Bits and pieces , thoughts and sounds

2G case Dampner to Foreign investment

2012-02-02T19:50:00.002+05:30

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today has been a momentous day in the history of Indian Law. 122 licenses have been scrapped. This has been a culmination of a process which saw issue of licenses, in blatantly , unfair process, which is being conspicuously described as a FCFS[First come , First serve] Policy.

The Crux here is that, licenses have been sold in 2007 in prices , which were that of 2001. The Other major point has been, that, there was significant loss of revenue to the Govt. since, the process was undersold.

Let us examine, the first point, about FCFS. So, if a certain date is defined as START and other date is defined as END. imagine 30 people applied before the start date.

On the end date, you invite your local builder, asking him, to meet you with a bank draft at your office. at 3 pm that day, since office closes at 5pm, the drafts are deposited.

Then, a notice is given saying, the license bidding process is over. This effectively leads to earliar bidders being disqualified. So, what was done? The Goal Posts were moved. When? After the Match is over. 6-0 becomes 0 - 7.

This was the problem. Not the FCFS. For, some of us physics enthusiasts, who like theory of relativity,the frame of reference was changed.

Why FCFS?

In 2001, India had terrible mobile penetration. If I received a call, I paid Rs. 6 to the telecom provider. So, Indian Innovation created the missed call economy.

Then BSNL came to the market. Incoming became free. Reliance followed up by offering phones at Rs.500 with an embedded SIM. So, the market had to adapt. Learn or get booted. Airtel, which charged Rs. 6 per minute, came down to less than Rs. 1. The low prices of spectrum, were the result of demand and supply. There would've been no buyers otherwise.

This made the Indian economy, the cheapest mobile economy in the Planet.

Come to 2007, some more spectrum was allocated. was there any difference to the common user? absolutely nothing? I made calls in 2001. I made calls in 2007. By 2007, I was already paying about Rs.1 per minute. So, allocation did not really make a difference. It brought some new players.

Let us discuss, how this court decision destroys foreign investment? We have so-called experts from consulting companies, crying 'Banana republic". Let us discuss their argument, piecemeal.

They say, the 3G auction, has lead to bad quality of service. Why? Too much money went into a deal, so not much is left for infrastructure support. Let us not confuse things. We are discussing the 2G judgement, let us take that into account.

Imagine a company like Etisalat. It had a budget of say, 20,000 crores for investing in telecom sector in India. Now, the Govt. gave off that spectrum , at a pittance. to Swan Telecom. The same Swan telecom, resold the spectrum license at 6-7 times the price i.e. 10,000 crores. So, Etisalat is left with about 10,000 crores for the infrastructure. Now, if etisalat paid the market rate to swan telecom, how will it affect the same investor, if he goes through an auction process again? He will again pay market rates. How does, the end-consumer, get affected?

He has to migrate to some of the older providers, using mobile number portability. His technical provider worked under market considerations. Obviously, the best measure of market considerations , here is the auction process. Go ahead, make it transparent. may the best man win at the Market Place.

Strictly speaking, the provider will still work on market based standards.

About investment getting hurt, markets determine prices, based on demand and supply. I'm a capitalist and a believer in free markets. If a certain company is paying extra, because, of competitive pressures of the auction, it deserves to die. Saying that, auctions, dont leave enough scope for capacity expansion in terms of infrastructure, is a terrible business practice. The same providers, will not have any ground left, later, when, Our honourable I&B ministry, prosecutes you in court, since, a kid in Mumbai, had something to say against, some renowned Delhi elite using his TATA Docomo connection.

Work out a plan. decide your financials. If the bid does not match your financials, get out of it. Dont depend on political support to help your balance sheet. That's where corruption starts. I'm dont need your investment. My market is big enough, to ensure, that, we will get investors. Japanese and South Koreans are welcome.

2G scam shows the worst of capitalism in India, since, it is actually a reflection of all the crony capitalist elements of the pre-1991 liberalisation, with the financial numbers of a post-liberalised economy.

We need less state controls and more openness. 3G has not added networks, since, the app ecosystem, did not have the need. That is changing now. Smartphones are picking up. I promise, the providers will respond.

Federalism vs Presidential system

2012-01-25T00:45:00.002+05:30

On the eve of Independence day, I came across a blog which was discussing flexible federalism a reference to a Brilliant Ambedkar speech on the day, Our constitution was supposed to be adapted.

The crux of that speech was that, India does have a President, but, It does not follow a presidential form of governance. Therefore, it was pretty much decided that, by philosophy, the Indian constitution, was meant to be federal by nature. History tells us that, India , has prospered , economically, only when different regions enjoy relative economic independence. This was why in The Medieval period, India , had the best time during the Mughals. The Mansabdari system, create a system of governance, which defined standardised tax collection[designed by Great Raja Todaramal, who of course, adapted this from Sher Shah].

Now, when the future beckons to us, we can understand, that even in 60 years, we keep repeating slogans which was there in 1950's , or in 1971 with Indira Gandhi saying 'garibi hatao' and Rahul Gandhi saying similar things ,40 years later,in the UP campaign trail in 2011.

So, why have we failed? Let us understand this better.

a) India was designed to be a federal state.

b) But, the Planning Commission and 5-year plans defined a centralised system of planning , where one size fits all.

c) This resulted in a system, where, implementation, by it's very nature should be at the Grass roots, but, the purse string are present in the hands of the Central Government.

d) This results in Politically, stronger states, getting disproportionate share of funds, but weak states like Odisha, did not have a Political influence, to get help when required.

e) The end result is a situation, where, the intent of the constitution , and it's structures were federal. But, the succeeding policies have been inherently, centralised.

This leads to creation of personality cults, and inefficient systems, which lead to certain states, blaming the centre for their problems.

Look at any opposition ruled state, they all blame the center. Their reasons do have a strong chord, since, fundamentally, the finance/ purse strings are controlled by the center, but, they handle implementation.

What are the by-products?

a) States dont have options of talking to each other. So, Grain rots in Punjab, but, there are starvation deaths, in Odisha.

b) States start charging business transaction taxes. This is defined as VAT, state excise. Where does this figure most? Look at your diesel and petrol prices. The states dont have a choice, but, to tax, since,their sources of revenue is extremely limited. The silver lining[a very weak one] is that, the state has an incentive in promoting economic activity.

c) When we talk about increased Diesel and petrol prices, obviously, this affects inflation. Today, every small chai wallah knows it.

d) Royalty for ores , mined in a place is supposed to be decided by central Govt's. So, if you find an oil well, in Godavari, it is Govt. property, not yours. Do I have any incentive in selling you the land? hell, No. So, a singur and Nandigram happens. What do you do? You take the money and give back 25% to the community. How, via the same Govt, again.

e) Today, if you want to construct a Metro in bangalore, some babu , in delhi, who has never seen MG road will approve it, according to his own time frame. Until, let inflation increase costs.

Then we have Gods from Delhi coming over and telling us, we will save you. We will give special packages.

Doesn't this sound all wrong? .. Lemme know.

Censorship in India - Understanding the Internet

2012-01-13T04:58:00.003+05:30

It is conventionally accepted that, among the three institutions of Government in India, the Judiciary is the most respected. But, the recent spate of statements, and judgements in the Judicial section leaves ordinary people like me, extremely disillusioned.

Let us look at certain examples, and try to understand, what exactly is being asked by our governing institutions.

a) Imagine a news vendor, who brings 3 news papers to your house. The choice of these newspapers, has been defined by you. Now, if there is a case, that, a particular article in one of the newspapers, is extremely criminally offensive. Would you actually prosecute, the news stand vendor for this? Let us extend this logic further. Imagine a certain group, which is in charge of all news stand vendors. Based on the same criteria, Will that group be prosecuted?

The reason, is because, There are content creators and disseminators of content. The mistake of a content creator should not essentially lead to the blockage of news.

b) We hear of many incidents of violence across different places in the country in different sources. Now, logically, our Police is responsible , for maintaining law and order. Do we ever have a situation, where the Police force is disbanded because a murder was committed? Now, strictly speaking, law and order is a much bigger and more direct responsibility, than, in analogical terms on the Internet as what is done by Google or Facebook. It does not make sense to ban a product which impacts crores of people's lives and is only growing.

c) Every week, we hear a case of violence , in Indian railways. Now, the crime is committed in the jurisdiction of Indian railways and it's police force. Will IR be criminally liable and completely stopped, because a crime was committed on it.

The crux of the matter here is that, we live in web 2.0 world. When Internet came , it was web 1.0. Content was created by people. and generated an audience, based on it's relevance.

With huge amount of content on the Internet, today, the need for solutions which can curate such data came forward. This is Web 2.0. Google does n0t create the Internet. It just provides a relevant way of working with it. They're your ordinary newspaper wallah , who gives you the newspapers you want. They're just bigger.

Indians are working hard to create their own versions. As is a renowned saying," You can hate the message, but, killing the messanger is neither ethical nor logical, but, albeit counterproductive".

Our regular Media constantly refrains on Press freedom and not Killing the messenger. The truth is that, they create content. Therefore, they're liable.

We have enough laws for defamatory content. They can be used to investigate and prosecute. Killing the Medium is akin to taking us back to the Stone Age.

Siri - is it really the future?

2012-01-10T03:59:00.002+05:30

The launch of Siri with iPhone 4S has completely captured the imagination of the iphone chatterati network. The amount of gushing that goes with the fact, that, you have a device which responds to your commands, brings the heydays of the Terminator movie series, where Arnold was at the beck and call of a young teenager , responding to his every command.

Typical to style, 20 years later, Bollywood seems to have reached the game. The recent movie, Players[with incredibly bad reviews], has the villian living in a self-designated villa , has access controlled via voice commands. But, technical reality is far more complex.

Siri, is expected to respond to certain set of commands and speak back at you with relevant information, or maybe some bullshit in exceptional circumstances. It is a step forward. It is tribute to the marketing genius of steve jobs, that, before he left this planet he made two huge contributions, which will change technology as we know it.

a) Tablets

b) Making Voice recognition fashionable and user friendly.

Obviously, the 2nd one was a case of buying the technology and finetuning it further.

But, for people who have worked on voice recognition as a commercially viable proposition, it is a surprise, how, something like this works.

technically, as we know it, software today does not have the following capabilities.

a) Understand grammar

b)Translate voice into text.

What essentially happens , in this case, called 'pattern matching'. So, If I listen to the word 'New York' I reference my memory and see, if 'New York' is stored somewhere and match it to a response, which is subject to the command 'New York' .

Obviously, in such case, with 1000's of accents , nay, 100's of 1000's of accents, around, saying that we have an universal speech recognition device is a substantial fallacy. But, then, who am I to nitpick? The other result, that could happen, every damn iphone user, learns to speak with the americanised accent and British english can go to hell.[I do think British english is also recognizable] .Oops, was that blasphemous?

But, the real success of this endeavour, is that, today, we have a lot of interest, in speech recognition. This reminds me, that android as a platform, is already supposed to support voice. Why the hell has everyone forgotten that? This is precisely the reason, why? Steve Jobs was a marketing genius. Hell, If steve jobs told you, "Boys, if you jump of Niagra Falls, you will get my free autobiography,personally signed", I'm willing to bet , there will be some , who will do that?

The power of the man, himself. That, here a disavowed, iphone guy, still respects him.

I do believe though, that, in the longer run, Google will win the battle, in android[unless ofcourse, something else comes up] . The very nature of the medium , which allows developers to build products you wanna see, and the free nature of the platform, will win.

Now, Microsoft guys will hate me for this. But, in my opinion , in the battle between Microsoft vs Linux , open source has already won, since,every big product uses, open source

Webserver - apache with php5

database - mysql

OS - a flavour of linux

So, it is a matter of time.

So, all android guys, who're around? The point is this.

Use google's infrastructure. They have a great database of phrases. Now, bring out your genius in terms of packaging. Just build another Siri. IRIS ,anyone

We have a leader , then, ladies and gentlemen.

[P.S. -: ignore the typos]

Lack of Domain Knowledge - Killing Akash

2011-10-15T21:45:00.004+05:30

There have been a slew of Media reports reviewing the Akash. The tablet by the Indian Govt. worth Rs. 3000[$60]. As usual our so-called industry experts are doing a hitjob on the tablet. Why? There is no budget to entertain these experts with lunches and banquets.

A review written by so-called leading technology publishing magazine CyberMedia editor Prasanto Roy has worked his head off to show serious concern for our students who will affected since, they dont get iPads, instead. Months before the announcement, every industry expert has been saying, this will be a stupid tablet. Ofcourse, the conflict of interest is quite clear. Akash does not have an advertising budget. The big guns have started promoting their own tablets. Reliance 3G is available at 12K.

Let us go through the review points one at a time.

a) There is history to why the launch was not as great as expected due to false starts - My Point - Please review the tablet , not the pre-launch hype or it's lack of marketing.

b) Praise that it is not an over sized memory box -: Similar to Samsung Galaxy Tab. -: Now, this is high praise.-: How much was it priced? > 20K INR-: This is 3000 bucks.

c) Battery life -: Now, the language says that , i) Used to Out of box power ii) appears to be losing power when switched. Guys, can you clarify? I just wanna know the actual battery life. But, at least you raised some kind of a point.

d) Problems with the screen -: I would've liked you to tell me the problems. Not go over relative demerits of resistive vs capacitative screens.

e) Lower specs -:

i)Memory is 256 MB -: Fine, it is not 1 GB -: Dude, who is the audience? Get your domain right. This is for students, built for specific requirements. Why do you expect it to be an iPad?

ii)Next point -: processor -: Any average systems guy worth his salt will tell you this. It is not the processor but the RAM which makes the difference in system performance. But, then , you're a reviewer , not a techie.

f) wi-fi -: So, they do have wifi. Can we agree that, technical support for access to Internet is guaranteed?

Alternatively, if Internet is not available in Dantewada(courtesy Naxals), will iPad2 work there?

g) 2 USB sockets -: You mention it's greater than normal tablets -: But, you say, what is the use? Dude, you complained abt HDD some time back. Are you aware that a Pen drive can easily add 8 GB? Dude this called innovation. Cut corners and provide scope for upgrade. Your problems with it being unweildy. We are supposed to removed USB sticks after use. Of course, iPads have spoiled you.

f) Apps & Courseware -: You have pointed out both of these are limited. Your point is respected. But, why do you think, this is the end of the road for the Akash development team. It's like saying, this article is your tour de force. You wont write anything again. I do agree in principle, that access to android app store should've been available.

