Sanguine Expectations

 

Though a part of me is utterly disturbed by the ever increasing episodes of crimes and violence against women in India, I am equally overwhelmed by the poise of younger generation of women. The new generation of young Indian women are making rapid strides and are holding earlier male bastions. But unfortunately, various surveys conducted across India have undeniably put up a picture where the status of women in our society is marginal.

The new generation of women are now set to defy the prevailing misogynist attitudes of the old genre. The steady, undaunted courage and conviction displayed for young girls and especially those hailing from the middle class truly offer a glimmer of hope. They are casting a new image of dynamic personality in the society through resplendent success in any of the major exams and excelling in all fields of trade. Their ability to work and earn and their knowledge of their rights has grown. Guided by the parents who are equally enthusiastic and passionate women are marching ahead with aplomb and confidence. Steering away from the social stigmas and taboos they are reaching for the skies. Witnessing women occupying all the major chairs/positions by women is true succour to ailed hearts gravely disheartened by the brutal crimes committed against women.

Recent Indian scenario is etched with high-profile cases involving directly or indirectly assaulting the dignity of women. The most hounded Tehelka scandal highlighted the desperate attempts made by the big-wigs and the self-proclaimed moral upholders of society to hush up the incident. But now as the accused stands exposed, it has sent a quick jolt of tremors across the minds nestled with patriarchal ideas. Just as the story is unfolding before us, dramatic turns of events are making headlines. This particular episode of the sexual assault has been receiving the widest censure as the accused for the past 10 years has occupied a pivoted position of a moral crusader. It is a tectonic jolt for the entire journalist community whose credibility is under scanner. This has proved beyond doubt, irrespective of the social advocacy about the rights on the public platform, Indian men can never relinquish their predatory sexual instincts.

Another reason why this issue fail to dodge away from public mind is the impunity of the managing editor. A prominent journalist, known for her affirmative feminist attitudes has played every dirty trick in the book to silence the whole issue. She dispatched an unambiguous message that her business interests reign supreme over her moral conscience.

This defiant compliance of the management with the accused has earned her an outrage among fellow feminists for inflicting an unassailable damage to the victim. The entire cover-up drama is annihilated by the unfazed disposition of the victim who has rebutted each of the charges with electrifying clarity. Now as the sequence of incidents are out in the public domain any attempt to cover-up would tantamount to severity of crime. This particular scandal in particular has witnessed the moral denigration and the chameleon shades of the towering media celebrity, impunity of the business lobbyists and the emergence of Women power. But for the strong stance taken by the young woman, this incident would have died down inside the four walls of the board room. The strong business interests would have completed devoured the anguish and humiliation of the victim and would have placated her to withdraw her complaint. This impregnable position of the victim has lacerated the character assassination plots hitched by the management. With the inspiration of this lady, may hundreds of women who silently suffer this of betrayal at work places stand for their rights and protest against any kind of violation both mental and physical. But unfortunately with political parties entering the fray, the gravity of the real crime is levitated. Hope the fast-track courts deliver a legally effective judgement to intimidate the piquantly cannibalistic attitude of prying men.

Women are now seizing opportunities in various social platforms to make their voices heard. This speaks of the aspirations of the growing tribe of women who no longer want to rest and cuddle up in the charms of glitter and comfort. They are constantly evolving and making people listen to them seriously. Though women are still hunted down under the name of honour-killings and still molested under the garb of the corporate culture, the staunch will and confidence exuberated by the new brigade of women offers a new hope of change.

We are now witnessing a great change in temperament of ordinary women. Their sphere of influence is not restricted to the narrow confines of home. They started exploring the world staying at home and are extremely confident about each and every action in their lives. This essay doesn’t fail to take cognisance of the burgeoning crime against women but vouches for the growing aspirations of young women who are fighting tooth and nail to make their mark felt in this grossly biased society. May this fighting spirit refuse to die and never succumb to violence.

The victim of the Tehelka scandal has opened up new frontiers of challenge and resilience. Instead of finding recluse in the dark alleys of defeat and confinement, women should draw courage from this spirited lady to clench honour and respect in the society. Self-help is the best help. Amidst the raising atrocities against women, I firmly believe that Indian Women have the tenacity to uphold their honour and dignity.

