1 Mr. See owned a saw. And Mr. Soar owned a seesaw. Now See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw Before Soar saw See, Which made Soar sore. Had Soar seen See's saw Before See sawed Soar's seesaw, See's saw would not have sawed Soar's seesaw. So See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw. But it was sad to see Soar so sore Just because See's saw sawed Soar's
2 I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if you wish the wish the witch wishes, I won't wish the wish you wish to wish.
3. Sounding by sound is a sound method of sounding sounds.
4 .A sailor went to sea to see, what he could see. And all he could see was sea, sea, sea.
5. Purple Paper People, Purple Paper People, Purple Paper People
6. If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?
7. I thought a thought. But the thought I thought wasn't the thought I thought I thought. If the thought I thought I thought had been the thought I thought, I wouldn't have thought so much.
8 .Once a fellow met a fellow In a field of beans. Said a fellow to a fellow, "If a fellow asks a fellow, Can a fellow tell a fellow What a fellow means?"
9 .Mr Inside went over to see Mr Outside. Mr Inside stood outside and called to MrOutside inside. Mr Outside answered Mr Inside from inside and Told Mr Inside to come inside. Mr Inside said "NO", and told Mr Outside to come outside. MrOutside and Mr Inside argued from inside and outside about going outside or coming inside. Finally, Mr Outside coaxed Mr Inside to come inside, then both Mr Outside and Mr Inside went outside to the riverside.
10 .SHE SELLS SEA SHELLS ON THE SEA SHORE , BUT THE SEA SHELLS THAT SHE SELLS, ON THE SEA SHORE ARE NOT THE REAL ONES
11 .The owner of the inside inn was inside his inside inn with his inside outside his inside inn.
12 .If one doctor doctors another doctor does the doctor who doctors the doctor doctor the doctor the way the doctor he is doctoring doctors? Or does the doctor doctor the way the doctor who doctors doctors? "When a doctor falls ill another doctor doctor's the doctor. Does the doctor doctoring the doctor doctor the doctor in his own way or does the doctor doctoring the doctor doctors the doctor in the doctor's way"
13 .We surely shall see the sun shine shortly. Whether the weather be fine, Or whether the weather be not, Whether the weather be cold Or whether the weather be hot, We'll weather the weather Whatever the weather, Whether we like it or not. watch? Whether the weather is hot. Whether the weather is cold. Whether the weather is either or not. It is whether we like it or not.
14 .Nine nice night nurses nursing nicely.
15 .A flea and a fly in a flue Said the fly "Oh what should we do" Said the flea" Let us fly Said the fly"Let us flee" So they flew through a flaw in the flue
16 .If you tell Tom to tell a tongue-twister his tongue will be twisted as tongue-twister twists tongues.
17 .If you understand, say "understand". If you don't understand, say "don't understand". But if you understand and say "don't understand".How do I understand that you understand? Understand!
18.The link to the link does not link to the link it is supposed to link but gives link to the link is not a 404 link.
Monday 30 July 2007
Myths about Alcohol
Myth 1: I can drink and still be in control.
Fact 1: Drinking impairs your judgment, which increases the likelihood that you will do something you'll later regret such as having unprotected sex, being involved in date rape, damaging property, or being victimized by others।
Myth 2: Drinking isn't all that dangerous.
Fact 2: One in three 18-24 year olds admitted to emergency rooms for serious injuries are intoxicated. And alcohol is also associated with homicides, suicides, and drowning.
Myth 3: I can sober up quickly if I have to।
Fact 3: It takes about 3 hours to eliminate the alcohol content of two drinks, depending on your weight. Nothing can speed up this process - not even coffee or cold showers.
Myth 4: It's ok for me to drink to keep up with my boyfriend।
Fact 4: Women process alcohol differently। No matter how much your boyfriend drinks, if you drink the same amount as him, you will be more intoxicated and more impaired.
Myth 5: There is no point in postponing drinking until I'm over 21।
Fact 5: Research shows that the longer you postpone drinking, the less likely you are to ever experience alcohol-related problems।
Myth 6: I can manage to drive well enough after a few drinks।
Fact 6: About one-half of all fatal traffic crashes among 18-24 year olds involve alcohol। Your impairment is related to your blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Depending on your weight, you can have a BAC of 0.02% after only one drink, which can slow your reaction time and make it difficult to concentrate on two things simultaneously. A BAC of 0.03% can significantly impair your steering. At 0.04% your vision begins to focus on the center of the road and you cannot respond as well to street signs, traffic signals, and pedestrians. By 0.05% your driving will be noticeably erratic, especially to the police.
Myth 7: I'd be better off if I learn to "hold my liquor।"
Fact 7: If you have to drink increasingly larger amounts of alcohol to get a "buzz" or get "high," you are developing tolerance। This increases your vulnerability to many serious problems, including alcoholism.
Myth 8: Beer doesn't have as much alcohol as hard liquor।
Fact 8: A bottle of beer has the same amount of alcohol as a standard shot of 80-proof liquor (either straight or in a mixed drink) or 5 pegs of wine
So, Shall I fix you a drink?
Saturday 28 July 2007
"Secularism" - As it called in India
“Secularism” is the much discussed topic in India. I would wonder what it actually meant and what it meant. The Oxford Dictionary says, “Se-Kyu-lar” that means beyond religion or that is not bound by any religion. We can also say that secularism is an Antonym of Spirituality. This means it is something similar to Atheism.
Is it practiced in India with this meaning? I wonder whether any Indian had tried to understand the real meaning of Secularism. Is India a secular State? It was not; till the Emergency Days. It was, Courtesy, Indira Gandhi’s autocratic style of functioning, this phrase was thrust into the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.
Whether one likes it or not, it has become our practice to draw parallels with US practices. When an atheist parent from California objected to his kid reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, The US Supreme Court ducked it stating that the plaintiff lacked the standing to file such a case at the outset.
The US Supreme Court had ruled this case stating that phrase “under God” would remain in the Pledge of Allegiance. They also state that US is not a secular country (means a country that believes in religion and it wanted to set itself apart from the Godless Communists). In the forth coming Presidential elections, both the candidates refuse to claim themselves as secular. One is a devout Catholic and the other is born-again Christian with links to Evangelical sects.
See what happened in India? The Supreme Court had ruled that the students of Jehovah’s witnesses need not sing our National Anthem as they feel that Jana Gana Mana deifies their Motherland. The elected representatives of a particular community object to sing the “Vande Mataram” as their religion does not believe doing so. What an irony?
In India, anti-Hindu stance has become a pre-requisite to get a certificate of Secular credentials from the so-called educationists or the media. If 50 odd Hindus are burnt alive in a train bogie, none would make a noise but a reaction to the incident will be discussed, debated and trials after trials will be conducted for years to prove their secular credentials. Why can’t these personnel do the same to the Kashmiri Pundits who were met with a similar fate? These are rhetorical questions that remained unanswered all these days.
Let’s buy the argument that secular means equal to all religion, then why do we have different laws for different communities? Why can’t we have a uniform civil code? Why don’t some citizens sing our National Anthem?
Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism are all a part of Hindu religion. In fact, Buddha is considered as one of the incarnations (Avatar) of Lord Sri Vishnu. But in India, they are declared as separate religion and are treated as minorities. Why? This is called as vote-bank secularism. By this principle one good day, we will have religion called Shirdi Sai religion, Puttaparthi Sai religion, Melmaravathur religion, etc., there is no dearth of spiritual leaders in Hinduism. Every one has choice to choose their leaders and follow their principles. It does not mean that they have formed a new religion.
How they are wooed by declaring themselves as minority? The sops given by the Govt. Only in India the majority is given a step-mother treatment. All political parties turn a blind eye to infiltration from Bangladesh. Why to make noise. They are the future vote-bank who would vote for the seculars.
Being a Hindu itself is a proof of secular to the core. Secular means not to be bound by a religion’s law. In Hinduism there is no law. There are no compulsions on the number of times one has to pray or the number of times to visit their worship spot. The success of its spiritual leaders and their principles adapted in modern management is a proof to this.
A party can join hands with Muslim League and issue fatwa on whom to vote and call itself Secular but a party speaks for Hindus is labeled as communal. Even the Election commission believes so. When Janta Dal had a split, the group that opposed BJP has got a name Secular Janta Dal. Can Mr. Lyngdoh explain on what basis this name was suggested? What does he try to imply to the people of India by christening the party so? This is the irony.
When a Moulvi was murdered in Kanyakumari 10 years back all of the secular leaders blamed the RSS and gave certificate of terrorism to Hindus. They did not mumble a word when later it was found that his own son killed him. Same is the case with Ishrat whose links to the terrorist groups are clear but all secular parties fought with each other and gave certificates of her innocence. What do they have to say now?
Media has grown multiple folds. All of them want to be in limelight. So they choose this easy stupid path of fake secularism.
Pope John Paul II had said that these seculars had made Sundays as entertainment days whereas this is for only Praying. Imagine how our media would have reacted had the same statement was made by our Sankaracharyas?
The reason is we are tolerant to the core. We are religious. We neither love our religion nor hate others. Other religions teach you to hate other religion than loving yours. They believe in conversion and say that your God will be pleased if you indulge in conversion. We read this, see such atrocities but still remain silent speak high of morals switch off the TV or switch channels to watch half-naked girls smooching.
The Govt banned Rushdie’s book “The Satanic verses of Quran” but published the book of Ambedkar wherein he cheaply criticized Shri Ram and Sita. What happened to the freedom of speech then?
Thank God these people have not labeled Gandhi as communal because he said, “Hey Ram” when he died. They are doing business on his name so they would not do so.
Is it practiced in India with this meaning? I wonder whether any Indian had tried to understand the real meaning of Secularism. Is India a secular State? It was not; till the Emergency Days. It was, Courtesy, Indira Gandhi’s autocratic style of functioning, this phrase was thrust into the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.
Whether one likes it or not, it has become our practice to draw parallels with US practices. When an atheist parent from California objected to his kid reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, The US Supreme Court ducked it stating that the plaintiff lacked the standing to file such a case at the outset.
The US Supreme Court had ruled this case stating that phrase “under God” would remain in the Pledge of Allegiance. They also state that US is not a secular country (means a country that believes in religion and it wanted to set itself apart from the Godless Communists). In the forth coming Presidential elections, both the candidates refuse to claim themselves as secular. One is a devout Catholic and the other is born-again Christian with links to Evangelical sects.
See what happened in India? The Supreme Court had ruled that the students of Jehovah’s witnesses need not sing our National Anthem as they feel that Jana Gana Mana deifies their Motherland. The elected representatives of a particular community object to sing the “Vande Mataram” as their religion does not believe doing so. What an irony?
In India, anti-Hindu stance has become a pre-requisite to get a certificate of Secular credentials from the so-called educationists or the media. If 50 odd Hindus are burnt alive in a train bogie, none would make a noise but a reaction to the incident will be discussed, debated and trials after trials will be conducted for years to prove their secular credentials. Why can’t these personnel do the same to the Kashmiri Pundits who were met with a similar fate? These are rhetorical questions that remained unanswered all these days.
Let’s buy the argument that secular means equal to all religion, then why do we have different laws for different communities? Why can’t we have a uniform civil code? Why don’t some citizens sing our National Anthem?
Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism are all a part of Hindu religion. In fact, Buddha is considered as one of the incarnations (Avatar) of Lord Sri Vishnu. But in India, they are declared as separate religion and are treated as minorities. Why? This is called as vote-bank secularism. By this principle one good day, we will have religion called Shirdi Sai religion, Puttaparthi Sai religion, Melmaravathur religion, etc., there is no dearth of spiritual leaders in Hinduism. Every one has choice to choose their leaders and follow their principles. It does not mean that they have formed a new religion.
How they are wooed by declaring themselves as minority? The sops given by the Govt. Only in India the majority is given a step-mother treatment. All political parties turn a blind eye to infiltration from Bangladesh. Why to make noise. They are the future vote-bank who would vote for the seculars.
Being a Hindu itself is a proof of secular to the core. Secular means not to be bound by a religion’s law. In Hinduism there is no law. There are no compulsions on the number of times one has to pray or the number of times to visit their worship spot. The success of its spiritual leaders and their principles adapted in modern management is a proof to this.
A party can join hands with Muslim League and issue fatwa on whom to vote and call itself Secular but a party speaks for Hindus is labeled as communal. Even the Election commission believes so. When Janta Dal had a split, the group that opposed BJP has got a name Secular Janta Dal. Can Mr. Lyngdoh explain on what basis this name was suggested? What does he try to imply to the people of India by christening the party so? This is the irony.
When a Moulvi was murdered in Kanyakumari 10 years back all of the secular leaders blamed the RSS and gave certificate of terrorism to Hindus. They did not mumble a word when later it was found that his own son killed him. Same is the case with Ishrat whose links to the terrorist groups are clear but all secular parties fought with each other and gave certificates of her innocence. What do they have to say now?
Media has grown multiple folds. All of them want to be in limelight. So they choose this easy stupid path of fake secularism.
Pope John Paul II had said that these seculars had made Sundays as entertainment days whereas this is for only Praying. Imagine how our media would have reacted had the same statement was made by our Sankaracharyas?
The reason is we are tolerant to the core. We are religious. We neither love our religion nor hate others. Other religions teach you to hate other religion than loving yours. They believe in conversion and say that your God will be pleased if you indulge in conversion. We read this, see such atrocities but still remain silent speak high of morals switch off the TV or switch channels to watch half-naked girls smooching.
The Govt banned Rushdie’s book “The Satanic verses of Quran” but published the book of Ambedkar wherein he cheaply criticized Shri Ram and Sita. What happened to the freedom of speech then?
Thank God these people have not labeled Gandhi as communal because he said, “Hey Ram” when he died. They are doing business on his name so they would not do so.
Why India need a Uniform Civil Code?
What does our Constitution say about this? In article 44, our constitution clearly specifies this: "The State shall endeavor to secure the citizen a uniform civil code through out the territory of India".
The need: The objective of this article is to effect an integration of India by bringing all communities into a common platform which is at present governed by personal laws which do not form the essence of any religion.
French said, Liberty Equality and Fraternity. In India none of us practice fraternity however none enjoys liberty and equality also.
The constitution is very clear that unless a uniform civil code is followed, integration cannot be imbibed. However, the so called secularists and saviors of secularism in India think otherwise. They say that this code will affect the religious freedom of minorities (here again they speak only of minorities -read Muslims and Christians).
This code does not say Muslims have to offer namaz at temples or conduct their nikkah in Hindus style. All this says is there should be a uniform civil code irrespective of all religions as far as social ethics are concerned.
Even the Hindu laws that were different in different parts of the country had a turbulent change courtesy geographically united India and Hindus accepted it. Almost all of the laws of Manusmriti are extinct in now a day’s system of living and we accepted it. When Child marriages were banned, Sati was banned, widow re-marriage was encouraged, and Hindus accepted it considering the change in time and took it in their stride. They never yelled or hit the roof stating that these laws were against their religion.
One accepts that in Arab countries you face "Loo" or heat wave or sand storm that should damage the soft skins of ladies and hence they were forced to wear burkha. Why in India? All the so-called social activists and women emancipators cried shame on Sati and child marriages but none had the guts to say that wearing burkha is a sin against women. Is this the equality you show to women?
Polygamy is allowed in Islam and sterilization is a taboo. Because their Sheriat say so! The rate of population growth of Muslims since 1947 is 165%. The day they outnumber Hindus even by one number, they would not hesitate to declare our country a sovereign of Islam. You may never enjoy Deepavali again nor any Hindu festivals.
Why they coolly forget that their Sheriat has strict rules for criminal laws. Here they would stick to Indian Constitution appealing court after court, seeking bail after bail instead of getting whipped in public or stoned to death. Why? Because these laws suits them?
TalaQ – This is another pain in the neck. By saying this thrice, they can get rid of their wives without providing any maintenance etc., they can argue they have stringent rules to follow talaq and dulu (wife divorcing husband) but is it followed.
Conical speakers are banned by pollution control board but till date no mosque has got rid of these conical speakers? Why? What action has been taken so far? Hindus have to do archanai in Tamil as the Gods in Tamilnadu understands only Tamil but Muslims need not to do so in Tamil as even Tamil Muslims understands Arabic and so their Allah of Tamilnadu Is that so? Secularism in India means Appease minorities at the cost of majorities' privileges.
Once again it is reiterated that this code is not biased to one religion but to bring in a level playing platform among the citizens of India.
Till 1935, the Muslims in India never had a common Sheriat for them but had followed different rules according to their practice. Khoja Muslims and Kutchi Memons are examples for this. As said earlier, the kutchi memons worshipped Hindu Gods and Ali is their tenth avatar instead of Kalki. They had the inheritance laws as per Hindus and also the marriage laws as per Hindus.
All these minorities had to accept the Sheriat laws. Then the sentiments of the minorities (among Muslims) were not respected why?
The reason for citing more reasons pertaining to Muslims are because the major opposition comes from them only. They claim that this law is poking nose into their religious practices. Let us look in this way, “Narabali” that is considered religious in Hindu practices is banned today. Shall we claim that the laws are poking their nose in Hindu religious practices and start doing this?
There are too many Muslim countries prevail in this world that follows sheriat laws. In that case, why the laws differ from one country to another?
On 23rd Nov’1948, in Parliament, a Muslim member gave an open challenge that India will never be the same if it tried to bring in Uniform Civil code and interfere with Muslim personal law. It’s a shame that we could not do anything on this till date!
Much was debated on this issue during 1948 in the Indian Parliament by Ambedkar, Anantasayam Iyengar, KM Munshiji, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer favoring UCC and all Muslims opposing it.
Even the inheritance laws, divorce laws and marriage laws cannot be defined by the religion. Unfortunately, in our country all our activities are bound by religion. Our politicians have flamed this by playing vote politics. This code is not against minorities but against the discrepancies. How this code is given a religious color? Let’s look into this.
The Congress which demands Supreme Court ruling in Ramjanmabhoomi issue had misused or abused the Parliament in changing the laws after Supreme Court favored otherwise in the notorious Shah bano case.
If a minority institution wants to start a school, they can get exemption from Govt and have reservations for their religion whereas Hindus do not have that privilege. They have to pay hefty taxes and have to follow Govt reservation rules and not special admission for Hindus. Now one state government wants to have reservations for Muslims separately.