Let us say it as it is -: The Tablet Akash is an extraordinary effort in terms of both business innovation(pricinng + sourcing) with technical innovation(Features) . Of course, if you want semantic recognition(SIRI), mebbe Indian Govt. should've spend a few million dollars in buying this technology. That is available with iPhone4S now.

Lastly, all our dear reviewers, Please dont compare this tablet with an iPad. This is an initiative for the education sector. A student who studies using this device may become the next Steve Jobs. Please don't kill the baby before it is born(some forms of abortion[sex-selective abortion] is illegal in India), or when it is undergoing infancy[India has very bad IMR]. Please rememeber, there is a market for a 3K tablet, 7K tablet, 12 K tablet and even a 40K tablet.

Cloud computing - For the engineer who does not know

2011-09-25T21:32:00.002+05:30

Dear Readers,

Recently I came across this article, which was a contest on new cloud ideas. When I sent it to Professor Chitta Baral, he asked me to create a small writeup explaining cloud to expected audience, which in this case was students of engineering colleges .

This has been hard, and I'm not an academic, but, let me give this a shot. If one looks at wikipedia , cloud computing means, is the delivery of computing as a service,not as a product,whereby shared resources are provided to computers and devices[mobiles] over a network, typically the Internet.

There is a lot more on that link, but, this is sufficient to explain my view of these purposes. Why does the cloud exist? Answer, a single local computer is not sufficient to provide everything to you. Wasn't that why the Internet came up? So, why cloud computing?

Here's my answer, Today, it is becoming more relevant to keep everything on the network. The days where you stored private data on the PC is fast becoming over.

You store photos on products like facebook, flickr,Picassa. You store videos on Youtube. You store documents using Google docs. And yes[I'm proud of this] ,you store power point slides in slideshare.

Now, some of the above are not labelled as cloud products. But, I insist the technology is similar. Here's the basic algorithm

a) You store data in a centralised storage/server.

b) Create a Viewer to access the data.[correlate this with opening a file on your local laptop]

c) Provide a mechanism which can replicate the data in different systems, so, data is not lost, if one server crashes. This is called building redundancy.

d) Build a mechanism which takes care of consistency. Imagine two people working on the same file. Ensure the data is managed consistently. In certain domains this is called replication management, in others it is called Cluster management. More info, read OS chapter -3 synchronising data across threads. similar principles.

e) Build a brilliant UI where your Girl friend says, "Oooh, This is so cute"

Somewhere, I moved from the algorithm and went to creating a product. But, hey, that's what you gotta do?

So, how does one get ideas. Take anything you love about functions in a computer. Think about what, you can implement. Use the Algo above and create a cloud based system.

List of official Cloud computing products -:

More info required, mail me -: umashankardas@gmail.com.

Request, if anyone else wants to add anything, please do so by e-mail or comment, will include it in the above writeup.

Indian entrepreneur - Adoption stories and some fun

2011-09-17T00:52:00.005+05:30

As an entrepreneuer who is working on a product, we often hear the statement that, why does not Indian create an original product? Sadly, I agree with that. We havent really done enough work in the past.

In recent times, I see signs of hope. I hear about products which I've never heard of before. Now, I for one am sure that a lot of them will fail. But, the idea is an ecosystem where failure is celebrated. Every entrepreneuer celebrates the success of the other guy. As someone posted in Bangalore startups recently, we need create a bropreneuer.

So, what could be the real challenges ?

a) Get a crackerjack idea.

b) Create/Join an environment which promotes adoption of the idea.

c) I would recommend that we go for an idea which has as large a market that you can get. Chances of success improve substantially.

Now, a) is complicated. Let me leave it for now.

Let us go to b) Promote adoption. How does one do that?

Let us start with a Horror story?

I spoke with an experienced blogger recently. He generally reviews Gadgets. He was going real hyper about Apple. Now, this is what I had to say.

Dude, what about Notion Ink's Adam? Comparing reviews The headline says 'Specs beat IPad but not release date' .

I had a chit chat with this experienced person. He said, that, Notion Ink did not give them the right royal treatment they deserve as Media reviewers. I heard them out and made a judgement. Ok, Notion Ink's marketing needs substantial improvement. I only had one query at the end. Did Apple give you the treatment that you expected from Notion Ink?

The Reply : They're a startup. How dare they compare themselves with Apple?

The point is this. Obviously, Indian Media people are conditioned to work in a certain way. I'm confident that medias like yourstory.in , pluggd.in are much better than our general Media.

I might add, that as a techie, the line underlined above is insulting.

Anyhow, as an entrepreneur, this is part of the effort we make in Bangalore startups. We want to create a platform, where serious geeks can display their products. This is not the only thing. But, this is definitly one of the things which is close to our hearts. We want to generate the basic adoption. Startups can drop in and use this platform to showcase their products. They might use this as a softlaunch mechanism and take feedback and improve. Trust me, these things do help. All the meets that I've attended has changed my product substantially.

So, my tip of the day, attend these meets and talk. when cool people talk..good things happen..

Cheers..Have a great day.

Tourism and entrepreneurship as an odia - shortsightedness

2011-07-16T02:07:00.003+05:30

Ref : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/orissa-tourismslow-lane-ap-surges-ahead/442889/

Quoting the recent article in business standard about tourism in Odisha, Mr JK Mohanty had this to say about Tourism in the state.

'Lack of an international airport, want of adequate publicity, inordinate delay in allotment of land for hotels and consequential sluggishness in expansion of hotel rooms topped with an unbearable delay in finalization of the proposed tourism policy has virtually dwarfed the growth of the tourism sector'

All of the above, eminently valuable points. But, how professionally are the existing hotels in Odisha run?

You visit a Hotel in Puri at pretty much anytime of the year. Go ahead and speak in Odia asking for a room, nobody will bother talking to you, forget offering you a room. You feel like a you've entered a No-entry zone. But, if you go there and speak certain other languages[In interest of amity, not mentioned], you will find that, you're welcome. How do I know this ? I'm one the lucky few who can speak multiple languages. Of course ,a British/American accent really helps.

The reality is that, if ur an Odia, you will not get a Hotel room in Puri in the last week of December. Forget the fact, that, I would personally spend a lot more than anyone else in my Hotel, because ,I just love my home state.

Logically, if you have a problem with infrastructure, it makes sense to attract people who are local to this area but, stay outside and high spending power. That is what every country does(look at China). When did we last hear about a special program by tourism association of Odisha attracting Odia NROs(Non - resident Odias). Quoting a popular journalist, they're regarded as self-exiled Intellectuals.

If one speaks with a renowned entrepreneur in Bhubaneswar, the standard trot is about these things,"The state is against us. We need a revolution." You probe deeper in understanding why an Odia entrepreneur speaks like this. The answer comes out -: 'XYZ company or state Govt gave this project to someone else noyt us. We must oppose the Govt/XZYZ.

I rest my case. Things dont work on logic here.

On the subject of entrepreneurs -:Recently, a friend of mine had a unqiue idea to start a small supply unit to deliver snacks to a Hotel. I got a brainwave to create burgers with a filling of Odia alu chop etc. I wanted it supplied by a fairly respectable restaurant in bangalore. Obviously, it was rejected on the silliest of reasons. Still, it was worth a try. Another way of making a unique Odia branding lost. Tomorrow, the burgers will be sold at that Office as Chinese Burgers.

Well, we learn from experiences. :)

My ramblings on BING vs GOOGLE

2011-02-05T06:44:00.005+05:30

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I'm a layman in search matters. I've never worked in a search engine company. My exposure has generally been in products which deal with high availability , scalable systems. Currently, I'm working on a product which hopes to use search of in a twitter based world(Life is difficult) .

The argument of between GOOGLE and BING[Let me stick with this as opposed to Microsoft] has generated substantial interest in me. I owe my introduction to this topic through repeated tweets of @vwadhwa . His article on Google's spam has let hell lose in Silicon valley, such that, far away in Bangalore I stay up all night busy waiting for the next big news or tweet(Are they different? ).

My reading of these articles tells me this. Google has a brilliant search engine. It's Page Rank algorithm has changed the way people work. My 78-year-old father gushes about it the same way my 5-year-old daughter does.

I'm never been a Microsftian[There go chances to get a job there, Good money you know]. I never use IE. Their tabbing systems are stupid. But, this debate is not about IE vs Firefox . This is about Google search vs Bing.

Google says that , Bing is using it's search patterns to manipulate the data and start showing top Google results. Words like copying has been used.

Bing's response has been ,that, they use something known as 'clickstream principle' which allows them to collect data and use them for generate improved results. They also say that 'Google results' are just one of the 1000 inputs they use. Mr. Mark Cutts - Senior engineer in Google responds ,saying, that, perhaps, Google's results are way more important than 1/1000 .

Google's quote has been the sting op's where they used strings like 'hiybbprqag' , 'mbzrxpgjyx' , 'indoswiftjobinproduction' gives the results which have been copied by Bing too.

Now, since, these strings were supposed to be unique, it does make sense, that if, Google were 1/1000 parameters, it will be Google results which will get projected.

Using these as parameters to say that Bing is copying Google completely is perhaps, a bit, unwarranted. But, then, who knows how the technology is constructed beyond the press releases .

Right now, this blogpost is becoming scary since, I'm also on a Google platform. But, let me try a picture. I love Google as a company. It is my dream to be there and work in an innovation environment. What worries me, is the stance, being taken in the recent past by them. They dont sound like the innovative Geeks whom I could identify with.

Finally my last touch. Google web ranking algorithm uses crawlers to capture data. This is used to evaluate content/pages and provide rankings to them. The search results that we see when we use Google search is Just a function of those rankings. Last I heard they've also included web speed as one of the parameters.

This above sounds close ,to a layman ,the clickstream technology[Bing's quotes] of taking input from 1000 parameters.

Hey, when somebody writes a DBMS, he uses C/C++[I know,I've worked in one such company(Not Oracle)] . But, when somebody writes a C/C++ code which uses Pro-C then he is using SQL from a DBMS, ok, RDMBS. Thankfully, C/C++ is not proprietary. My understanding is that, since, Search results are public(We dont pay to use Google search), Bing is allowed to use it.

Guess ,if I was Google what I would do, I would realise that Bing has been smart. You guys need to respond to them with Innovation.

The Good news:
a) I dont use IE[Most developers hate IE].
b) Places which have terrible bandwidth have learnt the hard way to use firefox and now chrome.
c) The Market is still with you guys.
d) You guys have many smart brains in your offices. I'm sure you can work out a technical answer to this. If I were there, and reviewing this since, 6 months, I would already be ready with closed-in-house beta by now.
e) I don't allow toolbars to get installed on my browser. (Exception, zynga's games toolbar for facebook, the energy boosts really help :-) .

Bad news: -:

a) I visited Bing for the first time in life. I did a search there. Guess what, the top 2 results were same but, the 3rd one was different. I will not tell you what it was.

Cheers.
Hope u guys read this and dont get mad one me.

INDIA WILL NOT GET IT’S FACEBOOK UNLESS IT CREATES ITS OWN HARVARD

2010-11-26T08:13:00.003+05:30

India is a economic powerhouse in the software sector. But, the bias is completely skewed in favour of the services sector. We are hard pressed to create a genuine product which has worldwide recognition.

Does it have something to do with the Indian mentality that we are good at getting things done(I’m not talking abt the CWG, paradoxically), but, terrible in creating something new? We are good at marketing services which target segments. We follow standardized methods and become masters in those areas. But, where is the next product coming out?

My analysis is that, it has something to do with our educational system. Education is a way to economic accomplishment in modern Indian society. It is the new status symbol. That is why, an IITian can easily consider himself equal to the kids of Ambanis or Birlas for that matter.

But, the key issue is that , our greatest talent generally go into uni-disciplinary institutions. It is widely accepted that IITs and IIMs are at the pinnacle of education academia in the country. Oops, I should not forget AIIMS . But, a little known fact is that, the guys who top in the entrance exams for IITs invariably never top in their colleges. Some of our IIM graduates are busy writing novels , albeit great ones. This essentially underlines the fact, that, something is missing in our educational system.

The tragedy is that, the universities which are multi-disciplinary by definition don’t necessarily attract the greatest talent of this country. These universities are breeding grounds for political ideologies which reflect the feudal streak still prevalent in remote corners of the country. Take an example of the Union elections across India. You know what I mean.

So, the question still arises is that, what, is the answer? I believe we need institutions like harvard and Stanford. Our Jawaharlal nehru had the right idea when he said that, factories, research laboratories, irrigation dams and power stations as the “temples of modern India” . Today, in an environmentally conscious age I will stick to only research laboratories.

Recently, I saw a movie called the ‘The Social Network’. This was a fictionalized version of the story of how ‘FaceBook’ was created. Independent of the storyline and content in the movie , one interesting aspect stuck me. The kind of dynamism which was reflected in the movie for Harvard university was electrifying. You have street corners where violin is played by very talented artists. You have clubs where people socialize. You have an economics graduate becoming best friends with a software geek with no social skills. Will that be possible in an IIT today? Mark you, I have great respect for IITs and IITians. I was not good enough to get in in those days. But, when will the next google come from an IIT lab or for that matter the next facebook.

Indian guys are good at executing things. They know how to follow the trodden path. When will we charter a new horizon? Our educational institutions don’t teach us these things. Or mebbe, the environment is just not there. I refuse to believe that Indians in general are not good enough.

C’mon, the greatest invention of the 1990’s-2000 decade was hotmail. Who founded it? The great Sabeer Bhatia. He did not do it in BITs Pilani. He did that after dropping out of Harvard. Take this decade , if the movie ‘Social Network’ is to be believed, the Idea behind facebook was by ‘Divya narendra’. I hope this happens in India soon.

The above rant is posited on a small happening in Eastern India. I happen to have a vested interest since, my home town is close to that place. A Billionaire, albeit with a controversial reputation has pledged $1 Billion for a similar university. Since, then, Politics has engulfed the university. And recently a high court Judgment along with our ‘license raj’ oriented environment ministry has put substantial roadblocks. I only wish that people who want an innovative India would come behind this and support it as much as possible.

