Visits

From the last two months, I was unable to focus on a particular event or an occurrence to be written as a blog. But in the last 20 days after re-reading the visits of foreign dignitaries from various continents comprising of the presidents, PMs to country head of the heavy-weight nations of those continents came to the feeling of evincing my cerebrations on the visits.
First counting on the list of dignitaries, US president Barack Obama visiting in the first week of December went back with $10 billion worth investments in American market for creating jobs (as this is the main news covered by most of the media); then arrived the German chancellor Angela Merckel; then came French president Nicholas Sarkozy and finally the year is going to end with the arrival of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. Well, it seems quite obvious from the viewpoint of rising and prospering India; centre of attraction for most of FII and a promising market for foreign companies as well as for low-priced production activity. And every developed nation is trying to harness the benefits from India in overcoming the slowdown brought in by the Mortgage bubble of 2008. While the Europeans are trying to overcome from the debt crisis the EU is going through.
That was one aspect of looking all the things, coming to the other one which is shadowed by the above reasons is the trade for arms and ammunitions. With the growing economic and GDP of India and aspiring to be one of the key player in the international arena including the fight for a “permanent member” in the UN security council; being powerful is another pre-requisite which also adds to reaffirming the India’s position in south-east Asia alongside China. India who has signed defence deals worth $40 billion in the last two years and is undergoing to make the largest reform in its defence since independence and is supposed to make another $160 billion deals by 2015. And most of these visits to India are more or less concentrated towards getting those lucrative deals.

How different are we from our politicians....

Here "we" refers to college students like me. Although it may be applicable to others also but having no experience of their profession, i can't write about them.
Whenever, we heard news related to non-functioning of parliamentary meetings because of noisy parliamentarians on a particular issue or absence of these public representatives in those meetings; we used to react very aggressively and condemning them for their actions (which are worst than just condemnation). But are these activities different from ours of bunking classes, trying every tooth and nail in canceling the classes and tutorials. The only difference in my opinion is the scale size, they are doing it at national level and we are doing it at college level. The aim is same they want extra time for their controversial activities and we on the other hand want to be enjoyed in that surplus time. Just like we feel bored in attending them, they might have the same feeling, after all we all are Indians.

Race against casteism

Few weeks earlier, read about the miserable life of the Congo women chafed between the conflicts of the warlords of Africa in New York Times magazine; thanks to the Shannon (USA) atleast doing something for them from behalf of the humankind by running “Run for Congo” organisation collecting fund for their rehabilitation. Most of the women lost their families there; is one such woman who has lost her one leg in an ambush by the army of warlords, who killed her husband, raped her repetitively in front of her children and shoot her eldest son for his refusal to eat the flesh of her mother.
Situation is no different in our nation too, such insane offences are done in our society too in the name of casteism. At one time dalits are burnt alive at their home in Haryana and other time this heinous crime is done in the name of honour killing where young blooming couples are murdered in the name of honour. These are just some of the cases that came into light by media (atleast doing some fruitful works too). Beside these, there are numerous other unheard and unspoken cases which are buried in the throat of flourishing new generation; who sometimes are forbidden from living a cherishing life with their loved ones because of this casteism. What to say of the poor uneducated when the educated graduates of 70s and 80s are inseminating the seeds of hatred for opposite castes in their wards. Development in the name of community is a different idea and preaching hatred to opposite castes on the basis of their dids of the past is completely unethical.
Talking of reservation in higher education, due to the protests against reservation some are with the conception that it’s the upper caste who are opposing the reservation because they don’t want to see lower caste as par to them. And some others are with the conception that some lower class who are well developed and equipped are getting advantage of this. To counter the above, the concept of creamy layer was introduced. Still their hatred prevails. Leave this bloody debatable topic, talking of some general related to our life. When a young graduate either an engineer or a doctor or a journalist or even a normal high class teacher asks for love marriage form his/her parents, the same moment first question fired back is “What his/her caste”. Loads of argument given by them to support their will against the relationship, either on the name of past experience or on the name of society. That love, that feeling of freedom, that passion, that urge to control the world comes from the same education that they dream for their children. It’s true that our past is not justifiable, but we cann’t make our future from the happenings of past. We have to build a better future, a future for mankind not for caste, a future where our children don’t have to suffer what we have to.

Placement: In or Out

For any college or institute inside India, placement record is the most significant bailiwick in forging the reputation among the students as well as among the parents. India, where there is most uneven economic distribution of wealth among the citizens; students here are aspired to earn more and more (thanks to our culture and ethics that prevents us from doing that by hook or crook) and less concerned towards research and quality living or creative job profile. No dis to them as it’s not their fault, this feeling is in our blood and to some extent its justifiable, unless until one don’t have the quality lifestyle he rarely thinks in a constructive way. Well, leaving the debatable topic apart discussing the placement discipline and especially in the elite institutions.
Taking example of the IIT Roorkee, as I am familiar with this one only; placement of this institute is somewhat slackened by its remote location into the foothills of Himalayas in the Shivalik region. But in comparison to other colleges and institutes (rest aside the iites) it’s performance is far more satisfactory. Almost all types of companies and firms used to come here for recruitment. Talking of big private firms like in investment banking the JP Morgans and Goldsachs recruiting the elite level of students at somewhat good annual pay package, in the same category then comes the department oriented or field oriented companies like Adobe , Google, Oracle for CSE , ECE; Raheja builders, Satluj vidyut limited for civil and the likeabouts for other disciplines. On the basis of pay package students used to enrol in each of them, bigger firms are like the building stage for the future while newer and inexperienced firms are just a microscopic stage in future building. If they find it advancing they stay else leave out , no matter whatever be the job profile.
For a special class of students , those preparing for the IAS , CAT and other competitive exams PSU (public sector undertakings) are the most lucrative destinations, as they are acquainted with the feeling that they pay as per their expectations and less work to be done there as they are public sector undertakings. They stay there for a year or two and then move on with their future plans, rarely a graduate or two is devoted to the PSUs he or she placed in, rest seldom about the improvement of such undertakings by becoming a part of the firm. Still these firms come to these elite institutes with a cut-off CGPA of 6.5 and recruit on mass scale. Isn’t there is the need to take such students form a two tier college who are more interested in working with them and have their dreams associated with the job done by them.

