Tuesday, September 29, 2009

No space for Debris

Space debris are an ever present threat to satellites due to the mounting number of collisions, reports Vikas Kumar

Oh Little Sputnik, flying high With made-in-Moscow beep, You tell the world it’s a Commie sky, And Uncle Sam’s asleep

This was G Menon Williams, Governor of Michigan, at his humorous best. For, though the Sputnik that the former Soviet Union sent into space on October 4, 1957 weighed just 184.3 pounds, its political impact was huge. Some with keen memories had then picturesquely described it as the “bloodless Pearl Harbour.”

Well there’s been a lot of such bloodless events since spaceship Sputnik. Space experts have been warning for years that the number of satellites in planet orbits has been increasing at a dangerously high speed. This poses a major threat to other satellites – and yet no one paid heed to them until February 10. That was the day that two communications satellites – one Russian and the other American – disintegrated, spewing tonnes of space debris in the higher and lower orbits.

Says space expert Brian Weeden: “Collisions generate debris, greatly increasing the possibility of more of them. These significantly add to the expense of operating in space – a highly expensive business in itself. For instance, if the satellites were to be designed in a way so that they could protect themselves, the cost would rise proportionately. Their life in the orbit too would decrease, because to avoid collisions they would be forced to manoeuvre more frequently. Manned missions, such as space stations, would need to go to great lengths to protect humans.” The Kessler syndrome (named after a highly regarded NASA space debris researcher) is all about this phenomenon. Kessler had found that collisions create a chain reaction of further collisions.


For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

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


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

Friday, September 25, 2009

White panic in kochi

It is the formalin in the milk that makes it poisonous

Random milk samples collected by the Food Safety Commissionarate in Kochi have been found to contain poisonous substances like formalin, sodium bi carbonate and sodium carbonate. Seized samples have been dispatched to Central Food Laboratories, Bangalore for testing to find if there was any presence of Melamine — a synthetic chemical to increase protein content. The samples were collected following police tip-off that adulterated milk was being supplied in Kerala from neighbouring states. The FSC has alerted food safety commissioners of other states about the adulterated milk.

The large quantities of adulterated and sub-standard milk being sold in Kerala have rung alarm bells. Ernakulam district Food Inspector G Ganga Bai told TSI that milk supplied under brand names of Palika, Penta Fresh, Arokya and Pooja have been asked to stop production as their milk was found contaminated.

However, director of Pooja UN Menon has rubbished authorities’ claim that their product is adulterated. He said we don’t mix chemical in our milk, but add sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate to reduce acidity and it does not make the milk poisonous. Other companies Penta and Palika — listed on FSC — refused to react. And Arokya milk is packed in Tamil Nadu. Rampant adulteration of milk poses a great health risk to children and adults. Experts conducting research on milk adulteration reckon a strong policy framework to crackdown on fly-by-night companies selling adulterated milk. Apart from the food adulteration Act, they say, the consumer protection Act and even the Indian Penal Code should be invoked against such offenders.

Doctors say sub-standard milk is threatening India’s nutritional needs. Speaking on contamination of milk, president Indian Dietetic Association (IDA) Anuja Agarwala said: “Consumers are paranoid about the contamination of other food products but continue to ignore milk probably because of the sanctity attached to it.”

VK Batish, head of the dairy microbiology division of National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, is for enhancing shelf life of milk. “Milk preservation is the key to driving increased milk consumption today. Owing to lack of scientific knowledge, thousands of litres of milk is wasted,” he said. Traditionally people used to add water to milk but nowadays the chemicals being used in milk pose a major health hazard.


For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

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


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

Thursday, September 24, 2009

The suicides in Andhra Pradesh

The slightest doubt was enough for them to want to call it quits.” There was this young person, for instance, who hanged himself, fearing he wouldn’t now get the last installment of funds under the Indiramma rural housing subsidy scheme. A 42-year-old committed suicide, doubting the utility of the Arogyasri card that entitles the poor to free healthcare in the void left by YSR. An old couple jumped to their death from a bridge because “elder brother YSR had given them old-age pensions.” Hyderabad-based consultant psychiatrist M Phani Prasant describes such acts of self annihilation as an “impulsive action, an escape from perceived trauma, the result of an inability to rationalise a loss.”