INDIA WILL NOT GET IT’S FACEBOOK UNLESS IT CREATES ITS OWN HARVARD

Royalty revision revenue Analysis

2009-08-13T17:34:00.004+05:30

A couple of days back, a report has appeared in the Wall street journal which asserts that, a royalty hike is on the cards for various minerals including iron ore, copper, zinc and lead. There are reports that there will be provision to charge royalty on bauxite too.

Now, in the context of a mineral-producing state like Orissa the iron-ore hike is of foremost importance. Orissa is the largest producer of bauxite in India; hence, this will be a decent revenue generator. The 2nd option does come with a few riders. More on that later.

I tried my best to get royalty figures for 2008-09. The official website lists it till 2007-08. Hence, I’m quoting the financial express reports to get a more recent figure. I will be happy to revise the same if someone can suggest more accurate figures to me.

Taking the FE figures, the royalty was 1340 crores for 2008-09. In fact, the target of 1250 crores was exceeded. Let us take the distribution. Coal supplied (at a minimum) about 700 odd crores of revenue from Talcher and sambalpur zones. Minor minerals were about 100 crores. Iron-ore among with chromium supplied about 300 odd crores.

Now, with a revision of royalty from 1 %( rs. 27) To say 10% the 300 odd crores would become at least 2000 crores. The figure would be higher but, since, chromium ratio/ data is not available as of now I cannot provide accurate figures.

Also, coming back to bauxite the scenario is tricky. Currently 0% royalty is charged on bauxite. The new proposal has 2 sections. Bauxite mined for alumina extraction or aluminium will have a royalty of 0.5%. Otherwise, it will be charged a royalty of 25%. In simpler terms bauxite mined by Vedanta for it’s smelter in lanjigarh will be charged 0.5%. Quoting a peak bauxite market price of $60 / tonne or Rs. 3000 INR, the royalties are an absolute bonanza. Also, one might note, that, direct, bauxite exports will be charged 25% but, mining for capacity building in the country will pay only 0.5%.
The amounts should be substantial here too.

So, looking at the above figures if one makes a new royalty calculation.
a)Coal -: The consumption can only increase with power situation worsening.
b)Iron-ore -: from 300 crores to 2000 crores.
c)Bauxite -: At least 100 crores can be obtained. (This is a very pessimistic estimate.

Totally, we can see a substantial improvement in the range of 2000 crores in the royalty revenue for the state. All in all, a very good bonanza for the state government. One might say, it is about time.

Emerging Bhubaneswar: The next hot-point in the IT revolution

2009-02-27T19:30:00.001+05:30

The growth of Bhubaneswar as an Information technology Mecca has been marked by an impressive presence of top-notch firms in the services sector. Big names like Wipro, Infosys, and Satyam have staked long-term positions in this peaceful haven on the Eastern coast of

India

But, the growth has largely been limited to the presence of the few firms mentioned above. In the recent past reports have surfaced, that Mindtree has been planning a large-scale presence in the software sector there. This is an extremely encouraging proposition, since, Mindtree even though a services sector company, has, got it’s focus on a niche set of skills, which, are particularly in demand for the Product sector of the IT boom.

Broadly classified, IT can be broadly divided into two segments.

A) Products.

b) Services.

The true potential for an IT revolution is actually realized, when, product sector companies make a beeline to open shop in a destination. The start of the IT revolution in Bangalore was heralded by the opening of a center by Texas Instruments in 1984. When questioned by various skeptics on the feasibility of opening a company in an untried location, the company honchos replied that, they wanted to utilize the research potential in combination of the hospitable climate of Bangalore. They also wanted to leverage the high-quality talent of that destination. They could not have been more correct. Today, Bangalore is described as the next Silicon Valley of the world. What were the factors?

a) Availability of huge research potential due to high-caliber institutes like DRDO, ISRO etc.

b) High and easy availability of talent from the many engineering colleges in Bangalore.

c) The diverse nature of the talent, since, students from all over India came to study in Bangalore.

d) The presence of a top-notch Institution like the Indian institute of Sciences.

Now, let us come to the next success story i.e. Hyderabad.

Hyderabad was a medium term success story with presence of many software majors in the late 90’s. You had the services majors mentioned above, along with a couple of top-notch presences like Oracle and DeShaw. Perhaps, what also helped the IT story were the following reasons.

a) A top-10 institute like REC Warangal not more than 2 hours from the City (By train).

b) The huge presence of Telugu Diaspora in many IT companies in India and abroad.

Perhaps, the big thing that happened was that Microsoft choose Hyderabad as the location for setting up its India development centre. This created a cascading effect on other companies.

After that, everyone wanted to set up shop in Hyderabad. The theory was that, if Hyderabad was able to have talent for the best company (arguably) in the world, so can, we set up shop there.

The crux for every state Govt. is to be able to provide the right set of answers for the fundamental questions being asked by IT companies.

Today, Bhubaneswar is poised to make a jump, which will, bring it in the front-runners of education in the country. As of today, a number of Institutes have been planned to either being set up or are in various stages of operation in the state.

a) NISER -: This is the National Institute of science and educational research. This is mandated to be the basic science equivalent of an IISc (Indian Institute of Sciences).

Status: Operational in the IOP(Indian Institute of physics) campus.

b) IIT-: This is the Indian Institute of technology. As of a week back, the foundation stone of this institute was setup at Argul, Jatni. Jatni is about 20 kms from Bhubaneswar.

Status: Operational in IIT kharagpur. Moving to off-campus IIT Bhubaneswar by next academic year. Main Institute planned to be completely running by 2013.

c) KIT -> Kalinga Institute of technology. This is the highest ranked institute in Orissa among privately ranked institutions. The Vice-chancellor of this institute, Achyuta Samanta has been appointed as a member of University Grants Commission, AICTE.

Status: Completely operational.

d) Central University -: According to a proposal by HRD ministry, Bhubaneswar has been allotted a Central University along the lines of JNU and Osmania University. This will be operational in 2013.

e) World Class University. -: According to the proposal by the Central Govt. a world class private university with funding from private groups will also be setup in the vicinity of BBSR-Cuttack metropolitan region.

Lastly, but possibly the foremost one, there is a MOU signed by the GOO (Government of Orissa) to envisage creation of a world-class university in the Marine drive between Puri and Konark. This university to be on the scale of a world-class university like a Stanford university or a Harvard. The investment to be expected is to the tune of 5,000 crores INR or $1 Billion only by the founder himself. Another $2 Billion will be generated to external investors. The planning and architecture has been provided to Ayers-Saint Gross, a renowned architecture expert in USA, with consultation of Hafiz Contractor to provide an Indian perspective. This is expected to come up in a land of approx. 7000 acres.

The crux of the matter is that, if all these things above (Indeed some of the above are functioning), fructify, then, BBSR, will not just become the educational hot-spot of India. But, this could translate into greater investment in IT growth.

What are the advantages of having such educational institutions?

a) These could be used as leverage to show-case the potential for talent in Bhubaneswar-Cuttack metropolitan region.

b) The presence of high-quality talent can spur the drive for higher entrepreneurship at the local level.

At the end of the story, you can have job growth only through higher levels of entrepreneurship from local populace.

I think, the key issue being observed is the progress of completion of the Vedanta University in Orissa. Once, that institute comes up, then, we will have dynamic ripple effect across the region.

A point to be understood is that, as a location, Bhubaneswar is extremely well-connected. It is at the focal point of the Howrah-Chennai highway. The infrastructure is fairly decent. A Vision 2020 plan has been formulated for the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar metropolitan area.

Cuttack is a historical town, about 20 odd kms from Bhubaneswar. It is connected by a high quality National highway. It is home to the high court, a top-notch deemed university called Ravenshaw university. Also, another high-level educational institution called Sri Sri Sai University is coming up in Cuttack, Naraj.

The downside in this story has been the dismal performance of the Local Oriya people in top level engineering entrance examinations. The IIT is the foremost bachelor degree technical institution in the country. The number of students that join IIT seems to have a direct relationship with the rate of development of that place. All indications tell us that, Andhra Pradesh is the IIT capital of the country. The number of their students who join IIT far surpasses any other state at this point.

Now, even the NIT (previously REC) has come under a National level exam. The quota per state still remains, but, the exam for these institutes has become a common one across the country. The performance of Oriya students has been dismal in these top-level exams. The appreciable population in the state should ideally have at least 100 graduates. This number in the previous dispensation would be hard to reach. The lone bright spot is the performance of Rourkela students. They garner even today, most of the seats in the 1^st attempt.

An effort needs to be made to understand

a) The stark difference in performance between Rourkela students and the rest of the state.

b) Understanding the education which does not benefit the students from the higher secondary educational system.

A study of the current state Govt. syllabus will outline, that, there is serious stress on rote learning and ability to garner marks in board exams. This, instead of stimulating, actually inhibits

a) Creative growth

b) Applying the concepts on problem-solving and real-time situations.

Science as a stream undergoes a vast jump from Secondary (10^th) to Higher Secondary ( 10 + 2). This requires careful nurturing of talent to optimize their utilization potential.

There is a desperate need to start top-level coaching institutes which can cater to IIT level coaching. The presence of Professors from IIT BBSR will help the effort. But, a lot more needs to be done to bring it on par with centers like Kota or Hyderabad.

Also, a serious overhaul of the educational system is required so, that, focus does more a little bit more on application of concepts, as opposed to rote learning.

If some major steps in this direction are taken, it would not be extravagant to claim that Bhubaneswar will be a top IT destination in the country in another 10 years.

Seafood-cum-beach tourism in Odisha

2009-01-28T11:48:00.006+05:30

Odisha has a wealth of tourism resources. Some of the most important features would be tourist mounuments, pristine beaches, diverse flora and fauna, and unique tribal culture. The state Govt. does try to promote tourism in it's own efforts. But, it has taken a beating due to lack of diversified brand image. Today, Odisha is popular for it's religious tourism in Puri and getting the Konark sun temple as a package..

I would suggest that, the Govt. should focus on the capacity of aqua-based products as a major driver to create a brand image. Imagine a concept, which, basically show-cases the following.

a) A resort at a pristine beach.
b) Specialisation in sea-food related cuisine
c) A by-product would be focus on Odia cusine.

The plan paper should be like this.

1) Provide a small piece of land (less than say 2 acres or, approx. 80,000 sq. ft).
2)Govt. provides a loan to a private entreprenuer(Local) .
3) In return, the Govt. has a stake in the project.
4)Creation of an expert team which can guide the local entreprenuer in setting up and managing the project.
5) A tie-up with a management institute for guidance

The crux would be that, this would develop local entreprenuership as opposed to looking only for big investors. Local entreprenuership will always create more jobs. Also, big investments take a long time to fructify..

The Idea behind a beach-cum-seafood resort is that, it provides a chance to create a brand image, which, can be used to develop the brand image of Odisha. The Marketing potential for such an enterprise is huge and cheap. Internet could be a medium. There will be no need to spend money to buy Media space in expensive TV channels. Today, the travel industry is looking for new and innovative ideas..Also, most of the travel Industry depends on Internet for it's marketing and revenues.

A chain of such resorts along the coastline will act as a feather in Odisha's cap.

Recession and Mineral based investment

2008-10-08T14:40:00.007+05:30

In the Aftermath of the Kandhamal violence, It is a bit diverting to discuss impact on investment status in various states, particularly in the most affected state, Odisha.. It is a known fact, that, the progress of mega-investments in Odisha does leave a lot to be desired...

If we try looking at the present context, there has been a huge beating on Mineral based stocks..New reports claim, that Mr. L.N. Mittal has lost close to 16 Billion Pounds...Now, the same person is responsible for one of the biggest projects in the state of Odisha(claims vary in the range of 50,000-60,000 crores INR)..

Also, it might be noticeable to observe that, in the BSE ,Commodity stock index has taken a sever beating...This has resulted in a steep fall in prices of the all important commodity i.e. Fuel(current trading in the late $80's to early $90's)..

Another less noticeable fact, is that, POSCO (the largest investment in India), has also, slowed down it's endeavours to move forward with he project, in Jagatsinghpur..As opposed to the frenetic initiatives it took in last December...Perhaps, the biggest reason would be due to predictions, that, demand for commodities is expected to slow down..

People seem to forget the lesson of the Gopalpur fiasco with the TATA's..The Highly respected industry group wanted a renewal of their mining leases...But, preconditions were set, to ensure, that a TATA steel plant would be set up in the state.. But, the late 90's(by the time land was acquired after some violence), the steel Industry went into a downturn fuelled by the South-East Asian crisis..The reasons for discontinuance of the project were ridiculously simple..Lack of Infrastructure..I'm sure, when projects of the magnitude of a steel plant is considered..Infrastructure would not have been an issue...The fact, is that steel would have been manufactured there, and exported to South-East Asia..Ore transport should have been the issue..It should have been a simple matter to connect the Berhampur Railway station to Gopalpur(A distance of less than 20 kms).

But, the lesson to be learnt, is that, recessionary or unfavourable market trends(you can take your pick), can lead to flight of investment.. Already Capital markets are suffering this Phenomena..Lowering of demand might make the same story get repeated again, what, happened in the 90's...

Now, what does this imply for the Govt. of the states especially Odisha? It might be important for them , to reinforce, public expressions of confidence with Industry stalwarts..Diplomatic and Business engagements need to be continuous..

The Other implication for the GOO, is that, they have achieved a GDP growth, which, is remarkable considering the fiscal profligacy of the last 22 years...The lowering of demand of commodities, might lead to a decrease in their revenue receipts, which, anyhow, will never lead to a commensurate decrease in their revenue expenditure...

The Road ahead is hard, and, difficult...I hope, the GOO has some good economic advisers, who will provide him with the right ideas..The first things is to be aware about the above scenarios..

After the bad news let me provide some good news..Some things which are self-evident...The basic outdated policy of the State Govt. to provide mines at abysmally low royalties might become their saviour in difficult economic times..The fact, is the, creating a steel plant makes a lot of business sense for the companies, since, there isn't a single ore-vendor which will provide iron-ore at such ridiculously low rates...

The key point, is that, are companies in conditions of economic recession, willing to install fresh even though, this will definitely provide huge returns..This in turn leads to the question of liquidity and availability of finance from the Global markets. That is the problem facing the Most of the world economies and financial institutions today...

Let us keep our fingers crossed....

Lastly, about singur, It has never been a problem..TATA's are not going outside India..I hear reports today, that, they will set up the Mother plant in Sanand.. So, This episode has only illustrated , that, if you sow the crop you reap it's dividends..Communists have led agitations across the country on most Industrial projects(i.e. Outside bengal)..Today, they have found their bete noire in Mamta Bannerjee..