The Quintessence of Invention

 

Globalisation has opened up new vistas. Gone are the days when we had to look forward for some acquaintance in a foreign land to get quality products.  As all the popular global brands is just shopping mall distance away in India. Adorning the new charms of the shopping malls is the newer and fascinating stuff of electronic gadgets. Hardly anyone can resist the charms of these wonderful and constantly transforming electronic devices. In the age of product revolution, everything can be zeroed down to asking- Is the World becoming more inventive?

The latest know-how, the scientific progress and the comfort of the modern day is the product of numerous innocuous inventions. In conventional life, most of the inventions solve the problem which we haven’t thought could be solved. Hence they play a major role in changing the direction of our lives collectively. The TIME magazine has conducted a poll on inventions in collaboration with Qualcomm. It conducted a survey of 10,197 people spread across seven mature markets (South Korea, US, Germany, Sweden, UK and Singapore) and ten emerging markets (South Africa, Kenya, Russia, UAE, China, Turkey, India, Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia) has come up with some interesting facts about various aspects of invention, inventiveness and inventors. As per the results of the survey, Thomas Alva Edison is remembered by people as a great inventor who notched up 27% of votes followed by Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs. He indeed has 1093 patents to his credit.

Another aspect that springs up is- how the innovation appears so obvious for some whereas it is opaque and so elusive for others or simply how inventiveness hits a person? Is it a result of continuous thinking about inventing or flashing brilliantly as the famous Newton’s falling apple or Archimedes plunge in his bathtub? Most of the times inventions are product of mere doggedness, cussedness and grinding away until it finally yields. The survey reveals that people of South East Asia, especially those from Indonesia believe that inventiveness is a quality that can be learned. Inventiveness takes a front seat when the effort is collective as opposed to solitary geniuses working on the innovation. Much against our common perceptions, love of inventing, necessity and social good are the real motivators for invention and money is not usually the main driving force.

The most important attributes of inventor is power of imagination followed by curiosity, persistence, good problem solving skills, self-belief, scientific reasoning skills. The US stands out to be the most inventive country of the past century for the vast number of innovations it has birthed. The reason for its innovative success may be attributed to the fact that it is a young country pretty much devoid of traditions, institutions and other cultural harnesses that slow down the competition. But now it has matured into a cranky, complacent middle age, is now looking towards older civilisations and cultures like China, Korea and India. Now, China is touted as the rising economic power of the 21^st century.

On an average 65% considered that inventors are special people and 35% thought anyone can be one. These numbers varied with different countries-South Korea, the inventive powerhouse 32% of people believe that inventors have special qualities. Another important feature observed in the emerging markets is that most of the powerful business decision makers asserted that they belong to category of inventors. This clearly indicates that in a growing economy, business leaders have to constantly innovate and create a new niche for their products to stay ahead in a competitive market. It is more to do with the survival techniques.

It is now more important to know the roots of genius which are much deeper and older. Obviously, education system is believed to cast a strong influence on the individual’s ability to be creative and develop an inventive culture. Only 32% in emerging countries and 23% of the developed countries thought that education was sine qua non for invention. There is great deal of difference between the education system of east and west and by far traditional western schools encourage inquiry, open debate and independent work as against the education in east which is more cumbersome. In east emphasis is laid on the art of mastering large volumes of information and reproducing it from memory in exams. Both were considered good in their own way but western education inculcates the art of creativity.

The most crucial part of inventiveness lies in its protection. This in particular has to be offered by the countries in the form of patents. Patents have become the latest indicators of creativity as they induce people to create and find an opportunity to have ownership over the same. 14 out of the 17 countries surveyed had scored to 90% while in India it was mere 72%. A robust patent system is necessary for fostering inventiveness.  The US is commended as the best place for protecting the intellectual rights followed by Germany.

Electricity, The internet and the wheel are rated as the most valuable inventions so far and Cell phone in particular is considered as the most important invention in the human history. The most inventive period worldwide is certainly the present age or the space age (1957-present) where people have witnessed a greatest period of revolution in all spheres of science. Survey indicates that more than 50% opine that there is further scope for innovation and the most likely sectors for big innovations are electronics and computer hardware followed by health care and pharmaceuticals. Next best innovations are also expected in energy sector with China spear-heading the clean-energy market.

Actually creative minds create, but where and how they live brings about marked difference in their output. People have identified certain potential obstacles in the path of inventors. While Indians considered that political instability as the major block, South African’s blame it on poor education system and lack of resources and Indonesians justify the lack of government protection for inventor’s rights as the main road block for invention.

