In the last two decades, few new economy companies, including Infosys and Wipro, started investing in social developments; however, the real philanthropy is too premature on Indian soil. The reasons: first, most of the Indian entrepreneurs believe in the dynastic transfer of wealth from one generation to the next, which becomes a stumbling block for dispersing huge amount of wealth for public good or philanthropy, and the other one being the upsurging corrupt practices in almost all NGOs and similar charitable organizations those claim to be the crusaders of all socio-economic evils in our society, compel corporates to take enough precautions for not throwing their hard-earned money to some unreliable group of people, and perhaps, that is the most rational reason as to why many companies in India rather take pain in instituting their own trusts or engage some people in corporate social responsibility (CSR) to manage the philanthropic actions. The growing corruptions in social organizations, including misappropriations of funds and a brutal unaccountability, have prompted many industrialists to continue their philanthropic works either though a trust with management control or by engaging themselves with very selective NGOs.
The genesis of NGOs in India dates back to the 1860s when societies like Prarthana Samaj (1864), Satya Sodhan Samaj (1873), Arya Samaj (1875), and National Council for Women in India (1875) got instituted to fight against the social evils propagated by the then feudal patriarchs. With the growing trends of social revolution, the Societies Registration Acts (SRA) was enacted in 1860. Many Christian missionaries continued their efforts to reduce poverty, social bias, and constructed infrastructures such as roads, community buildings, hospitals, and schools. Mahatma Gandhi also stressed on the growth of these social, non-profit organizations and worked seriously on this area by engaging some industrialists like Birlas to contribute some amount of their profits for social cause. Though international NGOs entered India in 1960s and 1970s, the real surge in Indian NGOs took place in 1980s in areas such as social empowerment, civil liberty, education, health, environment, and livelihood. And the participation of large corporates began in the early 1990s.
In all these years India has more than 1.5 million NGOs with over 19 million people work as volunteers or paid workers. Despite this huge organic growth over the years, Indian NGOs haven't lived up to the expectations of the real beneficiaries of this program – the less-privileged people in our society. The most sordid part of this program is that there is no accountability of funds generated by these organizations. And even the worst part is many NGOs act as pressure groups and work for political parties, business organizations, and foreign agencies to generate actionable opinions for the funding organizations. The growing social development programs as projected by NGOs talk an altogether different story in India, a story replete with betrayals, false claims, sufferings, and corruptions. That's why the philanthropy as a popular social measure hasn't appealed to many entrepreneurs in India to act like their foreign counterparts such as Gates and Buffets. And especially in India, human greed, which of course regenerates systemic corruptions, has been the single most contributing factor to the degeneration of a globally acknowledged program, which otherwise could have been a savior of the socioeconomically backward people.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
The evils of popular perceptions
Popular perceptions are a major evil in a progressive society. The recent unfolding of corruptions in all walks of life has betrayed the trusts of people hinged on the actions of most powerful and prominent personalities in public domain. Let's examine the merits of confronting the popular perceptions. Two events, although the similarity of problems is bit different in each case, that have rocked India recently embroil the public faith, which only accentuated by media through popular belief, rather not evolved by the rationality of substantial arguments. The first case is being the rise and rise of Rajat Gupta in corporate world and eventual fall by an allegedly normal human attribute that we often call greed. The second one is the cloud-clasping integrity of Manmohan Singh haunted by the megalomaniac passion for power even through unscrupulous means like horse tradings in the parliament. Although both cases are different to judge, the common parameters that have generated humongous confusion in public mind are the popular perceptions.
Now, analyze the case of Rajat Gupta, a prominent figure in the corporate world. His alleged involvement in the insider tradings, as levied by USSEC, and passing critical information to Rajaratnam has now captured the attentions of middle class Indians across the globe. In India, Rajat Gupta is like a god figure for any aspirant of management education. His success trajectory is so gargantuan that any corporate leader can hardly touch or emulate his management contributions in a lifetime. His relentless efforts in making India proud in global business and political forums are unthinkable. His involvement in establishing global institutions such as ISB, WEF, PHFI, and many others, spells his leadership charisma. During pre-liberalization era, when racial apartheid in American corporate domain was a subject of extensive scrutiny, he could rise from a consultant to the top boss at McKinsey, breaking the popular contemporary trend. But after such an illustrious journey, if he is convicted of a financial crime like passing crucial information for insider trading, it's not only his credibility at great risk but also his popularity as prominent corporate leader has triggered a reverse gear. I wish he should prove him innocent in the court of law, but at the same time it's a cautionary remark for those emotional Indians who still believe that their global corporate idol can't be corrupt or erroneous is not at all rational.
Secondly, the WikiLeaks overwhelming exposure on Indian political sins during a political mandate for passing the nuclear bill reveals the darkest side of democracy. The most concerning factor is that a clean personality like Dr. Manmohan Singh is also entangled into the corruption whirlpool. As Prime Minister, his contributions to the Indian economic development is paramount. His professional journey from a professor in Economics to the Governor of RBI to the Finance Minister, and finally the Prime Minister of India in two consecutive terms, is legendary. No middle class person can dare to traverse on a mission with so much conviction, precision, and perfection that Dr. Singh has done in his life. Especially, his personal integrity as a public servant has been exemplary and indisputable. However, irrespective of all his glories, the recent unfolding of corruptions in his cabinet and essentially the vote-for-cash episode for passing the nuclear bill in his previous term trigger some uncomfortable questions against his integrity and team practices. Moreover, to dissuade the Opposition in the Parliament from the charges, he has exposed his irrational side by claiming that a popular mandate in the Parliament is an enough evidence of his party's innocence. Mr. Prime Minister, perhaps, you have forgotten a fundamental premise on integrity, which is always a subject to proof, and I hope this is the high time for you to prove your innocence. No popular perception has any logical place in a rational progressive society.
Now, analyze the case of Rajat Gupta, a prominent figure in the corporate world. His alleged involvement in the insider tradings, as levied by USSEC, and passing critical information to Rajaratnam has now captured the attentions of middle class Indians across the globe. In India, Rajat Gupta is like a god figure for any aspirant of management education. His success trajectory is so gargantuan that any corporate leader can hardly touch or emulate his management contributions in a lifetime. His relentless efforts in making India proud in global business and political forums are unthinkable. His involvement in establishing global institutions such as ISB, WEF, PHFI, and many others, spells his leadership charisma. During pre-liberalization era, when racial apartheid in American corporate domain was a subject of extensive scrutiny, he could rise from a consultant to the top boss at McKinsey, breaking the popular contemporary trend. But after such an illustrious journey, if he is convicted of a financial crime like passing crucial information for insider trading, it's not only his credibility at great risk but also his popularity as prominent corporate leader has triggered a reverse gear. I wish he should prove him innocent in the court of law, but at the same time it's a cautionary remark for those emotional Indians who still believe that their global corporate idol can't be corrupt or erroneous is not at all rational.
Secondly, the WikiLeaks overwhelming exposure on Indian political sins during a political mandate for passing the nuclear bill reveals the darkest side of democracy. The most concerning factor is that a clean personality like Dr. Manmohan Singh is also entangled into the corruption whirlpool. As Prime Minister, his contributions to the Indian economic development is paramount. His professional journey from a professor in Economics to the Governor of RBI to the Finance Minister, and finally the Prime Minister of India in two consecutive terms, is legendary. No middle class person can dare to traverse on a mission with so much conviction, precision, and perfection that Dr. Singh has done in his life. Especially, his personal integrity as a public servant has been exemplary and indisputable. However, irrespective of all his glories, the recent unfolding of corruptions in his cabinet and essentially the vote-for-cash episode for passing the nuclear bill in his previous term trigger some uncomfortable questions against his integrity and team practices. Moreover, to dissuade the Opposition in the Parliament from the charges, he has exposed his irrational side by claiming that a popular mandate in the Parliament is an enough evidence of his party's innocence. Mr. Prime Minister, perhaps, you have forgotten a fundamental premise on integrity, which is always a subject to proof, and I hope this is the high time for you to prove your innocence. No popular perception has any logical place in a rational progressive society.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Obama's misadventure
The Middle East is literally burning. The upsurging civil war in Libya against the defiant Col. Gaddafi, who has been in the power for over 40 years, has finally caught the attentions of western military coalition including the US, UK, and France, and this time again they give a much convincing reason for military actions – extreme humanitarian crisis – to engage them in a full range airstrikes across the coastal periphery of Tripoli, the capital of Libya. Though the coalition forces claim that their intention is not to bring in large scale human loss, the offensive attacks prove otherwise. There are reports of killings in Tripoli due to airstrikes. The mindless airstrikes even pose a more dangerous situation than an uprising civil war in Libya.
But the key question here is what strategic parameters did incite President Obama to jump into the action when the UK and France were leading the stage with UNSC's call for a NFZ on Libya? Is it a deliberate action to make one's mighty presence felt across the polarizing world when other super powers intervene, or a deeper understanding of the gravity of the situation that has not only inflicted Libya, but also other nations in Arab world? The intention is still unclear.
When the US is passing through a painful recession and still not recouped from the economic crisis, why did then Obama intervene in a Libyan civil war where he would not gain much, given the strategic interests of UK and France? It seems the US is also equally interested in the Libya's oil resources and to position its strategic military base out in the Middle East. Historically, the US has attempted to control the internal crises in the Muslim countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, or the recent incident in Libya, the single most priority other than a presumed world peace has been acquiring the energy resources. But in Libya's case, the US won't get much benefits as it expects due to other coalition forces those have already pinned their hopes, rather it would meaninglessly waste few billions on mindless airstrikes.