Sunrise in Puri - New year 2008

2008-01-10T17:50:00.002+05:30

sun-rise puri

National Mineral policy - A disaster for poor states

2007-12-20T15:03:00.000+05:30

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/12/18/stories/2007121850921200.htm
Some of the key points

Mines Ministry awaiting Cabinet nod for policy
Close to Rs 1 lakh cr investments expected in next 10 years.

Mining is a base sector. When the ministry assumes that delay in the mining policy results in losses of 1 lakh crore in terms of investments, It is basically an obtuse mechanism of pushing forward a policy.

1. Current Resources in Iron-ore has resulted in the fact, that, underdeveloped states are getting a big chunk of Investment. A project like POSCO is expected only on it's own to provide investment worth 52,000 crores. The current report from National Investment commission states that Orissa is expected to have 5,50,000 crores of Investment and it is still counting.

When we consider numbers in these range, does it make sense for us to push a mining policy which will generate 100,000 crores in 10 years.

Current mining rules dont allow for states tpo get a decent value for their ores. For a market price of Rs. 2700 /- tonne of iron-ore. The Govt., of Orissa does not get even Rs. 30 per tonne. This is around 1% of the Market Value.

Therefore, naysayers should underline , that, how, is the current draft NMP helpful for states like Orissa, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh.

Funnily Our so-called breaking news Media don't seem to see a HOT story. It is more important for them to see, If aishwarya Ray is pregnant or not.
Commercially, it is a lot of money. lakhs of crores. The tragedy of Indian Media today.

Origin of Sri Puri Jagannatha

2007-11-10T17:59:00.000+05:30

King Indradyumna's Desire

King Indradyumna was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu and was very eager to meet Him face to face. At one time, by the Lord's arrangement, a devotee of the Lord arrived in the court of King Indradyumna, and in the course of discussion he began to talk about an incarnation of Lord Vishnu named Nila-Madhava. After hearing these topics, King Indradyumna became very inspired and sent different brahmanas in different directions to search for and inquire about Lord Nila-Madhava. All of them, however, were unsuccessful and returned to the capital city of the King, except for one priest of the name Vidyapati. After wandering in many places, Vidyapati finally came to a district where the population was of a non-Aryan type called Sabara. There he took shelter in the house of a local of the name Vishvavasu. When he arrived, the master of the house was not here, but his young daughter Lalita, was there alone. In a short time the master of the house returned and instructed his daughter to render all services needed for hospitality to the brahmana guest. For some time Vidyapati stayed there, and later, by the special request of the Sabara he married the Sabara's young daughter.

Nila-Madhava Secret Revealed

While Vidyapati lived in the house of the Sabara, he noticed some peculiarity in his host's behavior. Every night the Sabara would go out, and on the next day at about noon he would return to the house scented with various fragrances such as camphor musk and sandalwood. Vidyapati inquired from his wife about the reason for this, and she informed that her father would go out to a secret place to worship Sri Nilamadhava. After that day, Vidyapati's joy knew no bounds. Actually Lalita had been ordered by her father not to tell anyone about Nila-Madhava, but she overstepped that order by telling her husband.

Vidyapati became eager to see Sri Nila-Madhava, and finally one day, by the repeated request of his daughter, the sabara Vishvasu bound the eyes of vidyapati and took him to see Sri Nila-Madhava. As they were leaving. Vidyapati's cloth, and so while passing along the path he threw them down to mark the way.

When they reached Sri Nila Madhava the Sabara removed the blindfold, and Vidyapati, seeing the unprecedented beauty of the Deity of Sri Nila Madhava, began to dance in ecstasy and offer prayers.

Here it is clearly seen that Sri Nila Madhava was a Deity incarnation of the Supreme Lord. Deity incarnation are called arcavigraha. The Lord appears in Deity forms to benefit His devotees, especially to those who are less advanced devotees, He appears as the Deity to accept worship. Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita (9.34).

man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaishyasi yuktvaivam
atmanam mat-parayanah

Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer Me your obeisances. Therefore he appears as the Deity to accept the worship and obeisances of His devotees. He puts Himself in the hands of His devotees to receive their service and help them develop love for Him. This is an aspect of Krishna's great mercy and His desire to free all the conditioned souls from bondage in this material world. Thus Vidyapati personally witnessed the mercy of Sri Nila-madhava.

Crows get Liberated

After Vidyapati finished his prayers, the Sabara kept him near the Deity and went out to collect roots and forest flowers for worship. While the Sabara was out Vidyapati witnessed an astounding thing. A sleeping crow fell off a branch of a tree into a nearby lake and drowned. It immediatedly took a four-armed Vaikuntha (spiritual) from and started back to the spiritual sky.
Seeing this, the brahmana climbed up the tree and was about to jump into the lake, following the liberated crow.

As he was about to jump, however, a voice in the sky said, "O brahamana, since you have been able to see Sri Nila-Madhava, you should before all else inform King Indradyumna". Thus the brahmana climbed down from the tree and waited.

Dissapearance of Nilamadhava

The Sabara soon returned carrying forest flowers and roots started his daily workship of Lord Nila-Madhava. As he was engaged in the service of the Lord, the Lord spoke to him saying, "I have for so many days accepted the simple forest flowers and roots offered to Me by you.Now I desire the royal service offered to Me by My devotee King Indradyumna.

When the Sabara heard this, he thought, " I Shall be cheated from the services of Sri Nila-Madhava". Therefore he bound his son-in-law Vidyapati and kept him in his house. After a time, however, at the repeated request of his daughter, he freed the brahmana and allowed hi to go. The brahmana then immediately went to King Indradyumna and informed him of the discovery.

The King, in great ecstasy, went forth with many people to bring back Sri Nila-Madhava. From the mustard seeds thrown along the path by Vidyapati,small plants had grown. So by following these plants the King was able to trace the path to Sri Nila-Madhava. When they reached the spot, however, they did not find Him.

Nilamadhava shows mercy to Indradyumna

Not being able to see the beautiful from of the Lord, King Indradyumna besieged the village of the Sabaras and arrested the Sabara named Vishvavasu. Suddenly, however a voice in the sky said to the King, "Release this Sabara ! On top of Nila Hill you should construct a temple. There as Daru-brahman, or the Absolute Truth manifest in a wooden form, you will see Me. You will not see Me as Nila-Madhava".

A Temple for Nilamadhava

To build the temple, King Indr adyumna made arrangements to bring stone from a place called Baulamala by building a road from there to the Nila-Kandhara Hill. The holy abode of SriKshetra, or Puri, is in the shape of a conch, and in the naval of that conch the king established a town of the name Rama-Krishnapura and constructed the temple. The temple extended 60 cubit beneath the earth and rose 120 cubits above the surface.

At the top of the temple the king built a Kalasha, or round pinnacle and on top of that a chakra, or disc. He also had the temple decorated with golden ornamentations. Then King Indradyumna, desiring for Lord Brahma to consecrate the temple, travelled to Brahmaloka and spent long time there waiting for him. During that time, the temple, which is very near the sea became covered with sand from the shore.

When King Indradyumna was away, first Suradeva and then Galamadhava took over as the kings of that area. It was Galamadhava who raised the temple from within the sands, where it had been buried for a long time. Shortly after the temple was uncovered however, King Indradyumna returned from Lord Brahma's abode. Indradyumna claimed that he had constructed the temple, but Galamadhava put forward the claim that he was its constructor. In a banyan tree near the temple, however, lived a bhusandi crow who had been living through many ages, constantly singing the name of Lord Rama. From his abode on the branches of that banyan tree, the crow had seen the whole construction of the temple. Therefore he made it know than actually King Indradyumna had constructed the temple and that in his absence it had been covered by sand. He further said that King Galamadhava had concealed the truth, Lord Brahma then ordered him to reside outside the grounds of the temple, on the western side of the lake called Indradyumna sarovara.

Lord Jagannatha Manifests His Eternal Form

Indradyumna then prayed to Lord Brahma to consecrate the temple, and the surrounding area, known as Sri Kshetra which gives the highest type of liberation. But Lord Brahma said, " This Sri Kshetra is manifested by the Supreme Lord's own internal potency, and the Supereme Lord manifests Himself. Therefore it is not within my power to install the Lord there.

Lord Jagannatha and his abode are eternally situated in his material world by His own mercy. Therefore I shall simply place a flag on top of the temple and give this blessing that "any one who from a distance sees this flag and bows down, offering his prostrated obeisances, shall easily become liberated".

After some time King Indradyumna became discouraged at so much delay in seeing Sri Nila-Madhava. Deciding that his life was useless, he lay down on a bed of kusa grass, being determined to give up his life by fasting. At that time Lord Jagannatha spoke to him in his dream as follows: "My dear King, don't be anxious. I shall come floating in the sea in My wooden form as Daru-brahman at the place called Dhinkimuha." With a company of soldiers, the King then went to that place and saw on the shore a huge piece of wood marked with conch, disc, cluband lotus. Although he engaged many man and elephants to move that Darubrahman, or woody- Brahman they could not even budge it.

But that night in a dream Lord Jagannatha again spoke to the king, saying, "Bring My previous servant Vishvavasu, who used to serve Me as Nila-Madhava, and place a golden chariot in front of Daru-brahman ! ". The King began to work according to the instruction of that dream. He brought the Sabara Visvavasu and put him on one side of Daru-bhraman, and on the other side he put the brahmana Vidyapati.

Placing a golden chariot before the Daru-brahmana, he then stared kirtan chanting of the holy names of the Supreme Lord. Then the King caught hold of Daru-brahman and prayed for the Lord to mount the chariot. Daru-brahman was then easily placed on the chariot and taken to an appointed place on the raised platform of the sacrifice. It is said that the place where the present temple stands is the place where the sacrifice was performed and that the Narasimha Deity now standing at the western side of the Mukti-mandapa in the temple compound is that original Narasimha Deity.

To carve the Deity of Lord Jagannatha from the Daru-brahman, King Indradyumna called many sculptors. None of them, however, was able to touch Daru-brahman for as soon as they started, their chisels broke and fell to pieces. Finally the Supreme Lord Himself came in the disguise of an old artist who introduced himself a Ananta Maharana. He promised that if he were allowed to work behind closed doors for twenty-one days, the Deity would be carved. Immediately preparations were made.

According to the old sculptor's directions, all the other artists were engaged in making three chariots. The old sculptor then took Daru-brahman into the temple and closed the doors, After making the king promise that the sculptor would reside alone and the king would not open the doors of the temple even slightly before the twenty-one days were up. After fourteen days had passed, however, the king was unable to hear the sounds of the artistic tools, and so he became full of anxiety.

Although his minister again and again forbade him, the King, on the advice of his queen, by force opened the door of the temple with his own hands. Inside, the king did not find the old sculptor, but instead he saw that Daru-brahman was manifested in three forms as Lord Jagannatha, Subhadra and Balarama. Going forward in front of these three Deities, he saw that their fingers and toes were unfinished. The King's wise minister then informed him that the architect was none other than Lord Jagannatha Himself and that because the King had broken his promise by opening the doors seven days too soon, Lord Jagannatha had manifested Himself in that way.

Then the King, thinking himself a great offender, decided to end his life, Thus again he lay down on a bed of kusha and began fasting. When half the night had passed, Lord Jagannatha appeared to the king in his dreams. The Lord said, " I am eternally situated here in Nilacala in the form of Lord Jagannatha as Daru-brahman. In this material world, I descend in twenty four Deity incarnations with My abode. I have no material hands and feet, but with my transcendental senses I accept all the items offered in service by My devotees, and for the benefit of the world I move from one place to another. You have broken your promise, but that is just part of the
sweetness of My pastime to manifest this Jagannatha form, which protects the eternal words of Vedas.

Anyway, those devotees whose eyes are smeared with the salve of love will always see Me as Syamasundara, holding a flute. If your desire is to serve Me in opulence, then from time to time I may be decorated with hands and feet made of gold and silver. You should certainly know, however, that My limbs are the ornaments of all ornaments".

The Vedas state:

apani-pado javano grahita pasyaty
acakshuh sa smoty akamahsa vetti
bedyam na ca tyasyati vetta tam
ahur agryam purusham mahatam
- Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3.19

"Without legs and hands, He moves and accepts. Without eyes He sees, and without ears He hears. He knows all that is knowable, but no one know Him. They call Him the original Supreme Person".

To protect this assertion of the Vedas, Lord Jagannatha takes His form without hands and legs. Still, Lord Jagannatha is able to accept fifty-six different types of food, offered eight times daily, and He tours the world in His splendid carts.

Lord Jagannatha Fulfills the King's Desire

Hearing the worlds of Lord Jagannatha in his dream, the King became satisfied and prayed to him as follows: "My Lord, grant that those who appear in the family of the sculptor who manifested Your form may age after age assist in constructing the three carts".

Lord Jagannath, slightly smiling replied, "That shall be". Then Lord Jagannatha said to the King. " The descendants of Vishvavasu who used to serve Me as Nila-Madhava, should generation after generation serve Me. They may be called My dayitas. The descendents of Vidyapati born from his brahmana wife should perform the Deity workship for Me. And his descendants born from his Sabari wife Lalita, should cook My food. They shall be known as suydras. The King Indradyumna said to Lord Jagannath, "My Lord, kindly grant one favour to me. Let the doors to Your temple be closed for only three hours a day. The rest of the time, let the doors be open so that all residents of the Universe may have access to see you. Further, let it be that all day long your eating may go on and that Your lotus fingers may thus never become dry".

Lord Jagannatha replied, "Tathastu, so be it. And for yourself, what benediction do you ask?"

The King replied, "So that no one in the future will be able to claim Your temple as his own property, I desire to be without descendants. Kindly just grant me this one benediction". Lord Jagannatha replied, "Tathastu, so be it".

Thus the merciful Lord Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra appeared in this material world to benefit all living beings. What is the benefit They bestow? That is stated in the Narada Purana

pratiman tatra tam drishtva svayam devena nirmitam
anayasena vai yanti bhavanam me tato narah

- U.Kh.52.12

The Supreme Lord Narayana tells Lakshmi devi. " In that great abode known as Purushottama-kshetra, which is rarely achieved among all the three worlds, the Kesava Deity,who was fashioned by the Supreme Lord Himself, is situated. If men simply see that Deity, they are easily able to come to My abode". In this way Lord Jagannatha is delivering the whole universe especially as He rides on is cart before the eyes of all.