But apart from icon worship Tamils also have an obsessive love for their mother tongue – leading to several suicides during the anti-Hindi agitations. Keezhappaavur Chinnasamy – the first casualty of the 1960s – was followed by six others. But to return to the present, 28-year-old Muthukumar set himself ablaze in front of Shastri Bhavan in Chennai to register his protest against India’s inaction and to urge Tamils to unite and fight against the genocide in Lanka. Muthukumar's suicide triggered five more, accompanied by protests from pro-Tamil organisations. From Chinnasamy to Muthukumar, the youths who committed suicide were all from impoverished backgrounds.

Suicides apart, many South Indians express their fanatical attachment to their leaders and stars by sacrificing to the goddess their fingers and tongues. Chennai-based psychologist Dr Shalini does not agree with those who feel that it is all in the South Indian’s genes. She feels it is simply the result of social forces, lack of education and immaturity. “These people are simply not educated enough to understand the real issues. It is our hidebound society in Tamil Nadu and Andhra which breeds this kind of irrational behaviour. Those of them who are settled in the West and Europe do not react like this,” says the doctor. A Marx, the social scientist quoted above, is highly critical of political parties which shy away from taking a firm stand on the issue. “When political leaders pay their floral tributes one always gets the sense that they are trying to glorify these gruesome acts,” he says. “They should instead register their strong condemnation of such primitive practices.”

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Friday, September 18, 2009

plight of a community that pakistan abandoned

Just as it is unintelligent to denounce the great German nation for the crimes of the Nazis, it would be imprudent to charge the Bengalis for the conduct of the Awami League. Many other blood-curdling tales of murder and mayhem were narrated as Jamil took me to other camps the day after. Similarly, there was no dearth of tales of acts of valour of Bengalis who sheltered and protected — at enormous peril to themselves — their fear-stricken Bihari friends and neighbours.

The most heart-wrenching story was that of Masoom Ahmad. “As the mob came close to our house, he was left with his wife and sister,” recounts his uncle Zahir Siddiqui. With only one bullet left in his revolver, his wife asked him to shoot her lest she be raped by the mob. “I am your wife, I have first right on that bullet,” his wife pleaded. His sister’s entreaties were the same. The next day, Zahir found their bodies. The empty revolver lay by Masoom’s side. Zahir stops the tale here and offers me the last piece of Bihari kebab. Who did Masoom shoot? The truth will go to the grave with Zahir. The kebab tasted awful.

For 38 years now, these Biharis have been spread across Bangladesh in 66 fetid camps, each a thatched firetrap. They live as refugees, although theirs is a more atypical quandary. They did not leave their nation; their nation left them. In triumph, they would have been patriots. In rout, they were traitors.

The Bangladeshi regime issued a number of official promulgations in the shape of Presidential orders, which were in reality devices to disinherit the Biharis of their property, possessions and bank savings. For many months, those cooped up in these camps were not permitted to go out for anything, including employment, schooling or healthcare.

“They have been forced to exist in sub-human conditions for the last four decades and will, in all likelihood, live like this until they die”, observes Mahtab Haidar, a Dhaka-based analyst. “Poverty isn’t the only thing that hinders their progress. They are without schooling, job prospects, and an identity. They merely survive as statistics in ration cards, respite programs and slum-arson tales,” he adds.

“I've dreamt of shifting to Pakistan for decades,” says Rubina Khatoon, 56, standing outside the tiny 6 feet by 6 feet shanty she shares with six of her kin. “There they converse in my tongue, Urdu.” Rubina’s camp is just another slum in Dhaka. Most live with no power, water or healthcare. Illiteracy, joblessness and undernourishment are widespread. But startlingly, there are no beggars.


For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Memories of a Nightmare

The wounds still fester in Kandhamal, the scene of Orissa’s worst communal riots in living memory, though a sense of calm prevails on the surface, reports Dhrutikam Mohanty

An entire year has elapsed since Orissa’s Kandhamal districtIIPM erupted in an orgy of communal violence following the brutal murder of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four disciples on August 23, 2008. But the scars are still deep. Ask Sanatan Bagh Singh, a resident of Tikabali town, one of the worst-affected areas of the district.