There is another angle to huge loss that Obama would procure from this military reaction. Perhaps, the President has forgotten his responsibility as a recipient of Nobel Peace Award, and this honour has a large stake in his intentions and actions that he would plan to execute for international forums. At least, in the recent scenario he has failed miserably to display his custodianship of an award that has primarily bestowed upon the personalities who truly not only believe in global peace, but also take immense measures to ensure that any kind of world conflict however complex can be resolved through continuous dialogues, not through military actions or blanket bans.
Especially, for Obama, it was a great opportunity to disengage him from the banal politics and work towards a better statesmanship in restoring internal peace in Libya and eventually transitioning the state from a highly conflicting civil war to a lasting democratic nation, as he always vouches for democracy in many of his international speeches. Even doing that he could have won the trust of the Libyans and also he could have nurtured his long term strategic dreams.
But the key question here is what strategic parameters did incite President Obama to jump into the action when the UK and France were leading the stage with UNSC's call for a NFZ on Libya? Is it a deliberate action to make one's mighty presence felt across the polarizing world when other super powers intervene, or a deeper understanding of the gravity of the situation that has not only inflicted Libya, but also other nations in Arab world? The intention is still unclear.
When the US is passing through a painful recession and still not recouped from the economic crisis, why did then Obama intervene in a Libyan civil war where he would not gain much, given the strategic interests of UK and France? It seems the US is also equally interested in the Libya's oil resources and to position its strategic military base out in the Middle East. Historically, the US has attempted to control the internal crises in the Muslim countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, or the recent incident in Libya, the single most priority other than a presumed world peace has been acquiring the energy resources. But in Libya's case, the US won't get much benefits as it expects due to other coalition forces those have already pinned their hopes, rather it would meaninglessly waste few billions on mindless airstrikes.
There is another angle to huge loss that Obama would procure from this military reaction. Perhaps, the President has forgotten his responsibility as a recipient of Nobel Peace Award, and this honour has a large stake in his intentions and actions that he would plan to execute for international forums. At least, in the recent scenario he has failed miserably to display his custodianship of an award that has primarily bestowed upon the personalities who truly not only believe in global peace, but also take immense measures to ensure that any kind of world conflict however complex can be resolved through continuous dialogues, not through military actions or blanket bans.
Especially, for Obama, it was a great opportunity to disengage him from the banal politics and work towards a better statesmanship in restoring internal peace in Libya and eventually transitioning the state from a highly conflicting civil war to a lasting democratic nation, as he always vouches for democracy in many of his international speeches. Even doing that he could have won the trust of the Libyans and also he could have nurtured his long term strategic dreams.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Learning from Japan's nuclear crisis
The recent devastation in Japan, caused by earthquake and tsunami, raises some pertinent questions about the disaster preparedness of countries across the globe. Though there many susceptible areas which need attention for immediate action for rehabilitation, the major one is the nuclear power plant safety because of its wide range impact on the environment. Being in an energy-hungry world, thanks to the rapid industrialization and urbanization that are catching up emerging economies, most developed and developing countries are opting for clean-energy technology such as nuclear power plants, without even considering the potential risks attached to them.
For records sake, the last 50 years in human progress have witnessed to the huge nuclear disasters that have emerged from critical accidents such as Chernobyl and Tokaimura; by natural calamities such as Fukushima and Three Mile Island; or by human errors such as Canadian Manhattan Project. It's now the time for the pro-nuclear communities to learn the lessons from Japan's nuclear crisis that attracted the huge criticisms from the environmental activists and ecologists across the globe. As most nuclear scientists claim that nuclear power is the most environment-friendly energy source, it's now a serious proposition for them to ensure how they can build a safety mechanism for plants to withstand the world's worst natural calamities, be it a magnitude-10 earthquake or a high-powered tsunami with epicenter as close to the location of the plant, or a man-made disaster like missile attack or dropping a nuclear bomb during war.
Let's look at the helplessness of Japan while fighting relentlessly to avoid the nuclear disaster due to power backup failure in the plant. This triggered a huge radioactive radiation upto 5 on a maximum severity scale of 7. The unscientific methods used there like pouring sea water from the top to cool the reactors display the extreme exigencies that a economically developed country even doesn't mind to follow not only to block the simmering situation, but also to ensure larger environment safety, which might trespass to bordering countries. So here arises a series of questions that Japan had never attempted to address before deploying these nuclear plants. First, the reactors used in Fukushima Daiichi were 40 years old and were Generation II types, which carry more risks than the Generation III and III+ reactors. Second, the power backup diesel generators were housed in an underground building close to the coast, so once a 7-metre tsunami flooded the room, the power generators failed to work. Third, there was no tertiary power supply to the reactors to trigger cooling process. And there are many other serious questions on the designing of the entire structure of the nuclear complex so close to a series of fault lines around Fukushima.
Now this is a strong message for the countries which are opting for large-scale deployment of nuclear plants for power generation. Before moving ahead, they shouldn't ignore the mistakes of Japan's recent nuclear crisis. Maybe, they can then avoid some potentials risks stored in for them along the life cycle of those plants.
For records sake, the last 50 years in human progress have witnessed to the huge nuclear disasters that have emerged from critical accidents such as Chernobyl and Tokaimura; by natural calamities such as Fukushima and Three Mile Island; or by human errors such as Canadian Manhattan Project. It's now the time for the pro-nuclear communities to learn the lessons from Japan's nuclear crisis that attracted the huge criticisms from the environmental activists and ecologists across the globe. As most nuclear scientists claim that nuclear power is the most environment-friendly energy source, it's now a serious proposition for them to ensure how they can build a safety mechanism for plants to withstand the world's worst natural calamities, be it a magnitude-10 earthquake or a high-powered tsunami with epicenter as close to the location of the plant, or a man-made disaster like missile attack or dropping a nuclear bomb during war.
Let's look at the helplessness of Japan while fighting relentlessly to avoid the nuclear disaster due to power backup failure in the plant. This triggered a huge radioactive radiation upto 5 on a maximum severity scale of 7. The unscientific methods used there like pouring sea water from the top to cool the reactors display the extreme exigencies that a economically developed country even doesn't mind to follow not only to block the simmering situation, but also to ensure larger environment safety, which might trespass to bordering countries. So here arises a series of questions that Japan had never attempted to address before deploying these nuclear plants. First, the reactors used in Fukushima Daiichi were 40 years old and were Generation II types, which carry more risks than the Generation III and III+ reactors. Second, the power backup diesel generators were housed in an underground building close to the coast, so once a 7-metre tsunami flooded the room, the power generators failed to work. Third, there was no tertiary power supply to the reactors to trigger cooling process. And there are many other serious questions on the designing of the entire structure of the nuclear complex so close to a series of fault lines around Fukushima.
Now this is a strong message for the countries which are opting for large-scale deployment of nuclear plants for power generation. Before moving ahead, they shouldn't ignore the mistakes of Japan's recent nuclear crisis. Maybe, they can then avoid some potentials risks stored in for them along the life cycle of those plants.
Supermoon: Nothing more than an exceptional celestial treat
The Internet, in more ways than one, has been a major culprit in engaging netizens to spread hypes and hooplas around the supermoon event that occurs on March 19. The previous supermoon occurred 18 years before, in 1983, but that time it was a non-issue or a lesser-known propaganda because Internet was not so prevalent then to vent the rumors, as it's doing today. Well, let's look at the merits of the reasoning behind the supermoon. According to astronomy, this supermoon is much like a normal celestial event that occurs once a month, and this time it's another little aberration. In a sense that the perigee this time is little closer to the earth, which would enable us to view this full moon 30% brighter and 14% larger. So, it could have been an awe-inspiring moment for the observers who took time to gaze supermoon as it moved across the celestial trajectory.
Certainly, to witness this celestial event, many people used their old telescopes and enjoyed this enthralling scene in a much better way. As the shoddy predictions of Richard Nolle go, nothing has happened as per his astrological miscalculations. But one thing that swept away the collective human intelligence was the Nolle's false propaganda around this supermoon through Internet. Many newspapers, magazines, and broadcast media organizations even couldn't suppress their temptation for this piece of rumor spun off by Internet, and of course, the source was Nolle's website. Mr Nolle became an overnight hot potato over the Internet communities those who consumed the concoction with great savor, without even bothering to trust this hoax.
Now that the event has already expired and the world is still unaffected by the dire consequences claimed by Nolle, it's a great learning for the netizens that Internet though has been a great driver in the online business, the medium as used by many unscrupulous people to spread vested propaganda still needs some amount of caution to trust a piece of news like this one. So the key is use your intelligence to keep away from these spams.
Certainly, to witness this celestial event, many people used their old telescopes and enjoyed this enthralling scene in a much better way. As the shoddy predictions of Richard Nolle go, nothing has happened as per his astrological miscalculations. But one thing that swept away the collective human intelligence was the Nolle's false propaganda around this supermoon through Internet. Many newspapers, magazines, and broadcast media organizations even couldn't suppress their temptation for this piece of rumor spun off by Internet, and of course, the source was Nolle's website. Mr Nolle became an overnight hot potato over the Internet communities those who consumed the concoction with great savor, without even bothering to trust this hoax.
Now that the event has already expired and the world is still unaffected by the dire consequences claimed by Nolle, it's a great learning for the netizens that Internet though has been a great driver in the online business, the medium as used by many unscrupulous people to spread vested propaganda still needs some amount of caution to trust a piece of news like this one. So the key is use your intelligence to keep away from these spams.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The spirit of Japan
Almost battered by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, followed by a devastating tsunami, and finally an upsurging nuclear crisis, Japan still shows a brilliant sign of resilience while fighting back the imminent nuclear meltdown in the Daiichi nuclear plants at Sendai. The way Japan is managing the post-tsunami nuclear crisis to save the country and neighborhoods from a Chernobyl like situation is something unprecedented and remarkable. Perhaps, no nation can be so resolute to handle a crisis of this measure at a time when human toll has crossed over ten thousands, some cities entirely wiped out from the land, transportation maimed, and the infrastructures including the utility services have literally paralyzed. This speaks a volume about the spirit of a nation that has frequently faced the fury of nature in the past many centuries, but retrieved from the catastrophe with intrepidity. That truly explains the enterprising nature of a nation, which irrespective of crisis, however large, keeps bouncing back to the track in a heroic fashion. And the way things are shaping up in Japan's post earthquake period, conspicuously ensures that Japan will soon back to normalcy and send a clear message to this world that nothing is too big a danger for the enterprising people. That will be a great lesson for the entire world to emulate.
