Terrorism & Indian Government

Last 2 days were the darkest days in Indian History. Terrorist Attack on Mumbai by jihadee muslims was not less than a war against India, against US, UK & other western countries. Till this time indian security forces are fighting in Hotel Taj Mahal Palace in Mumabi against the infiltrators. This terror was sponsered by Pakistan & it's infamous intelligence agency ISI. The time has come for the entire world to force Pak. Government to take stringent action against terrorists to control it's army & ISI. Pakistan Govt. must understand unless until pak. military forces(i.e. Pak. Army) & ISI is under democratic control world can't remain peaceful.

Coming to Indian govt. & it's failure to tackle the terror, I must say current Indian Govt. severely failed to tackle the terror in it's tenure so far. Every 2-3 months we hear/read of terror attack in some or other indian city. J&K seperatists, North-East ultras, Naxalites, Maoists...to whom this govt. has controlled? Indian Home Minister always talk of handling the current situation but what has he done to avoind that situation? Indian International IntelligenceAgency RAW has the most infamous, unintelligent & incompetent person as it's chief. Current RAW chief(Mr.Ashok Chaturvedi) is surrounded by so many controversies right from sex harassment charges to lack of simple general knowledge about foreign policies. You can refer http://www.metimes.com/topic/Ashok_Chaturvedi/ to read the stories about our RAW chief. This itself explains why we are facing so many terrorist attacks, why there is such a severe intellegence failure. Our Home Minister is not doing anything to tackle this incompetency in it's port folio. Indian Prime Minister is the best economist as well as very good administrator but I am very sorry to say that in his tenure security of common man in India has drastically gone down. That is specifically because he bared incompetent Home Minister, incompetent RAW chief. Some youth of the age of 25-30 comes on our soil & kills 3 top cops of the country. Don't we see urgency in implementing police & judicial reforms? Mr. Prime Minsiter, all good things which you have done during your tenure has no meaning unless until you provide security to the comman man of this country. It is perfectly acceptable that entire world has to unite in the fight against terrorism but we must guard our own house & can't expect any outsider to do so.

Business Basics & Financial Crisis

We are hearing & reading news of economic slowdown & financial crisis which has hit the US economy badly. Latest in the row is Citi Group's near future possible fall. Citi Group management is thinking of expelling it's current CEO Mr.Vikram Pandit or sell 50% or the entire business or take help from US government (in the form of a bail out package). As far as Citi Group is concerned it's too big to fall & it's bankruptcy will affect the world economy drastically for sure. Hence possibly US Government may bail out Citi Group at the cost of it's own terms & conditions. US already has witnessed the fall of Lehman Brothers. Further US Govt. bailed out AIG & other financial institutions & has already announced the package of $700 billion to its financial corporations.
But the Big Question is would this situation have been avoided & what can be done to avoid such situation in future? Citibank & almost all financial institutions had taken the growth/profit for granted. But let’s not forget Continuous Improvement (CI) is the key to success in all sectors & this CI means self assessment, learning from previous mistakes, fool proof plans for future growth & backup/alternative solutions in crisis situation. Today I was reading a news of the arrest of a co-operative bank’s directors which fallen due to improper & hap hazardous loans being given to one specific director’s family. This is the case of corrupt governance at smaller level, but when the similar situation occurred in US at national level it is definitely not the corrupt governance but that typical attitude of extravagant spending.
When due to political pressure US Financial institutions gave loans to almost everyone without checking their repayment power nobody would have thought of such economic disaster. We were reading about Citi Group’s losses for last 2 years & when Citi would have joined this “you ask for loan we will give you” spree it might have acted as fuel in already burning Citi. When Mr. Pandit took charge as CEO of Citi Group last year he had a Herculean task in front of him. But instead of providing remedy to internal problems Mr. Pandit decided to buy Wachovia Bank for $2.2 billion. Such a decision is definitely suicidal especially when you yourself are in loss, when financial market is tumbling & when cost cutting is the mantra everywhere. And now today Citi Group needs bail out package to survive. We must remember that unless until we are capable enough to stand on our own we can’t take somebody else’s burden on our shoulder. Recently Citi Group decided to slash 52000 jobs worldwide (which is almost 20% of its total staff) as remedial major to tackle the crisis. When you slash 1/5th of your workforce then there is something terribly wrong.
Citi Group might come out of this crisis but the lesson to learn from all this crisis situation is to let’s make realistic assumptions about everything we do & not to take anything for granted.