New inventions have practically swept off the World with the power of new solutions they offered and made the world a much better place to live. Finally it all trickles down to the one single aspect, the ingenious mind, the hot seat of innovation. Usually the insights of subconscious mind connect the loosely held pieces of the jigsaw puzzle and pass it over to the conscious which gives the final form to marvellous innovations.

 

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United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

 

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international environmental treaty negotiated at United Nations Conference on Earth and Development (UNCED) formally known as Earth Summit held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The main objective of the treaty is to stabilise the concentration of the green house gases in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. The parties to the convention met annually from 1995 across different cities of the world in Conference of Parties (COP) to assess the progress made in dealing with climate change. The first COP was held in 1995 at Berlin.

By 1995, countries have realised that the existing emission reduction provisions under the existing treaties are inadequate. By 2007 as per the Kyoto Protocol, developed countries are required to reduce the emissions. The Protocol’s first commitment started in 2008 and ended in 2012. The second commitment period starts on January 1st 2013 and ends in 2020. There are 195 countries party to the treaty and 192 countries have ratified the Kyoto Protocol. UNFCCC supports all the institutions supporting the International climate change negotiations including Conference of Parties (COP), Conference of Parties serving the meeting of the parties (COP/CMP), COP/CMP technical bureau (which deals with procedural and organisational issues arising from  COP/CMP and other technical functions).

Climate change though very complex is the fall out of the rapid changes in the environment. It has serious implications on the global climate regime, population, its sustainable growth and development and finally on the economic development of the country as a whole. In 2010 countries have agreed to reduce the emissions needed to limit the global increase in temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius of the pre-industrial era.

COP 19 was attended by negotiators from 195 countries who met at Warsaw, Poland this year as a part of the UNFCCC. The discussions lasted for two weeks from Nov 11 to Nov 22. As the parties failed to reach a consensus on crucial issues, meeting was extended by one more day. The meeting was expected to make a progress towards forging a new International treaty that could offer a solution to the raging problem of global warming.

The climate talks this year were marred with several criticisms. The venue for the talks Poland gets 80-90% of power from coal and further Conference of Parties (COP-19) is sponsored by big polluters, including the petroleum companies across the world. Poland has co-hosted a summit on World Coal Association’s International Coal and Climate Summit during the second week of the climate talks. This has raised critical doubts among the environmental activists about the country’s commitments towards curtailing its green house gas emissions.

Outcomes of the COP-19: Countries have agreed to intensify their efforts in cutting down their emissions. Countries were expected to present transparent and clear plans by the first quarter of 2015 to make advance contributions for the International agreement in Paris 2015. Countries have come forward to intensify their technical work and for frequent engagements of the Ministries. In light of the trail of devastation caused by the super cyclone Haiyyan in Philippines, the conference has decided to extend maximum support to the vulnerable populations against loss and damage caused by the extreme weather events and slow onset of changes like increase in the sea-levels. A detailed plan of action under the “Warsaw International mechanism for loss and damage” is scheduled to begin next year.

More significantly the conference has witnessed the financial announcements of the public climate finance to support developing nation action by countries like Norway, UK, EU, US, Republic of Korea, Japan, Germany, Finland and Sweden. The most significant advancement in the conference was plans were chalked out to help developing nations to cut down their green house gas emissions due to degradation and deforestation which account to nearly one fifth of all human generated emissions. Warsaw framework for the REDD+ have received economic pledges to a tune of 280 million dollars from Norway, US and the UK.

A milestone was reached, when developed countries including Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland have vouched for 100 million dollars to the Adaptation Fund which finances the national environmental projects in the 48 poorest countries. Developed countries have completed their work on the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) so that developing countries can immediately contact for immediate assistance and transfer of technology.

Stalemate over certain issues: The poor nations and developing countries were frustrated, as no headway was made in core issues like curtailing the emissions from the fossil fuels used in the power plants, cars and buildings which are responsible for global warming. Another major issue was financing the poor countries to reduce their emissions and moving towards renewable source of energy (mitigation) and getting adjusted to the changing climate (adaptation) are not sufficiently addressed.  Developed countries have promised $100 billion help for them annually by 2020 but an estimate by Oxfam suggests that till now only $3.6 billion was accumulated.