Friday, March 18, 2011
The nexus is getting deeper and dirtier
The most unfortunate part of a democracy is that the law makers often cross the fence, even without measuring the consequences of their misadventures, partly because they think bending the law of the land is just another stratagem that they can execute in the wink of an eye. The WikiLeaks' US Embassy cable exposing the horse trading by the last UPA government, before passing the Nuclear Bill in the Parliament, now opens a bigger Pandora's box. And this time, our honest prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh's integrity is at the highest stake. Now the debate has entered the public domain, as the Opposition leaders in both the Houses have demanded resignation of prime minister with immediate effect. Though we understand that no political party in this country is free of corruption, the only silver lining with them is that when they move to opposition from ruling, they do some service to this nation by exposing the corrupt practices of the ruling party. And this is an infallible global practice in democracy.
This kind of events are not new to political parties in India, and especially for the Congress party, which has a dubious record of horse trading in the Parliament during different points of ruling this nation. But the sad part here is that an intellectual, honest persona like Dr. Singh has finally transformed to a full-fledged politician who knows how effectively he can dominate this political space. At this juncture, one interesting climax of the film Nayak strikes my mind. In that movie, the chief minister Shivaji Rao concocts a murder plot by inviting the opposition leader and fires a bullet to his shoulder in precisely safe manner and finally throws the gun to the latter and then the securities around perceive it an attack on the chief minister, and eventually kill the opposition leader brutally. And the last evocative statements come from Shivaji Rao to his private secretary: You have finally made me a politician. That's not a fictional plot at all, rather a more deep understanding of the larger issues in the society around us that movie makers often portray in various films.
Well, as the sequence of events are unfolding quickly, the bigger question that does haunt us is how deeper is this political nexus? Is it limited to the territory of India or has a wider snarl dictated by global super powers? As the WikiLeaks' cable stories explain, the epicenter of this precarious shocker is beyond the internal mesh. Now, let's delve deeper into the problem. Why was the US embassy in India so much interested in the vote-for-cash episode and even was virtually monitoring the process minute by minute? Why did a Congress party member confirm to an official in the US embassy that cash was ready for bargaining? Why was our prime minister hurried in passing the nuclear bill in the house during a period when he hadn't the majority to show? And recently, why the same prime minister is again vouching for this dangerous nuclear technology when the other developed countries are nonplussed in the aftermath of Japan's impending worst nuclear crisis? There are many serious questions that raise doubts in the integrity of functioning of this government, and also the integrity of the prime minister, being the head of the government. Maybe, the prime minister is not a direct beneficiary of the vexatious growing corruptions, but he can't even prove him innocent in the court of law for the simple reason that he knew what's happening under his nose and pretended not to smell the rot by keeping him at an arm's length. Many infamous examples have shrouded the political space of this nation, be it CWG scam, 2G scam, CVC selection, or the hush-hush behind the nuclear deal. This shows not only an expository version of our prime minister's loyalty to the Congress party and its high command at large, but also unravels his passion for power and position that every middle class person dreams along the trajectory of his life time. If the prime minister survives this political temblor, he would certainly justify the veracity of the allegations that opposition, media, and the public are charging on him.
This kind of events are not new to political parties in India, and especially for the Congress party, which has a dubious record of horse trading in the Parliament during different points of ruling this nation. But the sad part here is that an intellectual, honest persona like Dr. Singh has finally transformed to a full-fledged politician who knows how effectively he can dominate this political space. At this juncture, one interesting climax of the film Nayak strikes my mind. In that movie, the chief minister Shivaji Rao concocts a murder plot by inviting the opposition leader and fires a bullet to his shoulder in precisely safe manner and finally throws the gun to the latter and then the securities around perceive it an attack on the chief minister, and eventually kill the opposition leader brutally. And the last evocative statements come from Shivaji Rao to his private secretary: You have finally made me a politician. That's not a fictional plot at all, rather a more deep understanding of the larger issues in the society around us that movie makers often portray in various films.
Well, as the sequence of events are unfolding quickly, the bigger question that does haunt us is how deeper is this political nexus? Is it limited to the territory of India or has a wider snarl dictated by global super powers? As the WikiLeaks' cable stories explain, the epicenter of this precarious shocker is beyond the internal mesh. Now, let's delve deeper into the problem. Why was the US embassy in India so much interested in the vote-for-cash episode and even was virtually monitoring the process minute by minute? Why did a Congress party member confirm to an official in the US embassy that cash was ready for bargaining? Why was our prime minister hurried in passing the nuclear bill in the house during a period when he hadn't the majority to show? And recently, why the same prime minister is again vouching for this dangerous nuclear technology when the other developed countries are nonplussed in the aftermath of Japan's impending worst nuclear crisis? There are many serious questions that raise doubts in the integrity of functioning of this government, and also the integrity of the prime minister, being the head of the government. Maybe, the prime minister is not a direct beneficiary of the vexatious growing corruptions, but he can't even prove him innocent in the court of law for the simple reason that he knew what's happening under his nose and pretended not to smell the rot by keeping him at an arm's length. Many infamous examples have shrouded the political space of this nation, be it CWG scam, 2G scam, CVC selection, or the hush-hush behind the nuclear deal. This shows not only an expository version of our prime minister's loyalty to the Congress party and its high command at large, but also unravels his passion for power and position that every middle class person dreams along the trajectory of his life time. If the prime minister survives this political temblor, he would certainly justify the veracity of the allegations that opposition, media, and the public are charging on him.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
India should rethink about the civil nuclear programs
I don't understand as to why our learned prime minister is in a complete denial mode to accept the growing concerns worldwide, about the safety of nuclear power plants, following the catastrophic consequences in Sendai, Japan. It seems that either our prime minister pretends to overlook the criticisms of anti-nuclear communities for engaging himself in a pro-nuclear lobby and throwing assurances that our nuclear plants have already passed through earthquakes and tsunami successfully in 2002 and 2004, and nothing has proved wrong to the safety measures we have in place, or he is under tremendous pressure from the foreign countries, especially from the US and France, to keep the promises or maybe a barter deal he made during Obama's visit to India. Our prime minister and his team are in a hurry to venture into multiple nuclear plants in different regions of our country, and Jaitapur is also one of the sites that has still been lingering over a decade. The alacrity in decisions is an indicative of the fact that something is going on behind the scenes. And the bigger truth will only emerge when a hot political debate with storm the parliament in the next few months.
Though everyone knows that nuclear power generation is the next big step for all nations to control the global climatic change, but one specific aspect of this radical drive is not clear here that why the lobby for global climatic change is often driven by western communities where they deliberately increase the carbon footprints and put disproportionate pressures on the developing countries to bear the brunt of their mistakes. Or it could be far different from the common public knowledge that there lies a sinister design of western business lobby in global political pond to realize their business mandates from the developing countries when the first world market is fast becoming saturate or they face resistance from various environmental activist groups in their homeland. Either way the facts remain that on the backdrop of global climate change lies a more dangerous vested interest of western multinational companies to pop up various pressure groups in different power circles to marginalize the larger truth, and the proposition could be such that a nuclear holocaust which is more imminent in the coming times due to the various natural calamities or human error is less important to the growing climate change that has already engulfed our atmosphere.
But again there are a number of ways to negate the ill effects of global climate change other than leveraging the nuclear power generation programs. The alternative renewable sources of energy such as wind mill, solar plants, tidal power plants, mini to small hydroelectric power generations setups are widely used for long by various nations and most of them are in the first world countries. In stead, the same countries vouch for a technology which is predominantly anti-environment and anti-nature and frequently has proved disastrous to the entire ecosystem of this planet. The last century's history is just a silent reminder of the magnitude of loss borne by mankind due to a number of nuclear disasters that has particularly occurred in those developed countries. And the recent disaster in Japan is no new one.
As most developed countries including US, Germany, France, China, and Japan are seriously thinking about the freezing their current program of expansions in nuclear power plants, it is a sad part for Indian leadership to blindly ignoring not only the lethal consequences of a nuclear crisis, but also the most evocative critiques of western communities. It seems the underlying objectives behind this motion are more hush-hush than it seems otherwise. The citizens of India should be cognizant of the hidden agenda that this government is trying to consummate.
Though everyone knows that nuclear power generation is the next big step for all nations to control the global climatic change, but one specific aspect of this radical drive is not clear here that why the lobby for global climatic change is often driven by western communities where they deliberately increase the carbon footprints and put disproportionate pressures on the developing countries to bear the brunt of their mistakes. Or it could be far different from the common public knowledge that there lies a sinister design of western business lobby in global political pond to realize their business mandates from the developing countries when the first world market is fast becoming saturate or they face resistance from various environmental activist groups in their homeland. Either way the facts remain that on the backdrop of global climate change lies a more dangerous vested interest of western multinational companies to pop up various pressure groups in different power circles to marginalize the larger truth, and the proposition could be such that a nuclear holocaust which is more imminent in the coming times due to the various natural calamities or human error is less important to the growing climate change that has already engulfed our atmosphere.
