India Shoots for the Moon

AP/Indian Space Research Organization

How'd they learn to do that?


The U.S. Congress needs a wake-up call. At the risk of our readers saying the laws of physics forbid any such possibility, we offer the following: On Wednesday India launched a space probe to the moon.

The Chandrayaan-I

The Chandrayaan-I blasted off about dawn from the Satish Dhawan Space Center. It is expected to reach lunar orbit by November 8. The probe, whose principal goal is to "conduct mineralogical and chemical mapping of the lunar service," carries five scientific payloads from India and others from NASA and the European Space Agency. With this achievement, India joins the U.S., Japan, Europe, Russia and China in the lunar club.

India deserves congratulations for the Chandrayaan-I, which attests further to that nation's remarkable strides as an economic and scientific power. That said, we cannot fail to draw attention to how this event bears on the continuing lunacy of Congress in limiting visa quotas for highly skilled immigrants.

American universities are filled with foreign students, not least from India, getting degrees in engineering and science. Many dearly wish to stay and work in the U.S. Instead, we basically kick them out after training them, owing to the Congressional limit of 65,000 H-1B visas, which are used up the day they are released in March.

The Labor Department believes that by 2014 some two million high-tech jobs will be available here. U.S. companies from Microsoft down to start-ups have begged Congress to give them access to this skilled labor pool. Congress won't budge, bowing to arguments that foreign techs displace jobs from U.S. citizens. That's not how labor markets work in a dynamic economy. Bill Gates has noted that an H-1B hire creates several additional hires, as tech teams expand.

The irony is hard to miss. India's recent progress is the result of paring back state suffocation of its economy. But the U.S., with Barack Obama's antitrade policies and the GOP's anti-immigrant policies, may be turning inward. Here's hoping India and China aren't going to the moon just as the U.S. is headed into the sunset.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122480526844364849.html

Email from Indian Railways Online Ticket booking service

The following is an email my brother received a few days back. I am thoroughly impressed with this level of service.
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From: care@irctc.co.in
To: ********@hotmail.com
Subject: Email From IRCTC
Date: Thu, 1 May 2008 04:27:13 +0530

Dear Customer,

Thank you for using IRCTC's online rail ticket booking services.
From 1st April?08 Railway has revised the passenger fares. As you have booked tickets prior to 1st-April?08 an amount of Rs.31.00 towards the difference of fare for the ticket booked vide PNR No 2346***863 has been issued to electronic payment gateway on 04/30/2008 08:09:28 PM. Same shall appear in your account within two to three working days. You are requested to please check with your credit card issuing banks regarding the same. We regret the delay if any, in crediting back the refunds.
We solicit your continued patronage to our services,
Warm Regards,
care@irctc
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Absolutely fabulous. Next they should
1. Increase the overall safety of train travel by improving the technology they use to run them (signaling, hardware, communications etc)
2. Improve the level of security and general ambiance on the railway station (cleanliness, hygiene and better policing).
3. Have better communication ON the train - things like - 'The next station is blah blah' in a local language and English.
4. All trains should have automatic doors that are opened by a conductor or the driver when the train arrives at a station or leaves a station.

Little things that go a loooooong way in making train travel a lot more safer and palatable for all strata of the society.
Got more suggestions? Drop a comment. Maybe I will send Lalu a congratulatory note. :)

"it is not the end of life"

After declaring that the nuclear deal is needed for the forward movement of India and calling those opposing the deal “enemies of development and peace”, the government in India became just that - enemies of development and peace.

Clearly, the lure of power had won over the need to pursue the deal which, according to the PM and Madame Gandhi, was in the national interest.

The prime minister even went ahead and uttered these unfortunate words:

"I do attach importance to seeing this deal through, but if the deal is not through, it is not the end of life"

Sure, it is not the end of life. Life would also not end if you, Mr. PM would have stood by your words and resigned in protest. Life would not have ended if you had not been attracted to the lure of power. Life would definitely not end if you stopped licking Madame's shoes and adhered to some principles and had the good of India on your mind. Shame on you Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Communist Karat and all those who are not a part of the solution. They can only stand in the way of any solution.

India - Twenty20 World Cup Winners!

I must admit, I was unaware of the fact there was even a Cricket world cup going on up until the game in which India played Pakistan in the preliminary round. Twenty20 was not a big thing in India. I was even surprised to hear that in South Africa, the first twenty20 game was played almost 6-7 years ago!

Anyway - I did not realize that was this a big deal till the semifinals.. I know I know - I am slow - but I am slow.

Twenty20 or fifty50 - who cares - as long as India keeps beating Pakistan in the game, specially if its a world cup. I have started to believe that win or lose anywhere else, come World Cup time - India is ALWAYS going to spank Pakistan any place, any time. It's the power of belief, the confidence of winning, the taste of victory, call what you may.

Any win over Pakistan is sweet - but all the more sweeter if it some sort of a World Cup game.

It will be interesting to observe how the shorter game (twenty20) will impact the 50-50 overs a side, commonly known as the One Day International version of the game. Suddenly, waiting for a result for 8-9 hours sound like an insanity.