With increasing temperatures, extreme weather conditions become more frequent and deadly. Developed and developing nations have been working together right from the beginning of the talks to lay a firm foundation for a new international universal climate agreement slated to be signed in December 2015 in Paris. This will be kind of first obligation by all the countries of the world to cut down earth-warming green house gas emissions from burning coal, oil and gas.

The developed countries were highly critical about the commitments to be made by the emerging nations like China and India who occupy the first and fourth position in the table of the highest carbon dioxide emitters. But as a matter of fact, the developed nations till now had largely powered their growth by the combustion of the fossil fuels. China has made it clear that only developed nations should have commitment, while emerging nations could merely be expected to enhance their action.

On the final day of the talks, words have been suitably fortified in the text yet to be ratified from the earlier ‘commitments’ regarding green house gases emission cuts to the newer term and softer term ‘contributions’. Interestingly while several of the island states, sub-Saharan countries and Latin American countries have been enthusiastically driving forward for the International agreement, countries like Australia, Canada and Russia are backing from their commitments.

India has strongly stressed the need for more commitment from the developed countries as the irony is that developing countries have pledged for more reductions than the developed countries. Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, was more vociferous in her talks and lashed out at developed countries for not doing enough while warning the developing countries of the existing obligations. Her talks were scheduled on the day when nearly 800 environment and development activists, including participants from World Wild Life Fund, Green Peace have staged a walk out. The protests were against rich nations who haven’t done enough and for letting corporate interests to take the centre stage. While on the flip side, when the Philippines negotiators have raised a severe pitch about the horrendous destruction caused by the super cyclone Hayyian, Indian counterparts haven’t put across the devastation caused by the Cyclone Phalin at the International Convention.

India and China have stepped up pressure on the industrialised countries to take the first move for a fight towards global warming and further added that the developed nations are to be blamed the most for rising temperatures.

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Frederick Sanger The Father Of DNA Sequencing

 

Frederick Sanger, an outstanding English Biochemist has laid the foundation for the field of Genomics. The field of science which has opened a Pandora box and we continue to explore for decades to come. His technique of protein sequencing has provided the scientists with tools to decode the sequence of any protein in the body and led to the development of new drugs like the Human Growth Hormone. Fred Sanger a two times Nobel Prize winner and Pioneer of DNA sequencing died at the age of 95 in Britain on November 19th. As of 2013, he is the only person to have received the Nobel Prize two times in Chemistry. Other scientists who have received two Nobel Prizes are John Berdeen for Physics (1956 and 1972), Marie Curie (for Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911), Linus Pauling (for Chemistry 1954 and Peace 1962).

Sanger was born on August 13^th 1918 in a family of Quakers in Gloucestershire, England. His father was a medical practitioner. Both his father and older brother Theodore have been a great influence on young Sanger for his interest towards biology, science and the scientific method. At school and all through his initial days of college he was above average but not outstanding. He wanted to pursue a career in Medicine but then decided against it as he would see his father visit patient after patient every day. Instead he thought he would be suited for career where he could concentrate all his activities and interests on a single goal. During that time Biochemistry was recently introduced in the Cambridge University and he got interested in it when he first heard about it through Ernst Baldwin. It was the time of Second World War but he could obtain an exemption from the military service as a conscientious objector.

Sanger began his PhD under A. Neuberger 1940 on lysine metabolism and a more practical problem concerning the nitrogen of Potatoes. He was awarded the Doctorate Degree in 1943. He started working under A.C. Chibnall who succeeded F.C. Hopkins, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Cambridge University and started working on proteins, especially Bovine Insulin. Till 1943 he has to support himself on his own. From the year 1944 till 1951 he received Beit Memorial Fellowship for Medical Research. After that he became staff member of Medical Research Council. This was most exciting period for working on Protein Chemistry as several fractionation and Chromatography techniques were developed. These techniques helped in determining the fundamental components of living matter. What was known before he sequenced the composition of the Insulin protein is that proteins are made up of amino acids.

Sanger’s first triumph came when he sequenced Insulin protein and revealed that it is made of two polypeptide chains A and B linked by three disulphide bonds. Till then proteins were considered as amorphous substances. He used a chemical fluorodinitrobenzene (FDNB) also called Sanger’s Reagent to determine the composition of the polypeptide chains. Using Sanger’s technique scientists have sequenced several proteins. This approach of Protein sequencing has earned him Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1958. This discovery has been crucial for the sequence hypothesis proposed by Crick later, which states that sequences of bases (A, G, T, C) in the genetic material determine the sequence of amino acids of a particular protein. The Nobel prize has helped him to work with more enthusiasm and interest as finding funding, facilities and collaborators became little easy for him.