But again there are a number of ways to negate the ill effects of global climate change other than leveraging the nuclear power generation programs. The alternative renewable sources of energy such as wind mill, solar plants, tidal power plants, mini to small hydroelectric power generations setups are widely used for long by various nations and most of them are in the first world countries. In stead, the same countries vouch for a technology which is predominantly anti-environment and anti-nature and frequently has proved disastrous to the entire ecosystem of this planet. The last century's history is just a silent reminder of the magnitude of loss borne by mankind due to a number of nuclear disasters that has particularly occurred in those developed countries. And the recent disaster in Japan is no new one.
As most developed countries including US, Germany, France, China, and Japan are seriously thinking about the freezing their current program of expansions in nuclear power plants, it is a sad part for Indian leadership to blindly ignoring not only the lethal consequences of a nuclear crisis, but also the most evocative critiques of western communities. It seems the underlying objectives behind this motion are more hush-hush than it seems otherwise. The citizens of India should be cognizant of the hidden agenda that this government is trying to consummate.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Heading for a disaster?
Why India is so rigid about pursuing its wildest dream to enter into a sizable civil nuclear program at a time when the most developed countries are in state of quandary by noticing the imminent consequences of Japan's worst nuclear disaster in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake followed by a widely destructive tsunami? Why India is in a hurry to clear all new nuclear power plant projects, even without considering the dire consequences that the world super powers have already been haunted, be it Chernobyl, Pripyat, or now the Fukushima? Why the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power plant, which was in a dark chamber for many years due to safety considerations, has got the environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment while the same ministry did play foul with a large-scale steel plant, which of course doesn't have a comparable risk index vis-a-vis a mega nuclear power plant, in Orissa? There are many uncomfortable questions though which would raise doubts about the intention of this Government at the Centre, for a sustainable development in India.
The party in power in different regimes has shown sheer disregards to humanitarian values and public safety standards whenever it inks large industrial deals with foreign companies. The people of India have already experienced the apathy of government in the Union Carbide case. Even after 27 years of that industrial disaster, which killed thousands of innocent people and crippled many more thousands for generations, the culprits are roving free and the victims are still waiting for the justice. When most politicians and bureaucrats escape the public anger by simply toning it down to the most unfortunate event, the sufferers take the pain for go. And now that this government has again in a hush-hush deal with US and France companies for nuclear power plants, the pressure from international forums, often driven by US, is mounting high, which is clear from the hotfoot of administration.
Many nuclear scientists though opine that India's nuclear plants have the highest safety standards and they have endured the fury of 2004 tsunami and Latur earthquake and nothing has happened, the larger point of the debate is that whatever precautions may be taken to ensure the safety of these plants, if anything goes wrong, the consequences will be disastrous. This is the high time for Indian leadership to reconsider the options available before heading for another Chernobyl like situation.
The party in power in different regimes has shown sheer disregards to humanitarian values and public safety standards whenever it inks large industrial deals with foreign companies. The people of India have already experienced the apathy of government in the Union Carbide case. Even after 27 years of that industrial disaster, which killed thousands of innocent people and crippled many more thousands for generations, the culprits are roving free and the victims are still waiting for the justice. When most politicians and bureaucrats escape the public anger by simply toning it down to the most unfortunate event, the sufferers take the pain for go. And now that this government has again in a hush-hush deal with US and France companies for nuclear power plants, the pressure from international forums, often driven by US, is mounting high, which is clear from the hotfoot of administration.
Many nuclear scientists though opine that India's nuclear plants have the highest safety standards and they have endured the fury of 2004 tsunami and Latur earthquake and nothing has happened, the larger point of the debate is that whatever precautions may be taken to ensure the safety of these plants, if anything goes wrong, the consequences will be disastrous. This is the high time for Indian leadership to reconsider the options available before heading for another Chernobyl like situation.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
America's Double Standards
Why US is keen in supporting India pursuing civil nuclear program even after the recent natural and nuclear disasters that have already struck Japan, is certainly not in the interest of India, rather it keeps vested business interests in the deals that are to be inked in next many decades. Given the stern reactions from the various environmental activist groups around Japan's current nuclear disaster, the US now clearly understands that the coming time will be really tough for its nuclear business with India, and if tactical steps are not considered now, though many brokers have started vouching for India's civil nuclear interests, Obama's administration will receive huge criticisms from various business groups in their homeland.
This is a typical US diplomatic build to pursue its global politicking agenda in a very opportunistic manner. America's tainted history in engaging in various geo-political issues across the globe is just a reminder of the fact as how benevolent their intention in driving their point to the world table. Now that Japan's nuclear disaster has caught the attention of world leaders, the US administration thinks that if a sustainable, controlled media hype is not created now, it will be a difficult proposition for US to transfer the unused, warehouse-rested nuclear technologies to India in the coming time.
This is a typical US diplomatic build to pursue its global politicking agenda in a very opportunistic manner. America's tainted history in engaging in various geo-political issues across the globe is just a reminder of the fact as how benevolent their intention in driving their point to the world table. Now that Japan's nuclear disaster has caught the attention of world leaders, the US administration thinks that if a sustainable, controlled media hype is not created now, it will be a difficult proposition for US to transfer the unused, warehouse-rested nuclear technologies to India in the coming time.
Monday, March 14, 2011
The earth is not so green
We are living in a dangerous world, primarily because the catastrophic forces of nature have continuously challenged the survival of mankind on this planet since when this intelligent breed of living being evolved, and the most recent incident being the potentially destructive earthquake at a magnitude of 9 in Richter scale and a gigantic tsunami that tumbled Japan to its feet. Perhaps, in the history of Japan, this was the worst natural calamity that posed a classic question to the most technologically advanced nation – irrespective of material achievements however large by mankind, the nature has always the upper hands. The scale of devastation was enormous; over ten thousand people killed (the final figure may be manifold once Japan comes out with its reports) and millions of people fled away from their native places, many infrastructures including residential, transport, and industrial washed washed away, and the most horrific ones were the blasts at nuclear plants that followed hundreds of aftershocks. The economic loss to Japan, according to some agency estimates, ranging $171-183 billion, which can go even higher. The nature has always been unkind to this world. In the pursuit of excellence, human beings have ever been confronted by the evil forces of nature. The tug of war is as primitive as the evolution of living beings on the surface of earth. Many potential calamities we have endured, and many more to come, but the eternal conflict between living beings and natural forces will prevail till that final doomsday, post which neither the natural forces nor the living beings will wage a war against each other.
So, a fundamental question arises here: Are we safe on this planet despite our pro-nature stand, as many environmentalists and eco-activists have been fighting for long to save this planet? I have some serious doubts, which would certainly draw the ire of these activists. Well, to understand the essence of my share of doubts, let's sit on a time-wrap and go back to some 70-75 million years ago during which the last ice age in the eons of evolution of earth that wiped out 90% population of world then, my question is: Were those tribes antagonists of nature or did they do something grievous disservice to the nature? Certainly not. Even science and technology was not a subject of contempt then and people were as barbaric as animals and lived an animal life too. Foods, sex, and shelter were the predominant drivers for living beings. And of course, all those ancient tribes were nature lovers. Then why the nature played an end game. Let's consider another cataclysmic event when the entire dinosaur population annihilated from the surface of planet, what was the culpability of living organisms those suffered that terrible loss?
Remember, the genesis of this universe, as many scientific theories suggest, evolves from a big bang. If we look at the pattern of formation of earth and many other plants as well, they all have been the byproducts of a celestial cataclysmic event. In every creation there lives a complex chart of destructive forces that drives the nature of any planet, whether it's viable for living or not. Now, the crux of the debate is that the human being, who is often touted as the most intelligent creature on this planet, should take a deeper look into these defining moments of history and act intelligent to counter the imminent risks posed by the devastating natural calamities. I am sure, survival of the fittest would sound more rational in all these ironies of human sufferings. If we take enough precautionary measures, we can surely co-exist with the diabolic forces of nature, be it earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption, tornado, cyclone, or flood.
So, a fundamental question arises here: Are we safe on this planet despite our pro-nature stand, as many environmentalists and eco-activists have been fighting for long to save this planet? I have some serious doubts, which would certainly draw the ire of these activists. Well, to understand the essence of my share of doubts, let's sit on a time-wrap and go back to some 70-75 million years ago during which the last ice age in the eons of evolution of earth that wiped out 90% population of world then, my question is: Were those tribes antagonists of nature or did they do something grievous disservice to the nature? Certainly not. Even science and technology was not a subject of contempt then and people were as barbaric as animals and lived an animal life too. Foods, sex, and shelter were the predominant drivers for living beings. And of course, all those ancient tribes were nature lovers. Then why the nature played an end game. Let's consider another cataclysmic event when the entire dinosaur population annihilated from the surface of planet, what was the culpability of living organisms those suffered that terrible loss?
Remember, the genesis of this universe, as many scientific theories suggest, evolves from a big bang. If we look at the pattern of formation of earth and many other plants as well, they all have been the byproducts of a celestial cataclysmic event. In every creation there lives a complex chart of destructive forces that drives the nature of any planet, whether it's viable for living or not. Now, the crux of the debate is that the human being, who is often touted as the most intelligent creature on this planet, should take a deeper look into these defining moments of history and act intelligent to counter the imminent risks posed by the devastating natural calamities. I am sure, survival of the fittest would sound more rational in all these ironies of human sufferings. If we take enough precautionary measures, we can surely co-exist with the diabolic forces of nature, be it earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption, tornado, cyclone, or flood.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Nature's Fury
It's yet another timeless, classic test of God to measure the tenacity of citizens of Japan during extreme tribulations. Even after many human-endeavoured (read war-mongered) devastating wars and natural calamities like shattering earthquakes, and that too in the aftermath of the recent earthquake of 8.9 followed by a gigantic sweep of tsunami, its people stand in poise and complete sangfroid. Unbelievable their courage and power to challenge every odd of life, be it America's revenge by dropping atom bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or the frequented volcanic eruptions, tremors, earthquakes, tsunamis, in every disaster they have proved to be the heroes in human evolution, from complete devastation to super colossal economic development, the Japan is altogether a different saga that no nation can dare to live.