Television - The Best Medium

Hi....back after a long time again....Umm...don know but somehow I miss regular blogging.

Anyway, I will come straight to the point. I was watching Big Boss - a reality show on Indian TV. One of it's participant & the most entertaining & lively person in the Big Boss house Mr. Rahul Mahajan left the house in the last week. But the popularity which he has received & the image which is changed to positive direction definetely shows the strength of Television over all other media. Rahul who went through the challenging times in his personal life like lost his father( a renowned politicial & one of the prime ministerial candidate), then within few days after that found using drugs along with his father's PA who died due to the overdose of this drugs & the latest blow i the form of divorce from his wife. In all these incidents' Rahul's image was of a villain. But in Big Boss he showed his positive side & became the most famous person across India amongst Big Boss viewers.

Also all Indians might remember how KBC changed the fate of Mr.Amitabh Bachchan when he was in dee debt. Shahrukh Khan, today's Bollywood Superstar started his career from a TV show named "Circus." Definetely TV is proving to be the most successful medium not just for viewers but even for those icons who are eagerly waiting for that golden chance which can open the gates of success in their lives. Games are so much popular due to their live coverage.(We have the example of IPL's success.) No filmmaker take the risk to release his movie when there is some major sports tournament is going on with Live TV coverage. So no doubt TV is the most successful medium today which might be replaced by Web 2.0 but we might have Internet TV etc....So all businessmen look at the television with an amazing business potential.

Continuing with the previous blog entry, I am quite happy with the election of Mr.Obama as US President. Entire world celebrated his victory. He will take the charge in early 2009. World has many hopes from him considering today's economic crisis as well as they expect major shift in US Foreign Policy. Like calling back US troops from Iraq. But I was bit shocked when I read about Obama's interest in Kashmir Issue since Kashmir is not an international crisis but is a bilateral issue between India & Pakistan. Also during his welcome call to world leaders, Mr.Obama called up different world leaders except leaders from Russia, China & India, at least not till date. (Do I need to mention the significance of these 3 nations in the 21st century world structure?)
According to Mr.Obama, "Kashmir issue must be resolved for Pakistan to get completely involved in the fight against terrorism". Well, this sounds very logical when we just read it or hear it. But Kashmir is a Bilateral Issue between India & Pakistan & the logical solution to the same is to accept the current Geographical nature of Kashmir by both India & Pakistan(i.e. POK as a part of Pakistan while J&K a part of India.) But if Pakistan has to say that they will help the terrorism in Kashmir in the name of Freedom struggle of Kashmir's people & if US supports this stand then the threat of terrorism will always cover the entire world. Let's understand Terrorism in all the cases is always fatal not just for other's but for them who supports it. All the nations must condemn terrorism & must fight against terrorism unconditionally or else terrorism will destroy it's supporters some day for sure.
So Mr.Obama, it would be great if all of us fight against the terror first & other issues will be solved once terrorism is destroyed.

Defeat of the Race!!!

I am back again after few days' gap. Well, there is no force or condition that I must write new entry daily but it is quite helpful & more or less retrospective if we express ourselves regularly.
Between last entry & this entry so many things happened worldwide. Most imortant of them was the historical US Presidential Election. Mr.Obama as first Afro-american President of world's most powerful country shows the victory of humanity & democracy. This one incident will prove to be the turning point in the world history. Hopefully this positive change will motivate all the lower & suppressed sections of the society.
Many Congratulations Mr.Obama!!!

Happy Diwali

I am back again after a gap of few days. Today it's Diwali morning in India. Diwali is a festival of light & about positivity & victory. It is the biggest festival for Hindus. Today it's even more special for me personally since I am at home.
In Hindu culture one can find multiple occasions which are celebrated as festivals, probably more than any other religion. We have festival in almost every month of the year. But the purpose of each festival is the same to celebrate life & spread positivity everywhere. Be it Hinduism, Islamism or Christianity or any other religion, everywhere it's the celebration of life & make this world a joyous place is the basic concept behind any festival. There can be challenges, pain or grief in our lives but these festivals provide us that positive mindset which can further enhance the happiness in this world.
So Enjoy! May all of you a very Happy, Prosperous & Wonderful Diwali!!!