In 1962, Sanger has moved to Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge where he contemplated the possibility of sequencing RNA using specific nucleases (enzyme which chew nucleic acids). He developed several methods for sequencing small sequences of RNA. By 1965, Robert Holley of Cornell University for the first time sequenced the 77 ribonucleotides of Alanine tRNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

 Sanger then took up the task of sequencing the DNA. Scientists knew that like proteins, DNA is made up of long chain of nitrogenous bases (Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine or simply ATGC). The order of these bases has to be determined to know the sequence of the DNA template. In 1975, with Alan Coulson he published the sequence of DNA using DNA Polymerase using the radiolabelled nucleotides. This technique was called “Plus and minus” technique. This was an improvement over earlier methods as it could sequence 80 nucleotides at a single stretch but was very laborious.  Later he came up with a more fool proof, relatively rapid and stringent method which became popular as Dideoxy chain termination method or Sanger method for sequencing DNA molecules. In 1977, he decoded the sequence of ΦΧ bacteriophage174 (5375 nucleotides), human mitochondrial DNA (16,338 nucleotides) and of bacteriophage λ (48,500 nucleotides). This Sanger method of sequencing has increased the efficiency of sequencing DNA by over thousand times. This discovery has earned him the second Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1980, which he shared with Walter Gilbert and Paul Berg.

Fred Sanger with his colleagues has pioneered the use of thin gels to provide for resolution of DNA bases and 30 years back he has developed the first shot gun genome sequence of the bacterial virus lambda. Even now, scientists around the World use this technique to attack the genome 3,000,000,000 base pairs long. He retired in 1983. He was awarded Order of Merit by the British Government but declined the honour of Knighthood as he didn’t want be addressed as “Sir”. He worked in laboratory throughout his entire career and preferred to do the work on his own instead of assigning it to juniors which is a common precedent in most of the labs. He has little aptitude towards administration or teaching.

Sequencing is the only technique which enables us to decode the genetic information stored in DNA. Since Sanger method is amenable for computer automation, it has allowed scientists to decipher more complicated genomes. The contributions made by Sanger are of par excellence- as the sequencing techniques developed by him have enabled the scientists to determine the building blocks of proteins and DNA. His research has allowed us to understand the language of life. In lieu of his contributions towards the science of genomics, Wellcome Trust has named their institute after him in the year 1993 that specialises in understanding Genomics. His contributions have opened up the field of Molecular Biology, Genetics and Genomics. The modern day biological science is dominated by Genomics which has revolutionised the field of biomedical sciences with its transformative improvements in healthcare. “He is the one the most important scientists of 20^th century. He twice changed the direction of scientific world” recalled, J. Craig Venter, the scientist who first sequenced the human genome.

In a review published in Annual Reviews of Biochemistry in 1988 he commented, “Of the three activities involved in scientific research, thinking, talking and doing I much prefer the last and am probably best at it. I am right at thinking, but not much good at talking”.

 

It is my personal tribute to the great Biochemist, whose sequencing technique has formed the backbone of my thesis work and without which several of my observations would have been confounded. The thousands of the gels which I ran day in and day out remind of the veracity of the Nobel Prize winning discovery.

 

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MAVEN, Mars Orbiter of US

 

On November 18^th 2013, US space agency NASA has successfully launched its space craft, Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) designed to study the Outer Atmosphere of Mars. It is NASA’s 10^th mission to the red planet. The satellite was lifted up by the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The 671 million USD space craft is expected to reach the Mars Orbit two days ahead of the Mangalyaan in Sep 2014 after completing its 10 month long voyage.  But the science mission and solar panelled Orbiter are set begin their work two months later. This mission is the part of the integrated and strategic exploration of the mission aimed at unravelling the mysteries of the Solar system and beyond. It can reach to a closest distance of 125 kilometres from Mars surface. Maven would join the already working team of rovers and Orbiters exploring the Mars. Currently, three other spacecrafts orbiting Mars are active: Mars Odyssey launched in 2001, European Space Agency’s Mars Express launched in 2003, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter 2006. NASA’s rover crafts, Opportunity launched in 2003 and the latest mission Curiosity in 2011 are still working on the planet. The main purpose of the mission is to survey the outer atmosphere and understand the role of loss of atmospheric gas that has resulted in dramatic change in the Martian climate over time.