When electronic media was not developed and people naturally depended on newspaper stories, the reality of the ground was reaching people at least after 24 hours the incident occurred. Now the situation is completely different. Electronic media and social media have changed the perspectives of 24x7 news service, which is quite evident from the videos available on YouTube in the immediate aftermath of a 8.9 scale earthquake followed by a roaring tsunami hitting Japan today. It was a deja vu of experience transporting your imagination to the locales where thousands of people stranded, engulfed in the rage of nature's worst calamity, but one thing was remarkable – people's composure even during this darkest moment was unprecedented, an attribute that other nationals would take generations to learn.
Bad times come and go, but the people with great determination and courage to resurrect from the loss, however large, only define the future. I wish at the moment the Japanese who are facing misfortune would come out from the smashup and march ahead with indomitable courage and great conviction to send a message to the entire world: “Look, we are invincible at the face of dire calamities, be it natural or man-made, we are the tribe that has shown the valor repeatedly in the history of human adversity.”
When electronic media was not developed and people naturally depended on newspaper stories, the reality of the ground was reaching people at least after 24 hours the incident occurred. Now the situation is completely different. Electronic media and social media have changed the perspectives of 24x7 news service, which is quite evident from the videos available on YouTube in the immediate aftermath of a 8.9 scale earthquake followed by a roaring tsunami hitting Japan today. It was a deja vu of experience transporting your imagination to the locales where thousands of people stranded, engulfed in the rage of nature's worst calamity, but one thing was remarkable – people's composure even during this darkest moment was unprecedented, an attribute that other nationals would take generations to learn.
Bad times come and go, but the people with great determination and courage to resurrect from the loss, however large, only define the future. I wish at the moment the Japanese who are facing misfortune would come out from the smashup and march ahead with indomitable courage and great conviction to send a message to the entire world: “Look, we are invincible at the face of dire calamities, be it natural or man-made, we are the tribe that has shown the valor repeatedly in the history of human adversity.”
Crime Capital
Delhi and NCR has long been infamous for crime against women. From Jessica to Arushi to Radhika, each crime againt women is a reminder of our carnal journey as a society along the path towards the brink of a catastrophe. Despite an affictitious material development, we still live in a stone age. The pigritude of law and order system, laggard judiciary, irresponsible political leadership, and passive civil society together have worsened the situation. After 64 years of independence, India is still heading a feudal mindset. From an alarmingly increasing female foeticide to skyrocketing crimes against women, Delhi, in particular, is losing its shine as a metropolitan. Nowhere in the world the crimes against women is so frequent as happens in Delhi. What makes one more disturbing is that Delhi's CM is a woman and she is in her third terms to the power in sequence and that has only become a symbolic break of glass ceiling, nothing more than that. What's more painful is that after every such crime against women whether it's a murder or rape, our CM has never bothered to spell out a politically correct statement, even though in all her consciousness she doesn't want to do, but she has never ever shirked to blame the victim, her dress code, her employment environment, her bringing up, and finally, she has taken a new stand in blaming the entire civil society in the recent Radhika Tanwar case.
I am extremely sorry, Madam CM, you have shown so much detest to your own gender community that perhaps, if not for any other achievement what you have done for Delhi, especially for your gender-specific statements you must win a Nobel. Madam CM, this is the time to act tough, passing the bucks mentality wont help anymore. Remember civility does not represent weakness, and it's not too far from this point that the civil society will join hands to transform the amputated democratic system into something new, unheard-of, radical governance process that will certainly work, and perhaps there would be no place for political leaders to bully the citizens of this country because the new world order is taking a tectonic shift.
I am extremely sorry, Madam CM, you have shown so much detest to your own gender community that perhaps, if not for any other achievement what you have done for Delhi, especially for your gender-specific statements you must win a Nobel. Madam CM, this is the time to act tough, passing the bucks mentality wont help anymore. Remember civility does not represent weakness, and it's not too far from this point that the civil society will join hands to transform the amputated democratic system into something new, unheard-of, radical governance process that will certainly work, and perhaps there would be no place for political leaders to bully the citizens of this country because the new world order is taking a tectonic shift.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Turnaround Strategy
When I heard that my company has hired some renowned turnaround strategists, and that too first time since its inception some 12 years ago, to do some alchemy to the ailing state of the organization, two kinds of emotion stroked me – first, an uncontrollable excitement because when all good vibes were waning due to circumstantial reflections or a long laggard on topline and bottomline, this gave a glimpse of high hope in a sense that the organization will grow and everyone associated with it would be a part of that success story; second, a usual desperation that was still embedded somewhere in the unseen cocoons of my heart because I knew that irrespective of the suggestions put forward by the strategists, the company might fail to walk the execution path. So, in linear perspectives, I have nothing to counter the first outcome, if everything goes well, the end will definitely be well. Now, lets dissect the second outcome, which is majorly associated with the execution ecosystem and a kind of reformation or complete overhaul.
There are few customary caveats that shouldn't be overlooked in this reform as well. Before delving further into the existing pain areas of the organization, let me cite here a similar turnaround strategy executed by one of the leading media conglomerates based out in Delhi. A decade before this media house was struggling to outpace its closest competitor in Delhi for many years, but it was practically impossible to carve it out on stone. There were many reasons though, the prime one was that the editorial team which in all its snobbishness thought that a paper runs because of the intellectual competency of its editors, nothing can stop a paper to increase its circulation if it has a second-to-none editorial policy that drives excellent news stories, opinions, analysis, and blah blah. Remember how dangerous was this proposition in generalizing a concept in a post liberalization market. It was just suicidal. IT industry was booming, the entire nation was dreaming of big achievements in many fronts, a new generation readers were all set to decide the fate of any media product, which the editorial team was not ready to accept that because they always were busy flexing their intellectual muscle on issues those were nothing to do with young readers. It was disastrous. The MD of the company stepped in and spelled out some clear instructions – either follow the market dynamics or get lost. And the rest was history. Since then this paper brought in a number of novelties that anyone could hardly imagine. A strong market research team tapped the pulse of young readers, their likes, dislikes, and day-in-day out pumped in the market insights to the editorial board and they together transformed a laggard newspaper to the most popular newspaper, if not the most intellectual one.
Now it's our turn. Whether we want to succeed or not solely depends on the acceptance of ground realities. Let's not forget that our success as much depends on us, equally depends on the perception of the outside world for which our business is still running – they are our valued customers. If we don't understand their priorities and expectations or cant make them happy or satisfied for whatever service or product we offer, we don't have a choice either. Remember beyond a self-aggrandized collective consciousness, there is a much larger business ecosystem or market that controls every company's destiny. If that was not the case, then why Google, Apple, and Microsoft irrespective of their elephantine size are engaged in a serious customer-driven strategy. This is the high time to follow the market and walk the talk.
There are few customary caveats that shouldn't be overlooked in this reform as well. Before delving further into the existing pain areas of the organization, let me cite here a similar turnaround strategy executed by one of the leading media conglomerates based out in Delhi. A decade before this media house was struggling to outpace its closest competitor in Delhi for many years, but it was practically impossible to carve it out on stone. There were many reasons though, the prime one was that the editorial team which in all its snobbishness thought that a paper runs because of the intellectual competency of its editors, nothing can stop a paper to increase its circulation if it has a second-to-none editorial policy that drives excellent news stories, opinions, analysis, and blah blah. Remember how dangerous was this proposition in generalizing a concept in a post liberalization market. It was just suicidal. IT industry was booming, the entire nation was dreaming of big achievements in many fronts, a new generation readers were all set to decide the fate of any media product, which the editorial team was not ready to accept that because they always were busy flexing their intellectual muscle on issues those were nothing to do with young readers. It was disastrous. The MD of the company stepped in and spelled out some clear instructions – either follow the market dynamics or get lost. And the rest was history. Since then this paper brought in a number of novelties that anyone could hardly imagine. A strong market research team tapped the pulse of young readers, their likes, dislikes, and day-in-day out pumped in the market insights to the editorial board and they together transformed a laggard newspaper to the most popular newspaper, if not the most intellectual one.
Now it's our turn. Whether we want to succeed or not solely depends on the acceptance of ground realities. Let's not forget that our success as much depends on us, equally depends on the perception of the outside world for which our business is still running – they are our valued customers. If we don't understand their priorities and expectations or cant make them happy or satisfied for whatever service or product we offer, we don't have a choice either. Remember beyond a self-aggrandized collective consciousness, there is a much larger business ecosystem or market that controls every company's destiny. If that was not the case, then why Google, Apple, and Microsoft irrespective of their elephantine size are engaged in a serious customer-driven strategy. This is the high time to follow the market and walk the talk.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Making India free from corruptions
The current strides in unearthing the corruptions at high places by various agencies remind us at least one important fact that after 64 years of independence, India is still succumbed to the shackles of another invisible tyranny - the public corruptions. From CWG scam to 2G scam and from multi-billion land acquisition scam to Adarshnagar housing scam, India as a country has surpassed every other country in corruption index. Thanks to the eternal nexus between politicians, bureaucrats, and business mongers that has opened many avenues for practicing corruptions in the most innovative way. Although media and other monitoring agencies are doing their bit in uncovering the skeletons, the snail-paced legal proceedings and mind-numbing, argumentative legal luminaries pessundate the sanctity of a fair judicial probe into any corruption that has erupted in contemporary India.