Human Face of Capitalism!

Just when I logged into blogger.com to enter today's entry I came across a sensational news....Jet Airways laid off 850 of it's flight attendants. The total Flight Attendant work force in Jet Airways was 1903 by last week & almost 50% of them will be axed now. Most of them were on probation or were in the organization for less than 1.5 years. Considering today's economic & market situation this sounds logical business decision & even the leading Indian Newspaper put its view in support of this lay off.
But such a drastic decision points that India Inc. still needs to learn a lot. India is booming & going to be a Super Power in next few years but should we not learn from the mistakes of other super powers in the world? This is especially true in case when enthusiastic management go ahead with hiring spree, when we have huge number of surplus employee who were hired in the name of backup plan. I remember a personal experience when it was just the start of my career. After passing out of college in my first job I was being layed off within 3-4 months of joining. Rather there were 50% of the hired employee from our team were laid off in a night...reason - the company lost one of it's client & they had to reduce the workforce. There was a catch in this organization's HR Policy though that they will give you training & will put you on production based upon your scores in the assessment after training. The one's who can go ahead would be paid the salary during the training period & the rest would be sent home. Thus the salary even for training period used to be given only after you went on production & if you fail you will be sent home without a single penny. So those 50% from my team who were sent home after the assessment(including me) were not paid a single penny during those 3-4 months. Can you call this an ethical business? Is it even legal for that matter?
I am giving this example just to point out that negative professional approach which most of the companies follow. They will go ahead with Hiring spree without considering the actual productivity requirement of themselves. You might need to put some % workforce as reserve is understood but that amount should be as minimum as possible because with large reserve work force you are not just spending shareholder's money extravagantly but are ruining the career of that eligible employee who might have to suffer in such lay off situation. Even that Lay Off supporting Leading Indian News Paper has mentioned "There is evidence in other countries that show that when industry is given the flexibility to reduce workforce during a severe downturn, it is quick to hire during an upturn." This is that approach which I am talking about. Be it upturn or downturn if the foundation of the organization is strong & if the policies being followed are truly professional then there is no need for hazardous hiring spree during upturn or such massive lay off during downturn.(Of course extreme situations can be spared.)
I really wonder the way share market reacts or organizations react to any event i.e. they will be over confident during boom(e.g. Dot Com Boom in the 90s) or will be in fatal panicky when the boom bubble busts(e.g. today's US Credit Crisis). For any organization employee are the most valuable asset of the company, so that asset has to be utilized & cherished with full care. Hence it is very much important that we should utilize our human resources in the best possible way. Decisions can be right or wrong, people can come or go but we must remember that everything is human centric & in the end whatever will be given might return back to us!!!

Mars & Venus on the Earth!

I am feeling good.....especially since I am continuing with my blog entries regularly as I had decided. Whether anybody reads it or not is less important but I think this is an easy way to express myself. I remember during my school days I was fascinated by poetry & I did make some poems too. It was a way to express....but as time passed different things occupied the life. College, then Job, then competition to stay ahead in job & blahh....blahh....But I think all this had made me more mechanical if not emotionless. Expression was never much a taboo for me but this blog did help me in coming out of that daily mechanical/professional routine. Today I think differently, I read different things & may be looking at life with bit more broader perspective. It's Great!!!
Just some time back I was reading an article about Man - Woman friendship & whether can it be pure friendship without that L factor. Of course the intent of the article was more related with friendship between young men & women. But it is true that it is very difficult to maintain that platonic friendship with opposite sex. Can we blame nature for that..may be. Everyone need to accept the fact that though today men & women are more close on social & professional front like never before nature has infused that Basic Instinct in both male & female of all the species. So to overcome that instinct we need to be more & more self disciplined. Especially in countries like India where youth population is majority then this self discipline is definitely the need of the hour. I might sound fundamentalist or orthodox but this is very important considering the future of the mankind. Today we talk of Live-in relationship, Casual Sex or One Night Stand but let's understand this is not something which is invented all of a sudden. Opposite poles attract is the fundamental concept. History shows that right from the age of Cleopatra or Ramayana or Mahabharata it's this man-woman undisciplined relationship which was the basis for all the troubles & even today it is the same. They say there is a thin line between friendship & romance in man-woman relationship & when this line is crossed may be by consent or by that strong force of attraction it can devastate both of them emotionally & psychologically if it is immoral relationship. I remember that famous line here "Sex is not between Legs but it's in the Brain!"