Dolphin Theme park in Satpada,Chilika - Orissa

2007-09-17T10:52:00.000+05:30

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEQ20070916151209&Page=Q&Headline=Eco%2Dpark+coming+up+at+Satpada&Title=ORISSA&Topic=0

Tourist map of Orissa

2007-09-14T11:43:00.001+05:30

10 Million jobs in next 3 years

2007-07-27T15:23:00.000+05:30

Infotech will generate 10 million Indian jobs in three years. We need to educate enough candidates

The Indian IT industry has never been in a better position to meet the global information technology challenge. Armed with a young working population and a cumulative average growth rate of 28 per cent in the last five years, the industry’s contribution to India’s GDP is expected to rise to 7 per cent this year, generating over 10 million jobs, in the next three years. While growth in the industry has been fuelled by the availability of skilled talent on a large scale, a heavy dependency on people also threatens to slow down long-term growth in the IT industry if demand for talent continues to outweigh supply. India’s universities as the chief suppliers of such talent are struggling to meet the nation’s current and future skilled resource requirements.

About 11 million students are enrolled in over 18,000 colleges and 350 universities in India — 70 per cent of the nation’s graduates being from the “arts” faculty. In their current state, our universities are not in a position to meet the industry’s skilled resource requirements. Education policies, set in the 1960s, are unsuitable for today’s India, and that of the future. Because the scale is so enormous and given the inadequate investment in education over the last 15 years, graduates often require extra training at the time of employment. The industry has to bear this burden.

India’s IT industry is responsible for creating an education market. It has shown the aspiring middle class that it pays to invest in a child’s education and it has created the demand for educated people. It has also raised salaries all around for the educated class and given it greater bargaining power in terms of compensation.

Many companies today also invest heavily in training new recruits to make up for the deficiencies in the education system. These efforts, however, are nominal compared to the large scale initiatives required of the government, which as the biggest agent of reform needs to take several immediate measures to improve the educational landscape.

The first of these is to provide autonomy to institutions, especially institutions of higher education. In every aspect of the administration of universities, governmental control needs to be relaxed. Today, educational institutions cannot change their courses at will, nor are they in a position to invest in infrastructure or pay their faculty better. That is why almost 30 per cent of faculty positions remain vacant. Many educational institutions are impoverished because they cannot charge higher fees. The relatively well-off and educated middle class reaps the unnecessary benefits of subsidised education while the poor are left behind. Universities must be empowered to charge fees to those who can afford to pay them, and those who cannot should have the benefit of scholarships. A national scholarship scheme would ensure that no young person of merit is deprived of a higher education. It is true that education loans have become easier to get but they are inadequate and the meritorious poor need additional financial support. The government cannot shirk its responsibilities; measures to liberate institutions would go a long way in helping them charter their own mission, raise funds to build capacity, and compete for the best faculty and students.

Over 400,000 students strive for limited IIT and IIM seats annually. Last year, over 50 per cent of the 6,000 IIT seats were reportedly filled by students who had enrolled in expensive coaching classes. This reality has demoralised a lot of bright, young people. It is only when capacity is expanded that education will become accessible to all. Our gross enrolment rate in the age group of 18 to 24 is 11 per cent. If growth is to be sustained, India needs to drive this number up to 25 per cent in the next five years. The investments in capacity building have to come from the taxes that we pay and from fees collected from students who can afford to pay for an education. Universities deprived of funding cannot produce the quality nor the quantity of talent needed to sustain growth in sectors like ours. Some positive changes have been seen in uplifting the quality of primary and secondary education but not as much has been done in higher education, where skill-building becomes most crucial as the youth prepare to enter the job market. This is especially important at a time when companies the world over are entertaining higher expectations from the Indian IT industry in terms of new service offerings and technical expertise. Our competitive advantage can only be sustained if we are producing highly skilled and readily employable graduates.

Today, we are losing almost 1,60,000 Indians to foreign universities and students enrolled in these universities are paying almost $3 billion in fees and costs. It is imperative for the Indian government to strive to retain some of this talent in India, especially those students who are leaving on account of lost opportunities in India. Retaining such students will only be possible if we are giving them access to the same educational resources as those outside the country. Many outstanding foreign universities have expressed interest in establishing branches in India recently. The government must have an open policy towards global universities coming to India to train and educate our students. I do not see why it should object to this, as it benefits young Indians in their own country. We also need to move away from a wrong notion about education belonging to the public sector — foreign universities, accredited private institutions, funded by “edupreneurs”, should also be allowed to come up and compete to attract the best students and faculty.

It is said that for every job that is created in the IT sector in India, four jobs are created in the rest of the economy. Education plays a key role in ensuring an adequate supply of skilled talent. For this momentum to be sustained, active efforts on the part of the government would be
required to reform education.

The writer is Member of the Board and director, HR, E&R and Administration, Infosys Technologies Ltd

Some sculptures by sudarshan pattanaik

2007-07-09T12:25:00.000+05:30

Bird Flu Awareness

Cow, Farmer,Pongal and Sugar Cane at Chennai Port

Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik giving finishing touches to the sand sculpture of a sleeping lady at the first Istanbul International Sand Sculpture festival.

Ranchi - Vijaywada NH connects Malkajgiri

2007-05-03T16:36:00.000+05:30

http://tathya.in/story.asp?sno=592
In 60s, the legendary Biju Patnaik had created sort of history by setting up the Express Highway in Orissa. Apparently following his father’s foot steps, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, has succeeded inbringing a National Highway for Orissa.

This time, the junior Patnaik’s road is longer one, spanning from Motu in Malkangiri to Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj.The original proposal for the much-awaited Vijaywada-Ranchi (VR) Road, mooted by Union Home Minister , got the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in principle approval, disclosed an official here on December 5.Of the 2000 km highway major slice of the road of 1219 km lies in Orissa.With this approval Orissa emerges as the biggest beneficiary.

The meeting chaired by T K A Nair, Principal Secretary in PMO, was attended by Union Rural Development Secretary Subas Pani, Union Road Transport & Highways Secretary Vijaya singh,chairman NHAI and others.
The VR Road, referred as the South-North corridor will be spread over 12 tribal dominated districts of Orissa, sources said.

Sources said the idea of having a Expressway in tribal dominated districts came in the wake of the left wing extremists activities in some parts of the state.Chief Minister Mr.Patnaik feels that once the road communications in tribal districts are established, the government can easily tackle the LWEs problems.

Of the total 2000 km length of the VR Road, the Orisa will get 1219 km road. The districts to be covered under this road are: Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhmal,Boudh, Deogarh, Sambalpur, Angul, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj.

Sources said the PMO approved this road after the Central Rural Development ministry agreed to fund its share for developing the road.Union RD Secretary Subas Pani who till December was the Chief Secretary of Orissa, sources said lobbied for Naveen’s Road. Dr. Pani was, in fact,instrumental in Naveen’s Government as the CS, to shout for the VR Road. Naveen in the past meetings, either with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh or with the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil or while addressing the Internal Security Council conference, had raised the VR Road issue.

According to the initial estimate, while the RD ministry would provide Rs 186 crore, World Bank had agreed to give Rs 253 crore.
Rest of the money would come from: Rs 227 crore by the National Highway Authority of India(NHAI)and Rs 216 crore from the KBK Plan.
At least Rs 110 crore from the State Plan of the Orissa Government will be provided, said Nalini Kanta Pradhan, Engineer-in-Chief of the Works department.Mr.Pradhan said Orissa has already started the process of availing funding from the Inter State connectivity Fund.

The multiple funding is being arranged keeping in view the magnitude of the project.All the three states like Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand will be funding their share in this ambitious project, said sources.

The VR project will also open up gainful economic opportunities for large number of poor tribal communities, said an official.

Vedanta CEO reply to Manoi Padhi - OTN groups's queries

2007-05-03T12:24:00.000+05:30

Dear all:

Couple of weeks back Mr. Manoj Padhi (the founder of OTN)
sent a letter on behalf of the Orissa Today network (OTN)
(http://groups.google.com/group/OrissaToday )
to the Vedanta CEO. The letter he sent is at
http://hindtoday.com/Blogs/ViewBlogs.aspx?
HTAdvtId=228&HTAdvtPlaceCode=IND674ORISSA

Today he received a reply from the Vedanta CEO. The reply is
posted in http://groups.google.com/group/OrissaToday/
browse_thread/thread/efdac4c882f22e33

Following is the content of the letter.

*Dear Mr. Manoj Padhi and OTN,*

* *

Thank you for your mail dated 8th April regarding Vedanta University (VU). We are happy to know that OTN, an intellectual Group of Overseas and local Oriya have appreciated the communication on the developments pertaining to the proposed Vedanta University in the State of Orissa.

I am happy to have this opportunity to provide clarifications on some of the points raised by your members.

When Vedanta Chairman thought of this philanthropic act of a magnitude not hitherto known, M/s. AT Kearney & Company was engaged to prepare the concept proposal and several states in India were considered for the potential site. One of the reasons for the final selection of Orissa was the poor development of the State and the huge economic and social impact the
University will bring to Orissa. (All of you from Orissa, today living in various parts of the world know that as per the latest statistics from Planning Commission, Orissa is the most backward State in India. Over 40% of the people in Orissa are living below poverty line compared to national average of about 20%).

*Regarding the query on land*, it was felt vital to create this university on a totally self-sustained basis and not to blame or complain tomorrow regarding non-availability of infrastructure. The campus has to be planned and implemented like the city of Chandigarh and not mushroom / proliferate in a disorganized manner like Kolkata or Mumbai. The long term master plan for the entire university has been prepared by the Architecture firm specialised in university campuses, M/s. Ayers Saint Gross(ASG), Baltimore, USA.

As this will be a research-driven university, there will be huge research parks in the campus to support research in various fields including health sciences, bio-technology, nano-technology, design engineering, public policy, economics, finance, public administration, etc. The University will actively promote this research, and will encourage collaboration with national and international organizations.

The colleges, laboratories, residential complexes, support community, infrastructure, utilities, entertainment, sports and recreation facilities and a lot of open space that are essential for a world-class University atmosphere require the University to have over 7000 acres of land as per the master plan.

*Regarding some apprehensions about the land acquisition*, it must be noted by all responsible stakeholders that the land is being acquired by Anil Agarwal foundation(AAF), a *not for profit institution*, and solely for the purpose of setting-up the university and its related facilities and infrastructure etc. This is further ensured by the Government of Orissa
through terms of legislation. The construction of the university building is going to start almost immediately based on the overall master plan created by ASG. Therefore there is no need for unnecessary misgiving in this regard.

*Regarding the query of multi-location*, Vedanta is a research-driven university with investments in not just land and buildings but also in research laboratories, equipment and infrastructure. This needs focus. In the long term, VU will have distance learning and extension learning program centers.

*Regarding location (why not western Orissa),* VU is not a District level or Regional level institution, it is a world class university in terms of magnitude, students and faculties intended to bring pride to the whole of India. The nature of such an institution is supported by proximity to resources and an enabling environment. Orissa will have the privilege of having it located in the state.

*Regarding rehabilitation subject*, we wish to clarify that the area proposed for the VU campus is sparsely populated. Given the saline condition of the water body and the land, though it is classified as agricultural land, it is not a fertile land. Every piece of land being acquired for setting up the university will be paid full-market value and there is neither any grant nor concessions by the Government in this matter.

All those displaced shall be offered rehabilitation package in terms of houses or those who don't opt shall be given cash assistance for self relocation. At least one member of each displaced family shall be provided vocational training to enable him to start own enterprise. The university project construction activities, and the institution itself will generate direct and indirect employment potential in that area which has hitherto not seen any economic activity.

*Regarding reservations*: We all know that explicit reservations or quotas
pose a serious challenge to the aspirations of a world-class university. We are committed to diversity and equal access to higher education for all sections of society. We shall encourage equitable access to Vedanta University by special coaching and training, bridge programs, scholarships and stipends to motivate the local youth and to improve their quality. The University values diversity of all kinds and will also ensure access to higher education for meritorious students regardless of their ability to contribute financially.

*In terms of employment*, we are now at a very early stage. As far as senior staff, the recruitment is based on relevant qualification, experience and will be from all over India and abroad. Junior staff predominantly will be recruited locally.

*As regards, Head Office*, Anil Agarwal Foundation is located in Mumbai. At the conceptual and planning stage, the VU Head Office will have to operate in a global city like Mumbai. However, VU Operating Office has already started functioning from Puri, will have a presence in Bhubaneshwar, and will later on shift to the campus itself.

To conclude, we appreciate views and concerns of all of you in this important project in Orissa. We are transparent and open in sharing and providing clarifications to your concerns. In turn,we hope you will become goodwill ambassadors for this transformative development in the State of Orissa to and help to overcome unfounded cynicism.

I am sure your communication is to find answers and not for publicity, and hence we do not see the need to mark copies to third parties.
VU shall build a globally respected research driven university to provide high quality education and creation of knowledge by Indians in India. It is an arduous task with lots of obstacles, but we believe that the goal is clear and noble. With support from all of you, who care for your Motherland, we shall overcome these obstacles and succeed.

With regards,

*C.V. Krishnan*

CEO, Vedanta University

Technology revolution

2007-04-23T12:54:00.000+05:30

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070423/asp/frontpage/story_7681886.asp

The article mentions a methodology which allows people to communicate across the world using the Internet. The actual thing to know here would not be the technological advancement , but affordabality quotient provided to this new technology.

It is great to have technical growth and emerge as the information superpower. But the true challenge for the Indian economy lie in passing benefits to it's rural sector.

I do hear news nowadays where farmers in Punjab and other agrarian states are able to check the world-prices of Rice and wheat at Internet Kiosks. This is an example of how connectivity improves the economy.

Typically, Most industries have a concern that the profitablity does not justify investment in such sectors. I guess small-scale and medium-scale entreprenuers should try to look at economies of scale when trying to figure out what is the profitabality of such a venture.

Vedanta university to receive 500 less acres

2007-04-19T12:12:00.000+05:30

Translation of

http://odissahrd.googlepages.com/
20070418sambadavedantauniversityredu.pdf

Vedanta university to receive 500 less acres

Bhubaneswar: The Proposal of the Anil Agarwal Foundation for a World Class University is expected to receive 7500 acres. The Foundation had asked for around 8000 cares from the State Government of Orissa. This decision was taken at the 4^th core committee meeting of the Vedanta foundation yesterday.