The recent money laundering case against Hasan Ali speaks the blatant truth that mars the investigation process against the accused. Despite the hard evidences established by various government agencies, his connections with politicians and bureaucrats, and furthermore, his affordability to hire a smart legal eagle would prove him innocent in the court. This just one stance. India has been living this saga for many decades. I doubt whether Indian judiciary will wake up one day and devise a process to nail down these corrupt people who siphon off billions of dollars of public money and let the poor citizens of this nation suffer from a permanent denial of justice towards a decent living.
I would dare to suggest certain measures in this context, which of course will work irrespective of the political parties come to the power. First, make judiciary independent of legislative and be answerable to autonomous monitoring and law-enforcing agencies like CAG and CBI and vice versa. This will ensure that CAG and CBI can investigate the corrupt practices of judges and judiciary too can delve into the operations of these autonomous bodies. Second, create an autonomous public committee to monitor the governance of a nation state. The committee should comprise members from all political parties, bureaucracy, judiciary, and eminent intellectuals in various fields such as academics, business, social service, media, and law-enforcing bodies. Third, the most sacrosanct positions like cabinet secretary, CVC, chief justice, and posts of similar stature should be availed to the most efficient, effective, skillful, and honest persons in the respective categories, although seniority will play a major role here, but the attributes articulated before will take equal chance in deciding the candidacy.
I am sure, if a democracy functions in the most transparent manner with due diligence in effective governance, the corruption will be the last word in the minds of those authorities who are sucking a nation like vampires.
The recent money laundering case against Hasan Ali speaks the blatant truth that mars the investigation process against the accused. Despite the hard evidences established by various government agencies, his connections with politicians and bureaucrats, and furthermore, his affordability to hire a smart legal eagle would prove him innocent in the court. This just one stance. India has been living this saga for many decades. I doubt whether Indian judiciary will wake up one day and devise a process to nail down these corrupt people who siphon off billions of dollars of public money and let the poor citizens of this nation suffer from a permanent denial of justice towards a decent living.
I would dare to suggest certain measures in this context, which of course will work irrespective of the political parties come to the power. First, make judiciary independent of legislative and be answerable to autonomous monitoring and law-enforcing agencies like CAG and CBI and vice versa. This will ensure that CAG and CBI can investigate the corrupt practices of judges and judiciary too can delve into the operations of these autonomous bodies. Second, create an autonomous public committee to monitor the governance of a nation state. The committee should comprise members from all political parties, bureaucracy, judiciary, and eminent intellectuals in various fields such as academics, business, social service, media, and law-enforcing bodies. Third, the most sacrosanct positions like cabinet secretary, CVC, chief justice, and posts of similar stature should be availed to the most efficient, effective, skillful, and honest persons in the respective categories, although seniority will play a major role here, but the attributes articulated before will take equal chance in deciding the candidacy.
I am sure, if a democracy functions in the most transparent manner with due diligence in effective governance, the corruption will be the last word in the minds of those authorities who are sucking a nation like vampires.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Innocence on decline
The social trends are changing fast, and particularly in India, they are even faster. A decade before when the average age for first sexual encounter was hovering around 16-17 years, it has fallen sharply to 12 years now in the new decade of the millennium. Thanks to the omnipresent Internet, mobility, and social networking those in tandem are shaping the collective consciousness of Indian youth brigade and their lifestyle.
In this decade only, India has noticed the daredevil acts of MMS sharing for some bad reasons. Whether it's adventurous experiment with truth by two students of a reputed Delhi school or the recent video sharing by some students of a central university, the modus operandi has been quite similar – taking the sadistic pleasure out of somebody's misfortune and that too on the account of breach of trust. Trust has taken a back seat. If given a chance, no one would mind to trespass into somebody's private zone, prohibited by some disclaimer. Disclaimer is as affictitious as trust itself. In all these scenarios, technology has played a great role in venting the spirit of free expression because we believe in democracy.
Today's kids care a fig to the age-old dogmas carved out by a feudalistic society some centuries ago. Although there is no problem at this point, all dogmas cant be branded as feudalistic, some are even more progressive and forward-looking, even today. Of course, Kama Sutra is one of them. All rules and principles of love making established many centuries ago still work fine with the most modern social lifestyle or mindset. That's bit an exciting part of a feudal carving. We always search for some temptations in all our endeavours.
Everyone is on a move, an exciting and adventurous first flight that no one wants to miss at the susceptible formative years. Experience is not related to how long, rather how effective and exciting. The new measures of innocence is somewhat silent about the urge and indulgence because these two attributes drive the innocence now. For instance, almost all youths of India having internet connection possess a Facebook account. That's not bad even from any puritan perspective, but the larger point here is how this platform is being used to ventilate our passion for experiments.
The coming times would be more vibrant with innovative technologies. The media convergence in true sense wont be problem at all. When you encounter with some obscene acts in some parks or locality, don't forget that all those live acts are webcast or podcast with HD videos in one of the social media. The engagement of innocence with youth has started waning. Their maturing process is triggered by the social trends that include everything society, development, innovation, technology, and not the least the urge for coming to limelight, maybe that too through some bad accounts.
In this decade only, India has noticed the daredevil acts of MMS sharing for some bad reasons. Whether it's adventurous experiment with truth by two students of a reputed Delhi school or the recent video sharing by some students of a central university, the modus operandi has been quite similar – taking the sadistic pleasure out of somebody's misfortune and that too on the account of breach of trust. Trust has taken a back seat. If given a chance, no one would mind to trespass into somebody's private zone, prohibited by some disclaimer. Disclaimer is as affictitious as trust itself. In all these scenarios, technology has played a great role in venting the spirit of free expression because we believe in democracy.
Today's kids care a fig to the age-old dogmas carved out by a feudalistic society some centuries ago. Although there is no problem at this point, all dogmas cant be branded as feudalistic, some are even more progressive and forward-looking, even today. Of course, Kama Sutra is one of them. All rules and principles of love making established many centuries ago still work fine with the most modern social lifestyle or mindset. That's bit an exciting part of a feudal carving. We always search for some temptations in all our endeavours.
Everyone is on a move, an exciting and adventurous first flight that no one wants to miss at the susceptible formative years. Experience is not related to how long, rather how effective and exciting. The new measures of innocence is somewhat silent about the urge and indulgence because these two attributes drive the innocence now. For instance, almost all youths of India having internet connection possess a Facebook account. That's not bad even from any puritan perspective, but the larger point here is how this platform is being used to ventilate our passion for experiments.
The coming times would be more vibrant with innovative technologies. The media convergence in true sense wont be problem at all. When you encounter with some obscene acts in some parks or locality, don't forget that all those live acts are webcast or podcast with HD videos in one of the social media. The engagement of innocence with youth has started waning. Their maturing process is triggered by the social trends that include everything society, development, innovation, technology, and not the least the urge for coming to limelight, maybe that too through some bad accounts.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
What sells a magazine?
In a time when readers are addicted to social media and other collaborative platforms, it becomes an elephantine task for an editor, in particular, for a print magazine editor, to decide whether to follow journalistic ethics or diktats of publisher. That's perhaps the worst dilemma that most editors face every now and then. But the facts remain that if a product doesn't appeal to the readers, no journalistic ethics would save the entire tribe from the disaster in the offing – no business, no morality grounds. Thus an editor, irrespective of professional compulsion, tries to maintain a fine balance between journalism and business of journalism. And in more ways than one, the latter takes the precedence. Always. Taking sides, choosing popularity over abstract truth, and packaging a better product to wow readers become the priorities for an editor than engaging in a more intellectual muscle flexing show.
For a magazine, if the circulation largely depends on news-stand sell, the cover story becomes the single decisive factor to draw readers' attention. On an average over 50% of instant sells take place on the grounds of an exciting cover story. Many a times, I observe reader's psychology very explicitly while someone drops at a news-stand and hovers around to catch up with a trendy cover, and if that's damn good, the sell is done almost instantly, without even flipping the pages. What really drives a reader so high to go ga-ga over a cover? According to Ray Cave, the editorial director of Time Inc., the popularity of the subject in the target readers' mind drives the sell, irrespective of how frivolous it might look to a learned reader though. For example, a story on the private life of a popular actress weighs more than the story dealing with huge success of a political leader in social development front. Very few intellectual readers though would prefer to choose the latter, the mass selling would only follow the earlier story.
On a conclusive note, it's the conflicting nature of the story that triggers some curiosity in most readers' mind, and that becomes a fascination for the reader to delve into the unknown in detail, which generates an instant sell. Perhaps, that's the reason why many editors put maximum efforts on the cover story to run the business of journalism.
For a magazine, if the circulation largely depends on news-stand sell, the cover story becomes the single decisive factor to draw readers' attention. On an average over 50% of instant sells take place on the grounds of an exciting cover story. Many a times, I observe reader's psychology very explicitly while someone drops at a news-stand and hovers around to catch up with a trendy cover, and if that's damn good, the sell is done almost instantly, without even flipping the pages. What really drives a reader so high to go ga-ga over a cover? According to Ray Cave, the editorial director of Time Inc., the popularity of the subject in the target readers' mind drives the sell, irrespective of how frivolous it might look to a learned reader though. For example, a story on the private life of a popular actress weighs more than the story dealing with huge success of a political leader in social development front. Very few intellectual readers though would prefer to choose the latter, the mass selling would only follow the earlier story.
On a conclusive note, it's the conflicting nature of the story that triggers some curiosity in most readers' mind, and that becomes a fascination for the reader to delve into the unknown in detail, which generates an instant sell. Perhaps, that's the reason why many editors put maximum efforts on the cover story to run the business of journalism.
