Prime Minister's landmark speech at CII’s Annual Session
http://www.mbauniverse.com/innerPage.php?id=ne&pageId=326
A very impressive speech indeed, outlining some of the current problems in our economy and giving a ten-point charter for the corporate world to maintain a balanced economy. Some of the points being
- healthy respect for workers and invesetment in their welfare by companies
- corporate responsibility towards society should be more substantial
- employment to underpreviledged and backward classes
- invest in r&d, innovation, environment friendly methods
- promote socially responsible media
- resist excessive remuneration
- operation of cartels to keep prices high must end
Well, its is a deadlock, government cannot (or does not?) effectively control rising prices; corporate workers cannot afford a decent lifestyle and rising prices with lower pay checks; companies cannot afford to lose their employees and so offer higher pay; spending by the high-paid individuals encourage the cartels to keep the prices high; government cannot (or does not?) effectively control rising prices. The cycle continues.
How much does the government try to regulate the operation of cartels or works effectively towards controlling rising prices? We see almost all our Prime Ministers and Presidents talking about vision and n-point programmes which seem very good but hardly see anything being implemented. I would think that being a Prime Minister, the person should be able to drive almost anything which is in the interests of the nation ofcourse to its implementation. Agreed that running a nation is a big responsibility but there is no point in completing 5 years term in power and having laid foundation stones for 100 projects without actually completing any. Instead, ensure completion of 10 projects to full or atleast to feasbile milestones and they can still lay the foundation stones for remaining 90, that doesnt take much time!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
title Post!
An extremely tiring day and as a matter of fact, I felt like I worked the whole day non-stop (except for lunch and coffee breaks) from 9:30A to 5:30P. To be honest, this is not something very common with me, especially at times when I am so over-confident that everything goes on as planned. Well, the effect of red pill seems to have died; "what red pill?", "which red pill?", "red pill?", "when did i take red pill?", I could hear the questions like a continuous never ending echo in my mind. Suddenly one of the neurons in an idle state is immediately picked up by a blue pill thought - "Morpheus and Neo could come in and out of TV because it is TV! WAKE UP!!". True, every person in this world is given a blue pill immediately after birth and the effects are permanent; that explains it.
The thought of failure is scary in any situation, it may be at work or home when you are trying to prove some point or disprove other's point or any other instance for that matter. I hardly ever argued before on anything, always preferred to be neutral in any argument. A sincere study (thats what I think) of GMAT does bring out those characteristics and asks you to take one side or the other in an argument. There will be neutral people who can referee the arguments and that referees would surely be non-GMAT people.
There is a goal, there is a path to reach the goal and if I miss the goal, I fall down; fall down to another playing field with similar goal. Yeah the blue pill is more than what I think, its not always just ignorance, its planning for ignorance to be less ignorant. The challenges of GMAT seem immense because I am weak in verbal but nothing thats unconquerable. I had to take a hot shower and write this blog to realize this. Well, does that happen in a Matrix? I guess not! No one ever takes bath in Matrix, so I am actually in the so called real world.
beep...beep...beep...beep... [loud distorted sound] ...beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppp...
The effects of red pill seems to have gone and now I am back to what seems to be real world. Yahooooooooooooooo!!!
It's frustrating!
The thought of failure is scary in any situation, it may be at work or home when you are trying to prove some point or disprove other's point or any other instance for that matter. I hardly ever argued before on anything, always preferred to be neutral in any argument. A sincere study (thats what I think) of GMAT does bring out those characteristics and asks you to take one side or the other in an argument. There will be neutral people who can referee the arguments and that referees would surely be non-GMAT people.
There is a goal, there is a path to reach the goal and if I miss the goal, I fall down; fall down to another playing field with similar goal. Yeah the blue pill is more than what I think, its not always just ignorance, its planning for ignorance to be less ignorant. The challenges of GMAT seem immense because I am weak in verbal but nothing thats unconquerable. I had to take a hot shower and write this blog to realize this. Well, does that happen in a Matrix? I guess not! No one ever takes bath in Matrix, so I am actually in the so called real world.
beep...beep...beep...beep... [loud distorted sound] ...beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppp...
The effects of red pill seems to have gone and now I am back to what seems to be real world. Yahooooooooooooooo!!!
It's frustrating!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Federer ends Nadal's win streak on clay
Yeah! It happened! Federer won Hamburg Open beating Nadal... Perfect result.
That also ended Nadal's 81 match winning streak on Clay.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Sports/836732.html
Way to go Federer...