The past three decades of study when US first initiated its mission to red planet in 1965 has revealed that Mars is cold, rocky and dry. But the studies suggest presence of water, eruption of volcanoes, flash floods, meteors making the craters etc. Efforts are on to investigate the presence of water. Water is present everywhere on Earth and we find life. Present NASA’s Mars Exploration program strategy is to “Seek signs of life”. Presence of water is key to all the four themes of the Mars Exploration: climate, geology, life and human exploration.

About 3.5-3.8 billion ago, Earth and Mars were similar and it was during this time frame, microbial life first made appearance on Earth. There are several features which are common to both Earth and Mars like the polar caps, clouds in the atmosphere, volcanoes, seasonal weather changes, canyons, gullies, volcanoes, rocks, hills, eclipses, runoff channels etc.   Evidence from the previous Mars Missions suggests that Mars was much warmer and wetter. But over a period of time Mars had lost most of its atmosphere to space. Presence of dry channels and minerals that typically form in water provide an evidence for existence of water on the planet. But the thin Martian atmosphere no longer allows water to be stable on the surface. This raises several doubts about the existence of microbial life forms if any and do they still exist in special regions today? Even if life has never existed, can it support as a future habitat for human exploration? Presently Mars has the most unfriendly climate. It is arid, rocky, cold and lifeless. It is home to largest volcano, deepest canyon and has the most aberrant weather and temperature patterns.

MAVEN has 3 instrument suites and would carry investigations for one full earth year. These include: a solar wind and ionosphere gauge called the Particles and Fields Package. Second tool is Remote Sensing Package which will determine global characteristics of Upper Atmosphere and Ionosphere. The third one is the Neutral gas and Ion Mass Spectrophotometer to measure composition and isotopes of neutrals and ions.

So far Mars exploration has occurred in three stages: fly-bys, Orbiter, Landers and Rovers. In future Mars Explorations may employ balloons, airplanes, subsurface explorers and sample returns. Orbiters help us to understand the planet as a whole. They yield a huge repertoire of information about the planet’s atmosphere, gravity, mineral and elemental composition, landforms, magnetic field, internal structure and weather. They help in identifying scientifically interesting sites on the surface, provide information about the presence of rocks and informs about hazards at landing sites. MAVEN would also play a key role in communication relay support for future Landers, rovers on Martian surface.

Mangalyaan and MAVEN are going to complement each other's finding once they the orbit of the Mars. NASA is planning for a human exploration mission to Mars by 2030.

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Our Trip To McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh

As a young girl who grew up in South India, I used to be in awe when people used to describe about their travel experiences to various places. Especially a visit to Northern part of India used to always excite me. Unaware of what destiny has planned for me, I used to wonder whether I would ever be able to travel and explore different places which used to fascinate me. But I think destiny has its own plans for me and in spite of my strong disaffection and reservations for New Delhi, we have to settle in the place and make it our new home. Soon after settling in the capital city a strong urge to explore and travel to different places began to take shape. The desire to visit the hills areas and the deep fascination for the Snow Mountains has been the reason for our trip to McLeod Ganj, the place which became popular for its association with the spiritual leader Dalai Lama.

We began our exciting journey by a train from New Delhi which took us to Chandigarh. Chandigarh is acclaimed to be the best planned city in our country. Being a capital city of two states, Punjab and Haryana and remaining as Union territory, I was expecting massive administrative building all over the place. Living up to its reputation, the city was really clean for Indian standards. It was undoubtedly, a beautiful place and the city have clearly demarcated regions where the administrative offices of the two states functioned. Another interesting aspect which caught my attention was the presence of hawk eyed policemen who have kept a rigorous surveillance on the suspicious activities of people. The vigilance in the city is of highest order and the security personnel are on tenter-hooks as the region is believed to be threat prone.