If Muslims wished to visit Mecca, (Hajj pilgrimage) our Govt bears the cost and allow them to go on subsidized rates whereas if a Hindu has to go to Kashi or other pilgrimages no concession for him on the tickets he travel. Irony is repealing of law that those who travel abroad for Hajj were made to pay income tax by previous Government. Worse is the case that one wishes to visit Amaranth, we have to visit on the mercy of Muslims.
Courtesy, these discriminations, there is a vertical divide among the public of India based on their religions. It’s the blunder committed by previous Governments. By bringing this code, neither the majority public wins over the minorities nor are the minorities in danger. Unless this prejudice is erased, bringing this law is difficult.
The so called leaders of the country owes responsibility to explain this to public and a frequent and elaborate debate has to be held on this topic (which will never happen as this is against secularism?). Then only the minorities will get convinced on bringing this law. But for BJP (nowadays even BJP is not) no political party is in favor of this code.
Muslims in other countries accept uniform civil laws where they do not consider this as a defeat whereas in India it is. This is the service rendered by congressmen, other secular parties and our great media. It is a shame and pity that in a democratic and secular state people have different laws based on their religion. Is it secular to have different laws for different religion or it is secular to have a uniform law?
To make this debate on UCC healthy, Hindus should not treat this as a weapon against minorities and minorities should not feel that they are lost by bringing this law. Whether this can be possible or not, only time will tell us.
The need: The objective of this article is to effect an integration of India by bringing all communities into a common platform which is at present governed by personal laws which do not form the essence of any religion.
French said, Liberty Equality and Fraternity. In India none of us practice fraternity however none enjoys liberty and equality also.
The constitution is very clear that unless a uniform civil code is followed, integration cannot be imbibed. However, the so called secularists and saviors of secularism in India think otherwise. They say that this code will affect the religious freedom of minorities (here again they speak only of minorities -read Muslims and Christians).
This code does not say Muslims have to offer namaz at temples or conduct their nikkah in Hindus style. All this says is there should be a uniform civil code irrespective of all religions as far as social ethics are concerned.
Even the Hindu laws that were different in different parts of the country had a turbulent change courtesy geographically united India and Hindus accepted it. Almost all of the laws of Manusmriti are extinct in now a day’s system of living and we accepted it. When Child marriages were banned, Sati was banned, widow re-marriage was encouraged, and Hindus accepted it considering the change in time and took it in their stride. They never yelled or hit the roof stating that these laws were against their religion.
One accepts that in Arab countries you face "Loo" or heat wave or sand storm that should damage the soft skins of ladies and hence they were forced to wear burkha. Why in India? All the so-called social activists and women emancipators cried shame on Sati and child marriages but none had the guts to say that wearing burkha is a sin against women. Is this the equality you show to women?
Polygamy is allowed in Islam and sterilization is a taboo. Because their Sheriat say so! The rate of population growth of Muslims since 1947 is 165%. The day they outnumber Hindus even by one number, they would not hesitate to declare our country a sovereign of Islam. You may never enjoy Deepavali again nor any Hindu festivals.
Why they coolly forget that their Sheriat has strict rules for criminal laws. Here they would stick to Indian Constitution appealing court after court, seeking bail after bail instead of getting whipped in public or stoned to death. Why? Because these laws suits them?
TalaQ – This is another pain in the neck. By saying this thrice, they can get rid of their wives without providing any maintenance etc., they can argue they have stringent rules to follow talaq and dulu (wife divorcing husband) but is it followed.
Conical speakers are banned by pollution control board but till date no mosque has got rid of these conical speakers? Why? What action has been taken so far? Hindus have to do archanai in Tamil as the Gods in Tamilnadu understands only Tamil but Muslims need not to do so in Tamil as even Tamil Muslims understands Arabic and so their Allah of Tamilnadu Is that so? Secularism in India means Appease minorities at the cost of majorities' privileges.
Once again it is reiterated that this code is not biased to one religion but to bring in a level playing platform among the citizens of India.
Till 1935, the Muslims in India never had a common Sheriat for them but had followed different rules according to their practice. Khoja Muslims and Kutchi Memons are examples for this. As said earlier, the kutchi memons worshipped Hindu Gods and Ali is their tenth avatar instead of Kalki. They had the inheritance laws as per Hindus and also the marriage laws as per Hindus.
All these minorities had to accept the Sheriat laws. Then the sentiments of the minorities (among Muslims) were not respected why?
The reason for citing more reasons pertaining to Muslims are because the major opposition comes from them only. They claim that this law is poking nose into their religious practices. Let us look in this way, “Narabali” that is considered religious in Hindu practices is banned today. Shall we claim that the laws are poking their nose in Hindu religious practices and start doing this?
There are too many Muslim countries prevail in this world that follows sheriat laws. In that case, why the laws differ from one country to another?
On 23rd Nov’1948, in Parliament, a Muslim member gave an open challenge that India will never be the same if it tried to bring in Uniform Civil code and interfere with Muslim personal law. It’s a shame that we could not do anything on this till date!
Much was debated on this issue during 1948 in the Indian Parliament by Ambedkar, Anantasayam Iyengar, KM Munshiji, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer favoring UCC and all Muslims opposing it.
Even the inheritance laws, divorce laws and marriage laws cannot be defined by the religion. Unfortunately, in our country all our activities are bound by religion. Our politicians have flamed this by playing vote politics. This code is not against minorities but against the discrepancies. How this code is given a religious color? Let’s look into this.
The Congress which demands Supreme Court ruling in Ramjanmabhoomi issue had misused or abused the Parliament in changing the laws after Supreme Court favored otherwise in the notorious Shah bano case.
If a minority institution wants to start a school, they can get exemption from Govt and have reservations for their religion whereas Hindus do not have that privilege. They have to pay hefty taxes and have to follow Govt reservation rules and not special admission for Hindus. Now one state government wants to have reservations for Muslims separately.
If Muslims wished to visit Mecca, (Hajj pilgrimage) our Govt bears the cost and allow them to go on subsidized rates whereas if a Hindu has to go to Kashi or other pilgrimages no concession for him on the tickets he travel. Irony is repealing of law that those who travel abroad for Hajj were made to pay income tax by previous Government. Worse is the case that one wishes to visit Amaranth, we have to visit on the mercy of Muslims.
Courtesy, these discriminations, there is a vertical divide among the public of India based on their religions. It’s the blunder committed by previous Governments. By bringing this code, neither the majority public wins over the minorities nor are the minorities in danger. Unless this prejudice is erased, bringing this law is difficult.
The so called leaders of the country owes responsibility to explain this to public and a frequent and elaborate debate has to be held on this topic (which will never happen as this is against secularism?). Then only the minorities will get convinced on bringing this law. But for BJP (nowadays even BJP is not) no political party is in favor of this code.
Muslims in other countries accept uniform civil laws where they do not consider this as a defeat whereas in India it is. This is the service rendered by congressmen, other secular parties and our great media. It is a shame and pity that in a democratic and secular state people have different laws based on their religion. Is it secular to have different laws for different religion or it is secular to have a uniform law?
To make this debate on UCC healthy, Hindus should not treat this as a weapon against minorities and minorities should not feel that they are lost by bringing this law. Whether this can be possible or not, only time will tell us.
Deserted Ships of Deserts
Much hue and cry is made over the reducing population of Tigers and Lions in India. While this is a matter of concern, another concern is happening in the north west region of India silently on which none utters a word.
Yes. The reducing population of Camel in India. The population that counted around 5 million 20 years back, is now only half a million.
The bhakia community that bred the camel so long are uninterested in breeding them more. Agriculture, their main profession is not attracting them and they are turning towards the urban area for jobs.
The returns from the agriculture is also less for them. During monsoon, they sow and during summer, they make the camel go around and use the waste of camel as manure.
But now, they do not do so. They smuggle the camel to Bangladesh or Pakistan for meat for a meagre amount of Rs 2000 to 5000. Such is the state of this community and the ships of our deserts.
Interesting point is in a survey recently conducted by Indian medical association, Bhakia community is totally immuned to diabetes. The reason is they drink camel milk.
Unfortunately, we are losing camels that is a good medicine for diabetes fastly and none utters a word.
Yes. The reducing population of Camel in India. The population that counted around 5 million 20 years back, is now only half a million.
The bhakia community that bred the camel so long are uninterested in breeding them more. Agriculture, their main profession is not attracting them and they are turning towards the urban area for jobs.
The returns from the agriculture is also less for them. During monsoon, they sow and during summer, they make the camel go around and use the waste of camel as manure.
But now, they do not do so. They smuggle the camel to Bangladesh or Pakistan for meat for a meagre amount of Rs 2000 to 5000. Such is the state of this community and the ships of our deserts.
Interesting point is in a survey recently conducted by Indian medical association, Bhakia community is totally immuned to diabetes. The reason is they drink camel milk.
Unfortunately, we are losing camels that is a good medicine for diabetes fastly and none utters a word.
Myth of Dioxins
It is the pollution control board that declares that dioxins are harm to health but the reality is different.
Dioxins are organic environmental pollutants sometimes referred to as the most toxic compounds made by mankind. They are a group of chemicals, which include 75 different chlorinated molecules of dibenzo-p-dioxin and 135 chlorinated dibenzofurans. Some polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) also are referred to as dioxin-like compounds. Exposure to dioxins can cause chloracne, a severe form of skin disease, as well as reproductive and developmental effects, and more importantly, liver damage and cancer.
We always thought dioxins were man-made compounds produced inadvertently during the bleaching of pulp and manufacturing of pesticides like Agent Orange and other chlorinated aromatics. Actually, dioxins in sediments from lakes and oceans predate these human activities. It is now generally accepted that a principal source of dioxins are various combustion processes, including natural events such as wild fires and even volcanic eruptions.
Today, the critical issue is the incineration of waste, particularly hospital waste, which contains a great deal of polyvinyl chloride plastics and aromatic compounds that can serve as dioxin precursors. One study examined the burning of household trash in drums in the backyard. It turns out that these small burnings of debris can put out as much or more dioxins as a full-sized incinerator burning hundreds of tons of refuse per day. The incinerators are equipped with state-of-the-art emission controls that limit dioxin formation and their release into the environment, but the backyard trash burning does not. You set it ablaze and chemistry takes over. What happens next is that the dioxins are sent into the atmosphere where they become attached to particles and fall back to earth. Then they bind to, or are taken up, by fish and other animals, where they get concentrated and stored in fat before eventually ending up on our lunch and dinner plates. People are exposed to them mostly from eating meat and fish rich in fat.
It is a myth that freezing water in plastic bottles releases dioxins. There are no dioxins in plastics. In addition, freezing actually works against the release of chemicals. Chemicals do not diffuse as readily in cold temperatures, which would limit chemical release if there were dioxins in plastic, and we don’t think there are.
It is the dose that makes the poison.
Dioxins are organic environmental pollutants sometimes referred to as the most toxic compounds made by mankind. They are a group of chemicals, which include 75 different chlorinated molecules of dibenzo-p-dioxin and 135 chlorinated dibenzofurans. Some polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) also are referred to as dioxin-like compounds. Exposure to dioxins can cause chloracne, a severe form of skin disease, as well as reproductive and developmental effects, and more importantly, liver damage and cancer.
We always thought dioxins were man-made compounds produced inadvertently during the bleaching of pulp and manufacturing of pesticides like Agent Orange and other chlorinated aromatics. Actually, dioxins in sediments from lakes and oceans predate these human activities. It is now generally accepted that a principal source of dioxins are various combustion processes, including natural events such as wild fires and even volcanic eruptions.
Today, the critical issue is the incineration of waste, particularly hospital waste, which contains a great deal of polyvinyl chloride plastics and aromatic compounds that can serve as dioxin precursors. One study examined the burning of household trash in drums in the backyard. It turns out that these small burnings of debris can put out as much or more dioxins as a full-sized incinerator burning hundreds of tons of refuse per day. The incinerators are equipped with state-of-the-art emission controls that limit dioxin formation and their release into the environment, but the backyard trash burning does not. You set it ablaze and chemistry takes over. What happens next is that the dioxins are sent into the atmosphere where they become attached to particles and fall back to earth. Then they bind to, or are taken up, by fish and other animals, where they get concentrated and stored in fat before eventually ending up on our lunch and dinner plates. People are exposed to them mostly from eating meat and fish rich in fat.
It is a myth that freezing water in plastic bottles releases dioxins. There are no dioxins in plastics. In addition, freezing actually works against the release of chemicals. Chemicals do not diffuse as readily in cold temperatures, which would limit chemical release if there were dioxins in plastic, and we don’t think there are.
It is the dose that makes the poison.
Leadership Priorities
Leadership priority
"Why do people want to be leaders? What personal benefit does one seek as a leader?" As a Leader, What is Your Priority? The question may be asked,
· to control others.
· for monetary gain or cash flow.
· to get the job done.
One cannot have all these three priorities because they are conflictive and each has different personal goals. A leader bases decisions on a single priority which may be conscious or unconscious. This priority controls his leadership style and efficiency.
A leader seeking control wants everyone to know he is the boss and wants subordinates to depend on him for decisions. This gives a feeling of superiority, power, control and a feeling of job security, the feeling that the organization cannot get along without me. The problem is, this would bread grounds for minor problems that, in time, explode into uncontrollable problems. Control leaders want to deal with high visibility problems only, they don't want to be bothered with minor problems and will not give authority for other to deal with them. By giving authority, he loses control. Ignoring minor problems will, someday, give leaders many major problems that will enhance his status as a problem solver. Subordinates learn to live with minor problems. Control increase overhead cost and reduce efficiency, getting the job done is a byproduct.
A leader seeking monetary gain or controlling cash flow, is a barrier to getting the job done, because all decisions are based on money. When money controls decisions, leadership resist supplying subordinates the resources needed to get the job done efficiently. These people appear to be extremely busy, but most of their time is spent searching for ways to get the job done with available resources. This may appear to reduce cost, but down the road, cost explodes out of control. Leaders seeking monetary gain at the expense of subordinates reduces morale, increases overhead cost, and drives away customers.
A leader who is focused on getting the job done has authority to acquire the resources he needs and is willing to pass on responsibility to his subordinates with the authority to acquire needed resources (Empowerment). Minor problems can be solved by the people who are first affected by them. Up front cost may be high, but this is the stage where project cost can be controlled.
The assigned job of a leader is to get the job done. If the leader's personal priority and satisfaction is based on getting the job done, then he will base decision on that priority. The result is a super efficient leader. But, if leaders personal priority is control or money, then decisions will be based on that priority that will interfere with getting the job done.
The learning factor: Every new employee comes into an organization is eager to learn and contribute his skills to the team. Under empowerment leadership, this desire grows, under control leadership it dies. Employees who make decisions, learn they are challenged, they brag about the decision they made. This bragging is educating others, passing on knowledge, everyone learns. Employees that only follow orders do not learn, do not brag, do not pass on knowledge. They reject change because this means more one way orders from the boss.
Employee turnover factor: Under empowerment leadership, people who have the ability to make decisions stay, people who only want to follow orders leave. Under control, people who have the ability to make decision leave, people who only follow orders stay. The leadership style controls efficiency by the type of people who remain with the organization.
The motivation factor: People who make decision search for efficient ways to complete tasks. Trial and error and finding a way is highly motivating. For people who only follow orders, their motivation is quitting time and payday.
Summary: A leader's priority will determine the efficiency of his subordinates.
"Why do people want to be leaders? What personal benefit does one seek as a leader?" As a Leader, What is Your Priority? The question may be asked,
· to control others.
· for monetary gain or cash flow.
· to get the job done.
One cannot have all these three priorities because they are conflictive and each has different personal goals. A leader bases decisions on a single priority which may be conscious or unconscious. This priority controls his leadership style and efficiency.
A leader seeking control wants everyone to know he is the boss and wants subordinates to depend on him for decisions. This gives a feeling of superiority, power, control and a feeling of job security, the feeling that the organization cannot get along without me. The problem is, this would bread grounds for minor problems that, in time, explode into uncontrollable problems. Control leaders want to deal with high visibility problems only, they don't want to be bothered with minor problems and will not give authority for other to deal with them. By giving authority, he loses control. Ignoring minor problems will, someday, give leaders many major problems that will enhance his status as a problem solver. Subordinates learn to live with minor problems. Control increase overhead cost and reduce efficiency, getting the job done is a byproduct.
A leader seeking monetary gain or controlling cash flow, is a barrier to getting the job done, because all decisions are based on money. When money controls decisions, leadership resist supplying subordinates the resources needed to get the job done efficiently. These people appear to be extremely busy, but most of their time is spent searching for ways to get the job done with available resources. This may appear to reduce cost, but down the road, cost explodes out of control. Leaders seeking monetary gain at the expense of subordinates reduces morale, increases overhead cost, and drives away customers.
A leader who is focused on getting the job done has authority to acquire the resources he needs and is willing to pass on responsibility to his subordinates with the authority to acquire needed resources (Empowerment). Minor problems can be solved by the people who are first affected by them. Up front cost may be high, but this is the stage where project cost can be controlled.
The assigned job of a leader is to get the job done. If the leader's personal priority and satisfaction is based on getting the job done, then he will base decision on that priority. The result is a super efficient leader. But, if leaders personal priority is control or money, then decisions will be based on that priority that will interfere with getting the job done.
The learning factor: Every new employee comes into an organization is eager to learn and contribute his skills to the team. Under empowerment leadership, this desire grows, under control leadership it dies. Employees who make decisions, learn they are challenged, they brag about the decision they made. This bragging is educating others, passing on knowledge, everyone learns. Employees that only follow orders do not learn, do not brag, do not pass on knowledge. They reject change because this means more one way orders from the boss.
Employee turnover factor: Under empowerment leadership, people who have the ability to make decisions stay, people who only want to follow orders leave. Under control, people who have the ability to make decision leave, people who only follow orders stay. The leadership style controls efficiency by the type of people who remain with the organization.
The motivation factor: People who make decision search for efficient ways to complete tasks. Trial and error and finding a way is highly motivating. For people who only follow orders, their motivation is quitting time and payday.