He says: “At midnight, miscreants attacked my house. I managed to escape to a nearby forest. But I am still terrified. Fear and distrust hang heavy on my mind. I spent so many sleepless nights before taking refuge in a relief camp. You can’t imagine how horrible it was…” His trembling voice trails off.

The Kandhamal communal riots claimed 37 lives, thousands were rendered homeless and 100 churches were desecrated. Bagh Singh is now trying to gather the shattered pieces of his life with a bit of help from the district administration. “I try to forget but I can’t. Memories of that nightmare still haunt me,” he says.

A TSI team revisited Kandhamal for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation in the district on the first anniversary of Saraswati’s death, being observed on Janmashtami day, August 14.

After a non-stop drive of about 180 kilometers from the state capital, Bhubaneswar, we took a tea break at Tikabali Bazaar and interacted with a cross-section of the town’s denizens. An uneasy calm prevails here, but scratch the surface and you find hearts that still need comforting. The Tikabali police station loomed into view and the mind raced back to the horrifying sight one had witnessed at the same spot a year ago. Miscreants had burnt down the police station.

Kandhamal is today dotted with CRPF pickets. We encountered as many as three such security checks after entering the district. A day before the first anniversary of Saraswati’s death, the local administration was in no mood to let its guard down. The Tikabali police station, just a few furlongs away from the last check post that we ran into, was fully fortified with a CRPF camp. The scenario seemed to have changed with the administration going all out to eliminate traces of the havoc that the rioters had wreaked.

A brief interaction with a few police personnel revealed that, as part of a strategy to boost security, 12 platoons of the Orissa State Armed Police, along with a company of CRPF, were being pressed into service to help the district police force. Besides, around 250 special police officers from neighbouring Rayagada and Gajapati districts had moved in to man sensitive areas of Kandhamal district.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Single-board system lauded

Common syllabus, textbooks for classes I and VI by 2010

The Tamil Nadu government’s decision to introduce equitable standard school education from the next year onwards has been welcomed. Initially the new education policy to have a single-board system will be implemented in the academic year (2010-11) for I and VI classes and in 2011-12 it will be expanded to other standards.

A Common Board will be created by merging all boards. Unlike other states, four streams of school systems are being followed in Tamil Nadu: State board, Matriculation, Anglo-Indian and Oriental. As for the medium of instructions, besides Tamil, other languages now being used would continue.

Educationists feel that the changes due from quite a long time would help improve quality of education in the State-run schools. Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal, at the 56th session of the Central Advisory Board on Education held in New Delhi appreciated the move and said: “I am happy to hear that the Tamil Nadu government has adopted a single-board system for equitable education.”

The new education policy was first discussed by the DMK in the 2006 elections. The party had promised to introduce ‘Samacheer Kalvi’ (equitable standard school education) if voted to power. Once the goal was achieved, the government appointed a committee headed by S Muthukumaran, former vice chancellor of Bharathidasan University, to study the possibilities of introducing equitable standard education in schools. And in 2007, Muthukumaran submitted his report. Initially the recommendations were welcomed with apprehension. Some private schools opposed it. But the government claims that all contentious issues have been resolved. All told, some private schools are still resisting this move. They are planning to challenge the government’s decision in the court.

“Muthukumaran committee held exhaustive consultations with all the stakeholders so they can’t say the government has taken a decision unilaterally. We are ready to face them in the court,” says School Education Minister Thangam Thennarasu. Finally last week the state government announced its decision to implement the equitable education.

“It is a historic decision. And all praise to our Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for implementing the new changes. Lakhs of students and parents who are major stakeholders in the education system will benefit from it,” says Thangam.

“An expert committee will decide on the common text books and syllabus. The medium of instruction will be followed as it is now. In English medium schools English will continue and in minority schools like Kannada schools there will be a status quo,” he said.

But, the State Platform for School education — an organisation which fought for the implementation of equitable education — wants the government to print text books. Besides, it wants a comprehensive school education act. But what parents and students want the most is an improvement in the quality of education.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Love-Aaj kal!

