AI Shows its "Class" again...

After being grounded for days, Air India staff showed that even 30,000 feet above sea level they cannot be counted on. The safety of numerous passengers travelling from Sharjah to Delhi via Lucknow was risked when four onboard crew — two pilots and two crew members — were involved in a brawl. The pilot and the steward have allegedly sustained injuries, and an airhostess has filed a case of sexual harassment against the pilots. Additional details are filtering out, some rumour, some fact: the pilot apparently had a history of bad behaviour, and he threatened to offload the entire crew in Karachi [That alone is an appalling threat :)))]. An inquiry has been ordered, but you do not need one to pass this judgment: this petty indiscipline threatened many lives, and injured the already-battered reputation of India's national carrier.

Airlines fly on their reputations for courtesy, efficiency and, above all, safety. However, the same might not be true for Air India — an airline that runs colossal losses, makes ill-thought-out acquisitions, is milked by management and its political masters, and whose pilots pretend to be ill to affect a blatantly illegal strike. This is a national carrier that is fast proving to be beyond reform. This fiasco only adds to the image of a badly-run excuse for an airline, with poor systems and unruly staff.

Air India is lethargic, ineffecient and unfit for service. AI does not deserve a bailout and it 'needs' to be grounded.

On The Moon...

India’s moon mission has achieved a historic first by discovering water on the lunar surface. This is being hailed as a landmark breakthrough in space science. The water divining was done by a probe sent by the US National Aeronautical Space Agency (NASA) as part of the many payloads carried by Chandrayaan-I. The probe’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper or M3 collected data on the presence of water on the moon. The major scientists have given all the credit to the Indian Space Research Organisation for making such a discovery possible.

Scientists confirming the presence of water on the moon are doing so on the basis of scientific findings that have been arrived at after a rigorous process of deduction and analysis – and not by actually finding lakes, pools or puddles of water that we’re familiar with on earth. The probe had access to only the top few millimetres of lunar soil, on the bright side of the moon. The water so discerned might be the equivalent of one litre, say researchers, enough to fuel hopes of finding more water as ice in the darker, unexplored parts of the moon.

Unsurprisingly, popular reaction to the finding that there are signs of water on the lunar surface is that, we see the cosmos – or those parts of the cosmos that promise water – as an extension of the earth’s real estate. However, we ought to remind ourselves that there’s more to the discovery than the science of it. The mysteries of the cosmos are far more profound than to be revealed merely to fulfil human needs. To circumscribe the scope of scientific inquiry to realms that focus only on survival of the human species would amount to limiting our own horizons of knowledge.

The Victims Of Desire – Ram Mishra (Book Synopsis)

A man’s desires are like ripples on water, they never cease to enlarge.

In the year 1808, a precious 280 carat diamond gets stolen from an ancient Kali temple in Rajasthan, India. Two Hundred years later, in the year 2008, the diamond resurfaces in Australia. The Diamond is presently worth a staggering Ten Million Dollars. It is currently owned by a cunning millionaire, Alexander Fox, the powerful owner of Fox Ammunitions Inc, one of the biggest weapons manufacturing company in Australia.

Fox has kept the diamond in his ancestral mansion in Dubbo, Australia, where the diamond lies in a safety vault placed inside a secret underground room which is secured by a centralized computer security system and is constantly guarded by armed security guards. To steal the diamond from Fox’s ancestral mansion, KK Raina, assembles a team consisting of Ira Handrich, an amazingly beautiful computer hacker; Siddhanth Roy, an ex-Indian Air Force pilot, simultaneously battling the global economic downturn and fate to save his dying daughter; Harry D’Cruz, a brilliant safe cracker whose dreams were shattered during the 26/11 terrorist attacks in India; and Karan Singh, the inside man. The team travels to Australia in order to pull off the heist. The scene is set for an extraordinary adventure which elicits everyone’s obscurest desires.

Copyright Registered © 2009 by Ram Mishra.

In Indore, the book is available at the following stores: Reader's Paradise (Apollo Square), Sogani Books (Rajani Bhavan), Rupayan Book House.

The book is also listed on the link: http://pothi.com/pothi/book/ram-mishra-victims-desire

Online Listing and Launch of my Book/Novel: "The Victims Of Desire"

I started writing my blog last year as a way of putting my thoughts and ideas into words. At that point, even I felt the urge to let others know what I was thinking. All my friends knew that I have been an avid reader. I read almost everything from The Famous Five to The Fountainhead to The Bhagwat Gita, and everyone from Enid Blyton to Sidney Sheldon to Leo Tolstoy.

But once I started blogging, I realised that I can utilize my skills by venturing out into the field of professional writing. I wanted to share my ideology and thoughts with everyone. I came up with an idea of a Crime/Thriller/Mystery, developed it further and started putting my thoughts on the wordpad. And today, I'm glad to inform everyone that my first novel named, "The Victims Of Desire", in the Crime/Thriller genre, has been published and listed. On store, the book has been published and distributed by Bookworm Publishers & Distributors. In Indore, the book is available on the following stores: Readers Paradise (Apollo Square), Rupayan Book House, Sogani Books (Rajani Bhavan).

The book is also listed at the link: http://pothi.com/pothi/book/ram-mishra-victims-desire

I hope, everyone of you would appreciate my effort and support me further. Looking forward to a positive book review and feedback from each one of you once you finish reading. Buy the original book. I'm sure it's worth that. Say no to piracy. :) ... Enjoy reading the book. Take Care.

- Ram Mishra.

The "Swine" Flu Scare...