Social media on a joyride
Social media are synonymous with the adrenalin rush of today's youth brigade. How stirring in a cup of tea evolves into a massive twister can be learnt from the network effect of social media. Furthermore, the integration of Web with mobile platform has added more fervour to the social networking pulse. However, it has its pros and cons. The other day when an infamous MMS clip related to adventurous striptease of a colleague, recorded in a co-ed hostel of a reputed Indian university, took rounds over social networking sites and mobile phones, the critiques of technology preferred to pound over the carrier than questioning the tumultuous social trends that have evolved from the freedom of choice. Technology antagonists, in general, never understand the pain and efforts that have gone into the making of an innovative technology because neither they are part of the innovation tribe nor they have the mettle to understand the nuances, for that matter, anyone and everyone can wear the hat of a critique.
Well, though the context of social media is different here, the big picture is how effectively the social media can be used to increase the brand popularity, publicity, marketing, information sharing, and finally building a powerful virtual community that is more informed, intelligent, and ready to take the challenges of real life. A well-infomed virtual community is more powerful than an army of soldiers toiling along the border line of a nation.
For a start-up venture, the effective use of social media can increase awareness about the organization, build favourable perception about products and services, and help increase the customers base without even investing a lot.
Similarly, for social entrepreneurs social networking works as the most powerful tool to build consensus among netizens or social media users for a social cause. This is far more easier than sending thousands of emails and invitation letters to your audiences. Furthermore, it effectuates the objective of the mission in a fast and meaningful way.
Well, though the context of social media is different here, the big picture is how effectively the social media can be used to increase the brand popularity, publicity, marketing, information sharing, and finally building a powerful virtual community that is more informed, intelligent, and ready to take the challenges of real life. A well-infomed virtual community is more powerful than an army of soldiers toiling along the border line of a nation.
For a start-up venture, the effective use of social media can increase awareness about the organization, build favourable perception about products and services, and help increase the customers base without even investing a lot.
Similarly, for social entrepreneurs social networking works as the most powerful tool to build consensus among netizens or social media users for a social cause. This is far more easier than sending thousands of emails and invitation letters to your audiences. Furthermore, it effectuates the objective of the mission in a fast and meaningful way.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Social Media and Tomorrow's Business
The surge of social media has significantly impacted the buying decisions of consumers. Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace, each one has pocketed critical users strength to influence the business decisions of consumers. The peer pressure, group affiliations, and overall cumulative network ripple effect of Internet usage have been primary influencers to branding and consumer marketing over Web in these years. Digital marketing, what's a decade before hinged on only the e-commerce concept, is now in full steam to drive online retailing by engaging the collaborative potential of social media. The way the social collaboration is shaping up across broad-based social networking sites would decide tomorrow's business modeling and the success of online business.
According to Pew Research, social networking site usage grew 88 percent among Internet users aged 55-64 between April 2009 and May 2010. This indicates that not only the youth brigade, but the senior citizens as well have boarded the social media train. Nobody wants to miss the most exciting journey either as an observer or as an active participant. An NPD Group report reveals that in 2009, social gamers bought $2.2 billion in virtual goods, and this would increase to $6 billion by 2013.
On enterprise level, companies have also joined the social media bandwagon, at least in the form of a blog site. Almost all companies those have an online presence have striven to push their collaboration quotient a little higher either by joining a social media or engaging themselves in smart product evangelism by creating a blog site. According to comScore, 22 percent of Fortune 500 companies now have a public-facing blog that has at least one post in the past 12 months. Many product companies have gone a little further by engaging technology bloggers to promote their products.
According to a report published by Nielsen, “Three of the world’s most popular brands online are social-media related (Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia) and the world now spends over 110 billion minutes on social networks and blog sites.” The same report states, “For the first time ever, social network or blog sites are visited by three quarters of global consumers who go online, after the numbers of people visiting these sites increased by 24% over last year. The average visitor spends 66% more time on these sites than a year ago, almost 6 hours in April 2010 versus 3 hours, 31 minutes last year.”
In fact, social media have a great future ahead. From mere relation building to surveys to cumulative network effect, social media will decide whether an online business will succeed or not.
According to Pew Research, social networking site usage grew 88 percent among Internet users aged 55-64 between April 2009 and May 2010. This indicates that not only the youth brigade, but the senior citizens as well have boarded the social media train. Nobody wants to miss the most exciting journey either as an observer or as an active participant. An NPD Group report reveals that in 2009, social gamers bought $2.2 billion in virtual goods, and this would increase to $6 billion by 2013.
On enterprise level, companies have also joined the social media bandwagon, at least in the form of a blog site. Almost all companies those have an online presence have striven to push their collaboration quotient a little higher either by joining a social media or engaging themselves in smart product evangelism by creating a blog site. According to comScore, 22 percent of Fortune 500 companies now have a public-facing blog that has at least one post in the past 12 months. Many product companies have gone a little further by engaging technology bloggers to promote their products.
According to a report published by Nielsen, “Three of the world’s most popular brands online are social-media related (Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia) and the world now spends over 110 billion minutes on social networks and blog sites.” The same report states, “For the first time ever, social network or blog sites are visited by three quarters of global consumers who go online, after the numbers of people visiting these sites increased by 24% over last year. The average visitor spends 66% more time on these sites than a year ago, almost 6 hours in April 2010 versus 3 hours, 31 minutes last year.”
In fact, social media have a great future ahead. From mere relation building to surveys to cumulative network effect, social media will decide whether an online business will succeed or not.
A new order in acting excellence
Triggered by dollops of acclaims recently showered by one of the film award events to Ash and Hrithik for their film Guzaarish, I developed some facts checking inquisition to verify whether all those high decibel speech delivered then was any way relevant to the level that the anchors and award givers generated. With all curiosity I was just waiting for the moment as to when this movie will be premiered on television, and that day was yesterday. I watch that movie frame by frame. No great locales, no expensive attires, no gimmicks were there that one would expect from a typical Sanaj Leela Bhonshali film, but one thing that was there – the excellence of acting that Ash and Hrithik delivered through out the movie. They have set a new record not only for themselves, but also for the contemporary actors. In times to come, it will be imperative to live up to the standards that both these actors re-framed for the Indian film industry. And they certainly deserve a national award for their excellent acting skills, especially in this movie, that they have showcased to the world of cinema.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The Adventurism of Social Media
“Social networking sites are bloody suckers for Internet users,” blasted one of my old school cronies. He may be right on his own context. And why shouldn't he retort that way when his wife, an ad professional in a reputed agency, dated her boss regularly in rendezvous decided well in advance in cryptic parlance over different social media. Then she, in all her resounding conscience, smarted up to the occasion in the pretext of certain professional engagements with her clients. Sounds quite banal and inappropriate. I felt pity for this poor chap when he narrated his sordid saga to me last week. I couldn't stop laughing for the simple reason that how immature was my poor friend in jumping to the conclusion and blaming his wife's escapade to the ill impact of social media in entirety. Well, that's another nondescript instance like a pesky item number in a well-packaged movie. But on a serious note, social media had nothing to do with the misfortune of my friend, it's another social aberration that may happen anywhere in any society. It could even have happened without the presence of social media.
The biggest gift of social media is collaboration and reach. A decade before when netizens started using email and chat as collaborative tools, the communication process was two-way – the sender and the receiver; however, with the surge of social media, the real collaboration or multi-way communication became possible. For example, someone twits on any issue, it reaches out to the entire community, and that's the beauty of social media which empowers its avid users with a platform to collaborate on anything and everything under the sun. This is another pillar representing the free speech in a democratic world. The impact can't be marginalized by justifying its effects on social dynamics. The entire world is opening, in a sense that the floodgates of information from billions of social media posts is reaching out to the empowered, decisive consumers in a big way. Imagine how the Wikileak's adventurous journey in digging out the gravel of bureaucratic red tapes and informing the facts hidden behind the sinister design of ruling class hegemony across the nations. This is just the beginning of a new age information war, the next episode would be more dramatic, powerful, and effusive to sweep away the entire human race to a point where the war of words could be more powerful than the impact of a nuclear bomb.
The biggest gift of social media is collaboration and reach. A decade before when netizens started using email and chat as collaborative tools, the communication process was two-way – the sender and the receiver; however, with the surge of social media, the real collaboration or multi-way communication became possible. For example, someone twits on any issue, it reaches out to the entire community, and that's the beauty of social media which empowers its avid users with a platform to collaborate on anything and everything under the sun. This is another pillar representing the free speech in a democratic world. The impact can't be marginalized by justifying its effects on social dynamics. The entire world is opening, in a sense that the floodgates of information from billions of social media posts is reaching out to the empowered, decisive consumers in a big way. Imagine how the Wikileak's adventurous journey in digging out the gravel of bureaucratic red tapes and informing the facts hidden behind the sinister design of ruling class hegemony across the nations. This is just the beginning of a new age information war, the next episode would be more dramatic, powerful, and effusive to sweep away the entire human race to a point where the war of words could be more powerful than the impact of a nuclear bomb.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Life without Adverbs
Why writers can't survive without the temptation of using a number of adverbs in whatever piece they write? The primary reason, maybe, the make-believe syntactic structure of sentence, that many writers think, can add better color, tone, tenor and empowerment to the narratives, and this, upfront, is a rubbish fad people are succumbed to for generations. No adverb however exciting may sound can't trigger a serious thinking process in readers' mind or engage them to the narratives; however, it only can reduce the weight of facts articulated throughout.
In fact, in journalistic stories where a writer is supposed to be objective by nature, often gets dragged to the fancy of adverbs, without any significant reason. Even in oral communication, people chase the adverbs, or you can say -ly suffixed words, such as exactly, absolutely, actually, literally, eventually and many of this cadre, like a ruthless bull, charmed to the red rags. Adverbs neither add any value to the structure of sentence nor provide any aesthetic push, rather they increase the verbosity and consume undeserved space, be it on print or web platform. So, then why writers dare to use adverbs without considering the consequences? This indicates imperfect writing style or inexperienced writing. Before writing any piece, first understand why do you need to use an adverb. In the context of grammar, an adverb modifies a verb. Why does a verb require a qualifier, if it's a strong verb? Thus, the thumb rule for removing unscrupulous use of adverb is to transform a weak verb to a strong verb. That resolves all your adverbial concerns.