Is the golden age of romance in Bollywood over? Monojit Lahiri investigates

First things first. It has been said that the history of cinema is also a history of exciting, adventurous and celebrated love affairs. Dead right. And for excellent reasons. The very nature of film making provides the mood and milieu for two people thrown together, for continuous amorous encounters between them. Far off Switzerland or neighbouring Goa, their close and constant physical contact with each other often begins to lead on (and off the sets) to the romantic intimacies of the screenplay. Then again, they have an exclusive, subliminal and indefinable psychological bond. Idolised and damned, in equal measures, these larger-than-life creatures fall upon each other for fulfillment, leading them to believe (with some truth) that only one star can truly understand, relate and love another. But how does love surface in the first place? And what does this divine madness do to screen lovers? Does it actually help them emote better?

According to many distinguished people who pass their life and times tossing educated opinions on screen love in Bollywood, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand were the greatest.

Let’s take Dilip first. In an environment filled with hammy overacting, Dilip was perhaps the first actor in Bombay to introduce the rare, dignified and yet powerful element of restraint. And this element naturally, crept into his love scenes. The Dilip-Madhubala, Dilip-Vyjayanti, Dilip-Meena, Dilip-Waheeda teams, have love scenes fashioned by the wonderfully refreshing trait. A quiet, intense, sensitive (often to the point of shyness) lover who very nearly doesn’t make it. The near-lover, the puzzled introvert – these are some labels that come to mind while recollecting Dilip and his intense version of one from the heart.

In total contrast was the Raj-Nargis team. Loud, boisterous and always full of life and laughter, this team brought in their love-scenes a daring and pizzazz which was completely Western in concept and unknown in popular Indian cinema before. The Raj-Nargis love scenes were very passionate, very beautiful and often very physical. The heady fever comes through loud and clear when you compare "Devdas", "Daag" and "Paigham" with "Barsaat", "Awaara" and "Shree 420", Raj and Nargis really did things with their love scenes and one has to think very hard indeed to match another couple who set any generation ablaze as they did.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

The Kink in the King?

Poll reverses and law & order issues threaten to mar Modi's progress, report Hitesh Ankleshwaria and Rupesh Panchal

It was December 2007 when the world was keeping an eye on the Gujarat assembly elections. For Narendra Modi, it was a crucial poll. He had campaigned rigorously for all the 182 assembly seats except Maninagar constituency from where he himself was contesting. Against him, the Congress had pitched the then Minister of State for Petroleum Dinsha Patel, a leader with a liberal image and strong support from the economically powerful Patidar community. But Modi was confident of victory; and not for wrong reasons as both destiny and his progress report favoured him. Dinsha faced a severe setback and Modi, singlehandedly, captured 117 seats in the Assembly elections.

Today, the King’s armour has taken some hits, more damaging to the image than in the recent past. Two years ago, it seemed Modi could do no wrong. In the last general elections, Modi’s political stature reached such heights that some sections declared him a Prime Ministerial candidate – his 300 odd political rallies across India adding to the positioning. Modi won one more seat than he had won in the 2004 general elections. Like we said, that was then. Cut to the present, and the recent elections of JMC (Junagadh Municipal Corporation) and KDCMPUL (Kheda District Co-Operative Milk Producers’ Union; better known as Amul Dairy Union) touted as being an easy image booster for Modi, have shocked party observers with the Congress winning both elections. This despite many state cabinet ministers, MPs and MLAs being pressed into the campaign.

So, is the magic of Narendra Modi waning? Social scientist and staunch critic of right wing political parties Achyut Yagnik says, “Yes, Modi’s influence is decreasing. The setback in the general elections and the JMC polls is a visible example.” BJP spokesperson IK Jadeja contests the contention. He says: “Only one election is not a parameter of some one’s success or failure. In JMC we lost to the Congress in terms of seats but ward-wise we have got 14,000 more votes than the Congress.” Emphasising that Modi’s magic is still intact, he adds, “Getting that one additional seat in the recently held Lok Sabha elections happened due to the power of Narendrabhai’s development plank.” Achyut Yagnik gives his take, “BJP was only focusing on the urban middle-class but now it is working to woo people at the district and tehsil levels.”

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Monday, September 07, 2009

Cibil has a great role to play. but it is also being misused by banks

CIBIL records are always updated. But there have been occasions in the past when due to human input errors, or inaccuracies, names of innocent customers have appeared often in the defaulters list.