Swine flu has started to claim its victims in India. While there is no cause for panic – worldwide, less than 1 per cent of those infected with the H1N1 virus have died – however, in India, the lacunae way in which the government has managed the disease so far is apparent. With the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimating that as many as two billion people could be infected with the virus in two years, and doctors’ warning that the virus could spread faster post-monsoon, it is important that the ministry of health be ready to respond to the crisis.

As it stands, the country’s treatment protocol is lacking. The girl in Pune (the first victim who died) was initially misdiagnosed by private practitioners, which resulted in what proved to be a fatal delay in her getting proper treatment. By the time her samples were sent by the private hospital where she was being treated to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) for testing, it was too late. According to current treatment procedure, private laboratories can test for H1N1 infection, but if the test is positive, further treatment is available only at mandated government hospitals.

This should change. Private hospitals and clinics should receive training to deal with suspected cases of H1N1and if the cases are confirmed, they should be in a position to offer treatment.

The rate at which the infection is spreading makes screening at airports irrelevant. Screening is done on the basis of forms that rely on people to disclose the status of their health honestly. With the threat of a seven-day quarantine in a government hospital looming, many people might lie, thus making it useless to screen people on disembarkation. At this point, it is only burdening the system with unnecessary paperwork. Now that the virus has infected the local population, other measures have to be adopted to countermand its spread. For now, until a vaccine is available, the best safeguard is prevention by maintaining personal hygiene.

The ministry of health should concentrate its energies on ensuring that a vaccine is produced as soon as possible. The WHO has supplied seed strains of the virus to two Indian companies to manufacture the vaccine, while a third is waiting for its samples. It is unlikely that the vaccine will be available before the end of the year, by which time the pandemic could have significantly worsened. Australia has already started clinical trials and the US is soon to follow suit. India needs to ramp up production of the vaccine so it can immunise large chunks of the population. If more drug companies need to be licensed to manufacture the vaccine, the drug controller should do it.

Right to Education.

It’s a commitment that’s taken decades to fulfil. The right to education is finally made a right of Indian children aged between six and 14. India’s literacy rate and record are abysmal, with millions denied access to elementary education. We have often argued in these columns that India’s growth story could hit a roadblock if a majority of our youth remain out of schools and are not equipped with employable skills. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, which was passed in the Lok Sabha recently, could take us far in our quest for a more equitable and progressive society.

The Bill makes it incumbent on the state to provide free elementary schooling to children in their neighbourhoods. It is an ambitious undertaking, roping in private schools as well, which are supposed to reserve 25 per cent of seats at the entry level for students from disadvantaged groups. In return, the government will reimburse the private schools on the basis of what the government spends on students in its own schools. The common refrain about the poor quality of infrastructure and teaching in our schools has also been taken into account. Schools, whether private or government, will have to adhere to some common standards – have play fields, drinking water, toilets and a library as well as stick to a 1:40 teacher-student ratio.

The Bill seeks not just to guarantee elementary education but also reform the system, which has been a long time coming. It bans capitation fees, bars the screening and interviews of parents and students before admission, and makes corporal punishment unlawful. These are welcome measures.

The Bill is well-intentioned, but the question of just how it will be implemented remains. Education is a concurrent subject, which means that the Centre and states will have to collaborate. This is a potential minefield, in which we hope the project will not become a casualty. It’s time that schools are made more accountable to local civic authorities – including parents via the parentteacher associations – than being monitored by an opaque bureaucracy. Crucially, greater budgetary allotments must be earmarked for education, much more than the measly 3 per cent of GDP allocated as of now. This will help sort some of the systemic problems like poor pay for teachers, which in turn feeds absenteeism and indifference on the part of teachers. A country that has great power ambitions must be able to provide basic education and health care to all its citizens.

How V resembles A...

Yesterday, I watched a science fiction thriller film called "V for Vendetta". Its concept somehow reminded me of Ayn Rand's books "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged". The film is set in a dystopian future U.K. A mysterious anarchist who calls himself "V" works to destroy the totalitarian government, profoundly affecting the people he encounters.
During the film, I somwhere felt that it closely mirrored Rand's concept of objectivism and utopia.
The film depicts a future Britain. In this future, a party called "Norsefire" has arisen as the ruling power. "V", an anarchist revolutionary dressed in mask, begins an elaborate, violent and theatrical campaign to bring down the government. The way "V" fights against everything that he holds in disregard, serves as a faint reminder of "John Galt's" character from "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. It also had probable roots from "Howard Roark's" character from "The Fountainhead" again by Ayn Rand. At the end of the film too, the question his question of who V was, is answered by stating that he was 'everyone', resembles Atlas's motive. I would however leave further speculation to everyone else who reads the blog and recommend viewing the film. It was a 'different' film. For further analysis on Rand's two epics, you may refer my earlier post under the blog title: Interpretation of "A is A" from Atlas Shrugged - For all Purists.

The "F" Word...

In order to succeed, it's important to learn what will work and what will not. Every rejection makes us aware of what will not work. When I read about Thomas Edison and his success story after repetitive failures, I was inspired. I learnt that our greatest weakness lies in giving up; the most certain way to succeed isalways to try just one more time. One has to accept failure or defeat as an essential part of life. After all, life is not about winning alone; it is also about losing, learning from the mistakes that we've committed and then trying again to win. People lose in various ways - some thrillingly, some abjectly - but they do lose. It is what makes the moments of triumph all the more special. After all, if winning was all about there was, what would there be to celebrate?

It often happens that nearly every man who develops an idea works at it up to the point where it loks impossible, and then gets discouraged. It is extremely important to strike a fine balance in everything that one does and to emphasise the need to continuously look for better solutions to achieve excellence. Afterall, life isn't a straight line, it'll always have it's share of twists and turns. And there are no predefined mathematical formulas which'll solve every problem that one faces in life.