There will be a super-specialty hospital of 1000 beds along with a Medical College which will be created in the sea beach between Puri and Konark. Only after this will the University project will be started.

The meeting requested that the land acquisition process be expedited and it was concluded that land will be handed-over by June end. Near the University area there are around 22 Villages. Notices have been issued in 6 of these villages. The Foundation has been marked to be issued 450 acres of Government land. The Foundation will provide 5000 crore Rupees, and will be giving 4500 crores in the 1^st phase. The University will start taking students for study and research from 2008 onwards. This institution is expected to have an investment of 15,000 crores and will be complete by 2025.

Lakhs of students from India and abroad will study in this institution.The MOU was signed in 2006, July on 16^th by the Foundation and the State Government. The Union Comissnor Mr. R.N. Bohidar chaired this meeting in the presence of Higher education secretary A.K. Tripathy,Puri District Collector, Vedanta Representatives and some Senior Officials.

Orissa - The development story

2007-04-09T12:20:00.000+05:30

http://www.centralchronicle.com/20070409/0904304.htm

This byline writes a small significant note about Orissa quietly forging ahead. Somehow, It is a quite short on the specifics. But, It might be a sign of good things to come.

If we look at the potential of the underdeveloped states(U.P, Bihar, M.P, Chattisgarh,Orissa etc.) the basic aspects which could provide development lie in the following lines.

a) Human Resource Potential
b) Agricultural growth
c) Industrial progress.

By Any means, everyone will agree that Industrial progress is happening. But there are some bottlenecks. The govt says that currently there are about 45 MOUs which are in progress in various stages. Out of them about 25 are functional right now. The problem is that most of the BIG MOUs (Tata's , POSCO,Mittal) are stuck in various phases due to the common SEZ problems.

The basic issue is the land acquisition problems which have been dogging all these cases. Some methods have been outlined in fixing these issues in my previous blogs. It remains a big challenge for the development of this state to provide a fine balancing act in such matters.

We have spoken about basic industrial growth but, then with a natural cycle of progression the Higher tier of investments needs to happen. There is no fear for a power supply since, Orissa is a power surplus state. the next tier should focus on bringing commerical investment in this area. Some signs that we see are encouraging. The Puri-Konark pipeline has become a hub for commercial investment in this regard. The tourisum potential of this place, has not even been explored to even 10% of it's value.

Plans should be made to utilize the immense potential of the Chilika green zone, starting from satpada near puri to southern chilika stretches. I believe satpada has a potential to become a major tourisum deswtination since, I'm not aware of any place in India which boasts of such a large pool of Irrawaddy Dolphins.

We do hear other stories like FM stations coming up in BBSR. In itself this might not be significant, but this is a sign of the massive growth of the commercial retail culture starting to prevail in the state. Purists might consider this as no-value for the common man, but economists do explain that this has a trickle down benefit on the nearby areas.

Human Resource Potential:
Coming to the Human resource potential in the state, the liberalization of the education in the state lead to creation of a massive talent pool. Institutes like KIIT are establishing benchmarks which lead them to challenge IITs in various forums. As a matter of fact Microsoft last year selected some 10 odd people for campus selection from this college. This is better than lots of NITs (Previously known as RECs) and i think it is better than even some lesser IITs.

Also, lots of private organizations are queueing up for investment in education here.

To name a few,

Sri Sri art of living foundation
ICFAI
and last but not the least, vedanta university.

I'm sure that if these universities come up there will be immense education value in which will lead to creation of High tech companies in the state. Already signs are being seen. Mindtree has chosen BBSR to be it's next research HUB as opposed to Kolkata. So signs are optimistic.

The key would be to provide political will to enbsure these big ticket investments are successfull.

Agriculture
Coming to the agricultural front, It is a quite difficult to analyze if real development is happening. Here, the concern is not so much on numbers in terms of productivity, but to check the Human value it is important to improve basic living indexes in rural areas. Claims are being made that irrigation has improved in the last few years. The problem is that there are no means at this point to independently corroborate this data.

The living indexes results show orissa pretty much at the bottom of of all faces, although Mr. Naveen patnaik stands tall among chief ministers. The key issue would be to implement Human and land reforms, and improve factors like Living index, birth rate, IMR etc. which would generally benefit.

In this factor two small newsitems can be minutely corroborative.
1. Increase in amnount of rice cultivation for rabi crop in orissa from 2.37 lakh acres to 3 lakh acres.

2. The NREGA scheme.

This might be the reason why we dont hear about any starvation deaths in the recent past.
Hopefully, this is good news, but the real challenge lies in providing right filip for agricultural growth in the state.

samsung mobile tracker

2007-04-05T17:09:00.000+05:30

Today I came across infiormation on the samsung mobile tracker. It is quite cool. The only thing is that it seems to be present on High end models.

The technology works like this:
Create two telephone numbers which you register in your mobile. If your phone is stolen, then the theif will try to replace the SIM. What will happen is that one hardware interrupt will be initiated which will send an SMS to the registrered number.

This will provide all the information about the new SIM including number,location etc.

The clincher is that this could be a final project for some student who can write a software which can be downloaded(again via a SMS) into simple mobile telephones.

Think about it...........

PM steps in to review POSCO project

2007-04-05T15:48:00.000+05:30

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage
/StoryPage.aspx?id=ccb41656-3bc6-4513-9322-97a5ab871138&

This underlines the seriousness of the fact that the PMO is supportive
of the investment but in state the congress is against the project in
general. Simaltaneously, one needs to understand what exactly is
the people's motivation for the project in that region.

There are reports that in KalingaNagar is witnessing struggles
between pro-POSCO and anti-POSCO groups. There have been reports
in that area from quite some time that pro-POSCO activists have been
victimized and boycotted in their homes.

Strictly speaking, the anti-POSCO activists are violating law and
order in that area. But unlike Nandigram, the state is dealing with
this in a different manner. There has also been a court order which
has asked the state GOvt to provide secuirity to the people there.

Also, one tends to overlook the fact the land is rightfully that of the
Govt. but people have been enroaching over it. The previous point
is a question mark since, Govt records are liable to be misleading.

It is important for the state of Orissa to provide right education
on the benefits of project to the people and provide
comprehensive rehabalitation according to the policy. I'm sure
though, that due to the immense media attention, scope of
irregularities will be miniial.

A case to the point is the resolution of the blockade due to death
of one of the injured recetly. The person has been considered in
the death list and he will be provided corresponding compensation.

Perhaps, well meaning executives, can actually try to provide
feedback which can be used resolve this problem. Otherwise, the
situation might escalate into full-scale withdrawal of POSCO
which would have detrimental effect on the state's investment potential.

Chappel Resigns - What is the next step?

2007-04-05T11:48:00.000+05:30

Post the world cup debacle, A number of questions have haunted Indian cricket.

As a spectator, the following points come to my mind.

1. What has happenned to the much vaunted line-up? Players like Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan who were world-class players have become bunnies by bastmen and bowlers not just internationally but also in national levels.

2. How could a team with 35,000 runs be out in 7 days from the world cup?

Personally, I feel that the chappel resignation is a good step. I dont have any issues with the processes he subscribes to. But his behaviour of using Media as a tool became disgusting after a period.

Instances where he used the Media
a) The e-mail leak about saurav ganguly
b) The text message to Rajan Bala after the world cup team selection.
c) The circulated leaks to the Media post the world cup reveiwe meeting.

Perhaps, this was not acceptable. But the fact remains that, he did raise some points which are quite genuine.

1. Sachin Tendulkar's form. -- I don't recollect the last game when sachin has scored against the big teams of International cricket. The only big team with whom sachin seems relatively comfortable is perhaps Sri Lanka.

2. The lack of a good spinner-- Let us face it we don't have a big spinner of the cricket ball today. This is an absolute tragedy. Harbhajan does not spin the ball much. I don't remember him taking wickets.

3. Loss of form of Irfan Pathan - I'm inclined to blame greg chappel for this.

Yesterday Kris srikanth was blaming the foreign coach for all the problems. I would actually say that, he should remember the pre-Joh wright phenomena. Indian cricket was a complete washout.

I VOTE FOR DAVE WHATMORE................

The OBC Quota - What is the future?

2007-04-02T17:21:00.000+05:30

http://www.samachar.com/features/020407-features.html

It is quite an interesting article which provides for food for thought. There is a lot of jubilation in elitist circles that the SC stay is a victory. But the reality remains that due to brute force the legislation will come through someday or the other.

What is the choice? I genuinely belive that most of the anti-quota lobby are against this because they percieve this legislation as a social divider . The only solution would be for religious Hindu leadership to provide a common front which can get rid of caste based divisions.

Issues like temple entry should not a concern otherwise the thoughtfull elite of this society might feel the heat in near future.

Also, social outlook predominantly needs to change by upper caste dignitaries to lower caste people.

Vedanta university - Orissa - Letter of CEO

2007-03-30T14:56:00.000+05:30

29th March 2007

Dear Friend,
We are pleased to share with you, as well wishers of the proposed
Vedanta University in Orissa, the developments to-date and our
objectives in the project. The Vedanta University will be
established in the state of Orissa, along the Puri-Konark highway.
We recall with pride the glorious past when Orissa had Ratnagiri
University, known around the world. With the active support,
encouragement and good wishes from all of you through your
constructive communication in the various blogs, e-mails and
internet communications, we are confident of making Orissa
once again a globally recognised center for higher learning.

Anil Agarwal Foundation, a “not for profit” institution, has been
founded by Mr. Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta Resources Plc,
London, for making a significant contribution to a core
requirement of India viz. Education.

Anil Agarwal Foundation (AAF) has the vision of creating a
world-class,multidisciplinary university in India, of the quality
of Nalanda, Ratnagiri, Takshila of Ancient India and Harvard,
Stanford and Oxford of today. The new institution will be
called “Vedanta University” to truly reflect the philosophy
and pride of our Country.

The proposed Vedanta University will be an independent,
professionally managed and “Not For Profit” institution based
on an endowment from AAF as seed capital. It will be a Private
University to be set up under an Act of the Orissa State, and will
operate on efficient management principles, generate resources
for fuelling continuous growth in Research and Academics.

Vedanta University will have the following objectives:

1. Create a World standard research driven university where
academics and research will support and benefit from each other.

2. Build a Global scale university with a wide variety of subjects and
specialisations namely arts, sciences, economics, commerce,
education,public administration, communication, law, business
management,engineering,medicine and other professional fields.

3. Offer to all its graduates, irrespective of their specializations
a strong foundation in basic disciplines like liberal arts, basic
sciences, economics,communication, philosophy, behavioural
sciences, mathematics and IT.

4. Provide here and now within the shores of India knowledge based
education to India’s youth, to prepare them as scholars, scientists
and leaders for taking India forward.

5. Provide academic facilities, IT network / library, laboratory and
research facilities, residential and recreation infrastructure which will
make Vedanta University totally self contained like the best
universities in the world.

6. Offer bachelors, masters and research degrees in various disciplines
and offer a unique combination of intensive specialisation as well as
extensive cross disciplinary study.

7. Build an organization with most competent faculty for teaching and
research and highly professional non-academic management team.

Vedanta University will promote greater learning and would place
India on the global map of academic and research agenda. It will
develop mechanisms to involve students in research as an integral
part of their learning, and partner with industry in promotion
of new ideas and innovations.

The University will have colleges and schools for various disciplines,
research laboratories & research parks, residential colonies for
students, faculty and staff,complexes for sports, entertainment
& recreation, conference centers, significant open space to create
the right atmosphere inside the campus, transport and other
infrastructure, over an area of 8000 acres. The proposed university
is planned to ultimately have 100,000 students and corresponding
faculty and staff with complete infrastructure.

This will lead to creating a vibrant township. The local population
will immensely benefit by the direct and indirect employment
potential during the project construction phase and subsequent
running of the University. Unlike an industrial project, which gets
constructed over a finite period of 3 / 4 years, the University will
be continuously expanded thus offering sustained employment
opportunity for local population.

The land for the University will be procured at fully priced current
market rates with no subsidy nor grant allocation of land by
Government. The acquisition is getting delayed and this has pushed
back the construction of the project.

We have engaged world-renowned campus planners, US-based
Ayers Saint Gross, to develop a campus master plan. India based
STUP consultants are engaged to do the detailed design for
construction and the Phase - 1 plans are already finalized. We
hope that we are able to progress with commencement of
construction soon.

We also need the passage by the Orissa State Assembly of
necessary legislations to establish Vedanta University. We hope
this happens soon enough.

We are extremely passionate about building a philanthropic
institution that will educate tomorrow’s Nobel Laureates,
Olympic athletes, heads of state, civic leaders,and social
transformers. We believe that the university will prove
to be a perpetual contribution to society that will generate
global leaders for centuries to come.

We have launched our website www.vedanta.edu.in to provide
you with more updates. We request you to visit our site. As a
person who is keen to see this University come up to bring
glory to Orissa, you may feel free to contact me at
cv.krishnan@vedanta.edu.in if you have any advice or suggestions.

With Regards
C.V. Krishnan
CEO

Land acquisition - Some comments by Dr. Manmohan Singh

2007-03-27T11:30:00.000+05:30

Land acquisition is a complicated issue. It can be very emotional also. The events in Nandigram last week confirmed that. Please some statements by Mr. Manmohan singh which outlines the need for growth.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/
PM_promises_to_find_fair_solution_to_SEZ_conflict/articleshow/1813041.cms

Quote:
“As I said recently in parliament, we have to recognise that in a country like ours, where the average size of landholding is so small, there are limitations to what you can do to improve agricultural productivity,”

Perhaps, this is something the rural person needs to be educated about to solve potential issues.

India's chances in World Cup

2007-03-22T12:14:00.000+05:30

f India somehow win its final league match against SL then India have good chances even in Super 8.

Why ? -
1) India will goto Super 8 with 2 bonus points.
2) They wont play SL in Super 8 whom if we defeat now would otherwise eager for next encounter against India (typical physcology) and without 2 bonus point will try hard against other fancied teams in Super 8.
3) India will play Ireland whom ideally they should beat easily - extra 2 points. Which means bonus 4 points in a group of vitually 7 teams (considering Ireland stands no chance for semis)
4) WI wont play against Ireland in Super 8 as Irelands would be qualifying from the same group so they have a tougher task.
5) Every team will play six matches. They have to get a maximum of 14 points. Out of this 4 points are already gained. They need to win 6 more points (Total = 10) to get a place in semi-finals. Which teams should be pin-pointed for this?

a) England
b)NewZealand
c) West Indies(On whom we have a recent confidence boost).