Communists in India see RED

When Prakash Karat wakes up every morning, his main agenda for the day is simple, focused and straightforward: How to create road blocks and throw spanners in the juggernaut of Indian democracy. It's because of people like him and the politics he represent, India is lamenting the fact that she is a democracy where EVERY ONE has a voice - no matter if it is one that is shouting to cut Mother India's arm and legs and then sell the torso in the fish market.
Communism has a wierd history in India. They are broadly divided in 2 catagories - ones that are mainstream and participate in electoral politics and ones that are involved in armed uprising and are deemed terrorists in India. This writup deals with the ones the citizens of India elect as their leaders and representatives. We will leave the other kind to be dealt with appropriately by the Indian law and order machinery.

As you can see in this figure, the communists are kingmakers in the Indian parliament. The communists have an idealist agenda and are increasingly isolated in a forward looking India. Dare I say, that sometimes they come out as even more communists than the ones found in China and the USSR. Even China has learnt to change their idealogy to adapt to a changing world environment.
A curious fact about this is that India is the only country that ELECTS communists to the parliament in a free and fare elections. So whatever I say here, some would say that we deserve it.

The communists claim that they have the best of India at heart and they lookout for anything that could be detrimental to India's national security and so on and so forth. A deeper look into their dealings give a different picture. A revealing article here details how the fathers of Indian communism movement used to take orders from their masters in China and the earstwhile USSR. In fact, it hasn't been even a few months when the Indian communist leaders could not decide how to respond to China's claim over Arunachal Pradesh. Of course, the communists still don't condemn the 1962 Chinese aggression over India*.

Now to this nuclear deal with the US. Of course, the communists will use whatever they have in their arsenal to shoot this bird down. After all, capitalist US is an anathema to the communists. A joint partnership with the US will mean the death knell for the only elected communists in the world.
As Times (UK) points out "Who would have thought, in a deal that gives India too much while asking for too few safeguards in return, that the greatest opposition would come from within India itself?"

With Friends Like You, Who Needs Enemies?

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*Want to read more about the various stances the communists of India have taken over the years, read here.

India elects a new President

It can be safely said now - that no matter how currupt you are, no matter if skeletons keep popping out of your closets, you can even become the president of the largest democracy on earth if you can pull the right strings and know the right people.

If this is not a sham - I dont know what is. Had there been a popular vote, Dr. Abdul Kalam would have won hands down - but that's not how the president of India is elected. S/he is elected by the elected member of parliament (both state and federal). In these times when most governments in India are coalition with plenty of give and take and grand bargains, the role of the president becomes important as s/he is the person inviting head of various parties to form the government. In that case, it would have been imprudent to keep Dr. Kalam, a rocket scientist and a well reputed man, but favored by the opposition in today's government.

So in comes Mrs Pratibha Patil. Her only qualification - she has been a loyal poodle to the Congress party - the party in power, for well over 40 years. (In hindi we would call her a chamcha - चमचा ) . She has a number of corruption and even criminal cases against her - but who gives a damn about that in India.

The only bright spot - she is a woman - well - that's great PR all over the world. How many women presidents are there in the world?
Now the USA should follow what India has achieved - if you ask me though, that's highly unlikely. I would not put my money on that bet.
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Read more: BBC Link

Parents spend time with us

My Parents were in town for a little more than 2 weeks. While it was a short trip, we had a great time together. Old times, old tales, talk of family and friends, wine and Jim Beam were on tap. We visited Boston a couple of times and a last minute white mountain trip as well. Both my parents were keen on seeing Harvard and MIT (Its a desi thing - as a friend points out).

While they were here - there was plenty of drama on the immigration front. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) rose from the dead - and died again. The department of state (DOS) and the US Custom and Immigration Services (USCIS) joked with thousands if not millions of legal residents in this country. A comprhensive series on the events in cronological order can be read at my brother's blog (1, 2 and 3). After the drama, the words 'current' and 'retrogressed' have taken on a whole new meaning for me. Acronyms like PD, AOS, ROW, EB, GC, RFE, VB, AP, EAD etc have become like living objects controlling the lives and livlihoods of millions of people. Still oblivious of those shortforms? Good for you. May you never have the need to know anything about them.

Here are some photos from my parent's visit.

Enjoy.

Amma_Papa_2007

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Only in India

Would a bunch of people ask to be relegated in the social ladder (Read background here or here) (I promise I did not read the article before writing this :-) ). This is a sure sign that the 'Reservation or Quota' system, the equivalent to a government imposed, regulated and enforced affirmative action system is *NOT* working in India.

Here is one of the MAIN problem with the quota system that India currently has:
When the reservations were made, there was never a clause that discussed how and when these quotas would be rolled back in the future - once they achieved what they were expected to achieve. With an open ended legislation, motivated by the politics of vote, the regression of the Indian masses was bound to happen. Even water flows through the easiest path.

Without a system that was based on the economic (and other) condition of a person, the system was based on a class system, a caste system. A system that we are suppose to root out. But instead, with the sole motivation of gaining votes of a certain section of the society, the wheels of democracy has once again taken India backwards.