Summary: A leader's priority will determine the efficiency of his subordinates.
Understanding the Management
MANAGEMENT – AN INSIGHT
We all grow up in hierarchy and hardly had a chance to learn the Management subject in its own sense. It has been observed that an unbalance existing between the development of technical and social skill that is disastrous. Many a time it is found that a good technical personnel have poor managerial skills. An insight to this subject:
FUNCTIONS OF TOP MANAGEMENT:
· Making strategic decisions about objectives and priorities.
· Assessing organizational performance & Development of Human organization.
· Establishing sound relationship with suppliers, dealers, government agencies etc.
· Dealing with emergencies.
· Taking care of ceremonial functions.
These functions are formulated in to Management Policy. Management is working with and through individuals and groups to accomplish organizational goals.
The managerial functions are:
1. PLANNING,
2. ORGANISING,
3. MOTIVATING and
4. CONTROLLING
Planning involves setting goals and objectives for the organization and developing strategies to achieve these goals and objectives.
Organizing the Plan involves bringing together resources - people, capital and equipment - in the most effective way to achieve the goals. Organizing is, therefore, integration of resources. It involves staffing, training and co-ordination.
Motivation means inspiring and guiding people to peak performance. The best way to motivate people is to communicate with them. We should make them understand that the development of the organization and the people are interdependent. The organization should be genuinely interested in developing the individuals that contributes to its development.
Controlling involves feedback of results; follow up to compare achievements with plans, to make necessary adjustments / corrections to ensure the desired performance.
MANAGERIAL SKILLS:
TECHNICAL SKILL: It is the ability to use knowledge, methods, techniques and equipments that are necessary for the performance of specific tasks.
INTERPERSONAL SKILL: This skill is ability of working with people, delegating, motivating and application of effective leadership. Studies show that 85% of success in business can be attributed to this skill and rest to technical knowledge.
TEACHING SKILL: Today, a manager is involved in developing and empowering employees. This compels him to take up the role of a good COACH.
COMMUNICATION SKILL: The ability to think & express clearly are essential for communication. An effective person is one who gets his message across to others with minimum possibility of misunderstanding.
PERSONAL QUALITIES: Certain personal qualities such as warmth, genuineness and unconditional positive regard are identified as a prerequisite.
RECOGNITION: By giving recognition, we acknowledge the importance of other people. Never miss an opportunity to appreciate an act or achievement. Ask others about their familiar interests and applaud their contributions. Let people voice their own ideas and opinions freely and openly. It is through acceptance that we give others the strength and courage to change for the better.
EMPATHY: Empathy is the ability to perceive and communicating accurately the feelings of another person. By placing us on his shoes, we are creating an atmosphere of mutual self respect. A “win-win” situation is created in this process that generates a solution.
SELF PRESENTATION: The way we show ourselves to others is the way they see us. We must present ourselves as alert, interested, friendly and attractive. Show concern for the feelings and control their moods as not to inflict their depressions and worries on others.
EXPRESSIONS: Tone of voice and facial expressions are the most obvious ways of indicating one’s attitude towards others. To establish rapport with people, we have to be conscious of what we are doing. We have to be aware what sort of approaches and attitudes are likely to bring us to a reasonable degree of understanding with others and consciously employ these techniques in every new encounter.
MANAGERIAL ROLES
PRODUCING: Producing to achieve results better than the competition. He should have a functional knowledge of his subject to achieve cost effective and technologically superior products.
IMPLEMENTING: Being individually productive and having technical skills do not enable a manager to produce results while working with a team. He should be able to administer the team and make these people produce desired results within the time-frame. In this - IMPLEMENTING – role, he schedules, coordinates, controls and disciplines.
INNOVATING: In changing environment he must use his judgment and change the goals by which they are implemented. In this role he must be organizational entrepreneur and innovator. He has to be a self starter.
COACHING: It is traditional for managers to step in to solve crises, instead of giving employees knowledge. A more productive approach is to use these crises as opportunities for teaching. A detailed discussion with the employees about the problem and how it was solved will enable them to learn and solve similar problems in future. Do not feed them water but make them thirsty.
INTEGRATING: It is a process by which individual activities are merged into a group activity – say strategy, risk, goal etc. When a group can operate on its own with a clear direction in mind and can choose its own direction without depending on any one individual, then it is obvious that integrating role has been performed adequately. If this part of the managerial role is not fulfilled, the entrepreneur will become a “crises maker", the administrator a “bureaucrat", and the producer a "loner".
MANAGER’S EDUCATION:
TECHNICAL SPECIALTY: It is necessary to specialize in the chosen technical field. There after, he grasps its interrelations with others and coordinates their work. The transition from a specialist to a generalist is a significant landmark in managerial experience; not every one achieves it, but it is one approach not to be overlooked in an age of technology.
ECONOMICS: Business is an exercise in applied economics, and managers must become Economists of sorts. Managers have to acquire enough of economic background to enable them cross with confidence through this jungle of conflicting professional opinions.
MATHEMATICS: Management sciences have become mathematically oriented and most momentous business decisions depend upon interpreting and understanding quantitative evidence. To do so intelligently, a manager must know enough about data processing through computer and mathematics to decide when the services of a professional programmer can be helpful and to understand what he is talking about.
GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS: Contemporary business operates in a framework of government regulations that are covering more aspects in details- - taxes, tariffs, employee benefits to name a few. No longer can one afford to have lawyers to attend these concerns.
COMMUNITY RELATIONS: Modern managers are reminded constantly of their public relations, community responsibilities and the demands of corporate citizenship.
THE ABILITIES OF MANAGER
In addition to these areas, there are special skills the business manager must learn. They relate to solving problems, making decisions, devising an organization structure through which to act and developing a willingness in subordinates to do what is expected of them.
PROBLEM SOLVING: The first step in problem solving is to make sure that the problems have been accurately defined. A tentative outline is useful in breaking down their various aspects into logical order and sequence. It is the mark of a trained executive mind to approach problems systematically and directly, avoiding distraction by irrelevancies.
DECISION MAKING: The decision, the manager does not make are likely to be as significant as those he does make.
WORKING STRUCTURE: This point refers to the managers’ ability in drawing on the assistance of others--his ability to delegate. Decentralized authority balanced with centralized control is the cardinal aim of effective delegation. Top management lay down general principles of operation, mapping out corporate objectives, budgeting resources and seeing to the availability of competent executive personnel. Those at lower levels in the executive hierarchy must be more concerned with the specifics of operations, observing schedules, authorizing controlling expenses, instructing and supervising performance, etc.
However when top management becomes involved in day-to-day operating details, it duplicates the efforts of subordinates and, for lack of time, it is almost certain to neglect responsibilities that only it can carry out.
EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION: The manager must be capable of creating and maintaining high morale in their organizations and as part of the climate, seeing to it that the authority of their subordinates is protected. Discipline and guidance are always necessary, but clumsy handling resulting in humiliation is a sure way to destroy a subordinate’s executive potential. Remember that it may be possible to punish people into compliance, but we can not punish them into commitment.
An achiever never feels that he has achieved enough. Managerial performance can not be powered by past glory.
We all grow up in hierarchy and hardly had a chance to learn the Management subject in its own sense. It has been observed that an unbalance existing between the development of technical and social skill that is disastrous. Many a time it is found that a good technical personnel have poor managerial skills. An insight to this subject:
FUNCTIONS OF TOP MANAGEMENT:
· Making strategic decisions about objectives and priorities.
· Assessing organizational performance & Development of Human organization.
· Establishing sound relationship with suppliers, dealers, government agencies etc.
· Dealing with emergencies.
· Taking care of ceremonial functions.
These functions are formulated in to Management Policy. Management is working with and through individuals and groups to accomplish organizational goals.
The managerial functions are:
1. PLANNING,
2. ORGANISING,
3. MOTIVATING and
4. CONTROLLING
Planning involves setting goals and objectives for the organization and developing strategies to achieve these goals and objectives.
Organizing the Plan involves bringing together resources - people, capital and equipment - in the most effective way to achieve the goals. Organizing is, therefore, integration of resources. It involves staffing, training and co-ordination.
Motivation means inspiring and guiding people to peak performance. The best way to motivate people is to communicate with them. We should make them understand that the development of the organization and the people are interdependent. The organization should be genuinely interested in developing the individuals that contributes to its development.
Controlling involves feedback of results; follow up to compare achievements with plans, to make necessary adjustments / corrections to ensure the desired performance.
MANAGERIAL SKILLS:
TECHNICAL SKILL: It is the ability to use knowledge, methods, techniques and equipments that are necessary for the performance of specific tasks.
INTERPERSONAL SKILL: This skill is ability of working with people, delegating, motivating and application of effective leadership. Studies show that 85% of success in business can be attributed to this skill and rest to technical knowledge.
TEACHING SKILL: Today, a manager is involved in developing and empowering employees. This compels him to take up the role of a good COACH.
COMMUNICATION SKILL: The ability to think & express clearly are essential for communication. An effective person is one who gets his message across to others with minimum possibility of misunderstanding.
PERSONAL QUALITIES: Certain personal qualities such as warmth, genuineness and unconditional positive regard are identified as a prerequisite.
RECOGNITION: By giving recognition, we acknowledge the importance of other people. Never miss an opportunity to appreciate an act or achievement. Ask others about their familiar interests and applaud their contributions. Let people voice their own ideas and opinions freely and openly. It is through acceptance that we give others the strength and courage to change for the better.
EMPATHY: Empathy is the ability to perceive and communicating accurately the feelings of another person. By placing us on his shoes, we are creating an atmosphere of mutual self respect. A “win-win” situation is created in this process that generates a solution.
SELF PRESENTATION: The way we show ourselves to others is the way they see us. We must present ourselves as alert, interested, friendly and attractive. Show concern for the feelings and control their moods as not to inflict their depressions and worries on others.
EXPRESSIONS: Tone of voice and facial expressions are the most obvious ways of indicating one’s attitude towards others. To establish rapport with people, we have to be conscious of what we are doing. We have to be aware what sort of approaches and attitudes are likely to bring us to a reasonable degree of understanding with others and consciously employ these techniques in every new encounter.
MANAGERIAL ROLES
PRODUCING: Producing to achieve results better than the competition. He should have a functional knowledge of his subject to achieve cost effective and technologically superior products.
IMPLEMENTING: Being individually productive and having technical skills do not enable a manager to produce results while working with a team. He should be able to administer the team and make these people produce desired results within the time-frame. In this - IMPLEMENTING – role, he schedules, coordinates, controls and disciplines.
INNOVATING: In changing environment he must use his judgment and change the goals by which they are implemented. In this role he must be organizational entrepreneur and innovator. He has to be a self starter.
COACHING: It is traditional for managers to step in to solve crises, instead of giving employees knowledge. A more productive approach is to use these crises as opportunities for teaching. A detailed discussion with the employees about the problem and how it was solved will enable them to learn and solve similar problems in future. Do not feed them water but make them thirsty.
INTEGRATING: It is a process by which individual activities are merged into a group activity – say strategy, risk, goal etc. When a group can operate on its own with a clear direction in mind and can choose its own direction without depending on any one individual, then it is obvious that integrating role has been performed adequately. If this part of the managerial role is not fulfilled, the entrepreneur will become a “crises maker", the administrator a “bureaucrat", and the producer a "loner".
MANAGER’S EDUCATION:
TECHNICAL SPECIALTY: It is necessary to specialize in the chosen technical field. There after, he grasps its interrelations with others and coordinates their work. The transition from a specialist to a generalist is a significant landmark in managerial experience; not every one achieves it, but it is one approach not to be overlooked in an age of technology.
ECONOMICS: Business is an exercise in applied economics, and managers must become Economists of sorts. Managers have to acquire enough of economic background to enable them cross with confidence through this jungle of conflicting professional opinions.
MATHEMATICS: Management sciences have become mathematically oriented and most momentous business decisions depend upon interpreting and understanding quantitative evidence. To do so intelligently, a manager must know enough about data processing through computer and mathematics to decide when the services of a professional programmer can be helpful and to understand what he is talking about.
GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS: Contemporary business operates in a framework of government regulations that are covering more aspects in details- - taxes, tariffs, employee benefits to name a few. No longer can one afford to have lawyers to attend these concerns.
COMMUNITY RELATIONS: Modern managers are reminded constantly of their public relations, community responsibilities and the demands of corporate citizenship.
THE ABILITIES OF MANAGER
In addition to these areas, there are special skills the business manager must learn. They relate to solving problems, making decisions, devising an organization structure through which to act and developing a willingness in subordinates to do what is expected of them.
PROBLEM SOLVING: The first step in problem solving is to make sure that the problems have been accurately defined. A tentative outline is useful in breaking down their various aspects into logical order and sequence. It is the mark of a trained executive mind to approach problems systematically and directly, avoiding distraction by irrelevancies.
DECISION MAKING: The decision, the manager does not make are likely to be as significant as those he does make.
WORKING STRUCTURE: This point refers to the managers’ ability in drawing on the assistance of others--his ability to delegate. Decentralized authority balanced with centralized control is the cardinal aim of effective delegation. Top management lay down general principles of operation, mapping out corporate objectives, budgeting resources and seeing to the availability of competent executive personnel. Those at lower levels in the executive hierarchy must be more concerned with the specifics of operations, observing schedules, authorizing controlling expenses, instructing and supervising performance, etc.
However when top management becomes involved in day-to-day operating details, it duplicates the efforts of subordinates and, for lack of time, it is almost certain to neglect responsibilities that only it can carry out.
EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION: The manager must be capable of creating and maintaining high morale in their organizations and as part of the climate, seeing to it that the authority of their subordinates is protected. Discipline and guidance are always necessary, but clumsy handling resulting in humiliation is a sure way to destroy a subordinate’s executive potential. Remember that it may be possible to punish people into compliance, but we can not punish them into commitment.
An achiever never feels that he has achieved enough. Managerial performance can not be powered by past glory.
Friday 20 July 2007
How to manage one better?
You are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Learn to accept total responsibility for yourself. If you do not manage yourself, then you are letting others have control of your Iife. These tips will help "you" manage "you."
• Look at every new opportunity as an exciting and new-life experience.
• If you catch yourself worrying about an upcoming task, go ahead and do it now so it no longer is a distraction.
• Get into the habit of finishing what you start.
• Give up "waiting time" forever. Have something with you at all times to work on. For example: plan your day, work on a report, or read a page from your book.
• Be a professional who exhibits self-confidence and self-assurance in your potential to complete any task.
• Avoid worry. The majority of the things you worry about never occur.
• Agree with yourself in advance that you will have a good attitude toward the upcoming task.
• Hire specialists to do those things you are not expert in.
• Take a chance. Calculated risks pay off in entrepreneurial progress.
• Frequently ask, "Is what I am doing right now moving me toward my goals?"
• Plan the future, but live in the present.
• Make a list of your accomplishments as you go through the day- they are greater than you think.
• Keep a time log at least once every six months to determine exactly where your time is going.
• Do it right the first time and you will not have to take time later to fix it.
• Practice concentrating on your work, doing only one thing at a time.
• Accept responsibility for your job successes and failures. Do not look for a scapegoat.
• Do not view things you do as a "job." View all activities as a challenge.
• Use your subconscious mind by telling it to do what you do want. Instead of telling yourself, "I can't do that very well," say, "I can do this very well."
• Schedule several short vacations or long weekends - this creates positive deadlines by when you must have projects done.
• Develop a faster operating tempo or pace. Do things with a sense of urgency. Get over thinking you must do everything yourself.
• Take time to be quiet and reflective for a few minutes each day.
• Live effectiveness in everything you do rather then just sporadically applying time management techniques.
• Live in the Now. The current instant is the only time in which you have control-not the past, not the future, just now, in this instant.
• Recognize you control only 50% of a relationship and that is your half. If you are dissatisfied with what is going on, change what you are doing and saying.
• Give yourself points for completing tasks on your "to-do" list in priority order. When you reach 10 points, reward yourself.
• Carry a card with your goals written on it and review your goals at least three times a day.
• Act with enthusiasm in all that you do.
• Take time out to thank yourself for a good job.
• Practice your personal beliefs. It may be helpful each morning to take 15 minutes to gather your thoughts and say a prayer.
• Operate knowing that there is good in everything. Every cloud has a silver lining-look for it.
• Whenever you have an important thought that is not directly related to what you are working on, write it down. Then you will not forget it and you also will no longer be distracted by it.
• Make a commitment to show someone a specific accomplishment on a certain date. The added urgency will help you feel motivated to have it done.
• Reward yourself when you have successfully completed a high priority project.
• Instead of thinking about what you didn't get done, recognize all you did get accomplished and reward yourself for having done the most important things.
• Keep a list of accomplishments as well as a list of "things to-do. You will learn just how much you do get done.
• Practice self determination, wanting to do it for yourself.
• Nothing takes the place of persistence. Practice "stick-to-it-iveness."
• Get into the habit of writing down a person's name- it will help you to remember it.
• Believe that you can be what you want to he.
• Operate on the philosophy that what we give out is what comes back to us.
• Occasionally, sit quietly and do a self-assessment of your skills and strengths.
• Praise yourself for your progress.
• Recognize not all days will go as you desire. Be kind to yourself on days when your self esteem is wavering. Remind yourself that you are good and can stand up to any obstacle.
• Never criticize yourself as having a weakness. There is no such thing. You are only talking about a present undeveloped skill or part of yourself that if you so chose, you can change. You do not have any weakness, only untapped potential.
• Check to be sure you do not fall into the activity trap of simply doing tasks without knowing to what greater good the task is designed to contribute.
• Be pleasant all the time-no matter what the situation.
• Life is what you perceive it to be. Do you see it as a bore or as an adventure?
• Recall what you were hired to do and make sure it happens.
• To get ahead in anything, operate in the "and then some" manner. Always do what is expected "and then some," so what you give is always more than is expected by the other person.
• When working on a project that you can't stand, do it for a few minutes at a time until you can't stand it anymore. Then do something else and come back later for a few more minutes. Keep taking these bite size pieces until it is completely done.
• Look at what you do as an adventure. You can discover new things from this new perspective.
• Challenge yourself to do things differently than you have in the past. It provides new ideas and keeps you interested.
• Finish that last task you are working on before you go home; do not just leave it.