So all in all in Super 8 (with Ireland no chance and WI having disadvantage of not able to play Ireland) it could turn out to be favourable for Indians to enter Semis atleast.

for people who are supersitious, in recent past WC has trend of the teams who face it hard earlier does better in the later games :-)

If only Indians can apply some brain and show more commitment and willpower on field, its very much POSSIBLE !

Changes that should be for SL game -
1) Take out Utthapa (yes he is very talented but pressure will be immense to perform in this crunch game and SL knows his game a bit as they played him in recent series and also he can not bowl). If possible utilize him as substitute for his fielding abilities.
2) In place of Utthapa, bring in Pathan. Logic is if his bowling fails initially he can be brought in middle overs or tried (atleast tried) in later overs. If his bowling fails atleast we can try to use him as pinch hitter (infact he is a compact player) and is also a reasonable fielder in the outfield. He has experience in playing in high profile games. Can be a risk worth taking.
3) Take out Agarkar and bring in Harbhajan (there are lot of left handers in SL team). Agarkar is short on confidence and Jaysuriya, Tharanga, Sagakkaara will murder him in this form. In anycase on his current form he aint a better batsman than Bhajji either.
4) Finally Hope for best and keep faith in yourselves :-)

Best of Luck !!
Win or Lose, give your best - atleast that wont be disappointing !!

Ireland in the world cup - Movie in the making

2007-03-20T22:28:00.000+05:30

Reference:http://www.indianexpress.com/story/26037.html

No-hopers give a great hope to Irish film-maker Davey

Kingston: About a year back, when Paul Davey decided to make the
World Cup-bound Irish cricketers the heroes of his documentary, he
didn’t realise that he had just managed a casting coup. A chance meeting
with Ireland’s wicket-keeper Niall O’Brien in Australia made the
Sydney-born Irish budding film-maker conscious of the fact that the
country of his birth didn’t just have a cricket team but had also
qualified for the 2007 World Cup.

Today Davey sits on about 10 hours of exclusive footage that tells the
incredible story of 15 no-hopers who have caused one of the biggest
upsets in World Cup history. The three-wicket win over once-world
champions Pakistan means Ireland, who had confirmed their Kingston
to Dublin booking after the group stage, have got a one-month extension
in the West Indies as the Super 15 have almost made their entry into
the Super Eight.

This also means a healthy headache for Davey, who wonders how his
limited budget would see him survive in the West Indies till
April-end. “I will have to use the Irish charm and hope that Saint
Patrick will be on my side,” he says.

Though Davey plans to edit his work to about 50 minutes for the
festival circuit and eventual television release in cricket-playing countries,
the heart-warming and still-evolving storyline could interest even
some Hollywood big-wig. This Irish story, with various plots and
sub-plots, is Oscar-material. The game against Pakistan certainly had all.
A simple, sheep farmer’s son — Boyd Rankin — takes three wickets.
Andre Botha, who left South Africa as he thought he wasn’t good enough
to play international cricket, comes up with dream figures of 8-4-5-2.
“Never ever dreamt of a spell like that, forget on a day like that,” he says.
The O’Brien brothers — Niall (72) and Kevin (16 not out) — combine forces
for an inspirational match-winning partnership. Coach Adrian Birrell, who
all his life worked in grassroots cricket, finally getting global recognition
just a few months before amicably parting ways with his boys,
who lovingly call him ‘AB’.

Add to that the suspense because of the rain delay, the subsequent fall
of wickets, the roller-coaster run-chase, emotionally-attached wives
and die-hard slogan-shouting fans from the stands, and, finally, the
ultimate climax. Captain Trent Johnston, despite a suspected fracture in
the arm suffered while taking a breathtaking catch, coming up with a six
to score the winning runs.

The screenplay too is impressive as one finds out while talking to new-ball
bowler David Langford-Smith who, as a farm equipment salesman, has the
normal middle-class cash-crunch because of his 300-dollars-a-week pay check.
“We are ordinary people who play cricket only because it’s our passion, but we
defeated the multi-millionaire pros who stay in palaces,” he says.

It’s stories like these that inspired Davey to pick up his camera and follow
the Irish cricketers. “It’s something I can relate to, since I have got an
ordinary job in Sydney. I am an IT guy, but during the World Cup here I
have turned into a film-maker. The key thing is the fact that these guys will
go to their normal lives after all this,” he says.

To stress his point, he narrates the shooting schedule he had with pace bowler
Paul Mooney. “I had gone to meet Mooney during Christmas and he got off
from his tractor to come and meet me. And I tell you, he was quite nervous
since this was during the lunch break,” he says with a smile.

What makes Davey sound excited about his movie is the capacity of the players
to touch the right chord with their attitude. He talks about the catch that John
Mooney took at the end of the Pakistan innings, close to the fence that had a
bunch of Irish fans on the other side. “He soloed the ball after catching it. It is
a move in Gaelic football — the most popular game in Ireland. It was a tribute
to the Irish fans. They loved it. These guys don’t just limit themselves to cricket,
they are multi-talented,” he says.

Nor does the movie, as Davey reveals how this is a cricket story with many
folds to it. “It is cricket-centric but it is also about the political situation in
Ireland and the religious divide. Today at the ground, one saw the Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland supporters mixing with each other. This has broken
some borders and barriers”.

Forget Hollywood, this is a Bollywood kind of script.

Kalinganagar story - Further updates

2007-03-20T15:15:00.001+05:30

Today in Indian express Baijayant Panda has written a column on Kalinganagar Vs Nandigram. It is quite interesting where differences have been revealed between Naveen Patnaik's style of functioning as opposed to the CPM.

I have continuously referred to the fact that Naveen patnaik has handled the Kalinganagar Issue very well. Inspite of continuous criticism by the Various so-called protestors today the Orissa Government has more trust than their counterparts in West Bengal.

In a similar line I read a article by Mr. Rajaram Satpathy which said that POSCO might move to Vietnam.
Refer:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India_Business/
Posco_may_shift_project_to_Vietnam/articleshow/1780921.cms

The reason I'm sceptical for this news is that Mr. Rajaram Satpathy is not known to be
very pro-Industry/ I've read his writings in blogs and news groups. Also, the
references in his article refer to a senior official which describes the mood in the company.
I'm not sure if this is very conclusive.

POSCO responded back to this writing immediately.
Ref:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/
No_plans_to_drop_India_project_Posco/articleshow/1783918.cms

This has the potential to derail talks in the Media.

Hopefully, this project has a future.

Vedic Mathematics - Very advanced

2007-03-18T19:43:00.000+05:30

Diameter of earth = 12,756 km
diameter of sun = 14,00,000 km
Ratio 109.76 ~108

distance between sun and earth = 93,000,000 * 1.6 = 146,000,000 km
diameter of sun = 14,00,000 km

Ratio = 106.78 ~ 108

diameter of moon = 3,476 km
distance between sun and moon = 30 * 12,756 km

Ratio 110.092 ~ 108 again

Making allowance for small adjustments it is very surprising how all these ratios come close to the holy number 108. For people who don't know, Hindus worship their god (chant mantras) 108 times.

We all know that zero '0' originated in India.
Also, that aryabhatta predicted in 5th century(Gupta period) that earth movies round the Sun, about a 1000 years before copernicus.

HOT News: Mittal-Arcelor plans to gobble POSCO

2007-03-16T22:14:00.000+05:30

London, March 16: India-born steel tycoon L N Mittal is planning a hostile takeover bid for South Korea's POSCO, even as the Korean giant is looking to build up its defence against any such move by raising friendly shareholding in the company, media reports said.

The Korea Economic Daily reported that the world's largest steel maker Arcelor-Mittal was mulling hostile takeover of Pohang Steel Company (POSCO) and a message about Arcelor-Mittal's interest was conveyed to the Korean major last month.

The paper said that Roland Junck, an adviser to Arcelor-Mittal CEO Lakshmi Mittal had in February asked POSCO specific questions about its merger and acquisition strategies in Asia.

Junck also asked if POSCO, the world's third-largest steel producer, was interested in collaborations for its Orissa steel project in India, the report said

The daily quoted an unnamed POSCO executive, as saying that Arcelor Mittal's interest in POSCO's M&A strategy means the firm has put POSCO on its M&A target list.

"The top management is pondering how to react to a potential hostile takeover bid," the paper quoted the official as saying, who also added that POSCO was looking to raise the number of friendly investors to ensure a stable management and avoid any hostile takeover.

POSCO is believed to be focusing on alliances with Asian steel makers through cross-shareholding to head off potential hostile takeover bids, as part of which Nippon Steel recently raised its holding in POSCO by two per cent to five per cent.

The company has been cited as a ripe takeover target by the analysts due to its diversified shareholder base. The company is 60 per cent owned by overseas investors, with Nippon Steel holding 60 per cent stake as its biggest shareholder and ally.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc also owns about 4 per cent in POSCO, which it had acquired for 572 billion dollars and its value rose to 1.16 billion dollars at the end of last year, Buffet said in an annual letter to shareholders.

Meanwhile, POSCO's share dropped 1.4 per cent in Seoul. The stock gain soared more than 55 per cent in the past one year.

POSCO's possible acquisition could be another big deal in steel space after Mittal Steel's 38 billion dollar takeover of European giant Arcelor last year and Tata Steel's 12 billion dollar winning bid for Corus in January this year.

POSCO CEO Lee Ku Taek has repeatedly said that the company should boost its value to avoid becoming a takeover target.

He had said in a communiqué to the company's shareholders last month that "if our market value increases, reducing the merits of a takeover, then there won't be any mergers and acquisitions."

Vedanta University - new website

2007-03-16T22:07:00.000+05:30

http://www.vedanta.edu.in/

The page looks very green. Maybe our environmentalists will like it. Hope they tackle the displacement problems in a proactive manner. We don't want a kalinganagar here.

Nandigram Violence - Any solutions?

2007-03-16T21:06:00.000+05:30

This editorial raises some very interesting questions. I'm not sure i see the answers, but these are my two pence thought on this.

Reference:http://www.indianexpress.com/story/25736.html

Personally, i see the following questions on the industrialization policy.

What is cost of land being acquired?
Is the compensation adequate?
Who are the people who need to be compensated for the displacement?
What should be the mode of compensation? (Cash or Kind)
How should this deal be negotiated?(Between the farmers and Govt or between farmers and the industry).

The above article does a fine job of determining the people to be compensated. It defines two things

1. People who own the land.
2. people who don't have clear deeds but work there from a longtime(due to faulty records).
3. Temporary workers.

Regarding cost of land, Today the Govt determines that for x amount of land y amount value has to be paid. The rest is end of story. This might need to change.

1: Government should contemplate paying market value of the land as opposed to Govt value.
2: It should also provide equity shares of the corporation which is taking over land so that the person whose land is being acquired also gets a stake in progress of the industry.
3. Educational expenses for the above family should also be borne by the industry coming up.

The best approach for fixing market value should be that the Government acts as a facilitator between the industry and stakeholders.

Some stories on Lord Jagannath

2007-03-16T15:13:00.001+05:30

My special thanks to Purna Mishra from whose mail I received these stories

When disciples of Prabhu Chaitanya asked why Jabana Hari Dasa could not visit Jagannath temple to offer his puja, Prabhu Chaitanya replied something like "... Jagannath visits Hari Dasa every day so where is the need for Hari Dasa to visit the temple ...".

My approach to Puja or worshiping Jagannath can be classified as minimalist approach. It is difficult to describe the minimalist approach.I will explain the understanding in this note through three different stories in two different scenarios.

Scenario #1: Should we go to a temple to worship or offer puja?

Story #1: Where does He live?
Narada, the saint, used to take a lot of pride in being a Vishnu bhakta. Once while wandering the earth chanting “Narayana Narayana”,he started believing that he was the only one who cares and worships Narayana while the rest were more interested in their day to day petty things. Next time he came to offer his worships to Narayana, Lord Vishnu asked if Narada had a little time to help Him carry out a delivery. Narada feeling with pride jumped in and asked what he had to deliver. Lord Vishnu asked Narada to circle the earth once while holding an earthen lamp filled with precious oil and
making sure to bring the lamp back without dropping the precious oil.

Next day morning Narada set out for circling the earth and at the end of the day brought back the lamp with the precious oil without dropping a single drop. Obviously Narada was all in smiles as he was chosen by Narayana for this task and he completed the task without losing a drop of oil. Narayana asked Narada to visit a poor farmer called “Jagga Dasa” next day and observe what he was up to and report Jagga’s daily activities to Him.With all devotion to Lord filled with arrogance of his devotion, Narada set out next day morning to observe Jagga Dasa.

Jagga Dasa woke up in the morning, finished his morning activities, fed the animal, and ate an early morning breakfast and left to work on the fields.Most of the day he worked in the field, came back in the evening,fed the animal, and ate a late supper before retiring for the day.Before he went to bed, he said “Oh Lord, please accept my Namaskar”.With that he started snoring as soon as his body touched the bed.

After Jagga Dasa retired, Narada left for the Vaikuntha and described the day to Lord. Narada was mad at Lord because Lord had asked him to observe a person who Narada believed was void of a single quality that could be common to all the devotees and that was respect for the Lord.Since Jagga Dasa did not take His name during the entire day, Narada was convinced that Jagga Dasa would be heading straight to hell.

After hearing Narada’s pitiful description of Jagga Dasa,Lord asked Narada why he was so mad at Jagga Dasa.Of course it was all to do with Jagga Dasa taking Lord’s name only once and that also before he retired for the day.At this time Lord asked Narada about the number of time Narada took Lord’s name while circling the earth holding the lamp.Of course, Narada had a good alibi that he was asked to make sure to bring the lamp back with the precious oil without losing a drop.While on such an important mission, he could not be expected to take the Lord’s name.

At this time Lord said with a big smile “Oh, sage Narada, you circled the earth with one lamp, while the poor Jagga Dasa is circling the earth 365 days with several lamps feeding his family,the animals, and community.Yet, Jagga Dasa had time to take My name once while you did not have time to take my name even once”. With this with all His love for Narada and the humanity He said

“Na aham thisthAmi vaikunthe, yoginAm hridaye na cha Mudd bhakta yatra gAyanti, tatra thisthAmi NArada”.