Some environmental concerns....

Lake Baikal, the largest freshwater lake of the world accounting more than 20% of overall fresh water of the world sustaining 1500 varieties of flora and fauna under its womb.
On the sidelines of reviving the economic condition the nearby populated regions of lake baikal after the economic reccession, Russia has not only overlooked the sustainable environmental growth of the region, but on the contrary reincarnate the polluting paper industries of the surrounding regions. It's very much true that for the livelihood of the people living nearby areas, there should be some sort of earning livelihood but looking for an easy and environmentally unsustainable solution should not have to be preferred in a such an environmentally critical region which was already very much harmed by the presence of pulp and paper industries pouring tons of chlorine including other harmful chemicals into lake baikal. Russia, which is gifted by nature in terms of environmentally rich resources should have to be taken care of these by realising them as the resources of the mankind and as of a localized region.

Turkey: Opening new horizon

Turkey : Defining new horizon
“The only liberal muslim nation along with the vibrant democratic govt. ruling the state in the middle east asia.” Turkey is the connecting link between Asia and Europe, an important ally of USA as an active member of NATO sending his troops in almost every NATO missions along with the troops of UK USA and Germany. Earlier before the opening of Turkish economy to the global world by Turgut Ozal the then prime minister of turkey, turkey was just the resting and acting ground for NATO forces as well as American base for keeping an eye over the developments inside USSR. After the splitting of USSR, then also it remains the same for America as it was before as turkey still depends on the aids from USA.
But with the opening of the Turkish economy, a manufacturing boom arrived into the economy of turkey with people migrating towards cities and framing of a strong democratic govt. with less intervention of the army and ending of the radicalism. Making trade relations with Russia for fulfilling its energy needs and with Iran, turkey reduced its dependency on American aids. In a very short time interval of ten years turkey has transformed from a country having budget deficit of 16% of GDP and 72% of inflation to a country having growth rate of 11.4% in first quarter of 2010 next to china only. And all this is possible because of ERDOGAN’s social conservatism and fiscals cautious economic policies. There was a time when European union rejects Turkish plea of entering into EU, but now under present condition where EU is reeling under debt crisis and turkey one among the greatest six economies of Europe and middle east with large number of palmy entrepreneurs.
With the improved economy and arrival of ERDOGAN as Turkish prime minister, it has started shifting away from the American’s policy of making peace into middle east and establishing itself as one of the major power of middle east in establishing peace in middle east in its own style where there would be no fallout as in case of Americans policies whose consequences was to be bearded by the middle east countries and their citizens. In having this, turkey has improved its relation with Syria by opening the borders with Syria, now more Syrian can enter turkey and this not only improve bilateral ties but also give boom to the marketing of clothes and other lavish items in search of what most of the Syrians visit Turkish cities. Turkish oil companies making ties with the Iranian oil producing companies, rejecting all bans on iran to be forced by USA. In the north, Russia fulfils the energy needs of turkey and Russian cities are the markets for the Turkish shoes and leather bags. On one hand turkey coming close to the muslim middle east nations in solving their problems and on the other its transforming itself into a developed European cum Asian country. Isn’t this the exact face of a muslim country the world is dreaming into its dreams.

Why not Privatization of Indian Secondary Education?

Comparing with the likes of developed nations on the ground of education still makes me feel more uncomfortable than in any other field. At the grass root level of indian education, which is wide-spread across the country and having the maximum penetration into the society (am talking of Govt. schools and specially the secondary schools).
Each year hundreds of thousand young graduates are recruited into this system and each one is more qualified than the next one( thanks to our unemployment figures that forces a master degree graduate to be a primary school teacher). But when it comes to service life they are more centred to their prosperity rather to the prosperity of education for which they are paid. Education Bureaucracy is very much responsible but why to blame always others even if we itself desires to work less and to be paid heavily. Almost 60% of teachers of secondary schools become useless after a decade becoz their knowledge reduces to almost 20% and thats too much obscure to present needs. And this is contributed by their behavior of teaching less and earning more & more. If a contractor reaches a teacher to make him earn in lieu of some clients to be arranged by the teacher, he will be more interested in getting details but when a student comes to him having some difficulty he shouted and mistreated him for his ignorance. Here i don't know whether he is shouting at student's ignorance or his own.
Recently, i come to one such great soul and when i explained all these to him, expecting some explaination from him. And what he explained to me is that Western culture is rotting our young generation, they don't know how to behave in public. Well, nothing i colud to his thinking but atleast i can learn from these.