Office Office

It's 2:53 a.m. in India & I am in the office. It's Sunday night though but still as a part of weekend staffing I am in office. No actual work so just watched a tamil movie Dashavataram available in the office network. The movie is average & mainly it shows the verstality of Tamil Star Kamal Hasan in 10 different roles...(thanks to the makeup artists for this movie though). Kamal has enacted 10 different roles of a Hero, Villain, 95 year old granny, US President George Bush & so on....amazing!!!
But I am just wondering how the work culture is changing in India. During 80s & before that office was more like 9-5 with 1 day as weekly off. Office meant to be more clerical or factory type work may be some amount of field work as well. But more or less it was monotonous & hence was bit boring. I remember a story which I had read when I was in Std. 7th or Std. 8th. It was a story of a government employee who was so frustrated with his office, work & daily boring routine that he decides to commit suicide. Further he doesn't dare to do so & continue with the life as it comes to him. After reading that story I was quite upset & I decided that I will prefer the job which will keep me moving in different parts of the country.
As time passed by God's grace I got exposed more to the world & today am in a job where I am enjoying my work with amazing work conditions. This may be because I am working in IT Service Sector & in the field which I enjoy working the most. But definetely the face of India is changed due IT. The work culture which we follow today is very lively, positive & challenging. This is especially true in IT Sector. The influence of IT work culture has forced other sectors also to adapt their working style & work culture to be more open, positive & employee friendly today. Recently there was an e-mail in circulation which showed Google Office in Europe & how employee friendly it is where employee can bring their pets in the office, employee can cook for themselves & have world class recreational facilities which will motivate the employee to be more productive. Such positive atmosphere further motivates the person to be more happy & spread happiness in & around his family & further to society. May be this is how we can create heaven on the earth!!!

Little Angels!

I am back after a longggggg time....
I started this blog with muchhhhhh of enthusiasm & thought of writing regularly...but..............
But I hope henceforth I will be regular with "Life is Beautiful."

Right now it's 3:57 a.m. in India & I am listening some very beautiful songs sung by very cute & talented li'l singers of the age of 8-9 years. They have performed in a reality show on a regional channel & they are soooooooo talented that you simply can't believe that they are of the age of 8-9 years.
Now a days in India & may be in most of the countries we see many such reality shows, talent hunt shows on different television channels where young kids of the age group of 5-10 perform. Even for that matter children are being used in different advertisements also. It may be good for TRP of the channels or for the products which these children endorse but are we not ruining their childhood by all these activities?
Well this question is quite debatable & many people can have different views on this. But the child who is performing in these shows or in the advt. is going through a drastic change at a very young age. This is the age when kids might just have started to see the external world beyond their family. Such an age should be more care free so that they can enjoy the childhood & not just take pressure to perform or handle the pressure which comes after the fame. Today we see so many young artists who have lost the happiness in their life(viz. Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Michael Jackson etc.) These are the names who started their career from their childhood & that sudden fame or the pressure to perform continuously destroyed the happiness from their life. Of course there can be other reasons also but if the child doesn't get his/her childhood as a normal child then it might affect their entire life for sure. Recently released Hindi movie "Tare Zameen par" addressed the same issue of pressurised childhood. (This movie is nominated as an official entry for Academy Awards for 2008 by India.)
I am not against the child's learning new things' but we must respect their childhood & should not sacrifice the childhood at the cost of quick fame or monetary benefits. Let our kids live life happily & enjoy their childhood first....& let their foundation be strong enough to conquer the world!!!

The US – India Nuclear Deal

1. For last few days we are hearing a lot about Indo – US Nuclear Deal. I think it is for the first time in Indian History after independence that any Sovereign Indian Government had to prove a majority in the Parliament. So what’s this Deal all about & what are IAEA Terms & Conditions due to which Indian Politics has suddenly become so hot.
   In August 2007, India and the United States reached a bilateral agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation as envisioned in the joint statement released by President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on July 18, 2005. The deal, which marks a notable warming of U.S.-India relations, would lift the U.S. moratorium on nuclear trade with India, provide U.S. assistance to India's civilian nuclear energy program, and expand U.S.-Indian cooperation in energy and satellite technology.
   
   What are the terms of the deal?
   The details of the deal include the following:
   India agrees to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA), the United Nations' nuclear watchdog group, access to its civilian nuclear program. But India would decide which of its many nuclear facilities to classify as civilian. By March 2006, India promised to place fourteen of its twenty-two power reactors under IAEA safeguards permanently. India also promised that all future civilian thermal and breeder reactors shall be placed under IAEA safeguards permanently. Military facilities and stockpiles of nuclear fuel that India has produced up to now will be exempt from inspections or safeguards.
   v India commits to signing an Additional Protocol (PDF) which allows more intrusive IAEA inspections or its civilian facilities.
   v India agrees to continue its moratorium on nuclear weapons testing.
   v India commits to strengthening the security of its nuclear arsenals.
   v India works toward negotiating a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT) with the United States banning the production of fissile material for weapons purposes. India agrees to prevent the spread of enrichment and reprocessing technologies to states that don't possess them and to support international nonproliferation efforts.
   v U.S. companies will be allowed to build nuclear reactors in India and provide nuclear fuel for its civilian energy program.

What kind of technology would India receive in return?
India would be eligible to buy U.S. dual-use nuclear technology, including materials and equipment that could be used to enrich uranium or reprocess plutonium, potentially creating the material for nuclear bombs. It would also receive imported fuel for its nuclear reactors.

Who needs to approve the agreement?
The final terms of the nuclear deal need approval from several sources before they can be implemented. The bodies required to approve the deal include:
v IAEA. India has to sign a safeguards agreement with the IAEA under which all nuclear material and equipment transferred to it by the United States as a part of this deal shall be subject to safeguards. The Board of Governors of the IAEA has to approve this India-specific safeguards agreement. In February 2008, Indian negotiators and IAEA officials met in Vienna discuss their differences and complete the agreement.
v India's Parliament. The deal is controversial in India, with many parliamentarians arguing it will limit India's sovereignty and hurt its security. Some Indian nuclear experts are protesting what they see as excessive U.S. participation in deciding which of India's nuclear facilities to define as civilian, and open to international inspections under the plan.
v The Nuclear Suppliers Group. The NSG tries to restrict the spread of nuclear technology that could be used in weapons programs through export controls. The United States will try to convince the group to make an exception for India, which may be a difficult case to make when the United States is simultaneously trying to prevent Iran and North Korea from gaining similar access to nuclear fuel and technology.
v US Congress. Under the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, which regulates the trade of nuclear material, congressional approval is needed to pass the exemptions to U.S. laws required for the nuclear deal to be implemented. Members of Congress are showing resistance, with some calling for India to commit to strict limits on its nuclear weapons program before the deal goes through.
These are just the details of different perspectives of Indo-US Nuclear Deal. I am not going in details of different objections by different parties to this deal or what will be the impact of this deal on International Relationships between different countries like India, China, US or Pakistan.
But as a Citizen of India we should understand what this deal is. Is it really worth making so much noise about it? Is Indian Government playing with the Sovereignty of the nation? Will this deal be really fulfilling the need of the energy as claimed by Indian Government?
Please think friends’!!!

Life is Beautiful!

Today I am starting a new journey......started writing a Blog....similar like writing a diary of some small things which I might have experienced or read or seen. Just to express myself & to communicate with everyone of you. Just to share those moments of life which is very beautiful in all it's laughs, happinesses, joyous moments', pains & may be in struggling moemts'.
Let's hope it will make all of us more n more happy.
Let's Enjoy Life!!!