[Oh Narada, neither you would find Me in Vaikuntha nor you would get Me by following the wandering yogis, wherever My devotee calls for Me, I make
My self available to him.]

Story #2: What is a temple?
One of our Oriya Vaishnava preachers was Balarama Dasa.He is called “Mutta Balarama” or “Passionate Balarama” as he used to get passionate while taking His name.He is the author who wrote “Laxmi Purana” in Oriya. You must have heard the story of Sriya Chandaluni. This story was originally written by him to remove the evils of the caste system from our society.

The story goes something like this…Balarama Dasa used to tease Mother Laxmi and used to call her “Boki” [temperamental] and “Teri” [squint eyed].
It is a custom in Puri and most of the South Indian temples that one must visit the temple of Laxmi after visiting Vishnu and sit in the verandah for a few minutes as a trip to a Vishnu mandir is incomplete without spending a few minutes with Laxmi and asking for her favor.

Balarama Dasa used to visit Srimandir every day. He would worship Jagannath on the ratna vedi and then return without spending a few moments visiting Laxmi.Laxmi got mad at Balarama and asked Balarama to explain.Balarama typical to his teasing attitude for Laxmi replied “Oh my temperamentally squint eyed mother, I see you standing next to my prabhu on the ratna Bedi.This is quite adequate and I do not see any reason why I must visit you in your temple”. This exchange of words made Laxmi quite mad and she reiterated that the temple is called “Srimandir” and the kshetra is called “Sri Kshetra” after her name as her name is “Shree” and Balarama had the audacity to challenge her.She cursed Balarama to spend his last days away from Sri Kshetra and Srimandir.

After a few days, Balarama had a fight with King Prataprudra Deva, and the king kicked him out of Puri and banished him to a place close to Brahmagiri (20 miles from Puri on the road to Chilika).

Days passed by and the time came when Balarama realized that his end was near. He decided to walk the 20 odd miles to die after visiting Jagannath on the ratna vedi. Alas, the curse of Mother Laxmi was in place. Close to the periphery of Puri, Balarama felt dizzy and sat under a big banyan tree. Lord Jagannath realized that Balarama could not walk the rest of the distance and he must visit Balarama.

Of course, Laxmi was too keen to accompany Him as she wanted to remind Balarama the significance of the practice of worshiping her in a Vishnu temple.

When Lord came with mother, Balarama woke up and offered his namaskar. Mother Laxmi reminded Balarama of her curse that Balarama was finally dying without visiting Srimandir on the Sri Kshetra. Listening this, Balarama smiled a bit, and said “Oh my temperamentally squint eyed mother, don’t you know where ever you stand next to my prabhu that place becomes Srimandir and that surrounding becomes Sri Kshetra”. After saying this he fell down and died.

Bhakta Kabi Madhusudan Rao has said it nicely in his bhajan that goes
“…ei mane bije toro nije NArAyaNa, tu kiyAn khojuchu buli chaudige mana…”

In my understanding of minimalist approach, the temple is in your heart
and the worship is in your feelings.

Scenario #2: What should we offer Him in puja?

Story #3: Vishnupriya’s Letter

Pandas from Puri visit all over India and act as a conduit between Lord Jagannath and the people who cannot visit Puri and see Jagannath on the ratna vedi. The pandas take the prasad and pass them to the people who cannot visit and bring their offerings back to Jagannath. This practice is still in place.

A few hundred years back, one of the pandas made a trip to Rajputana (present day Rajasthan). The king of a small state in Rajputana was a vishnu bhakta and the panda decided to spend the rainy season in the palace.

The king had a daughter whose name was Vishnupriya and right to her name she used to worship Vishnu all the time. Since our panda was from a Vishnu temple, Vishnupriya took an extra interest in our panda and made sure that he was taken care of and fed properly. Our panda started dreaming all the things he would be buying in his village as he was absolutely confident that Vishnupriya would give him a tidy sum as offerings for Jagannath which would be passed on to our panda as Jagannath's representative.

Finally the day came and our panda started the journey back. Vishnupriya made sure that the panda was leaving with enough food. She also gave him 10 gold coins as a respect. Of course our panda was more interested in what Vishnupriya would be sending for Jagannath. To his surprise, all Vishnupriya had for Jagannath was a letter on a bhuja patra. [In Orissa and south India, palm leaves were used for writing while in North India,bhuja leaves were used for the same purpose.]

Of course our panda was infuriated when she asked him to deliver the letter to Jagannath. With no gold coins, no jewelry, and no costly garments,our panda saw his dream falling apart before his own eyes. He did not want to create a scene as that would put him in trouble with the king. He decided to throw the letter in to a heap of garbage (gobora kunda) behind his house as soon as he reaches the village. True to his determination, he threw Vishnupriya’s letter in to the garbage dump as soon as he reached his village.

Our panda had a nice dinner and went to bed still feeling mad at Vishnupriya. In the middle of the night he saw Jagannath in his dream. In his dream, Jagannath expressed his deep displeasure as His devotee had sent a gift for Him, and the panda had thrown the gift away. Jagannath asked the panda to pick the letter from the garbage dump, take it to the village jeweler with the 10 gold coins, and cast the letter on gold. He also asked the panda to deliver the letter cast on gold to Him at the earliest opportunity as He must receive the gift sent by His devotee.

Our panda was scared and yet true to his Oriya identity asked why Jagannath was so concerned about a mere letter when thousands of devotees visit him every day and one letter should not make any difference.

Lord asked him to look up and our panda saw the letter from Vishnupriya
was written in the dark sky in golden letters. This was all Vishnupriya
had sent for Jagannath:

“RatnAkara Staba Griham GrihiNi cha PadmA
Deyam kimapi bhavate PurushottamAya
Avira bAma nayanA hrita mAnasAya
Duttam mano Yadupate tadidam grihANa”

[The abode of jewels is Your home and Mother Laxmi is Your wife Please tell me what I have that You do not have that I must offer You In the past, You have stolen the minds of the Gopis Oh, the Lord of the Yadus, all I have is my mind that I am offering to You and please accept it.]

In my understanding of minimalist approach, the temple is in your heart, the worship is in your feelings, and the offering is your submission before Him. That is where the abode of Lord Jagannath.

Thanks for reading.

_____________________________________

Marraige choices

2007-03-15T16:53:00.000+05:30

WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE A North Indian GIRL as WIFE

1. At the time of marriage, a north Indian girl has more boyfriends than
her age.

2. Before marriage, she looks almost like a bollywood heroine and after
marriage you have to go around her twice to completely hug her.

3. By the time she professes her undevoted love to you, you are bankrupt
because of the n umber of times you had to take her out to movie theatres and restaurants. And you wait longingly for her dowry.

4. The only dishes she can think of to cook is paneer but ter masala,
aloo sabji, aloo gobi sabji, aloo matar, aloo paneer, that after eating
all those paneer and aloos you are either in the bed with chronic
cholestrol or chronic gas disorder.

5. The only growth that you see later in your career is the rise in your
monthly phone bill.

6. You are blinded by her love that you think that she is a blonde. Only
later do you come to know that it is because of the mehandhi that she
applies to cover her gray hair.

7. When you come home from office she is very busy watching "Kyonki saas
bhi kabi bahu thi" that you either end up eating outside or cooking yourself.

8. You are a very "ESpecial" person to her.

9. She always thought that Madras is a state and covers the whole of
south india until she met you.

10. When she says she is going to "work out" she means she is going to
"! walk out"

11. She has greater number of relatives than the number of people you
have in your home town.

12. The only two sentences in English that she knows are "Thank you" and
"How are you"

13. She thinks Govinda can dance better than Michael Jackson.

WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE A South Indian GIRL as WIFE

1.Her mother looks down at you because you didn't study in IIT or Madras
/ Anna University .

2. Her father starts or ends every conversation with " ... I say..."

3. She shudders if you use four letter words.

4. She has long hair, neatly oiled and braided (The Dubai based Oil Well
Company will negotiate with her on a 25 year contract to extract
coconutoil from her hair.)

5. She uses the word 'Super' as her only superlative.

6. Her name is another name for a Goddess or a flower.

7. Her first name is longer than your first name, middle name and
surname combined (unless you are from Andhra)

8. When she mixes milk/curd and rice you are never sure whether it is
for the Dog or for herself.

9. For weddings, she sports a mini jasmine garden on her head and wears
silk saris in the Madras heat without looking too uncomfortable

while you are melting in your singlet.

10. She thinks Kamalahazan is the sexiest man alive.

11. Her favourite cricketer is Krishnamachari Srikkanth.

12. Her favourite food is dosa though she has tried North Indian snacks
like Chats (pronounced like the slang for 'conversation' )

13. She bursts into songs with her cousins in every movie.

14. She bores you by telling you which raaga each song you hear is based
on.

15. You have to give her jewellery, though she has alread y got plenty
of it ..

16. Her Mangal Sutra weighs more than the championship belts worn by WWF
wrestlers.

17. She is more educated than you.

18. Her father thinks she is much smarter than you..

Interesting incident

2007-03-15T13:16:00.000+05:30

Today, I had a a funny conversation with a lady. she called me on my mobile. I will call her 'Nice voice'.

Nice Voice: Hi, I'm calling from IBM Pune.

Me:Yes, How are you doing?
Nice Voice: I'm fine, thank you.

Me: What can I do for you?
Nice Voice: Congratulations, You've been selected for an Interview.

Me: What is the expected compensation ?
Nice Voice: ...........(Some figure)......... [3 lakhs more than my current package.]

Me: I'm sorry, But I work in IBM bangalore.
Nice Voice: Oh, sorry........

Me: Have a good day. :))

Rocking marriage proposals :)

2007-03-15T12:43:00.000+05:30

These are actual ads on a matrimony site. Grammar and spell errors have no place in a profile description as everything is straight from the heart! Disclaimer : We are not responsible if you forget your basic grammar after reading this mail... It's a bit long but hilarious

*Hello To Viewvers My Name is Somesha, I am single i dont have Famale, If any one whant to marrie to me u can visite to my home. I am not a good education but i working all field in bangalroe.. if u like me u welcome to my heart... when ever u whant to meet pls viset my resident or send u letter.. Thanks yours Regards Somesha

*I want very simple girl. from brahmin educated family from orissa state he is also know about RAMAYAN, GEETA BHAGABATA, and other homework

(Homework?)

Reference: http://mangalorean.com/entertainment/poems.php?jokeid=1738&enttype=jokedetail

*Wants a woman who knows me better and can adjust with me forever. She may never create any difficulties in my life or her life by which the entire life can run smoothly. thank you

(The principle of running life smoothly was never so easy!)

*She should be good looking and should have a service. She Shoulsd have one brother and one sister. She should be educated.

(ain't it unique !! 1 brother 1 sister criteria !)

*I am simple boy.I have lot of problemin my life because ofmyl ucknow i amlooking onegirlshe caremeandloveme lot lot lot

*My wife should be as 'Parwati' as in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and as Tulsi as in KSBKBT......

(Ok I haven't seen these soaps but I am sure he must be demanding too much, ain't he?)

*I want a girl with no drinks if she wants she can wear jeans in house but while steping out of house she should give recpect to our cast

(by not wearing her jeans? ahem...)

*HYE I AM A GOOD LOKING GUY, WHO HAS THE CAPABILITY TO MAKE ANY BODY TOLOUGH.I BELIEVE IN GOD AND ACCORDING TO ME FRIENDS ARE THE REAL MESSENGER OF GOD. THE 3 THINGS I AM LOOKING FROM A GIRL ,THEY ARE 1.THEY MUST BELIEVE IN GOD.2. THEY HAVE TO LIKE MY PROFFESION AND THEY SHOULD NOT GET BORED WITH ME WHEN I WILL TRY TO MAKE THEM LOUGH.

(all of us are loughing)

*Whatever she may be but she should feel that she is going to be someone bride and she must think of the future life if she is toolike this she would bde called the lady of the lamp

(I am clueless, I feel so lost. Can anyone tell me what this guy wants)

*Iam pradip my family histoy my two brother two sister and fater&mother
sister complity marred

(somebody please explain in comments section how to get married 'completely'?)

*my name is farhan and i am unmarried. pleaes you marrige me pleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes

(height of desperation!)

*my colour is black,but my heart is white i like social service

(Zebra..???)

Nandigram Vs Kalinganagar

2007-03-15T11:34:00.000+05:30

It has been interesting to observe the reaction of the press with regard to Nandigram incident which happenned yesterday as opposed to kalinganagar. Since, the last year , media across various organizations have been projecting the unfortunate firing in Kalinganagar as a massacre of genocidal proportions.

But Yesterday, in Nandigram, there was a forced the end-result of the firing is that 11 people have been shot dead. Surpisingly on browsing the Internet, I find the reaction the same incident exceedingly muted.

Let us look at some facts.
Last year, on January 2nd, the Tata people in Kalinganagar tried to go ahead with the acquisition. There was police there to ensure security. Some opposition happenned and then on of the constables was lynched. In return the police opened fired at the tribals. 12 people died in which there were some women also.

The next incident was that these dead bodies were taken for post-mortem and the bodies were returned with their hands cut. This was a major faux pas in part of the administration which should've handled the issue more sensitively. This particular incident led to hijacking of the original issue(unprovoked lynching of the constable) by the vested interests(read anti-industrilization brigade).

Since, then until March 9th this year, there has been a blockade in that area. Industrial development has gne down.

The funny part in this story is that panchayat elections happenned this year in the same areas. The BJD goverment won a majority in the polls.

This implies that people actually oppose the agiatation there. Somehow most of the rallies there seem to consist of people who are outside the state, not localites who have genuine grievances.

Now, in nandigram, yesterday 11 people were shot dead. I'm not aware of any similar provocation like the kalinganagar one. Still, media has been patronising on this matter. This begs to ask the question, is the Media really neutral ?

In the above incidents one major thing is being lost. The state of orissa which desperately needs industrialiazation to obtain its true potential.

Starting today

2007-03-15T11:29:00.000+05:30

Hi,
Thought I will find a forum to put my voice into it. This blog will focus on any topic which concerns me on a daily basis. I will try to be regular about my thoughts. Let us see how it goes :)