• Plan your day as you shower and dress in the morning. Keep a pad and pencil nearby to jot down ideas.
• Talk to yourself. Self talk using positive affirmations is something that is common among all great achievers. They convince themselves that they can accomplish their goals.
• Practice being punctual. Others will sense your professionalism.
• Plan, at least to a minimum, everything you undertake.
• Think it through, then do it.
• Think of your time as money. Are you getting a good return on the way you invest/spend it?
• Take some time, no matter how short, every day to do something you enjoy.
• Remember, if you think you can or you think you cannot, you are right.
• Use the self-fulfilling prophesy on yourself. Expect yourself to succeed.
• Doing gives you the power to do.
• Whenever you agree to get back to someone or complete a project, commit to a specific date by when you will have it done. and write this in your calendar immediately.
• Think in terms of long-term results.
• Create your own "motivation board" by putting up notes of things you need to do on a bulletin board or special wall space. It is an easily visible way to see what you need to work on. When an item is done, remove the note. Also keep your goals listed and pictured on your board.
• "Ninety percent of success in showing up."
• Be open and ready to make adjustments as things change.
• Focus 100% of your attention on a project.
• Since your boss will be asking you for progress reports, from time to time, stay informed by asking your people for progress reports each day while you meet them in their office or work area.
• Hire an assistant to run small errands and cleanup paperwork, etc. Even if you pay them from your own pocket, it is a good investment because it increases your productivity.
• Enjoy your life and blessings. You could be worse off.
• Recognize that even though you say you are doing something for someone else, in reality you are doing it for yourself. Since you are doing it for yourself, you can also enjoy it more.
• Start each day with a smile.
• Your job reflects you. Can you take pride in it being well done, error free and on time?
• Do it right or do it wrong just do it!
• Compete with yourself to become a little better each time you do something. Achieve your potential.
• Streamline your daily routine to do the same thing at the same time in the same order. Periodically review for continued effectiveness and efficiently.
• When responsible for a project, become intensively involved with it.
• Tell someone else what you are doing to keep on schedule. It keeps you committed.
• Make each day the best day of the week.
• Network with others in the organization to stay informed of who is doing what, when, where, and for whom.
• Use even small "pockets of time" to make lists, write notes and consider ideas.
• Consciously decide what are some things you are NOT going to do.
• Be willing to ask that a staff meeting be called to clarify a specific issue.
• Purposely schedule something you enjoy between routine projects. It will help rejuvenate you.
• Schedule a block of time periodically to take a big bite out of a major project.
• Realize "energy begets energy." Act and energy will flow.
• Time your routine activities such as telephone calls. Determine how you can "capture" some of the time and use it on other top priority activities.
• Be a "doer" not a "sitter."
• Sense the pride you will feel when you have completed a project.
• "He who kills time buries opportunities."
• Meditate according to your personal beliefs at the beginning of each day.
• Create the right "mind set" for success by adjusting your attitude for the upcoming project.
• Stay interested in what you are doing. Keep looking for what is interesting in your work. Change your perspective and look at it as someone outside your job would,
• Do not get hung-up on trivial details or tangents. Stay focused and moving.
• Always carry a pen or pencil and paper on which you can make notes.
• Do not accept calls for the first 15 minutes of the day while you prepare your daily strategy.
• Contemplating, meditating on, thinking about, or praying about the activities and success of the workday focuses energy toward that end result.
• Nest activities to available waiting time. Take a bite out of your elephant-sized project.
• Establish personal incentives and rewards to help maintain your own high enthusiasm and performance level
________________________________________
• Look at every new opportunity as an exciting and new-life experience.
• If you catch yourself worrying about an upcoming task, go ahead and do it now so it no longer is a distraction.
• Get into the habit of finishing what you start.
• Give up "waiting time" forever. Have something with you at all times to work on. For example: plan your day, work on a report, or read a page from your book.
• Be a professional who exhibits self-confidence and self-assurance in your potential to complete any task.
• Avoid worry. The majority of the things you worry about never occur.
• Agree with yourself in advance that you will have a good attitude toward the upcoming task.
• Hire specialists to do those things you are not expert in.
• Take a chance. Calculated risks pay off in entrepreneurial progress.
• Frequently ask, "Is what I am doing right now moving me toward my goals?"
• Plan the future, but live in the present.
• Make a list of your accomplishments as you go through the day- they are greater than you think.
• Keep a time log at least once every six months to determine exactly where your time is going.
• Do it right the first time and you will not have to take time later to fix it.
• Practice concentrating on your work, doing only one thing at a time.
• Accept responsibility for your job successes and failures. Do not look for a scapegoat.
• Do not view things you do as a "job." View all activities as a challenge.
• Use your subconscious mind by telling it to do what you do want. Instead of telling yourself, "I can't do that very well," say, "I can do this very well."
• Schedule several short vacations or long weekends - this creates positive deadlines by when you must have projects done.
• Develop a faster operating tempo or pace. Do things with a sense of urgency. Get over thinking you must do everything yourself.
• Take time to be quiet and reflective for a few minutes each day.
• Live effectiveness in everything you do rather then just sporadically applying time management techniques.
• Live in the Now. The current instant is the only time in which you have control-not the past, not the future, just now, in this instant.
• Recognize you control only 50% of a relationship and that is your half. If you are dissatisfied with what is going on, change what you are doing and saying.
• Give yourself points for completing tasks on your "to-do" list in priority order. When you reach 10 points, reward yourself.
• Carry a card with your goals written on it and review your goals at least three times a day.
• Act with enthusiasm in all that you do.
• Take time out to thank yourself for a good job.
• Practice your personal beliefs. It may be helpful each morning to take 15 minutes to gather your thoughts and say a prayer.
• Operate knowing that there is good in everything. Every cloud has a silver lining-look for it.
• Whenever you have an important thought that is not directly related to what you are working on, write it down. Then you will not forget it and you also will no longer be distracted by it.
• Make a commitment to show someone a specific accomplishment on a certain date. The added urgency will help you feel motivated to have it done.
• Reward yourself when you have successfully completed a high priority project.
• Instead of thinking about what you didn't get done, recognize all you did get accomplished and reward yourself for having done the most important things.
• Keep a list of accomplishments as well as a list of "things to-do. You will learn just how much you do get done.
• Practice self determination, wanting to do it for yourself.
• Nothing takes the place of persistence. Practice "stick-to-it-iveness."
• Get into the habit of writing down a person's name- it will help you to remember it.
• Believe that you can be what you want to he.
• Operate on the philosophy that what we give out is what comes back to us.
• Occasionally, sit quietly and do a self-assessment of your skills and strengths.
• Praise yourself for your progress.
• Recognize not all days will go as you desire. Be kind to yourself on days when your self esteem is wavering. Remind yourself that you are good and can stand up to any obstacle.
• Never criticize yourself as having a weakness. There is no such thing. You are only talking about a present undeveloped skill or part of yourself that if you so chose, you can change. You do not have any weakness, only untapped potential.
• Check to be sure you do not fall into the activity trap of simply doing tasks without knowing to what greater good the task is designed to contribute.
• Be pleasant all the time-no matter what the situation.
• Life is what you perceive it to be. Do you see it as a bore or as an adventure?
• Recall what you were hired to do and make sure it happens.
• To get ahead in anything, operate in the "and then some" manner. Always do what is expected "and then some," so what you give is always more than is expected by the other person.
• When working on a project that you can't stand, do it for a few minutes at a time until you can't stand it anymore. Then do something else and come back later for a few more minutes. Keep taking these bite size pieces until it is completely done.
• Look at what you do as an adventure. You can discover new things from this new perspective.
• Challenge yourself to do things differently than you have in the past. It provides new ideas and keeps you interested.
• Finish that last task you are working on before you go home; do not just leave it.
• Plan your day as you shower and dress in the morning. Keep a pad and pencil nearby to jot down ideas.
• Talk to yourself. Self talk using positive affirmations is something that is common among all great achievers. They convince themselves that they can accomplish their goals.
• Practice being punctual. Others will sense your professionalism.
• Plan, at least to a minimum, everything you undertake.
• Think it through, then do it.
• Think of your time as money. Are you getting a good return on the way you invest/spend it?
• Take some time, no matter how short, every day to do something you enjoy.
• Remember, if you think you can or you think you cannot, you are right.
• Use the self-fulfilling prophesy on yourself. Expect yourself to succeed.
• Doing gives you the power to do.
• Whenever you agree to get back to someone or complete a project, commit to a specific date by when you will have it done. and write this in your calendar immediately.
• Think in terms of long-term results.
• Create your own "motivation board" by putting up notes of things you need to do on a bulletin board or special wall space. It is an easily visible way to see what you need to work on. When an item is done, remove the note. Also keep your goals listed and pictured on your board.
• "Ninety percent of success in showing up."
• Be open and ready to make adjustments as things change.
• Focus 100% of your attention on a project.
• Since your boss will be asking you for progress reports, from time to time, stay informed by asking your people for progress reports each day while you meet them in their office or work area.
• Hire an assistant to run small errands and cleanup paperwork, etc. Even if you pay them from your own pocket, it is a good investment because it increases your productivity.
• Enjoy your life and blessings. You could be worse off.
• Recognize that even though you say you are doing something for someone else, in reality you are doing it for yourself. Since you are doing it for yourself, you can also enjoy it more.
• Start each day with a smile.
• Your job reflects you. Can you take pride in it being well done, error free and on time?
• Do it right or do it wrong just do it!
• Compete with yourself to become a little better each time you do something. Achieve your potential.
• Streamline your daily routine to do the same thing at the same time in the same order. Periodically review for continued effectiveness and efficiently.
• When responsible for a project, become intensively involved with it.
• Tell someone else what you are doing to keep on schedule. It keeps you committed.
• Make each day the best day of the week.
• Network with others in the organization to stay informed of who is doing what, when, where, and for whom.
• Use even small "pockets of time" to make lists, write notes and consider ideas.
• Consciously decide what are some things you are NOT going to do.
• Be willing to ask that a staff meeting be called to clarify a specific issue.
• Purposely schedule something you enjoy between routine projects. It will help rejuvenate you.
• Schedule a block of time periodically to take a big bite out of a major project.
• Realize "energy begets energy." Act and energy will flow.
• Time your routine activities such as telephone calls. Determine how you can "capture" some of the time and use it on other top priority activities.
• Be a "doer" not a "sitter."
• Sense the pride you will feel when you have completed a project.
• "He who kills time buries opportunities."
• Meditate according to your personal beliefs at the beginning of each day.
• Create the right "mind set" for success by adjusting your attitude for the upcoming project.
• Stay interested in what you are doing. Keep looking for what is interesting in your work. Change your perspective and look at it as someone outside your job would,
• Do not get hung-up on trivial details or tangents. Stay focused and moving.
• Always carry a pen or pencil and paper on which you can make notes.
• Do not accept calls for the first 15 minutes of the day while you prepare your daily strategy.
• Contemplating, meditating on, thinking about, or praying about the activities and success of the workday focuses energy toward that end result.
• Nest activities to available waiting time. Take a bite out of your elephant-sized project.
• Establish personal incentives and rewards to help maintain your own high enthusiasm and performance level
________________________________________
Monday 16 July 2007
Wal-mart enters India
Hot news is that Wal-mart enters India. Differences of opinion surround the air on the benefits and harms of Wal-mart entering India. Let me also join this issue.
Wal-mart is a failure in South Korea and West Germany but what about India? I would be submitting my views rathers pros and cons and might not be giving a conclusion. i would prefer your comments and expects further discussion as to ascertain for a conclusion.
Before all the arguments one puts forth, the one that’s most important factor to be discussed is the loss of jobs. Small unorganized sector forms one of the largest employment sources in India. Small kirana stores are the means of earning livelihood for thousands of households. When large retail houses like Wal-mart arrive, they will under cut prices drastically. This will lead to decay and eventually death of these small stores. With them will go the livelihood of millions. Let us not discuss the wages part now though Wal-mart is notorious for being a poor pay-master!
"Time and again, economic progress has involved job losses, job displacement, old skills dying out and new markets for new skills appearing. The transition is almost always painful for some. But if that were the argument for stopping economic change, we would all still be toiling fields. But the irony is a lot of Indians do till fields." These were words from a daily magazine. The issue is about government taking care of its citizens.
We have observed that certain Multi-nationals with their muscle had flexed the arms of the governance. FDI in retail will have its own hassles.
Walmart is past the peak of growth in the most ‘developed’ countries. Walmart needs Indian market desperately to stem its inevitable decline; India doesn’t need Walmart as much.
Wal Mart squeezes the suppliers (in the name of efficiency). Walmart is known to be a ‘bully’. When you are an FMCG brand’s LARGEST single buyer, you have a leverage you can use to control the SKU’s [product sizing], packaging, delivery, carton size; you name it, to your specifications due to sheer bargaining power.
There has been and will continue to be a certain amount of resentment that entire product lines or brands have either disappeared or quality declined due to Walmart. Wal-Mart not only dictates delivery schedules and inventory levels but also heavily influences product specifications. In the end, many suppliers have to choose between designing goods their way or the Wal-Mart way.
they have uncanny knack of squeezing the balls of their customers and leaving them without even a fig-leaf. As to meet their demands, many manufacturers comprise on quality. In the name of so-called well-laid systems, they indirectly add your manufacturing cost. But i am sure those who cater Wal-mart with Orange and Green channels (as they call it) must be cheating Wal-mart and Wal-mart is aware of the same.
Similarly, Walmart has bargaining power in transportation - railways are building lines for them, to their warehouses, can negotiate the heck out of any damn thing that is supplied to them for this reason.
Another problem Wal-mart has to think over is Indians don’t shop the way Americans do. They had the very same issues in Korea and China due to ignoring socio cultural differences in shopping.
Walmart is geared towards bulk shopping; in large sizes that allow for cheaper unit cost i.e. it’s cheaper per roll of toilet paper to buy a 48 piece package than one single roll. Same applies to items from shampoo to Nirma.
They have to change each and every aspect of their systems to adapt as Ramu doing the daily subzi shopping for memsahib, or Amit Average picking up something on the way home from work - again they’re pattern is LARGE stores with parking lots the size of Bangalore Airport. Taking Delhi or Bombay as an example, the closest they can come to would be somewhere in New Bombay or Gurgaon.
Again, it would be a great day trip like Esselworld or some such thing but feasible replacement to change the behavior of the indian housewife? I doubt it - perishable foods need to preserved, while households may have fridges India has variability of environment - power supply, water supply, quality of roads, traffic that would make someone balk at the thought of making Walmart their regular store rather than the convenient kirana down the road!
If Walmart were to enter India they would have to redesign their entire business model, supply chain, inventory and transportation systems.
They decide not to enter perishable foodstuffs just consumer goods and non perishable groceries - fine - to a degree but again
1. buying in bulk, where one cab store in his little apartment in Bombay?
2. How can one bring it back if he doesn’t have a car?
3. Will the price differential be worth it as a regular activitiy as opposed to an occasional outing 4. Prices - it sounds as though they are expected to keep the low prices that have elsewhere in the world
We have seen enough MNC’s enter the Indian market since liberalization and fail spectacularly as they did not realized the INdian buying pattern.
In the US, average credit card consumer debt (at rates like 17 to 21% interest) per household is $8000 dollars. They (MNC’s) can advertise, encourage and incentivize all they like, and they have been doing so in India for the past 10 years in order to create a consuming class but it won’t happen beyond a point. We’re not going to end up carrying so much debt for consumer goods OUTSIDE of dowry or marriage.
Walmart will need to understand the Indian retail culture and redesign their strategy and business model if they are looking for any kind of foothold in India.
Wal-mart is a failure in South Korea and West Germany but what about India? I would be submitting my views rathers pros and cons and might not be giving a conclusion. i would prefer your comments and expects further discussion as to ascertain for a conclusion.
Before all the arguments one puts forth, the one that’s most important factor to be discussed is the loss of jobs. Small unorganized sector forms one of the largest employment sources in India. Small kirana stores are the means of earning livelihood for thousands of households. When large retail houses like Wal-mart arrive, they will under cut prices drastically. This will lead to decay and eventually death of these small stores. With them will go the livelihood of millions. Let us not discuss the wages part now though Wal-mart is notorious for being a poor pay-master!
"Time and again, economic progress has involved job losses, job displacement, old skills dying out and new markets for new skills appearing. The transition is almost always painful for some. But if that were the argument for stopping economic change, we would all still be toiling fields. But the irony is a lot of Indians do till fields." These were words from a daily magazine. The issue is about government taking care of its citizens.
We have observed that certain Multi-nationals with their muscle had flexed the arms of the governance. FDI in retail will have its own hassles.
Walmart is past the peak of growth in the most ‘developed’ countries. Walmart needs Indian market desperately to stem its inevitable decline; India doesn’t need Walmart as much.
Wal Mart squeezes the suppliers (in the name of efficiency). Walmart is known to be a ‘bully’. When you are an FMCG brand’s LARGEST single buyer, you have a leverage you can use to control the SKU’s [product sizing], packaging, delivery, carton size; you name it, to your specifications due to sheer bargaining power.
There has been and will continue to be a certain amount of resentment that entire product lines or brands have either disappeared or quality declined due to Walmart. Wal-Mart not only dictates delivery schedules and inventory levels but also heavily influences product specifications. In the end, many suppliers have to choose between designing goods their way or the Wal-Mart way.
they have uncanny knack of squeezing the balls of their customers and leaving them without even a fig-leaf. As to meet their demands, many manufacturers comprise on quality. In the name of so-called well-laid systems, they indirectly add your manufacturing cost. But i am sure those who cater Wal-mart with Orange and Green channels (as they call it) must be cheating Wal-mart and Wal-mart is aware of the same.
Similarly, Walmart has bargaining power in transportation - railways are building lines for them, to their warehouses, can negotiate the heck out of any damn thing that is supplied to them for this reason.
Another problem Wal-mart has to think over is Indians don’t shop the way Americans do. They had the very same issues in Korea and China due to ignoring socio cultural differences in shopping.
Walmart is geared towards bulk shopping; in large sizes that allow for cheaper unit cost i.e. it’s cheaper per roll of toilet paper to buy a 48 piece package than one single roll. Same applies to items from shampoo to Nirma.