Information is not always updated – You might have defaulted on a paltry sum of money, and repaid the sum later. However, you still can’t be sure that this will be reported in CIBIL database. It might still show you a 'defaulter'.

Human Error – Due to human mistakes, erroneous data may be reported in the CIBIL database. For instance, a dues of Rs.1200 may be reported as Rs.12,000 – although one does expect these to be sorted out with modern reconciliation methods.

How to fix errors in CIBIL

Contact the concerned bank that has declined your loan application or rejected your application for a credit card. You should ask them about the poor credit score and demand the Control Number of your credit report, which is a nine digit unique number that helps CIBIL track an individual’s credit report from its database.

Banks generally cooperate, but give them a lead time. One should post a complaint to the bank's website, and if the bank does not revert in 15 days, one can go to the banking ombudsman.

Get in touch with the CIBIL once your status quo with the bank is sorted out.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Friday, September 04, 2009

Wounded for life - "IIPM News"

The widows and families of Indian soldiers killed or maimed in action are fighting a losing battle in the face of official apathy and corruption, report Nirupama Dutt and Mayank Singh

Three years ago when the then President A.P.J Abdul Kalam was dedicating the country’s first post-Independence war memorial in Chandigarh, a young and distraught widow cried out in agony: “Memorials for soldiers are good, but the army and society at large should take care of the families of those who sacrifice their lives for the nation.” The lady was Manreet Rana, whose husband Lt. Col Amardeep Singh and 34 others were washed away while constructing a crucial bridge over Satluj river at Kharo in the Kinnaur region of Himachal Pradesh on September 8, 2005. The whole team was wiped out when the bridge collapsed, and the Army, realising the contribution made by the team, immediately declared it a “battle casualty”. However, when it came to securing compensation that was her due, things were not so easy for this mother of two widowed at the young age of 31. The question she would be asked was: “Usko kya goli lagi thee, ya woh landmine ke karan mara thha?” Manreet was vocal about the government being apathetic to non-war casualties and also earned the displeasure of certain authorities. “What others and I are saying should be taken in the right spirit. We are not cribbing but only asking for a fair deal for dependents of those who sacrifice their lives for the nation.”

Today she is wary of the Press and does not wish to come to the forefront. “Personally, I have received a lot of help from the army and the government but there are others too and the authorities should be more sympathetic in dealing with these cases,” says Manreet.

She is right. The battlefield exploits of intrepid soldiers like Capt Mohan Singh, Shaurya Chakra, Capt Gurjinder Singh Suri, Mahavir Chakra, and Havildar Anand Kumar, Sena Medal, are stuff that legends are made of. No enemy could stop them from accomplishing their difficult missions. But their families are today at the mercy of an insensitive system that does little to alleviate the irreparable loss that they suffered.

Post-martyrdom, these brave soldiers are often laid low by the apathy of a nation that forgets them and their families. Captain Mohan Singh has survived to tale the tale, but in the case of the other two men mentioned above, their families have been left to fend for themselves.


What hits many army widows most is that three years after the casualty they are required to vacate their official residence and this is extendable only by six months. The army widows have been demanding that this facility should be extended to them for at least five years.

Only the names change, not the complexion of the problem. Scores of women like Manreet are getting a taste of the government’s apathy around the country. Their belief in the system is beginning to waver. Jaya Babbar is still awaiting the Rs 5 lakh compensation promised by Assam government after her husband Major Inderjeet Singh laid down his life fighting insurgents and was awarded the Kirti Chakra (posthumous) in August 2003.

She says: “It is only fair that the law be amended to give army widows an extension on the official residence. After a soldier is killed in war or peace, the widow has to cope with much. First she has to deal with a grave personal tragedy and then fend for the children and herself. And then she has to run from pillar to post to get her due.”

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Wind from the woods

Khan Connection

Deepika Padukone, who did her first movie with the Baadshah of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, and then with other superstars like Akshay, Saif and Ranbir, now wants to work with Salman Khan. Maybe that’s why she has already made two appearances in Salman’s “Dus Ka Dum”. But with Salman and SRK at loggerheads, we wonder if Salman would oblige her. Plus, Deepika needs to realise that having a superstar for a co-actor won’t ensure box-office success every time… Eventually she will have to get cracking at learning to act too!
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative