in some way. So, the joke is of the past…it can’t be used anymore.

India may be known for its money power, as nowadays we are not wholly dependant on foreign aids whenever natural calamities strike as has been shown in the case of Tsunami relief. The Prime Minister politely declined the U.S aid and at the same time we helped Sri Lanka in their hour of crisis. We really helped the ‘Super Power’ with our money power recently as in the case of hurricane Katrina.

Even though all these things suggest that India has more money power, the fact is it has got more and more man power which is mighty too. The country’s man power includes both labour and knowledge. For instance, even the unskilled labourers are able to migrate to other countries and contribute to the foreign exchange reserve. In the case of skilled labourers, all the countries of the third world vie with each other to have the best brain in their organizations.

For the past few years there has been a reverse trend in the case of brain drain. The MNC’s form all corners of the world have set up their back offices in India and appoint our men. So, there seems to be no worthwhile match for Indian labour!

Another Word in Dictionary

Last year people of south India had a new name attached to their dictionary. It had its origin from Japan – and its none other than ‘Tsunami’. Tsunami created havoc to the whole of South Asia which resulted in the loss of innumerable lives. This has been the hallmark of destruction for the year 2004 by Mother Nature.

This year again, though confined to parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, another name is being added. This is however a cyclone by name ‘Baaz’. This time it had its origin from Iran. The year 2005 saw as many as 25 Hurricanes hitting North America and similarly number of Typhoons hitting Japan.

So, what’s this…? All this refer to the same natural phenomenon. If the event happens in the Indian Ocean, it’s called Cyclone. If the same event happens over Atlantic Ocean, it’s called Hurricanes and when it happens over Pacific Ocean we call them Typhoons. So all ultimately refer to the same natural event, their names vary as well as their velocity.

Cyclones are circulating storms formed in the ocean between 5 and 30 degrees north and south of equator. They are very unpredictable in the sense, they may slow, accelerate, curve or move linearly on their paths. They may be active for a few hours to even few weeks.

In the history of India, so far 7 cyclones have been recorded to have caused maximum damage, the last being this one. The 1st cyclone was way back in 1864 in Calcutta which claimed nearly 70,000 lives, which so far is the only cyclone to have caused maximum damage. There have been events recorded in 1942 (Bengal), 1971 (Orissa), 1977 (Andhra Pradesh), 1996 (Andhra Pradesh), 1999 (Orissa) and 2003 (Andhra Pradesh). These have caused damages but their scale of destruction is comparatively less. Incidentally all the cyclones have hit only the eastern side of the country – states which share one of its borders with the Bay of Bengal.

Cyclones, Hurricanes, Typhoons – whatever name we give, are created by Mother Nature which have brought destruction & claimed colossal number of lives. Though, scientifically we can say that these require a lot of preconditions to evolve, we can just be a spectator when it lashes. Man has not reached such a stage from where he can predict the quantum of destruction from these natural calamities. By science, we can find its course, nothing else can be done.

Mr. Kalam too spoke on the same lines at the conference held in IIT Madras. He wanted scientist of the world to not only predict, but also provide with additional information like amount of water level carried by the clouds as well as the amount of destruction it can cause. He also wanted the entire scientists of the world to start a virtual grid of information about natural calamities like cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes… which will help in knowledge sharing. Since India was not a member of the Tsunami warning system we were not forewarned about it. So we should see to it that anything of this sort never happens again.

Tsunami did cause wide spread damage & destruction – and people have named their kids ‘Tsunami’ as a mark of remembrance. So, I hope this doesn’t happen with this cyclone Baaz.

Genuine Genius

On Saturday (26.11.2005), the long standing record of the former Aussie captain Allan Border came to an end, in the most emphatic fashion. He held the record for the maximum number of runs scored by an individual in test matches (11,174). But on Saturday, the Trinidad born Brian Lara broke this record when he scored 226 against Australia on the 2nd day of the second test – in an already lost series. His score of 226 came from 298 balls which included 22 boundaries.

The West Indies had a miserable tour when they lost the first test by a huge margin. However in the second test Brian Lara was the lone fighter, contributing 60% of the total score of the Windies, so as to salvage some pride.

Brian Lara was born on May 2nd, 1969 in Santa Cruz, Trinidad, the youngest of the 7 brothers. He made his test debut against Pakistan in 1990 and made 44 and 6. At that time no one would have thought that one day this young lad would become a prolific batsman. His first test centuary came against Australia in Sydney, where he made 277.

The year 1994, definitely should be a year to remember for all cricketing fans as well as cricketing statisticians. This year saw the tumble of many records. Firstly, his innings of 375 against England saw him break Sir Gary Sobers’ world record score of 365 not out. In the same year, he made another mammoth total of 501 not out for his county Warwickshire against Durham. The record still holds good, for the highest score in First Class cricket.

Nine years later in 2003, Matthew Hayden broke Lara’s record of highest individual score and surpassed it by scoring 380. But Lara was not a man to depend on luck. He wanted only his name against the highest individual score. So in 2004, exactly 10 years later, Brian Lara broke Matthew Hayden’s record of 380, by scoring 400. Incidentally, he reached his highest previous score also in the same venue (St.John’s, Antigua) and also against the same opponent (England).

WHAT A BATSMAN…?

Earlier in 2005, he surpassed Steve Waugh, to move into second place. And on November 26th, 2005, he made history by marching ahead of another Aussie great Allan Border to become the worlds’ leading run scorer in tests. Incidentally by this another feather is added to his cap. He became the first player since Sir Garfield Sobers to simultaneously hold the record for most test runs and highest test score. He also has 8 double centuries to his credit and I think only the legendary Sir Don Bradman has more double centuries than him.

So what now, he has conquered all the frontiers in the test arena, he has only his records to break.

LARA HAS INDEED COME A LONG WAY…

Hats off to one of the legends of the game…!

WAR OF THE CHANNELS

Two political parties, two channels therefore two news and what we get – truth from neither of them. I think people in Chennai would accept my view and can understand me better. For the unknown, it’s the battle between Sun TV held by DMK (political party) and Jaya TV (political & ruling party).

This is indeed what is happening. Each one tries to project a different picture, but the truth is left far behind. What Sun TV does do is, they project and bring into light only things which are against the ruling Government, in which they have succeeded to a huge extent. They never highlight things which the Government has been doing. They are always finding fault and accusing the other. I do accept the fact, that they are rival parties, but my question is Why Play with the Truth.

The Sun TV has got a huge audience appeal and they think they can do whatever they want, but my friends I tell you this, its tough climbing the pinnacle of the mountain but once you reach, you got to maintain, otherwise the fall is going to be sharp and fast.

With the ignorance of the people they are able to play a very tactful game. But all I can see is truly one motive, to bring bad name to the ruling Government. But I am not saying this wrong, it’s acceptable but why do they have to misrepresent facts. This is all one can expect when political parties hold channels. Speaking of this I wonder, how Dayanithi Maran can hold the post of Union Minister for Information and Technology when his family hold a TV channel… no wonder you get Sun TV in almost all parts of the world. I know it’s a debatable question all by itself.

According to the law, only those channels in which 3/4th of the equity is held by Indians, then alone can the television channel broadcast news. This leaves us with only these 2 channels, as Star Vijay and Raj TV are out of question.

What the Tamil audience at large lack is a proper Tamil / English news channel which covers all happenings in the state and also be able to provide the truth. At this rate, I definitely feel those days are not too far away.

3 on the trot

Chennai would have made history if only today’s match between India and South Africa had taken place. For one reason that Sachin Tendulkar would have played the most number of one day internationals than any other in the history of the game, 357. The record earlier was in the hands of the legendary fast bowler from Pakistan, Wasim Akram. Unfortunately a different history was made three games continuously have so far been abandoned in this very same M.A. Chidambaram stadium.

First it was the match between India and Australia in October, 2003.
Next was the test match between India and New Zealand in November last year.
And finally today’s match between India and South Africa.
Incidentally, all the three had one common thing, apart from being played in Chennai, all the matches were abandoned for the same reason. Which is a bad weather condition…precisely heavy downpour.

The south Indian belt is known to receive most of its rainfall from the North – Eastern monsoon which sets during the time of late October and early November and continues till the mid week of December. So, was the BCCI not aware of this when preparing the itinerary or did they underestimate Mother Nature...? A mistake is a mistake only when it is done once…3 on the trot is utter foolishness.

The TNCA (Tamil Nadu Cricket Association) for its part has made a clear print in the ticket itself, “Under no circumstance shall any refund be given”, adding to the misery of the already disappointed cricketing fans. The reason, last year when a similar abandoning took place one die hard cricket fan filed a case that money should be refunded. To prevent all this, the TNCA this time printed clearly “no refund at any cost”. First of all is it right on part of it, when not even one ball is being bowled? Certainly I don’t think so, if the match is abandoned half way through then I can understand but in a situation like this I vehemently feel that refund should be given if not 100%, say atleast 50%. I wish some rule of this sort comes into effect, definitely the Indian board would care a little about keeping matches during this time of the year leave alone refund to the spectators. This sounds as the Height of Optimism.

So, the end result is the series is in a balance, whoever wins the next 2 matches alone can clinch the series. And Eden Gardens is the place where Sachin will make his landmark of playing the most number of caps for India.

THE THREE TASKS

Mr. Mike Newell has indeed done a good job. Well, first of all a big Hi..!! to all Potter fans out there. Today I managed to see the latest of the Harry Potter sequel, namely “HARRY POTTER and THE GOBLET OF FIRE”. Well wow..!! may be too small of a word to describe the movie. But by far this is one of the best of the Harry Potter movies to come out.

A great job indeed by the director, at the same time I have to accept the fact that a lot of things are missing when compared to the book. The starting of the movie itself is something really different. Actually I wanted to see the Quiddich world cup. For those of you who don’t have any clue about Quiddich…all I can say it’s similar to soccer but you fly in brooms rather than run with your legs. The whole first part of the movie has really been rushed through. But the sets are just magnificent and spectacular display of technology.

At the same time this movie didn’t disappoint in many ways, the three tasks which are the prime events of the book have been picturised in the most spectacular way as one can imagine. The man playing the role of Mr. Albus Dumbledore however disappointed in many ways, actually the original man who played this role unfortunately died and he was replaced with a real joker who just over played his part.

Though the hype with regard to the movie is not that high compared to the release of the sixth book…it does satisfy one in many ways.

On the whole it’s a must watch for all Potter fans…!!

CULTURAL POLICING

Well most of India would know this by now, ‘most’ never includes states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and many more can be added. These states are a class apart and can never be included in anything except for scams. We hear people from different walks of life commenting about this – Sania Mirza, Narain Karthikeyan and even the recently crowned Miss Universe talks about this. Even Mrs. Suhasini Manirathnam commented about this and ultimately landed in trouble. I pray that the others don’t land in trouble.

By now most of you would have guessed what I have been trying to say. It’s what one can say as the most stupid thing to crop up – apparently it is the “Kushboo comment on pre - marital sex”. For those who don’t know there is a temple built in the name of the actress…sounds funny but my dear friends this is indeed true, an ardent fan of her built a temple for her when she was in her peak of career. So what has happened to the temple…as of now I don’t have any clue as to what happened to it.

The cause for all this hue and cry regarding Mrs. Kushboo is her statement to a magazine regarding pre – marital sex. Actually what she said was and is her opinion. For heaven sake we are living in a democratic country…remember the fundamental rights of a citizen of the country – “RIGHT TO SPEAK”. What has happened to this, have we forgotten it? It’s her voice of opinion, so why do we take it so seriously. To tell you something, there have so far been 9 cases against her and she is in conditional bail. The worst part is Mrs. Suhasini Manirathnam who supported her did have the piece of cake, 7 cases against her.

The media in the country is taking a different spectrum be it print or electronic. The electronic media makes even the smallest of the issues a big one and manifolds it to a much greater extent, there by increasing the misery of the people. Next the judicial system, isn’t our judicial system pro – active, or should I say over active. Why do they encourage cases of this sort? Can’t it just ignore cases of this kind when there are so many cases pending which require action and it wastes its time on petty issues like this? The result of all this, the print media has been able to increase its circulation by over utilizing the subject and the local media gives top priority to this in their prime time news. (I don’t have to tell you which one…?)

Why can’t we put a full stop to the whole issue and carry on with other works…? Definitely one is prone to irritation when he persistently gets to hear news of this sort. Are we not targeting women in this country – firstly it was Sania Mirza regarding her dress code, next is this. Let’s have a break, why don’t we just carry on with our work and stop poking our noses into issues which don’t concern us in any way.

Well I wonder what if a woman files a case saying that Mrs. Kushboo has in no way offended us – then what would the judicial system have in reply for it…

BRIGHT DAYS AHEAD...

At last my exams got over after a well fought battle with nature. Thanks to the persistent rains my exams which was supposed to get over on Nov 3rd, ultimately got over today. For a change we had our holidays before our exams.
Well the most challenging part in a student’s career would definitely be examinations. They slog too much, definitely not the slog overs of cricket. This is a much tougher one... Speaking of cricket, brings me to the topic, the recently concluded Ind – SL ODI series, was a real treat to watch. The Men in Blue under the watchful eyes of Mr. Chappell and under the leadership of our newly crowned captain have indeed become a new and energized team to watch out for. Though hockey is the national game of the country, cricket has overshadowed it to a greater extent. People have become real fanatics of the game. And when the team makes a thumping victory like this, the joy in all cricket lovers is unimaginable (me included). I don’t think India has won a series in this fashion 6 -1, more so like a set won in the game of tennis. Though we got screwed in the hands of Zimbabwe, this team looks really rejuvenated. At this rate, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Men in Blue lift the world cup for the second time… (Actually could have been for the third time... if not for that erratic first over by Zaheer...) But what has happened has happened. So beware cricketing nations of the world!!

red...Orange...GREEN!!

Hi people.Well I've decided to start my own blog..finally!..after an inspiration from my uncle Mr.Nagarajan. He wanted me to write something so that I keep myself occupied.. so thought about this. Thanks to him.Next will be my friend Kanishkaa, he too desrves the credit.
With regards to the title, I have been trying various options but all in vain and accidently this one clicked. I hope this is easy for you to remember.As of now I have decided to pen down things which happen around me and things which fancy me a lot. Hope you enjoy my work...and keep dropping in your comments. It would be even more better if you could add this to your favorites...