They have to change each and every aspect of their systems to adapt as Ramu doing the daily subzi shopping for memsahib, or Amit Average picking up something on the way home from work - again they’re pattern is LARGE stores with parking lots the size of Bangalore Airport. Taking Delhi or Bombay as an example, the closest they can come to would be somewhere in New Bombay or Gurgaon.
Again, it would be a great day trip like Esselworld or some such thing but feasible replacement to change the behavior of the indian housewife? I doubt it - perishable foods need to preserved, while households may have fridges India has variability of environment - power supply, water supply, quality of roads, traffic that would make someone balk at the thought of making Walmart their regular store rather than the convenient kirana down the road!
If Walmart were to enter India they would have to redesign their entire business model, supply chain, inventory and transportation systems.
They decide not to enter perishable foodstuffs just consumer goods and non perishable groceries - fine - to a degree but again
1. buying in bulk, where one cab store in his little apartment in Bombay?
2. How can one bring it back if he doesn’t have a car?
3. Will the price differential be worth it as a regular activitiy as opposed to an occasional outing 4. Prices - it sounds as though they are expected to keep the low prices that have elsewhere in the world
We have seen enough MNC’s enter the Indian market since liberalization and fail spectacularly as they did not realized the INdian buying pattern.
In the US, average credit card consumer debt (at rates like 17 to 21% interest) per household is $8000 dollars. They (MNC’s) can advertise, encourage and incentivize all they like, and they have been doing so in India for the past 10 years in order to create a consuming class but it won’t happen beyond a point. We’re not going to end up carrying so much debt for consumer goods OUTSIDE of dowry or marriage.
Walmart will need to understand the Indian retail culture and redesign their strategy and business model if they are looking for any kind of foothold in India.
Tuesday 10 July 2007
"Freedom of ex-pression" - this is one phrase that has variety of meanings in Indian conditions. I remember a slogan, "You have every right to express your views as long as it agrees with mine!"Perhaps this is best suited to the so-called learned men (read securalists) of India.
If you had guessed it right, i am talking about the screening of film Parzania in Gujarat. I read a statement in the newspaper that the Opposition Leader of our state (Gujarat) will screen this picture in Gujarat at his own expenses because he respects the freedom of ex-pression.
Yes. He is right. Freedom of ex-pression should be respected. However, I do not understand that respecting this freedom of ex-pression do not have a validation whenever the subject is pertained to the sentiments of religion other than Hindus or issues pertained to Congress.MF should have the freedom of ex-pression to draw Hindu Goddess Saraswati nude but Salman Rushdie cannot have this freedom to write Satanic Verses of Quran nor the Dutch cartoonist can have this freedom to write about Mohummed the Prophet.
Parzania can be screened all over India since freedom of ex-pression has to be respected but Da Vinci Code has to be banned in India because it hurts the sentiments of minorities(?) and they cannot have this freedom of ex-pression.
Tehelka.com can have the freedom of ex-pression (and all wrong means they follow) but hinduunity.org cannot have this freedom of ex-pression because they blame Rahul Gandhi for a rape.
It is an irony that the term, "freedom of ex-pression" has got variety of meanings in Indian arena.
If you had guessed it right, i am talking about the screening of film Parzania in Gujarat. I read a statement in the newspaper that the Opposition Leader of our state (Gujarat) will screen this picture in Gujarat at his own expenses because he respects the freedom of ex-pression.
Yes. He is right. Freedom of ex-pression should be respected. However, I do not understand that respecting this freedom of ex-pression do not have a validation whenever the subject is pertained to the sentiments of religion other than Hindus or issues pertained to Congress.MF should have the freedom of ex-pression to draw Hindu Goddess Saraswati nude but Salman Rushdie cannot have this freedom to write Satanic Verses of Quran nor the Dutch cartoonist can have this freedom to write about Mohummed the Prophet.
Parzania can be screened all over India since freedom of ex-pression has to be respected but Da Vinci Code has to be banned in India because it hurts the sentiments of minorities(?) and they cannot have this freedom of ex-pression.
Tehelka.com can have the freedom of ex-pression (and all wrong means they follow) but hinduunity.org cannot have this freedom of ex-pression because they blame Rahul Gandhi for a rape.
It is an irony that the term, "freedom of ex-pression" has got variety of meanings in Indian arena.
The First Lady President
The entire media is going ga-ga over the selection of Ms Pratiba Patil-Shekhawat as the UPA nominee for the next President of India. While her selection is certain, all have started celebrating the first woman-President of India.
Shall we take a break? Shall we take a moment to ponder whether her selection is genuinely made because we wanted a Lady President? Wait a minute! i will not discuss about the complaints she had recieved and the cases that are pending against her name questioning her integrity! there are newspapers doing it in vain.
Shall we take a break? Shall we take a moment to ponder whether her selection is genuinely made because we wanted a Lady President? Wait a minute! i will not discuss about the complaints she had recieved and the cases that are pending against her name questioning her integrity! there are newspapers doing it in vain.
The selection of Pratibha is purely based on the results of 2009 elections. In case of a hung-Parliament, non-BJP parties want a President who can give them the first chance irrespective of who is the single largest party so that they can manoevre the horse-trading.
The story of her selection goes like this:
The Opposition has got a valid candidate who can cut across party lines to get his votes and his selection is certain if he contested.
As to stop his selection, one has to play secular card but at the same time has to play regional card.
The parties of UPA has conflicts among their candidates and all they wanted is a dummy candidate who could listen to all of them.
With elections due and hung-parliament is certain, they need a President who would call only UPA for Govt forming enabling them do horse-trading and rule us again.
What to do?
Choose a lady candidate - No one can refuse. if did, they can be labelled as male chauvnist!
Choose one from the same clan of opposition candidate. this would stop all the votes of same clan getting to him
Choose a dummy candidate - who would vouch their loyality by doing all these people wanted (when KR Narayanan can do this no doubt Pratibha would not repeat)
Days are gone when President are elected based on their qualities. The seat of President lost its value when Late Mr. VV Giri was made one (the famous rubber-stamp tag he brought to this post)
All Congress Presidents brought shame to this post.
VV Giri - a rubber stamp
FAkuddin Ali Ahmed - legalized Bangladeshi infiltrants and brought famous IMDT also signed the Emergency declaration without questioning
ZailSingh: who pridely accalimed that he would sweep the floor if Indira asks him to do so!
RV - Read out the message of Rajiv Gandhi at Moscow (over ruling the protocol)
Politics have stooped to such level that the posts have no value now. What can Pratiba do and what will she achieve is to be seen waited.
Saturday 7 July 2007
Vanishing Vultures
Vultures are nature's scavengers and their effectiveness in disposing off dead cattle has been a critical public health safeguard in India. But with the sub-continent losing 95% of its vulture population in just 15 years, scientists and conservationists have been scrambling to understand why, and propose remedies.
Spare a thought for the scrawny vultures – those once-familiar birds of prey that used to circle lazily high in the air, scanning for anything to scavenge. In my youth, they even perched on tall tadgola trees in suburban Mumbai, peering disdainfully at the goings-on below. People may be forgiven for wondering why anyone should shed a tear about the disappearance of these ungainly beasts with scruffy, elongated necks and menacing beaks.
Just two decades ago, there were 85 million in this country; they are now estimated to number just a paltry 3-4,000. The one community that is only too well aware of this phenomenon are the Parsis, the descendants of exiles from Persia who still resort in Mumbai and a few other cities to dispose of their dead in the Towers of Silence – by exposing them on open platforms where vultures, kites and crows are supposed to dispose of them cleanly, speedily and efficiently.
Due to the rampant urbanization and the proliferation of high-rises, vultures can no longer land and take off as they once used to from the two towers in Mumbai, where most of the world's Parsis are based. In city after city, in India and Pakistan, these towers are being closed. But there is another, far more sinister, reason for the disappearance of these birds, which lies in the countryside.
Over the last decade, the 155-year-old Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), one of the most reputed wildlife research organizations in South Asia, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in the UK, the Zoological Society of London and the Peregrine Fund in the U.S., began to put their heads together to find out what was responsible for the sudden decline in the vulture population. The Peregrine Fund traced the cause in Pakistan to an anti-inflammatory drug called diclofenac, which veterinarians also introduced into India at the same time. Humans also use Diclofenac. A much smaller threat is aircraft, including those of the Indian Air Force, which hit the birds at high altitudes.
If cattle, buffaloes, sheep or goats injected with this commonly used pain-relieving drug die of natural causes and are consumed by vultures, it causes the birds to suffer from dehydration when uric acid forms, leading to gout in the viscera and eventual kidney failure and death. It does not, as may be imagined, lead to accumulation of chemicals in the body, like DDT; even a one-time ingestion can prove fatal to the vultures. Scientists show that even if 1% of carcasses contain diclofenac, it can lead to such a precipitate decline in this raptor population. BNHS' examination of 1,800 samples from around the country show the actual prevalence of diclofenac in carcasses is ten times higher.
Little surprise then that India; Nepal and Pakistan have in the short period of 15 years lost 95% of their vulture population. There are eight species in the region. In 2000, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed three species as critically endangered, which is the highest category under risk. Two years later, all three were similarly listed under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, which also applies to the tiger and one-horned rhino.
The precarious situation has been also been recorded on film. At a recent launch of a shortened version of his film titled The Vanishing Vultures in Mumbai, the Delhi-based filmmaker Mike Pandey pointed out why it was important to save these unpopular birds. Although they are dismissed as dirty scavengers, "they are the vital link between death and life," he said, because in their absence, carrion lies unattended and breeds diseases, several of which may be unknown to humans in future. This is yet another reminder of nature's role in recycling potentially harmful waste. A flock of vultures has the ability to dispose of an ox-sized animal in just 30 minutes. "We have lost a critical link in the food chain," Pandey warned.
According to Dr Asad Rahmani, the BNHS Director, who noticed a decline in this raptor species at the world-famous Bharatpur bird sanctuary much earlier, India, which has the largest cattle population in the world, is especially at risk. As many as 10-20 million cattle which die of natural causes every year can lie and rot in the sun, preyed upon by dogs and crows, instead of vultures, says Rahmani. Pandey observed that these "are breeding grounds which can unleash pathogens throughout the world." He has visited villages in Gujarat where 18 children have died of rabies: the dogs, which carried this highly communicable disease, could conceivably have consumed such carrion. Equally worrisome is that Anthrax – which caused such a scare post 9/11 in the U.S. -- has once again surfaced in this state.
Diclofenac is cheap, and is used by thousands of poor herders, which is largely the problem. There are some 25 companies that formulate this drug and 110 companies that market Rs.25 crore worth annually. The companies claim that it does not form a major part of their operations and could cooperate, provided the government subsidized their switch-over to a substitute called meloxicam, which is used in the West.
However, at the Indian National Board for Wildlife meeting in March last year, under pressure from wildlife enthusiasts, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who chairs the board, ordered that its use be discontinued in the country within six months. However, the Drugs Controller has still not acted on this directive and the Agriculture Ministry also remains lethargic. Meloxicam, which is harmless, is two-and-a-half times more expensive. The board is meeting at the end of this month (April), where ornithologists hope that some firmness will be shown.
Diclofenac is banned in most countries, including in Africa, the exception being South Asia. Either subsidising the price of meloxicam or raising the price of diclofenac would be the right thing.
RSPB has taken the initiative in starting two vulture breeding centres – in Pinjor in Haryana and at the Buxa tiger sanctuary in West Bengal. However, it is observed that vultures breed so slowly – they only give birth to one chick a year, and it takes up to four years for it to mature – that "we cannot hope for the population to be restored to its original size, at least within our lifetime." The RSPB has raised £150,000 (Rs.1.2 crore) for each of these two aviaries, which is why only two have been established when twice are many are required in India and another six in South Asia.
"It is necessary to pass the message to other South Asian countries, which are looking to India to take the lead in saving this bird."
Spare a thought for the scrawny vultures – those once-familiar birds of prey that used to circle lazily high in the air, scanning for anything to scavenge. In my youth, they even perched on tall tadgola trees in suburban Mumbai, peering disdainfully at the goings-on below. People may be forgiven for wondering why anyone should shed a tear about the disappearance of these ungainly beasts with scruffy, elongated necks and menacing beaks.
Just two decades ago, there were 85 million in this country; they are now estimated to number just a paltry 3-4,000. The one community that is only too well aware of this phenomenon are the Parsis, the descendants of exiles from Persia who still resort in Mumbai and a few other cities to dispose of their dead in the Towers of Silence – by exposing them on open platforms where vultures, kites and crows are supposed to dispose of them cleanly, speedily and efficiently.
Due to the rampant urbanization and the proliferation of high-rises, vultures can no longer land and take off as they once used to from the two towers in Mumbai, where most of the world's Parsis are based. In city after city, in India and Pakistan, these towers are being closed. But there is another, far more sinister, reason for the disappearance of these birds, which lies in the countryside.
Over the last decade, the 155-year-old Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), one of the most reputed wildlife research organizations in South Asia, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in the UK, the Zoological Society of London and the Peregrine Fund in the U.S., began to put their heads together to find out what was responsible for the sudden decline in the vulture population. The Peregrine Fund traced the cause in Pakistan to an anti-inflammatory drug called diclofenac, which veterinarians also introduced into India at the same time. Humans also use Diclofenac. A much smaller threat is aircraft, including those of the Indian Air Force, which hit the birds at high altitudes.
If cattle, buffaloes, sheep or goats injected with this commonly used pain-relieving drug die of natural causes and are consumed by vultures, it causes the birds to suffer from dehydration when uric acid forms, leading to gout in the viscera and eventual kidney failure and death. It does not, as may be imagined, lead to accumulation of chemicals in the body, like DDT; even a one-time ingestion can prove fatal to the vultures. Scientists show that even if 1% of carcasses contain diclofenac, it can lead to such a precipitate decline in this raptor population. BNHS' examination of 1,800 samples from around the country show the actual prevalence of diclofenac in carcasses is ten times higher.
Little surprise then that India; Nepal and Pakistan have in the short period of 15 years lost 95% of their vulture population. There are eight species in the region. In 2000, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed three species as critically endangered, which is the highest category under risk. Two years later, all three were similarly listed under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, which also applies to the tiger and one-horned rhino.
The precarious situation has been also been recorded on film. At a recent launch of a shortened version of his film titled The Vanishing Vultures in Mumbai, the Delhi-based filmmaker Mike Pandey pointed out why it was important to save these unpopular birds. Although they are dismissed as dirty scavengers, "they are the vital link between death and life," he said, because in their absence, carrion lies unattended and breeds diseases, several of which may be unknown to humans in future. This is yet another reminder of nature's role in recycling potentially harmful waste. A flock of vultures has the ability to dispose of an ox-sized animal in just 30 minutes. "We have lost a critical link in the food chain," Pandey warned.
According to Dr Asad Rahmani, the BNHS Director, who noticed a decline in this raptor species at the world-famous Bharatpur bird sanctuary much earlier, India, which has the largest cattle population in the world, is especially at risk. As many as 10-20 million cattle which die of natural causes every year can lie and rot in the sun, preyed upon by dogs and crows, instead of vultures, says Rahmani. Pandey observed that these "are breeding grounds which can unleash pathogens throughout the world." He has visited villages in Gujarat where 18 children have died of rabies: the dogs, which carried this highly communicable disease, could conceivably have consumed such carrion. Equally worrisome is that Anthrax – which caused such a scare post 9/11 in the U.S. -- has once again surfaced in this state.
Diclofenac is cheap, and is used by thousands of poor herders, which is largely the problem. There are some 25 companies that formulate this drug and 110 companies that market Rs.25 crore worth annually. The companies claim that it does not form a major part of their operations and could cooperate, provided the government subsidized their switch-over to a substitute called meloxicam, which is used in the West.
However, at the Indian National Board for Wildlife meeting in March last year, under pressure from wildlife enthusiasts, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who chairs the board, ordered that its use be discontinued in the country within six months. However, the Drugs Controller has still not acted on this directive and the Agriculture Ministry also remains lethargic. Meloxicam, which is harmless, is two-and-a-half times more expensive. The board is meeting at the end of this month (April), where ornithologists hope that some firmness will be shown.
Diclofenac is banned in most countries, including in Africa, the exception being South Asia. Either subsidising the price of meloxicam or raising the price of diclofenac would be the right thing.
RSPB has taken the initiative in starting two vulture breeding centres – in Pinjor in Haryana and at the Buxa tiger sanctuary in West Bengal. However, it is observed that vultures breed so slowly – they only give birth to one chick a year, and it takes up to four years for it to mature – that "we cannot hope for the population to be restored to its original size, at least within our lifetime." The RSPB has raised £150,000 (Rs.1.2 crore) for each of these two aviaries, which is why only two have been established when twice are many are required in India and another six in South Asia.
"It is necessary to pass the message to other South Asian countries, which are looking to India to take the lead in saving this bird."
Story of 8 monkeys
Put eight monkeys in a room. In the middle of the room is a ladder, leading to a bunch of bananas hanging from a hook on the ceiling.
Each time a monkey tries to climb the ladder, an arragement is made that chilled water will be sprinkled all over the cage and on all monkeys making them shiver and feel miserable.
Soon enough, whenever a monkey attempts to climb the ladder, all of the other monkeys, not wanting to be sprayed with chill water, set upon him and beat him up.
Soon, none of the eight monkeys ever attempted to climb the ladder. One of the original monkeys is then removed, and a new monkey is put in the room. Seeing the bananas and the ladder, he wonders why none of the other monkeys are doing the obvious. But undaunted, he immediately begins to climb the ladder.
All the other monkeys fall upon him and beat him silly. He has no idea why.
However, he no longer attempts to climb the ladder. A second original monkey is removed and replaced. The newcomer again attempts to climb the ladder, but all the other monkeys hammer the crap out of him. This includes the previous new monkey, who, grateful that he's not on the receiving end this time, participates in the beating because all the other monkeys are doing it.
However, he has no idea why he's attacking the new monkey. One by one, all the original monkeys are replaced. Eight new monkeys are now in the room. None of them have ever been sprayed by ice water. None of them attempt to climb the ladder. All of them will enthusiastically beat up any new monkey who tries, without having any idea why.