That also ended Nadal's 81 match winning streak on Clay.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Sports/836732.html
Way to go Federer...
Monday, May 21, 2007
Moral Police!
I guess this is one of the topics thats being in existance for quite some time now and will continue to be there for SOME more time (hoping it to be just some!). Whenever some movie is made which talks about truth of our past, there are protests to ban the movie from releasing. An art student is beat up by some politicos and sent to prison for expressing his creativity. What about the law that gives freedom of expression?
When the movie Hare Ram Hare Krishna released in 1971 featuring Dum Maro Dum, were there protests from moral police for dragging rama and krishna? Haven't heard of any. May be people dint know of such a thing and moreover old times is always perfect! Some time back in bangalore, I was stopped by an old person while I was going to music instrument store with a guitar on my back. "What has happened to our culture" he started, I gave him a "don't eat my head" look and went on. I should have stopped and questioned him on his credibility in classical music but it was over, he was gone. These self appointed moral police are always there to comment on others in the name of culture but how much culture do they really follow? Above all what is Indian culture and who defined or defines it? I am sure this is a question that none of the so called moral police can answer.
What keeps moral police motivated? Do they really care about their version of Indian culture and trying to impose on others or is it that these are publicity stunts by political parties? Well, its true that political parties stand to gain a lot by supporting such activities but at the cost of fundamental rights of the victim.
However, I am not totally against such things, its just that I don't approve of their methods. May be there are better ways to do it than barge into an art exhibition with goons because an art student had a painting which offended them or destroy a theatre because they showed a movie which they din't approve of. Its about time that politicos and police act against such lawless acts and encourage a more civilized society. Also about time that we raise our voice against such acts; move towards a free society where freedom means what it sounds!
When the movie Hare Ram Hare Krishna released in 1971 featuring Dum Maro Dum, were there protests from moral police for dragging rama and krishna? Haven't heard of any. May be people dint know of such a thing and moreover old times is always perfect! Some time back in bangalore, I was stopped by an old person while I was going to music instrument store with a guitar on my back. "What has happened to our culture" he started, I gave him a "don't eat my head" look and went on. I should have stopped and questioned him on his credibility in classical music but it was over, he was gone. These self appointed moral police are always there to comment on others in the name of culture but how much culture do they really follow? Above all what is Indian culture and who defined or defines it? I am sure this is a question that none of the so called moral police can answer.
What keeps moral police motivated? Do they really care about their version of Indian culture and trying to impose on others or is it that these are publicity stunts by political parties? Well, its true that political parties stand to gain a lot by supporting such activities but at the cost of fundamental rights of the victim.
However, I am not totally against such things, its just that I don't approve of their methods. May be there are better ways to do it than barge into an art exhibition with goons because an art student had a painting which offended them or destroy a theatre because they showed a movie which they din't approve of. Its about time that politicos and police act against such lawless acts and encourage a more civilized society. Also about time that we raise our voice against such acts; move towards a free society where freedom means what it sounds!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Federer goes coach-less!
Roger Federer recently announced his decision to part ways with Tony Roche, his part time coach for 2 1/2 years. It seems he also said that he is planning to go without a coach for some time. I am not an expert in this as my experience in sports compitetions is limited, but looking at the trends, it surely seems a bad idea for world No. 1 to be without a coach. As for Federer, he knows in and out of tennis and surely knows how to stay on top for a continued period of time, but thinking that mentoring from a Coach will be a distraction to his thoughts and methods doesn't seem to make a good enough reason.
On the other hand, this is not the first time Federer is playing without a coach. He has won slams without a coach and surely is capable of doing it again. The difference in points for ATP rankings between Federer and No. 2 Nadal speaks for the game that he has. He is arguably the best tennis player in the history of tennis. Its really amazing if you see the way he changed his game when he was raising up to become No. 1. Anyone who has seen just seen Federer for past 3 years or so will never believe that he was a very angry and expressive player who would often throw his raquet in frustration, but now its just the opponents who do that as many of the times they have no idea what's happening on the court! (a bit of exaggeration! thats fine!)
So far this year, except for the Australian Open, its been the worst for him. For the first time since he became No. 1, Federer has lost 4 straight tournaments leading to French Open. If we are looking at similar statistics for other players, it doesn't seem surprising but with Federer, it does. The French Open has eluded him from past many years. That is the only slam required for Federer to complete his Grand Slam collection. With French Open scheduled to start in 2 weeks (May 27), Federer in his worst form in years and also having fired his coach, winning the slam is a difficult task to accomplish. Add to this, Nadal, the king of clay has been playing extremely well and is winning tournaments in the run up to the French Open.