Let's try out some examples:
Weak: Alex quickly entered the room.
Strong: Alex rushed into the room.
Weak: Alice ran swiftly to overtake Rosy.
Strong: Alice sprinted to overtake Rosy.
In fact, in journalistic stories where a writer is supposed to be objective by nature, often gets dragged to the fancy of adverbs, without any significant reason. Even in oral communication, people chase the adverbs, or you can say -ly suffixed words, such as exactly, absolutely, actually, literally, eventually and many of this cadre, like a ruthless bull, charmed to the red rags. Adverbs neither add any value to the structure of sentence nor provide any aesthetic push, rather they increase the verbosity and consume undeserved space, be it on print or web platform. So, then why writers dare to use adverbs without considering the consequences? This indicates imperfect writing style or inexperienced writing. Before writing any piece, first understand why do you need to use an adverb. In the context of grammar, an adverb modifies a verb. Why does a verb require a qualifier, if it's a strong verb? Thus, the thumb rule for removing unscrupulous use of adverb is to transform a weak verb to a strong verb. That resolves all your adverbial concerns.
Let's try out some examples:
Weak: Alex quickly entered the room.
Strong: Alex rushed into the room.
Weak: Alice ran swiftly to overtake Rosy.
Strong: Alice sprinted to overtake Rosy.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Wake up now
On February 21, 2011, the Bombay High Court on a serious remark confirmed the death penalty for Ajmal Kasab, the perpetrator behind 26/11 event. Post verdict, the media community went berserk on analysing the fate of Kasab in the coming days, whether he would move to SC to challenge the verdict, and what if the SC doesn't alter the decision of Bombay HC, all in a farcical manner, he can even try the President's clemency as the last straw, but the most sure-shot one, given the number of mercy petitions pending at the President's platter, Kasab can live another generation, and that too at the cost of the exchequer money or you can say the public money. And if the media reports are to be believed, the nation has already spent Rs. 45 crores on Kasab's security, health, and other maintenance expenses and still counting. What India has achieved by selling out such huge taxpayers' money? Has it got concrete information whether Pakistan's support on deliberation of a blatantly heinous crime like this was ascertained? Even though India receives such information from different sources and ensures their veracity, still the political class will never allow us to take some measurable stringent steps.
Imagine the amount of money spent on Kasab, if we could have slated this money for development purpose of nation, we could have created 45 primary health centres or built 100 primary schools, or on a more conservative note, we could have provided employment to 3750 people for a year at a consolidated Rs. 10,000 per month, which would have helped over 11,250 people (considering the fact that each earning member has two dependents) to get three meals a day for a year. However facts may sound sacrosanct, we will never ever try to weigh the pros and cons of anything and everything that hounds a developing nation like India where 50% of childhood deaths are attributed to malnutrition, but we will take pride in ensuring five star security to a terrorist and flaunt our humanitarian values. For God sake, forget all these nonsenses for a moment, and cogitate over millions of issues concerning to a billion-plus people nation that direly needs the basic amenities for citizens. Political masters, are you listening? Wake up now, and take action, lest the nation turns into a banana republic.
Imagine the amount of money spent on Kasab, if we could have slated this money for development purpose of nation, we could have created 45 primary health centres or built 100 primary schools, or on a more conservative note, we could have provided employment to 3750 people for a year at a consolidated Rs. 10,000 per month, which would have helped over 11,250 people (considering the fact that each earning member has two dependents) to get three meals a day for a year. However facts may sound sacrosanct, we will never ever try to weigh the pros and cons of anything and everything that hounds a developing nation like India where 50% of childhood deaths are attributed to malnutrition, but we will take pride in ensuring five star security to a terrorist and flaunt our humanitarian values. For God sake, forget all these nonsenses for a moment, and cogitate over millions of issues concerning to a billion-plus people nation that direly needs the basic amenities for citizens. Political masters, are you listening? Wake up now, and take action, lest the nation turns into a banana republic.
Monday, February 21, 2011
The Democracy Even Can Work
Irrespective of some political extremists' views on the flaws that a democratic system inherently nurtures, a serious introspection into the functionality of a democracy can suggest otherwise - the democracy can even work better than any any form of governance that has been existing for long in this world nations. So what really ails the democracy? A very recent press conference of our Prime Minister with leading editors of electronic media that went sobering last week reveals the dark areas that a democracy face while functioning. If Dr. Manmohan Singh's repetitive statement on coalition dharma has at all to be believed, it becomes quite conspicuous that whether a democracy is inherently incapacitate to handle the most difficult situation or it's mended by majority views that a wrong act can even be proved right, in a typical popular argument. Or more appropriately how a coalition government can tighten the noose of a fair governance. What's most astounding fact that emerged from this press conference was that in coalition politics corruption is an assured byproduct, whether you like it or not. Managing many splinter political parties with vested political interests is the most difficult task for any leadership.
While analysing the genesis of recent corruptions that have been erupted from the hob-nobbing of political masters with business class, the singular fact that hammers up one's conscience is how subtly the multi-nodal nexus between politicians, bureaucrats, and entrepreneurs works that nobody in the secondary systems like media and law enforcement body never gets a chance to expose it. Perhaps, that's the perennial beauty of a democratic governance process. At one end, the so called still frame, the bureaucracy, and at the extreme, people leaders, the political class, join the tandem to loot the nation in a sophisticated design, that often we connote it the democracy.
So, what if we change the process of governance in a democracy? Will it be actually easier to transform a rotten system into a truly efficient one? What does it take to achieve this eventually? There are many unanswered questions though at the outset; however, we can give it a try and make this happen. What exactly we need now is to build up a national consensus to drive this mission - expose corruption in whatever form, wherever it takes place, without reconsidering the fact that however powerful political or bureaucratic heavyweights are involved in that dirty transaction. Only then we would be able to bring the truth to the fore. And the primary stakeholder in this mission possible is obviously the media community, apart from the law enforcement department, as the latter is an indispensable part of the democratic system. In a powerful democratic setup, media plays a greater role. If it shrinks from the responsibilities, then achieving this mission would be an extremely difficult proposition.
Of late, it's also observed that media to some extent is a part of lobby mechanism, thanks to the of Nira Radia tapes, which ruthlessly expose the connection of top jurnos of India with ministers and the political class in helping bend the law like Becham. Though it sounds pathetic, but the major section of media, I wish, and everyone do so, is largely seeker of truth. That's the only hope that instills in the minds of people. Lest these octopuses suck the life and spirit of common people in this country, the media should rise above the occasion and start digging the system to unearth the corrupt practices of politicians, bureaucrats, and whoever involved therein. Only then we would say that democracy can even work.
While analysing the genesis of recent corruptions that have been erupted from the hob-nobbing of political masters with business class, the singular fact that hammers up one's conscience is how subtly the multi-nodal nexus between politicians, bureaucrats, and entrepreneurs works that nobody in the secondary systems like media and law enforcement body never gets a chance to expose it. Perhaps, that's the perennial beauty of a democratic governance process. At one end, the so called still frame, the bureaucracy, and at the extreme, people leaders, the political class, join the tandem to loot the nation in a sophisticated design, that often we connote it the democracy.
So, what if we change the process of governance in a democracy? Will it be actually easier to transform a rotten system into a truly efficient one? What does it take to achieve this eventually? There are many unanswered questions though at the outset; however, we can give it a try and make this happen. What exactly we need now is to build up a national consensus to drive this mission - expose corruption in whatever form, wherever it takes place, without reconsidering the fact that however powerful political or bureaucratic heavyweights are involved in that dirty transaction. Only then we would be able to bring the truth to the fore. And the primary stakeholder in this mission possible is obviously the media community, apart from the law enforcement department, as the latter is an indispensable part of the democratic system. In a powerful democratic setup, media plays a greater role. If it shrinks from the responsibilities, then achieving this mission would be an extremely difficult proposition.
Of late, it's also observed that media to some extent is a part of lobby mechanism, thanks to the of Nira Radia tapes, which ruthlessly expose the connection of top jurnos of India with ministers and the political class in helping bend the law like Becham. Though it sounds pathetic, but the major section of media, I wish, and everyone do so, is largely seeker of truth. That's the only hope that instills in the minds of people. Lest these octopuses suck the life and spirit of common people in this country, the media should rise above the occasion and start digging the system to unearth the corrupt practices of politicians, bureaucrats, and whoever involved therein. Only then we would say that democracy can even work.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Building a great organization
Why most oraganizations whether business, social, or government in this world do not sustain for long to become a great one? What actually stops them from the path of excellence? Why the leadership team doesn't pay heed to the basics of market-driven changes and brace for the most bitter moment of accepting the internal and external change dynamics? Perhaps, the mystery lies in not understanding your business objectives and equally so ignoring the challenge of acquiring quality workforce vis-a-vis your business requirement. So, what exactly the perception of quality workforce by the management is not the one that always strikes the right chord. Here comes perceptational gap between right strategy and the execution of that strategy for all practical reasons. Somewhere down the line the execution of strategy gets diluted with an overwhelming confidence that a set of think-tank of the organization fails to benchmark across the journey. To stand above the competetion should always be a parameter for the top leaders to address at each level of execution. Then comes the instrospection of asking the right question whether you carry the competitive advantage across your products and services that you offer to your valued customers. If you fail to wow your customers, you are short-lived. To become extraordinary, always develop a winning workforce that would ensure your customers are impressed by each and every delivery, consistently. Yes, the best path to ride over the competition is that you must create something that is rare, unimitable, and should address your customers' both chartered and unchartered wishes. Remember, building a great organization stems from the obsession for the best. Always!
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