Moral: This is how any company's policies get Established
Each time a monkey tries to climb the ladder, an arragement is made that chilled water will be sprinkled all over the cage and on all monkeys making them shiver and feel miserable.
Soon enough, whenever a monkey attempts to climb the ladder, all of the other monkeys, not wanting to be sprayed with chill water, set upon him and beat him up.
Soon, none of the eight monkeys ever attempted to climb the ladder. One of the original monkeys is then removed, and a new monkey is put in the room. Seeing the bananas and the ladder, he wonders why none of the other monkeys are doing the obvious. But undaunted, he immediately begins to climb the ladder.
All the other monkeys fall upon him and beat him silly. He has no idea why.
However, he no longer attempts to climb the ladder. A second original monkey is removed and replaced. The newcomer again attempts to climb the ladder, but all the other monkeys hammer the crap out of him. This includes the previous new monkey, who, grateful that he's not on the receiving end this time, participates in the beating because all the other monkeys are doing it.
However, he has no idea why he's attacking the new monkey. One by one, all the original monkeys are replaced. Eight new monkeys are now in the room. None of them have ever been sprayed by ice water. None of them attempt to climb the ladder. All of them will enthusiastically beat up any new monkey who tries, without having any idea why.
Moral: This is how any company's policies get Established
Rain Water Harvesting
Introduction:
“The consumption of fresh water around the world has risen by six folds from 1900 to 1995. This rate is twice the rate of population growth during this period. Already, about ⅓ of the world’s population lives in “Water Stressed” countries where consumption exceeds 10% of the supply. If this trend continues, two out of three people will live in the condition said above by 2005”…. This is the statistics revealed by none other than Mr. Kofi Annan, the UN Secy. General.
Water was so easily available that it was abused rather used in all these years and hence has become the most precious resource. It is not an exaggerated statement if some one said that “Water would be the major bone of contention in a probable World War III”. Large variation in the availability of potable water and growing demand has mooted the need for rain water harvesting.
Why harvest only rain water?
Rain water is the primary source of pure water available in the earth. Even if we recover a small portion of the rain water that is wasted into sea, we will be provided with a new precious resource.
Around the world, only about 23% of the rainfall is received on land and the balance in oceans. Only 2.5% of the water available on earth is fresh i.e. 35000 Km³. Out of this, 69% (25000 Km³) of them are present in non-usable forms such as icecaps, glaciers, moisture in air, soil etc.,. The remaining fresh water is available as ground water.
India has got around 7000km long coastal line. Overdraw of water from ground along the coastal areas had led to intrusion of saline water from the sea. The above problem is observed in areas of TamilNadu, Saurashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal. One should realize that even less than 2% of the sea water can spoil the water potability. Though variety of methods is recommended for remedies, artificial recharge or rainwater harvest is the easier and cost-effective method to prevent this.
Rapid urbanization and industrialization had increased the demand for fresh water and thus depleting substantially the ground water table. Secondary sources like rivers, lakes are either vanishing or contaminated. In India, the average rainfall is 1170mm which is relatively high against the global average of 800mm. Poor storage facilities in the catchment regions and wastage of rain water being allowed to flow into sea add to the problems. Under these circumstances, rain water harvesting alone can revive the hope of recharging the ground water to maintain the sustenance of the planet.
Catchment Area:
The direct surface area that receives rainfall and contributes to rain water harvesting system is called catchment area. This could be the paved area on the terrace of a building, unpaved areas like lawn or open ground, sloped sheets of asbestos or PVC. The water collected in these areas can be conveyed to storage area vide PVC, HDPE or GI pipes. Plastic pipes are preferred as GI will react with the rain water which is soft in nature and produce ferrous oxide.
Re-charge by Percolation pits:
A sump needs to be built according to the rainfall amount and the catchment area. If the terrace is about 14000m² and the average rainfall is 470mm per month, (Chennai) then you can construct a sump of 50m³ (5x5x2). Do not plaster this. This sump should be dug near the bore-well pipe or well.
Fill the sump with river sand. Then fill with gravel, pebbles (coarse / big), smaller pebbles with coarse sand, coal mixed with broken brick pieces and fine sand. All of these should be filled layer after layer inside the RCC rings in equal amount. The RCC rings should have holes for aeration. Now bring the catchments pipes from the terrace (keep a gradient of 1:100 1cm slopes for every 100cm for natural faster flow) and drop the pipe on these layers. Cover the sump with a hole for aeration. The water collected will be filtered through or percolated through and get collected at the bottom. This collected water will re-charge the ground water table and dilute the hardness of the same.
Some ask what Acid rain is. How to harvest it? Water is neutral in normal state. Whenever the pH value goes below 7 it becomes acidic and goes beyond 8.5 it becomes basic. It literally does not mean that acid is raining as said. Cochin, Chembur, Kalyan, Delhi, Dayalbagh, Korba are some sites where acid rain fall takes place. Due to air-pollution, the pH value of rain water is getting lower in all major cities in India. This is a matter of concern.
Re-cycle of Sullage:
The sewage water can be treated and re-cycled at a cost of Rs 35/- per sq ft with a basic land cost at Rs 2000/-. The bath water and wash water in households known as sullage could be treated and re-used for low-end purposes like vehicle cleaning, gardening, floor-washing and to re-charge ground water. In houses with mini RO plant, the discharge water can be used for utensil washing. Preventing the use of potable water for non-potable purpose should be imbibed among us. This means use of drinking water for washing clothes or bathing should be stopped.
Conclusion:
Governments after Governments had promised fresh drinking water to every individual but it all remained as a dream that would never come true. We, on our part also are to be blamed as we always expected others to do something for us. It is the high time that we started conserving the precious resource – water. Unless the imbalance between ground water depletion and water recharging is rectified, more dangerous situations are in store for us in years to come. As the sons of the soil, it is our responsibility to collect rain water, utilize it judiciously and return to Mother Earth for sustainability.
“The consumption of fresh water around the world has risen by six folds from 1900 to 1995. This rate is twice the rate of population growth during this period. Already, about ⅓ of the world’s population lives in “Water Stressed” countries where consumption exceeds 10% of the supply. If this trend continues, two out of three people will live in the condition said above by 2005”…. This is the statistics revealed by none other than Mr. Kofi Annan, the UN Secy. General.
Water was so easily available that it was abused rather used in all these years and hence has become the most precious resource. It is not an exaggerated statement if some one said that “Water would be the major bone of contention in a probable World War III”. Large variation in the availability of potable water and growing demand has mooted the need for rain water harvesting.
Why harvest only rain water?
Rain water is the primary source of pure water available in the earth. Even if we recover a small portion of the rain water that is wasted into sea, we will be provided with a new precious resource.
Around the world, only about 23% of the rainfall is received on land and the balance in oceans. Only 2.5% of the water available on earth is fresh i.e. 35000 Km³. Out of this, 69% (25000 Km³) of them are present in non-usable forms such as icecaps, glaciers, moisture in air, soil etc.,. The remaining fresh water is available as ground water.
India has got around 7000km long coastal line. Overdraw of water from ground along the coastal areas had led to intrusion of saline water from the sea. The above problem is observed in areas of TamilNadu, Saurashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal. One should realize that even less than 2% of the sea water can spoil the water potability. Though variety of methods is recommended for remedies, artificial recharge or rainwater harvest is the easier and cost-effective method to prevent this.
Rapid urbanization and industrialization had increased the demand for fresh water and thus depleting substantially the ground water table. Secondary sources like rivers, lakes are either vanishing or contaminated. In India, the average rainfall is 1170mm which is relatively high against the global average of 800mm. Poor storage facilities in the catchment regions and wastage of rain water being allowed to flow into sea add to the problems. Under these circumstances, rain water harvesting alone can revive the hope of recharging the ground water to maintain the sustenance of the planet.
Catchment Area:
The direct surface area that receives rainfall and contributes to rain water harvesting system is called catchment area. This could be the paved area on the terrace of a building, unpaved areas like lawn or open ground, sloped sheets of asbestos or PVC. The water collected in these areas can be conveyed to storage area vide PVC, HDPE or GI pipes. Plastic pipes are preferred as GI will react with the rain water which is soft in nature and produce ferrous oxide.
Re-charge by Percolation pits:
A sump needs to be built according to the rainfall amount and the catchment area. If the terrace is about 14000m² and the average rainfall is 470mm per month, (Chennai) then you can construct a sump of 50m³ (5x5x2). Do not plaster this. This sump should be dug near the bore-well pipe or well.
Fill the sump with river sand. Then fill with gravel, pebbles (coarse / big), smaller pebbles with coarse sand, coal mixed with broken brick pieces and fine sand. All of these should be filled layer after layer inside the RCC rings in equal amount. The RCC rings should have holes for aeration. Now bring the catchments pipes from the terrace (keep a gradient of 1:100 1cm slopes for every 100cm for natural faster flow) and drop the pipe on these layers. Cover the sump with a hole for aeration. The water collected will be filtered through or percolated through and get collected at the bottom. This collected water will re-charge the ground water table and dilute the hardness of the same.
Some ask what Acid rain is. How to harvest it? Water is neutral in normal state. Whenever the pH value goes below 7 it becomes acidic and goes beyond 8.5 it becomes basic. It literally does not mean that acid is raining as said. Cochin, Chembur, Kalyan, Delhi, Dayalbagh, Korba are some sites where acid rain fall takes place. Due to air-pollution, the pH value of rain water is getting lower in all major cities in India. This is a matter of concern.
Re-cycle of Sullage:
The sewage water can be treated and re-cycled at a cost of Rs 35/- per sq ft with a basic land cost at Rs 2000/-. The bath water and wash water in households known as sullage could be treated and re-used for low-end purposes like vehicle cleaning, gardening, floor-washing and to re-charge ground water. In houses with mini RO plant, the discharge water can be used for utensil washing. Preventing the use of potable water for non-potable purpose should be imbibed among us. This means use of drinking water for washing clothes or bathing should be stopped.
Conclusion:
Governments after Governments had promised fresh drinking water to every individual but it all remained as a dream that would never come true. We, on our part also are to be blamed as we always expected others to do something for us. It is the high time that we started conserving the precious resource – water. Unless the imbalance between ground water depletion and water recharging is rectified, more dangerous situations are in store for us in years to come. As the sons of the soil, it is our responsibility to collect rain water, utilize it judiciously and return to Mother Earth for sustainability.
SAve Mangroves
Mangrove is a group of tropical and specialized trees growing in the saline and brackish water system. The mangrove trees are highly productive and economical which also protect the shoreline from erosion and cyclonic conditions.
Mangrove is one of the fragile but highly productive ecosystem found along our Indian coast. Indian has approximately 700,000 ha of area covered by mangroves along the estuaries and major deltas.
The term "mangrove" has been applied to plants that live in muddy, wet soil in tropical or subtropical tidal waters. The Shorter Oxford Dictionary describes the word "mangrove" as obscurely connected with the Portuguese word "mangue" and the Spanish word "mangle". In the nineteen sixties the term "mangal" was used for a community of mangrove plants and the term "mangrove" for the plant species making up the forest. The terminology has tended to fall into disuse recently and term such as "mangrove forest", "tidal forest" and "coastal woodland" have begun to appear.
Why mangroves?
The mangroves are angiosperms, with 45 species in India. They have special characters like viviparous germination, prop or knee roots and salt glands. These trees form a thick forest belt on the deltas, along major estuaries, and fringe the estuarine banks, as well as backwaters.
This unique tree resource is used for various purposes like tannin extraction, paper and pulp, firewood, timber, charcoal, fodder and several other by-products. The mangrove swamps are rich in the larvae of many economically important fishes, prawns, crabs and bivalves. These are the most suitable area for feeding, breeding and nursery grounds of these marine organisms and hence important for aquaculture purposes.
The present intention is to sketch the most important features of mangroves and mangrove communities in such a way that the interested user can understand them. Mangroves can be trees, shrubs, palms or ground ferns growing in the zone between high and low tide.
MANGROVE USES:
Ecologists tell us that mangroves provide double protection – the first layer of red mangroves with their flexible branches and tangled roots hanging in the coastal waters absorb the first shock waves. The second layer of tall black mangroves then operates like a wall withstanding much of the sea’s fury. Mangroves in addition absorb more carbon dioxide per unit area than ocean phytoplankton, a critical factor in global warming.
The mangroves have long functioned as a storehouse of materials providing food, Medicines, shelter and tools. The fruit of certain species, including the Nypa palm, can be eaten after preparation along with the nectar of some of the flowers. The best honey is considered to be that produced from mangroves, particularly the river mangrove (Aegiceras corniculatum).
Numerous medicines are derived from mangroves. Skin disorders and sores, including leprosy, may be treated with ashes or bark infusions of certain species. Headaches, rheumatism, snakebites, boils, ulcers, diarrhea, hemorrhages...and many more conditions are traditionally treated with mangrove plants.
The latex from the leaf of the blind-your-eye mangrove (Exoecaria agallocha) can indeed cause blindness, but the powerful chemicals in it can be used on sores and to treat marine stings. They are also used for fishing, when leaves are crushed and dropped in water fish are stupefied and float to the surface. This sap is currently being tested for its medical properties and may play a part in western medicine.
Certain tree species, notably the cedar mangrove and the cannonball mangrove (relatives of the red cedar) as well as the gray mangrove are prized for their hard wood and used for boat building and cabinet timber as well as for tools such as digging sticks, spears and boomerangs. The fronds of the Nypa palm are used for thatching and basket weaving. Various barks are used for tanning, pneumatophores (peg roots) make food fishing floats while the wood from yellow mangroves (Ceriops species) has a reputation for burning even when wet.
These fragile and sensitive trees and their ecosystem have been abused, neglected and overexploited in India. The major threats to mangroves are deforestation, reclamation and lately pollution also.
In addition, mangroves contribute to improved water quality by filtering and assimilating pollutants, stabilizing bottom sediments, and protecting shorelines from erosion in an already strained ecosystem.
Uniqueness of Mangroves:
Mangrove trees offer significant and unique habitat to birds, mammals, and fish populations through a complex marine food chain, creation of breeding habitat, and establishment of restrictive areas that offer protection for maturing offspring.
Mangrove plants produce about one kilo of litter (mainly leaves, twigs, bark, fruit and flowers) per square meter per year. Crabs consume some of this but most must be broken down before the nutrients become available to other animals. That is where the bacteria, along with fungi, come in. Dividing sometimes every few minutes, they feast on the litter, increasing its food value by reducing unusable carbohydrates and increasing the amount of protein - up to four times on a leaf which has been in seawater for a few months. Fish and prawns then eat partly decomposed leaf particles, loaded with colonies of protein-rich microorganisms. They in turn produce waste that, along with the smallest mangrove debris, is munched up by mollusks and small crustaceans. Even dissolved substances are used by plankton or, if they land on the mud surface, are browsed by animals such as crabs and mud whelks.
This process is not confined to the mangroves. While some litter is recycled on the spot, this system is one of the few to export much of the - organic matter it produces. Every time the tide retreats it carries a cargo of food out to sea. Studies of the mangroves at the northern end of Hinchinbrook Island have shown that they export more than 12,500 tonnes of litter per year into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. This material is deposited over an area of 260 square kilometers of seabed. Here bacteria densities are almost as high as those in the mangrove mud and they do much the same job, breaking down the litter to be consumed by bottom-living fauna, by prawns and fish.
An estimated 75 per cent of commercially caught fish and prawns depend directly on mangroves at some time in their lives or feed on food chains leading back there. Since those species making up the remainder of the catch probably also owe much to nutrients exported from the mangroves, these coastal forests can be seen as one of our major assets.
Why mangrove afforestation?
Indian mangrove have been deforested and reclaimed to such an extent that the mangroves along the west coast are very much degraded. This has not only affected the coastline but also the fisheries to a large extent.
Afforestation of mangrove areas on a large scale is the most urgent need of today, if the coastal environment is to be brought back again to its earlier pristine glory. Already vast mangrove areas have been degraded to wastelands as a result of deforestation, reclamation and pollution. It has also adversely affected the coastal fisheries.
The tsunami disaster was more or less the outcome of faulty business and economics. Shrimp cultivation, rising to over 8 billion tonnes a year in the year 2000, had already played havoc with the fragile eco-systems. The World Bank, as the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) once termed it, largely funded the ‘rape-and-run’ industry.
The expansion of shrimp farming was at the cost of tropical mangrove forests -- the world’s most important ecosystems. Each acre of mangrove forest destroyed results in an estimated 676 pounds loss in marine harvest. Mangrove swamps have been nature’s protection for the coastal regions from the large waves, weathering the impact of cyclones, and serving as a nursery for three-fourth of the commercial fish species that spend part of their life cycle in the swamps.
In India, mangrove cover has been reduced to less than a third of its original in the past three decades. Between 1963 and 1977, India destroyed nearly 50 per cent of its mangroves. Local communities were forcibly evicted to make way for the shrimp farms. In Andhra Pradesh, more than 50,000 people were forcibly removed and millions displaced throughout the country to make room for the aquaculture farms. Whatever remained of the mangroves was cut down by the hotel industry, virtually aided and abetted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Industries.
Five-star hotels, golf courses, and mansions sprung up all along disregarding the concern being expressed by environmentalists. These two ministries worked overtime to dilute the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms thereby allowing the hotels to even take over the 500-meter buffer that was supposed to be maintained along the beach.
In the past two decades, the entire coastline along the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, and Strait of Malacca in the Indian Ocean and all along the South Pacific Ocean has been a witness to massive investments in tourism and hotels. But Myanmar and Maldives suffered very less from the killing spree of the tsunami because the tourism industry had so far not spread its tentacles to the virgin mangroves and coral reefs surrounding the coastline. The large coral reef surrounding the islands of Maldives absorbed much of the tidal fury thereby restricting the human loss to a little over 100 dead. Coral reef absorbs the sea’s fury by breaking the waves.
The tragedy however is that more than 70 per cent of world’s coral reef has already been destroyed. Mangroves also help to protect offshore coral reefs by filtering out the silt flowing seawards from the land. Tourism growth, whether in the name of eco-tourism or leisure tourism, decimated the mangroves and destroyed the coral reefs.
If only the mangroves were intact, the damage from tsunami would have been greatly minimized. It happened earlier in Bangladesh. In 1960, a tsunami wave hit the coast in an area where mangroves were intact. There was not a single human loss.
In Tamil Nadu, Pichavaram and Muthupet with dense mangroves suffered low human casualties and less economic damage from the Dec.26 tsunami. Earlier, the famed mangroves of Bhiterkanika in Orissa (which also serve as the breeding ground for the olive-ridley turtles) had reduced the impact of the ‘super cyclone’ that had struck in Oct 1999, killing over 10,000 people and rendering millions homeless.
The life cycle of a shrimp farm is a maximum of two to five years. The ponds are then abandoned leaving behind toxic waste, destroyed ecosystems and displaced communities, annihilating livelihoods. The farms come up at the cost of natural ecosystems including mangroves. The whole cycle is then repeated in another pristine coastal area. The WWF and other environmental organisations have quoted one estimate -- economic losses due to the shrimp farms are approximately five times the potential earnings.
Tourism is no better. Kerala in south India, marketed as “God’s own country”, destroyed the mangroves in a desperate bid to lure the tourists. It is only after tsunami struck that the state government was quick to announce an Rs 340-million project aimed at insulating the Kerala coastline against tidal surges.
Please pass these messages and create an awareness on protecting the mangroves that protects us naturally.
Let us save the Mother Earth
Mangrove is one of the fragile but highly productive ecosystem found along our Indian coast. Indian has approximately 700,000 ha of area covered by mangroves along the estuaries and major deltas.
The term "mangrove" has been applied to plants that live in muddy, wet soil in tropical or subtropical tidal waters. The Shorter Oxford Dictionary describes the word "mangrove" as obscurely connected with the Portuguese word "mangue" and the Spanish word "mangle". In the nineteen sixties the term "mangal" was used for a community of mangrove plants and the term "mangrove" for the plant species making up the forest. The terminology has tended to fall into disuse recently and term such as "mangrove forest", "tidal forest" and "coastal woodland" have begun to appear.
Why mangroves?
The mangroves are angiosperms, with 45 species in India. They have special characters like viviparous germination, prop or knee roots and salt glands. These trees form a thick forest belt on the deltas, along major estuaries, and fringe the estuarine banks, as well as backwaters.
This unique tree resource is used for various purposes like tannin extraction, paper and pulp, firewood, timber, charcoal, fodder and several other by-products. The mangrove swamps are rich in the larvae of many economically important fishes, prawns, crabs and bivalves. These are the most suitable area for feeding, breeding and nursery grounds of these marine organisms and hence important for aquaculture purposes.
The present intention is to sketch the most important features of mangroves and mangrove communities in such a way that the interested user can understand them. Mangroves can be trees, shrubs, palms or ground ferns growing in the zone between high and low tide.
MANGROVE USES:
Ecologists tell us that mangroves provide double protection – the first layer of red mangroves with their flexible branches and tangled roots hanging in the coastal waters absorb the first shock waves. The second layer of tall black mangroves then operates like a wall withstanding much of the sea’s fury. Mangroves in addition absorb more carbon dioxide per unit area than ocean phytoplankton, a critical factor in global warming.
The mangroves have long functioned as a storehouse of materials providing food, Medicines, shelter and tools. The fruit of certain species, including the Nypa palm, can be eaten after preparation along with the nectar of some of the flowers. The best honey is considered to be that produced from mangroves, particularly the river mangrove (Aegiceras corniculatum).
Numerous medicines are derived from mangroves. Skin disorders and sores, including leprosy, may be treated with ashes or bark infusions of certain species. Headaches, rheumatism, snakebites, boils, ulcers, diarrhea, hemorrhages...and many more conditions are traditionally treated with mangrove plants.
The latex from the leaf of the blind-your-eye mangrove (Exoecaria agallocha) can indeed cause blindness, but the powerful chemicals in it can be used on sores and to treat marine stings. They are also used for fishing, when leaves are crushed and dropped in water fish are stupefied and float to the surface. This sap is currently being tested for its medical properties and may play a part in western medicine.
Certain tree species, notably the cedar mangrove and the cannonball mangrove (relatives of the red cedar) as well as the gray mangrove are prized for their hard wood and used for boat building and cabinet timber as well as for tools such as digging sticks, spears and boomerangs. The fronds of the Nypa palm are used for thatching and basket weaving. Various barks are used for tanning, pneumatophores (peg roots) make food fishing floats while the wood from yellow mangroves (Ceriops species) has a reputation for burning even when wet.
These fragile and sensitive trees and their ecosystem have been abused, neglected and overexploited in India. The major threats to mangroves are deforestation, reclamation and lately pollution also.
In addition, mangroves contribute to improved water quality by filtering and assimilating pollutants, stabilizing bottom sediments, and protecting shorelines from erosion in an already strained ecosystem.
Uniqueness of Mangroves:
Mangrove trees offer significant and unique habitat to birds, mammals, and fish populations through a complex marine food chain, creation of breeding habitat, and establishment of restrictive areas that offer protection for maturing offspring.
Mangrove plants produce about one kilo of litter (mainly leaves, twigs, bark, fruit and flowers) per square meter per year. Crabs consume some of this but most must be broken down before the nutrients become available to other animals. That is where the bacteria, along with fungi, come in. Dividing sometimes every few minutes, they feast on the litter, increasing its food value by reducing unusable carbohydrates and increasing the amount of protein - up to four times on a leaf which has been in seawater for a few months. Fish and prawns then eat partly decomposed leaf particles, loaded with colonies of protein-rich microorganisms. They in turn produce waste that, along with the smallest mangrove debris, is munched up by mollusks and small crustaceans. Even dissolved substances are used by plankton or, if they land on the mud surface, are browsed by animals such as crabs and mud whelks.
This process is not confined to the mangroves. While some litter is recycled on the spot, this system is one of the few to export much of the - organic matter it produces. Every time the tide retreats it carries a cargo of food out to sea. Studies of the mangroves at the northern end of Hinchinbrook Island have shown that they export more than 12,500 tonnes of litter per year into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. This material is deposited over an area of 260 square kilometers of seabed. Here bacteria densities are almost as high as those in the mangrove mud and they do much the same job, breaking down the litter to be consumed by bottom-living fauna, by prawns and fish.
An estimated 75 per cent of commercially caught fish and prawns depend directly on mangroves at some time in their lives or feed on food chains leading back there. Since those species making up the remainder of the catch probably also owe much to nutrients exported from the mangroves, these coastal forests can be seen as one of our major assets.
Why mangrove afforestation?
Indian mangrove have been deforested and reclaimed to such an extent that the mangroves along the west coast are very much degraded. This has not only affected the coastline but also the fisheries to a large extent.
Afforestation of mangrove areas on a large scale is the most urgent need of today, if the coastal environment is to be brought back again to its earlier pristine glory. Already vast mangrove areas have been degraded to wastelands as a result of deforestation, reclamation and pollution. It has also adversely affected the coastal fisheries.
The tsunami disaster was more or less the outcome of faulty business and economics. Shrimp cultivation, rising to over 8 billion tonnes a year in the year 2000, had already played havoc with the fragile eco-systems. The World Bank, as the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) once termed it, largely funded the ‘rape-and-run’ industry.
The expansion of shrimp farming was at the cost of tropical mangrove forests -- the world’s most important ecosystems. Each acre of mangrove forest destroyed results in an estimated 676 pounds loss in marine harvest. Mangrove swamps have been nature’s protection for the coastal regions from the large waves, weathering the impact of cyclones, and serving as a nursery for three-fourth of the commercial fish species that spend part of their life cycle in the swamps.
In India, mangrove cover has been reduced to less than a third of its original in the past three decades. Between 1963 and 1977, India destroyed nearly 50 per cent of its mangroves. Local communities were forcibly evicted to make way for the shrimp farms. In Andhra Pradesh, more than 50,000 people were forcibly removed and millions displaced throughout the country to make room for the aquaculture farms. Whatever remained of the mangroves was cut down by the hotel industry, virtually aided and abetted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Industries.
Five-star hotels, golf courses, and mansions sprung up all along disregarding the concern being expressed by environmentalists. These two ministries worked overtime to dilute the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms thereby allowing the hotels to even take over the 500-meter buffer that was supposed to be maintained along the beach.
In the past two decades, the entire coastline along the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, and Strait of Malacca in the Indian Ocean and all along the South Pacific Ocean has been a witness to massive investments in tourism and hotels. But Myanmar and Maldives suffered very less from the killing spree of the tsunami because the tourism industry had so far not spread its tentacles to the virgin mangroves and coral reefs surrounding the coastline. The large coral reef surrounding the islands of Maldives absorbed much of the tidal fury thereby restricting the human loss to a little over 100 dead. Coral reef absorbs the sea’s fury by breaking the waves.
The tragedy however is that more than 70 per cent of world’s coral reef has already been destroyed. Mangroves also help to protect offshore coral reefs by filtering out the silt flowing seawards from the land. Tourism growth, whether in the name of eco-tourism or leisure tourism, decimated the mangroves and destroyed the coral reefs.
If only the mangroves were intact, the damage from tsunami would have been greatly minimized. It happened earlier in Bangladesh. In 1960, a tsunami wave hit the coast in an area where mangroves were intact. There was not a single human loss.
In Tamil Nadu, Pichavaram and Muthupet with dense mangroves suffered low human casualties and less economic damage from the Dec.26 tsunami. Earlier, the famed mangroves of Bhiterkanika in Orissa (which also serve as the breeding ground for the olive-ridley turtles) had reduced the impact of the ‘super cyclone’ that had struck in Oct 1999, killing over 10,000 people and rendering millions homeless.
The life cycle of a shrimp farm is a maximum of two to five years. The ponds are then abandoned leaving behind toxic waste, destroyed ecosystems and displaced communities, annihilating livelihoods. The farms come up at the cost of natural ecosystems including mangroves. The whole cycle is then repeated in another pristine coastal area. The WWF and other environmental organisations have quoted one estimate -- economic losses due to the shrimp farms are approximately five times the potential earnings.
Tourism is no better. Kerala in south India, marketed as “God’s own country”, destroyed the mangroves in a desperate bid to lure the tourists. It is only after tsunami struck that the state government was quick to announce an Rs 340-million project aimed at insulating the Kerala coastline against tidal surges.
Please pass these messages and create an awareness on protecting the mangroves that protects us naturally.
Let us save the Mother Earth
How to deal if fired?
It's something everybody hopes will never happen to them; but the truth is that it happens to the best of us. It has happened to me, to be worse, when I am climbing up in my career-ladder. With Business-Process-Re-engineering (BPR) is the mantra of modern day management, downsizing or right-sizing(?) is going to be the talk of the town. Whether you're a money hungry young professional or an old-time executive, you just never know when you'll be handed the pink slip.
A company can't fire you at will, given a somewhat valid reason, there are no moral barriers when it comes to discarding an employee. So the best way to cope, if you do get fired, is to be prepared, handle it with grace and make the most of it.
How to prepare?
It is harder to find a new job than to retain the existing one. Hence, be proactive and volunteer yourself for projects and assignments. Not only will this help you remain employed by increasing your importance within the organization, but it also gives you the opportunity to meet people and make contacts, even if it's only within the company.
Even if you don't believe there is the slightest possibility that your employer would kick you out the door, be on the lookout. You don't know if the new superior has it in for you, and is just waiting for the silliest mistake on your part to take you out like the trash.
You can be the best employee two-three years running, never miss a day of work and have a bunch of golden stars in your personal file, but losing your cool with a superior one day might be enough to garner you the pink slip.
Another task on your "getting fired with ease" checklist is sporadically checking the classifieds to see what your industry has to offer, and which new opportunities are out there.
Mingle with new clients, chitchat with executives at parties and be genuinely nice to others. You never know when they could be of use to you (I mean that in a respectful way).
All of this is fine, but how do you react when you actually do get the royal boot?
The moment:
The most toughest moment in one’s life is accepting the pink slip. Still, one who handles this situation gently and overcomes it is a real winner. He will transform into an asset for his future employers. Some tips on behaving at such moments:
Don't Be Angry - The last thing you want to do is go on an insult rampage about your boss's pot-belly and short-height. It's very likely that he might hate letting you go as much as you hate getting fired.
Find Out The Real Reason - There's a big difference between getting fired and being laid-off. Ask whether this is an overall decision because of your attitude in the workplace, one specific event, or a result of downsizing (or right sizing whatever they call it) and cutting costs.
Don't Waste Any Time: The bomb was dropped and now you know why, but there's no use in reminiscing about old memories. Unless you see the possibility of negotiating your job back, make a clean exit.
Stay On Good Terms: You don't want to burn any bridges for the future, especially considering that upcoming employers might be phoning your ex boss for references.
Finalize All Pink Slip-Related Paperwork: Make sure that all official papers concerning your employment contract and the reason for your dismissal are in place. Find out if you're entitled to a severance package or some kind of outro bonus.
Pack Up & Go: Don't roam around telling co-workers you just got fired, but rather inconspicuously gather your personal belongings (and I'm not talking about the stapler, calculator, visiting cards or your data-collection on the job). Simply take the time to call your closest co-workers that evening and no need to go office to office; they'll understand.
At the outset, be careful enough not to allow yourself to get into such a situation. If you think your life is downhill from now on, don't despair. This might be a blessing in disguise.
A company can't fire you at will, given a somewhat valid reason, there are no moral barriers when it comes to discarding an employee. So the best way to cope, if you do get fired, is to be prepared, handle it with grace and make the most of it.
How to prepare?
It is harder to find a new job than to retain the existing one. Hence, be proactive and volunteer yourself for projects and assignments. Not only will this help you remain employed by increasing your importance within the organization, but it also gives you the opportunity to meet people and make contacts, even if it's only within the company.
Even if you don't believe there is the slightest possibility that your employer would kick you out the door, be on the lookout. You don't know if the new superior has it in for you, and is just waiting for the silliest mistake on your part to take you out like the trash.
You can be the best employee two-three years running, never miss a day of work and have a bunch of golden stars in your personal file, but losing your cool with a superior one day might be enough to garner you the pink slip.
Another task on your "getting fired with ease" checklist is sporadically checking the classifieds to see what your industry has to offer, and which new opportunities are out there.
Mingle with new clients, chitchat with executives at parties and be genuinely nice to others. You never know when they could be of use to you (I mean that in a respectful way).
All of this is fine, but how do you react when you actually do get the royal boot?
The moment:
The most toughest moment in one’s life is accepting the pink slip. Still, one who handles this situation gently and overcomes it is a real winner. He will transform into an asset for his future employers. Some tips on behaving at such moments:
Don't Be Angry - The last thing you want to do is go on an insult rampage about your boss's pot-belly and short-height. It's very likely that he might hate letting you go as much as you hate getting fired.
Find Out The Real Reason - There's a big difference between getting fired and being laid-off. Ask whether this is an overall decision because of your attitude in the workplace, one specific event, or a result of downsizing (or right sizing whatever they call it) and cutting costs.
Don't Waste Any Time: The bomb was dropped and now you know why, but there's no use in reminiscing about old memories. Unless you see the possibility of negotiating your job back, make a clean exit.
Stay On Good Terms: You don't want to burn any bridges for the future, especially considering that upcoming employers might be phoning your ex boss for references.
Finalize All Pink Slip-Related Paperwork: Make sure that all official papers concerning your employment contract and the reason for your dismissal are in place. Find out if you're entitled to a severance package or some kind of outro bonus.
Pack Up & Go: Don't roam around telling co-workers you just got fired, but rather inconspicuously gather your personal belongings (and I'm not talking about the stapler, calculator, visiting cards or your data-collection on the job). Simply take the time to call your closest co-workers that evening and no need to go office to office; they'll understand.
At the outset, be careful enough not to allow yourself to get into such a situation. If you think your life is downhill from now on, don't despair. This might be a blessing in disguise.
IMDT - An information to younger generation
On July 13th of 2005, Supreme Court of India made remarks on legislation like this: “The IMDT (Illegal Migrants Detection and Tribunals Act) is not only unacceptable to the Indian Constitution but is against it.” Perhaps this would not have hit the headlines of all the newspapers and I am surer most of the younger generation might not be aware of this IMDT itself. I would be briefing this upon in this article.
The Seven Sisters (north eastern states) were called as Assam prior to separation. It was a peaceful land full of resources and calm people. The British after establishing friendship with the Muslim League allowed infiltration of excessive muslim population from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) only to create havoc among Indians. However, this was not stopped even after our Independence and Indian Government turned a blind eye to this.
The continuous in-flow of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants became a thorn in the flesh of Assamese but it became a tool of Vote Politics to Politicians. Our Ex-President Dr. Fakruddin-Ali Ahmed proved his loyalty by approving this infiltration as these infiltrators, in 1967 elections, elected him from Parpeta. This result initiated the Vote-Bank politics in Indian History.
Thus, encouraged immigrants started entering into other states also like West Bengal and now even entered Maharashtra. The so-called secular parties keep them encouraging courtesy vote-banks. The result now we have around 2 crores of illegal infiltrators in India (most of them are here on a mission to de-stabilize India with their terrorist activities).
Courtesy, Arun Shourie, the report by RAW to Central Government in this regard was made public. Even before to this, it was the people of Assam who brought this to light. They held various demonstrations without any violence. AASU (All Assam Students Union) spearheaded this fight with Central Govt. AASU, Started in 1977-78, became popular by 1980. As usual, Indian Media was against this and labeled AASU as anti-Muslim and those who supported infiltration were claimed as secularists.
The so-called secularists formed AMSU (All Assam Minorities Students Union) to confront AASU. The support for AASU increased all over India. The Govt of India was forced to solve this issue and in the name of dialogue, the Govt led by Ms Indira Gandhi dilly-dallied the issue with AASU. Finally, it assured AASU that a law will be written to excavate all those illegal infiltrators who entered India after 1950.
Assam Gona Parishad, a wing of AASU won in the elections but the Govt of India did not keep its promise. Later the law was written that was called as IMDT. But the irony is with clever usage of words, the vote-bank politicians made a mockery of our legislation with the new rule IMDT.
On 15th of October 1983, a legislation was written by the then Govt of India named IMDT. It was written that the Govt will find out those infiltrators who are illegally living in India and exile them out. This was valid only in Assam. Later, Assam was divided into several states and they were not included.
Another problem in the law is, the secular politicians who banked on Muslim votes also stated that whoever submits a compliant that somebody is an illegal immigrant has to submit the proof and not the illegal migrant.
Supported by the so called secularists, learned men (who always were anti-Hindu) and the media, whoever spoke about the loopholes of IMDT were labeled as anti-Muslim. Only at this point of time a legislator from AGP filed a suit with Supreme Court of India.
Supreme Court in its Judgement says, “IMDT supposed to evacuate illegal migrants was not written with that notion but supports and protects them indirectly. This is a breach of legislation and is against Indian Constitution.” It also said that this anti-national activity is being done with help of law itself.
It added, “Due to infiltration the nation is surrounded by anti-national elements from outside and inside of India as well. According to Article 355, it becomes the responsibility of the Central Government to stop this!” The supreme court had made this remark based on the report from Ex-Governor of Assam, Mr. Sinha in 1986 to the President of India.
Still, the Government of India has not taken any action on this. It has formed a committee of Ministers to analyze this issue. By doing this, they have taken care of their vote-bank but also assured the destruction of our Country.
The Seven Sisters (north eastern states) were called as Assam prior to separation. It was a peaceful land full of resources and calm people. The British after establishing friendship with the Muslim League allowed infiltration of excessive muslim population from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) only to create havoc among Indians. However, this was not stopped even after our Independence and Indian Government turned a blind eye to this.
The continuous in-flow of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants became a thorn in the flesh of Assamese but it became a tool of Vote Politics to Politicians. Our Ex-President Dr. Fakruddin-Ali Ahmed proved his loyalty by approving this infiltration as these infiltrators, in 1967 elections, elected him from Parpeta. This result initiated the Vote-Bank politics in Indian History.
Thus, encouraged immigrants started entering into other states also like West Bengal and now even entered Maharashtra. The so-called secular parties keep them encouraging courtesy vote-banks. The result now we have around 2 crores of illegal infiltrators in India (most of them are here on a mission to de-stabilize India with their terrorist activities).
Courtesy, Arun Shourie, the report by RAW to Central Government in this regard was made public. Even before to this, it was the people of Assam who brought this to light. They held various demonstrations without any violence. AASU (All Assam Students Union) spearheaded this fight with Central Govt. AASU, Started in 1977-78, became popular by 1980. As usual, Indian Media was against this and labeled AASU as anti-Muslim and those who supported infiltration were claimed as secularists.
The so-called secularists formed AMSU (All Assam Minorities Students Union) to confront AASU. The support for AASU increased all over India. The Govt of India was forced to solve this issue and in the name of dialogue, the Govt led by Ms Indira Gandhi dilly-dallied the issue with AASU. Finally, it assured AASU that a law will be written to excavate all those illegal infiltrators who entered India after 1950.
Assam Gona Parishad, a wing of AASU won in the elections but the Govt of India did not keep its promise. Later the law was written that was called as IMDT. But the irony is with clever usage of words, the vote-bank politicians made a mockery of our legislation with the new rule IMDT.
On 15th of October 1983, a legislation was written by the then Govt of India named IMDT. It was written that the Govt will find out those infiltrators who are illegally living in India and exile them out. This was valid only in Assam. Later, Assam was divided into several states and they were not included.
Another problem in the law is, the secular politicians who banked on Muslim votes also stated that whoever submits a compliant that somebody is an illegal immigrant has to submit the proof and not the illegal migrant.
Supported by the so called secularists, learned men (who always were anti-Hindu) and the media, whoever spoke about the loopholes of IMDT were labeled as anti-Muslim. Only at this point of time a legislator from AGP filed a suit with Supreme Court of India.
Supreme Court in its Judgement says, “IMDT supposed to evacuate illegal migrants was not written with that notion but supports and protects them indirectly. This is a breach of legislation and is against Indian Constitution.” It also said that this anti-national activity is being done with help of law itself.
It added, “Due to infiltration the nation is surrounded by anti-national elements from outside and inside of India as well. According to Article 355, it becomes the responsibility of the Central Government to stop this!” The supreme court had made this remark based on the report from Ex-Governor of Assam, Mr. Sinha in 1986 to the President of India.
Still, the Government of India has not taken any action on this. It has formed a committee of Ministers to analyze this issue. By doing this, they have taken care of their vote-bank but also assured the destruction of our Country.
India Versus China or India & China?
Walk into any Big Bazaar or a Metro outlet or a Wall-mart (in America) and you won't be surprised to see the shelves sagging with Chinese-made goods - everything from shoes and clothes to toys and electronics. China would grab 10% of the world trade by 2010 while India would be struggling to double its present share of 2%. This ubiquitous "Made in China" label interprets a serious matter on the invasion of China all over the world.
Why is the gap in GDP and other benchmarks still so wide? Why we are finding it difficult to match our economic growth with its population growth?
It is true that India is no match as compared to China when it comes to direct foreign investment. It may be investors or Diasporas, India attracts less of FDI. Irony is, Indians live abroad are not interested in building a powerful India. China’s FDI is a substitute for domestic entrepreneurship. During the past 20 years the Chinese economy has boomed, but left the country's private sector with no world-class companies as to compete the multinational titans.
In 1992, the income accruing to foreign investors with equity stakes in Chinese firms was $US5.3 billion; today it is more than $US22 billion. Good news to China is this money is not leaving the country; it is often reinvested in China. For democratic, post-colonial India, allowing foreign investors huge profits at the expense of indigenous firms is simply unfeasible.
However, the statistics tell only part of the story - the macro-economic story. At the micro level, things look different. There, India displays much dynamism. "Can India surpass China?" is no longer a silly question, and if it turns out that India has indeed made the wiser bet, the implications could be enormous. - for China's future growth, and for how policy experts think about economic development generally.
China has been far bolder with external reforms but has imposed substantial legal and regulatory constraints on indigenous, private firms; it is only four years since domestic companies gained the same constitutional protections that foreign businesses have enjoyed since 1980s. The restrictions were designed not to keep Chinese entrepreneurs from competing with foreigners but to prevent private domestic businesses from challenging China's state-owned enterprises.
In a World Bank study published last year, only 52% of the Indian firms reported problems obtaining capital compared with 80% of the Chinese companies polled. The Indian firms relied much less on internally generated finances: only 27% of their funding came through operating profits, against 57% for the Chinese firms.
It is worth recalling that India's economic reforms began in earnest only in 1991, more than a decade after China began liberalizing. In addition, India has had to make do with a national savings rate half that of China (another area where no interest is shown), and 90 % less FDI.
That India's annual growth rate is only about 20% lower than China's is, then, a remarkable achievement. (And, of course, whether the Chinese data are accurate is an open question.) The speed with which India is catching up is due to its own efficient deployment of capital.
Let us not worry about China's misallocation of resources that would become a drag on its economy. In the early 1990s, Beijing invested massively in the state sector. Most of them were not commercially viable, leaving the banking sector with a huge number of non-performing loans – as high as 50% of its assets. At some point, the capitalization costs of these loans will have to be absorbed, either through write-downs (depositors bear the cost) or recapitalization of the banks by the government, which diverts money from other, more productive uses.
India's banks are no models of financial probity, but they have not made mistakes like this. According to a study by management consulting firm Ernst & Young, about 20% of banking assets in India were non-performing as of 2004.
The real issue, of course, isn't where China and India are today but where they will be tomorrow? The answer will be determined in large measure by how well both countries utilize their resources.
China and India have pursued radically different development strategies. India is not outperforming China overall, but it is doing better in certain key areas. That success may enable it to catch up with, and perhaps even overtake, China.
Let us talk of more technicalities like Cost of money, FDI, GDP growth and what not, one factor that keeps India away from China is the commitment. We lack the vision. We lack a concentrated effort as a country to become powerful. This requires culture imbibed in us towards motherland.
Why is the gap in GDP and other benchmarks still so wide? Why we are finding it difficult to match our economic growth with its population growth?
It is true that India is no match as compared to China when it comes to direct foreign investment. It may be investors or Diasporas, India attracts less of FDI. Irony is, Indians live abroad are not interested in building a powerful India. China’s FDI is a substitute for domestic entrepreneurship. During the past 20 years the Chinese economy has boomed, but left the country's private sector with no world-class companies as to compete the multinational titans.
In 1992, the income accruing to foreign investors with equity stakes in Chinese firms was $US5.3 billion; today it is more than $US22 billion. Good news to China is this money is not leaving the country; it is often reinvested in China. For democratic, post-colonial India, allowing foreign investors huge profits at the expense of indigenous firms is simply unfeasible.
However, the statistics tell only part of the story - the macro-economic story. At the micro level, things look different. There, India displays much dynamism. "Can India surpass China?" is no longer a silly question, and if it turns out that India has indeed made the wiser bet, the implications could be enormous. - for China's future growth, and for how policy experts think about economic development generally.
China has been far bolder with external reforms but has imposed substantial legal and regulatory constraints on indigenous, private firms; it is only four years since domestic companies gained the same constitutional protections that foreign businesses have enjoyed since 1980s. The restrictions were designed not to keep Chinese entrepreneurs from competing with foreigners but to prevent private domestic businesses from challenging China's state-owned enterprises.
In a World Bank study published last year, only 52% of the Indian firms reported problems obtaining capital compared with 80% of the Chinese companies polled. The Indian firms relied much less on internally generated finances: only 27% of their funding came through operating profits, against 57% for the Chinese firms.
It is worth recalling that India's economic reforms began in earnest only in 1991, more than a decade after China began liberalizing. In addition, India has had to make do with a national savings rate half that of China (another area where no interest is shown), and 90 % less FDI.
That India's annual growth rate is only about 20% lower than China's is, then, a remarkable achievement. (And, of course, whether the Chinese data are accurate is an open question.) The speed with which India is catching up is due to its own efficient deployment of capital.
Let us not worry about China's misallocation of resources that would become a drag on its economy. In the early 1990s, Beijing invested massively in the state sector. Most of them were not commercially viable, leaving the banking sector with a huge number of non-performing loans – as high as 50% of its assets. At some point, the capitalization costs of these loans will have to be absorbed, either through write-downs (depositors bear the cost) or recapitalization of the banks by the government, which diverts money from other, more productive uses.
India's banks are no models of financial probity, but they have not made mistakes like this. According to a study by management consulting firm Ernst & Young, about 20% of banking assets in India were non-performing as of 2004.
The real issue, of course, isn't where China and India are today but where they will be tomorrow? The answer will be determined in large measure by how well both countries utilize their resources.
China and India have pursued radically different development strategies. India is not outperforming China overall, but it is doing better in certain key areas. That success may enable it to catch up with, and perhaps even overtake, China.
Let us talk of more technicalities like Cost of money, FDI, GDP growth and what not, one factor that keeps India away from China is the commitment. We lack the vision. We lack a concentrated effort as a country to become powerful. This requires culture imbibed in us towards motherland.
Manage yourself - not your time
The term "Time management" sounds absurd as it creates a false impression of what a person is able to do. Time can't be managed time is uncontrollable. We only can manage ourselves and the time used by us. Time management is nothing but self-management. The skills we need to manage others are the same skills we need to manage ourselves: the ability to plan, delegate, organize, direct and control.
Listed below are some of the most frequent reasons termed as “Time Stealers” for reducing effectiveness in the workplace. Tick the ones that are causing to be the major obstacles to your own time management.
· Interruptions - telephone & personal visitors
· Tasks you should have delegated
· Procrastination and indecision
· Acting with incomplete information
· Dealing with team members
· Crisis management (fire fighting)
· Unclear communication
· Inadequate technical knowledge
· Unclear objectives and priorities
· Lack of planning
· Stress and fatigue
· Inability to say "No"
1. Shifting priorities and crisis management. Management guru Peter Drucker says that "crisis management is actually the form of management preferred by most managers" The irony is that actions taken prior to the crisis could have prevented the fire in the first place.
2. The telephone - Our greatest communication tool can be our biggest enemy to effectiveness if you don't know how to control its hold over you.
3. Lack of priorities/objectives. This is probably the biggest/ most important time waster. It affects all we do both professionally and personally. Unfortunately too many of us think that goals and objectives are yearly things and not daily considerations. Those who accomplish the most in a day know exactly what they want to accomplish.
4. Attempting too much. Many people today feel that they have to accomplish everything yesterday and don't give themselves enough time to do things properly. This leads only to half finished projects and no feeling of achievement.
5. Drop in visitors. The five deadliest words that rob your time are "Have you got a minute?". Everyone's the culprit - colleagues, the boss, and your peers. Knowing how to deal with interruptions is one of the best skills you can learn.
6. Ineffective delegation. Good delegation is considered a key skill in leaders. This is probably the best way of building a team’s moral and reducing your workload at the same time. The general rule is this - if one of your staff can do it 80% as well as you can then delegate it.
7. The cluttered desk. Look at your desk after reading this article. If you can see less than 80% of it then you are probably suffering from 'desk stress'. The most effective people work from clear desks.
8. Procrastination. The biggest thief of time; not decision making but decision avoidance. By reducing the amount of procrastinating you can substantially increase the amount of active time available to you
9. The inability to say "no!” The general rule is; if people can dump their work or problems on to your shoulders they will do it. Some of the most stressed people around lack the skill to 'just say no' for fear of upsetting people.
10. Meetings. Studies have shown that the average manager spends about 27 hours a week in meetings and about only 6 hours in the planning time and untold hours in the follow up. Or we can say, in meetings, minutes are made but hours are lost!
Some strategies to manage your time:
Always define your objectives as clearly as possible: One of the factors which mark out successful people is their ability to work out what they want to achieve and have written goals which they can review them constantly. Your long term goals should impact on your daily activities and be included on your "to do" list. Without a goal or objective people tend to just drift personally and professionally
Analyze your use of time: If you are constantly asking yourself "What is the most important use of my time, right now?" it will help you to focus on 'important tasks' and stop reacting to tasks which seem urgent (or pleasant to do) but carry no importance towards your goals.
Have plans: Most people know what they want but have no plan to achieve it. Your yearly plan should be reviewed daily and reset as your achievements are met. Make lists constantly. It enables us to stay on top of priorities and to remain flexible to changing priorities. This should be done for both personal and business goals.
Action plan analysis: Problems will always occur, the value of a good plan is to identify them early and seek out solutions. Good time management enables you to measure the progress towards your goals because "What you can measure, you can control".
Time management (or self management) is not a hard subject to understand, but unless you are committed to build time management techniques into your daily routine you'll only achieve partial (or no) results. The lesson to learn is that the more time we spend planning our time the more time we will have for those activities. By setting goals and eliminating time wasters’ everyday, you may find extra time in the week to spend on your family.
Listed below are some of the most frequent reasons termed as “Time Stealers” for reducing effectiveness in the workplace. Tick the ones that are causing to be the major obstacles to your own time management.
· Interruptions - telephone & personal visitors
· Tasks you should have delegated
· Procrastination and indecision
· Acting with incomplete information
· Dealing with team members
· Crisis management (fire fighting)
· Unclear communication
· Inadequate technical knowledge
· Unclear objectives and priorities
· Lack of planning
· Stress and fatigue
· Inability to say "No"
1. Shifting priorities and crisis management. Management guru Peter Drucker says that "crisis management is actually the form of management preferred by most managers" The irony is that actions taken prior to the crisis could have prevented the fire in the first place.
2. The telephone - Our greatest communication tool can be our biggest enemy to effectiveness if you don't know how to control its hold over you.
3. Lack of priorities/objectives. This is probably the biggest/ most important time waster. It affects all we do both professionally and personally. Unfortunately too many of us think that goals and objectives are yearly things and not daily considerations. Those who accomplish the most in a day know exactly what they want to accomplish.
4. Attempting too much. Many people today feel that they have to accomplish everything yesterday and don't give themselves enough time to do things properly. This leads only to half finished projects and no feeling of achievement.
5. Drop in visitors. The five deadliest words that rob your time are "Have you got a minute?". Everyone's the culprit - colleagues, the boss, and your peers. Knowing how to deal with interruptions is one of the best skills you can learn.
6. Ineffective delegation. Good delegation is considered a key skill in leaders. This is probably the best way of building a team’s moral and reducing your workload at the same time. The general rule is this - if one of your staff can do it 80% as well as you can then delegate it.
7. The cluttered desk. Look at your desk after reading this article. If you can see less than 80% of it then you are probably suffering from 'desk stress'. The most effective people work from clear desks.
8. Procrastination. The biggest thief of time; not decision making but decision avoidance. By reducing the amount of procrastinating you can substantially increase the amount of active time available to you
9. The inability to say "no!” The general rule is; if people can dump their work or problems on to your shoulders they will do it. Some of the most stressed people around lack the skill to 'just say no' for fear of upsetting people.
10. Meetings. Studies have shown that the average manager spends about 27 hours a week in meetings and about only 6 hours in the planning time and untold hours in the follow up. Or we can say, in meetings, minutes are made but hours are lost!
Some strategies to manage your time:
Always define your objectives as clearly as possible: One of the factors which mark out successful people is their ability to work out what they want to achieve and have written goals which they can review them constantly. Your long term goals should impact on your daily activities and be included on your "to do" list. Without a goal or objective people tend to just drift personally and professionally
Analyze your use of time: If you are constantly asking yourself "What is the most important use of my time, right now?" it will help you to focus on 'important tasks' and stop reacting to tasks which seem urgent (or pleasant to do) but carry no importance towards your goals.
Have plans: Most people know what they want but have no plan to achieve it. Your yearly plan should be reviewed daily and reset as your achievements are met. Make lists constantly. It enables us to stay on top of priorities and to remain flexible to changing priorities. This should be done for both personal and business goals.
Action plan analysis: Problems will always occur, the value of a good plan is to identify them early and seek out solutions. Good time management enables you to measure the progress towards your goals because "What you can measure, you can control".
Time management (or self management) is not a hard subject to understand, but unless you are committed to build time management techniques into your daily routine you'll only achieve partial (or no) results. The lesson to learn is that the more time we spend planning our time the more time we will have for those activities. By setting goals and eliminating time wasters’ everyday, you may find extra time in the week to spend on your family.
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