Delhi Metro

For a looong time, I wanted to write a bit about this phenomena - bringing about a change in the whole environment of Delhi.

With the Commonwealth Games in 2010 a very real deadline, the Delhi Metro has been moving at a steady pace to bring about a real change in the mentality of Delhiites and the whole of India.

Recently I have been reading about the metro for its energy savings, economic savings and last but not the least, saving human lives.



(click on the maps for larger images)

Till date, it has saved 33,000 tonnes of fuel, 280 lives - er - human lives, about Rs. 400 cr when combined. In addition, it has prevented about 2,276 tonnes of poisonous gases from being released in the environment (as a result of less vehicles on the road, a total of 17,00,000 vehicle kms). The summary can also be read here or here.

Other facts (as of June 2007):
Total number of trains - 64
Total Kms of track - 65
daily number of commuters - 5,50,000
Number of stations - 59

For more information - go here.

Mumbai immigration deports NRI children

Another sad story..
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Mumbai Airport immigration officials deported seven-year-old Viraj Shriwardhankar and his three-and-a-half-year-old brother Vrishabh two hours after they landed in India last week.
Their parents' plea for a transit or temporary visa was summarily denied.
The officials granted a two-day transit visa to a French national at the same time, their father Vijay Shriwardhankar wrote in an e-mail. 'The French national has white skin while Viraj and Vrishabh have brown skin.'
Vijay and his wife Vaishali Prabhu, both natives of Mumbai who have worked as IT professionals for nine years in Boston, said they 'cried' when they described their experience at Mumbai airport. Both Vijay and Vaishali are Indian citizens and have a Green Card. Their sons are born in the US and hence, American citizens.
The family left Boston on December 11 for a four-week vacation in India by Air France flight 337. 'The Air France agent verified our Green Cards along with our passports but did not ask about the Indian visa for our children who have US passports. At Paris the officials never verified our sons' visa but verified our Green Cards,' Shriwardhankar said.
When the family arrived in Mumbai they realised they had not brought the visas for the children with them.
Their elder son has a ten-year Indian visa in an old passport which the family did not carry with them. The younger son has a Person of Indian Origin card. That too the family did not have with them.
The family requested an immigration official for temporary or transit visas for the children.
They also told the official they could get the documents faxed from Boston.
'The official would not even look at us, let alone hear our pleas,' Vaishali said. 'I have never seen such inhuman behaviour.'
No one was bothered that the children had already traveled for about 24 hours. 'There was absolutely no humanity shown by the ACP (Assistant Commissioner of Police) Immigration or Air France officials,' Vijay said.
The official would grant the family only 45 minutes for the documents to be faxed to Mumbai. 'We requested a little more time. But he would not heed us,' Vaishali said.
'I requested my friend in Boston to go to my house and fax the visa papers immediately. She was already on her way to get those papers. I was begging the Immigration ACP and Air France officials to allow us to wait at the airport until officials received the fax but they didn't want to do anything about it and forced us to take the flight at 2:40,' Vijay said.
The officials received the fax 10 minutes after the flight departed, the couple discovered later.
'We asked to see a higher official, but it was not allowed saying the boss had already left. How can an airport function without a senior officer?' Vaishali asked.
After the stipulated 45 minutes, an official, Deepak Grover, gave the children a Notice of Refused to Land.
Two hours after their arrival in India, the family left Mumbai.
'I absolutely accept my big mistake of forgetting the visa. I am a human being and can make mistakes. I was trying to see an alternative so my kids did not have to travel 22 hours again,' Vijay said.
'I am sure the guys got a peaceful sleep that night. I have not met such cold persons in my life who don't understand or feel the sorrow of the kids. We left with my kids crying and my family members outside in a state of shock,' Vijay said.
'The worst part was that there was a Frenchman from the same flight sitting in the immigration office who forgot to even apply for an Indian visa. The immigration official gave him a two-day transit visa.'
'The immigration official said he would have sent us back even if I had a two-month-old baby. But for white skin laws will be different,' Vijay noted.
'The children are very upset. The elder son questions the behaviour of people in India,' Vaishali said.
The family plans to leave for India in a few days. 'I feel ashamed of being an Indian. The Frenchman told me, "I am surprised how immigration personnel are treating you even after you being an Indian." What kind of world are we living in? The officials could have checked the computer for details since the children had visited India many times earlier,' Vijay said.
'India is the only democratic country that doesn't allow a transit visa to any foreign national,' he said. 'Yet our politicians want to improve tourism in India.'
'I am writing this with great pain that my family had a terrible experience with the Mumbai immigration department and Air France. I would like to share that with you to see if anything can be done so that such things would not occur in the future,' Vijay wrote.
'I know no one can reimburse for the suffering and torture we went through. I would be highly obliged if action is taken in this matter.'

Mussoorie

Shruti and I in Mussoorie. This was taken on the 24th of November '05. We took the ropeway to Gunhill from near Picture Palace (on the Mall). The beauty of the mountains is visible in this photo. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the 'Queen of Hills'. Unorganised, anaesthetic and unplanned construction and development, commercialization and over-population has made mussoorie simply unpalatable.