I really hope the no coach plan works out well for Federer and he goes on to win French Open! GO FEDERER!!!!!
------------------------------------------
On the other hand, this is not the first time Federer is playing without a coach. He has won slams without a coach and surely is capable of doing it again. The difference in points for ATP rankings between Federer and No. 2 Nadal speaks for the game that he has. He is arguably the best tennis player in the history of tennis. Its really amazing if you see the way he changed his game when he was raising up to become No. 1. Anyone who has seen just seen Federer for past 3 years or so will never believe that he was a very angry and expressive player who would often throw his raquet in frustration, but now its just the opponents who do that as many of the times they have no idea what's happening on the court! (a bit of exaggeration! thats fine!)
So far this year, except for the Australian Open, its been the worst for him. For the first time since he became No. 1, Federer has lost 4 straight tournaments leading to French Open. If we are looking at similar statistics for other players, it doesn't seem surprising but with Federer, it does. The French Open has eluded him from past many years. That is the only slam required for Federer to complete his Grand Slam collection. With French Open scheduled to start in 2 weeks (May 27), Federer in his worst form in years and also having fired his coach, winning the slam is a difficult task to accomplish. Add to this, Nadal, the king of clay has been playing extremely well and is winning tournaments in the run up to the French Open.
I really hope the no coach plan works out well for Federer and he goes on to win French Open! GO FEDERER!!!!!
------------------------------------------
Link to Federer-Roche split article
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aomfoaLd.Rk8&refer=australia
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps
Monday, May 14, 2007
Products are not made to last
People often complain that products are not made to last and they waste both natural and human resources. The usage of inferior raw materials for such products drive the costs down for consumer but is it really satisfying for a customer on a long run?
A product industry is mainly driven by customer's willingness to pay for a product. A cheap TV, I bought at walmart cost me one third the cost of a good quality TV. After an year, the picture went weak and quality showed significant deterioration. On the other hand, a good quality TV would easily come for more than 3 years without any significat degradation in quality. The cheap TV surely doesn't seem a good option, and with shorter life span, it is generating a lot more trash which is harmful to environment than it would if I were to go for a product that would last longer.
Lets take an example of automobile industry in US. The fastest growing automobile company in US, Toyota markets Carolla on its quality and dependability. The employees of Toyota surely take pride in manufacturing this product. Higher morale drives the company towards better products and innovation. On the contrary, the emplyees of a company making cheap cars show a great deal of despair due to increased customer resentment and complaints for their product. This is a good example of wasted human resource in companies making cheap cars.
That said, with a continuously increasing consumer market, we should aim at maintaining a good eco balance by reducing wastes either natural or human, and invest money in products that have better quality and last longer.
*********************************************************************************************************************************
*********************************************************************************************************************************
People often complain that products are not made to last. They feel that making products that wear out fairly quickly wastes both natural and human resources. However, this approach is best for everyone such manufacturing practices keep costs down for the consumer and stimulate demand
*********************************************************************************************************************************
A product industry is mainly driven by customer's willingness to pay for a product. A cheap TV, I bought at walmart cost me one third the cost of a good quality TV. After an year, the picture went weak and quality showed significant deterioration. On the other hand, a good quality TV would easily come for more than 3 years without any significat degradation in quality. The cheap TV surely doesn't seem a good option, and with shorter life span, it is generating a lot more trash which is harmful to environment than it would if I were to go for a product that would last longer.
Lets take an example of automobile industry in US. The fastest growing automobile company in US, Toyota markets Carolla on its quality and dependability. The employees of Toyota surely take pride in manufacturing this product. Higher morale drives the company towards better products and innovation. On the contrary, the emplyees of a company making cheap cars show a great deal of despair due to increased customer resentment and complaints for their product. This is a good example of wasted human resource in companies making cheap cars.
That said, with a continuously increasing consumer market, we should aim at maintaining a good eco balance by reducing wastes either natural or human, and invest money in products that have better quality and last longer.
*********************************************************************************************************************************
*********************************************************************************************************************************
People often complain that products are not made to last. They feel that making products that wear out fairly quickly wastes both natural and human resources. However, this approach is best for everyone such manufacturing practices keep costs down for the consumer and stimulate demand
*********************************************************************************************************************************
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