We began to embark our journey to Dharamshala by road which is 252 kilometres from Chandigarh. The initial part of the journey was rather dull as we have to travel through heavily jammed roads on the outskirts of the Chandigarh, but as we slowly moved on to the highways, the scenery on either of the road has become more pleasant. The lush green fields of Punjab would entice any lover of greenery. The most important places we have encountered on our way to Himachal Pradesh were the Anandpur Sahib a city constructed by Guru TejBahadur and houses a prominent Gurudwara on the highway built in Israeli style, Nangal which is 15km from Bhakra Nangal Dam, the highest gravity dam of India and even passed through the canal which carries Satluj waters to Haryana. As we crossed, Mehatpur, the last city of Punjab, we entered Himachal Pradesh.

Himachal Pradesh has the largest area under hilly terrains and as we travelled more into the state, the roads have started becoming narrower, windy and the elevation of the road began to rise. As we passed the plains and began moving towards hills, the glimpses of the extended range of mountains covered with snow at the peak allured us. These changes are accompanied by the pleasant weather and we started experiencing cold and chilly breeze caressing us. The effect of the climate and elevation is more conspicuous on the vegetation. The broader leaves of trees are slowly replaced by rows of trees with leaves that are narrow and spiny as we moved up the hills. With every kilometre of travel on hills, we began to experience a new sensation of fresh air sweeping off weariness of the long travel. The estimated time of travel was 5 hours, but bad roads at certain stretches have delayed our journey. Travelling through the hills, away from the hustle and bustle of city has quietened every nerve of the body. The close encounter with nature was exhilarating and the hills with the lush green vegetation were a visual treat to our eyes. All through the travel, we stopped regularly after few miles of journey to savour the beauty of the mountains. We passed through the city of Kangra, a famous tourist destination, known for its natural beauty and tea gardens. Kangra fort and the Devi Vajreswari temple, the oldest and wealthiest temple of north India are the main tourist attractions. The change of climate especially the lower level of oxygen on hills seems to bother us a little now. Dharamshala is 36 km from Kangra and it is the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh. It is blooming city with sizeable Tibetan population. The place has become famous for its highest cricket stadium which is the home ground for the IPL team Kings XI Punjab. The city has two distinct parts; the lower Dharamshala has civil offices and business establishments. Upper Dharamshala has the suburbs, Kotwali Bazar, McLeod Ganj, Sidhbari. McLeod Ganj is popularly called Little Lhasa for the huge population of Tibetan Refugees. It is 9km from Dharamshala at an elevation of 2,080 mt. The region between Dharamshala and McLeod Ganj has a huge cantonment, cantonment where several battalions of Gurkha rifles are stationed to meet any unwarranted insurgencies. But by the time we reached McLeod ganj, it has become dark and hence we had to wait till morning to unravel the picturesque beauty of the place. But as we ascended to McLeod Ganj, which is at a much higher elevation, we were marvelled by the splendid night view of the place. All the shimmering lights from the houses, reminded us of the twinkling light of the stars spread on the carpet of night dark sky was a heart warming sight. We moved past the busy market area of McLeod ganj gallivanted by busy tourists crowding the shops in the market area under the brightly lit municipal lights to reach our hotel. We have booked our rooms in a place called Naddi village, 4 km from Mc Leod Ganj and it located at a much higher elevation.

As we reached our resting place, we were flabbergasted by the awesome view of the majestic mountain ranges. We were delighted by the choice of our hotel and the fantastic view it has offered as we opened the balcony door and windows of the room. We were hardly 4 km away from the mountains and the foot of the ranges was at a walking distance from our hotel. The brightly lit full moon sky had enhanced the bewitching beauty of the snowy tips of the mountains, which seem to glitter. This spectacular view of the Dauladhar range or The Indian Himalayas also called the lower Himalayan range has for a while quenched our passion for the Himalayas. We could hardly wait for the sunrise.

The next morning, minutes after the sunrise, as the blanket of fog began to lodge away from the mountain ranges lazily; we had the first glimpse of the pristine mountains. Camera could capture and lock the beauty of the mountains, our minds and hearts are totally filled with the tranquil atmosphere of the place. Away from the maddening crowds and huddling rush, the calmness it offered rejuvenated heart and mind as well. People there believe that any unhealthy person could get back on their heels much faster in this mountainous ecosystem. The sparkling waters which gush down the mountain range, have medicinal properties and can cure all the ailments. The fresh air and the pure water energies us completely. After filling our minds and body with the resplendent beauty of mountains, we set on to explore the rustic beauty of the “Deva Bhumi”. 2km down the hill from Naddi village is the sacred Dal Lake (1900mt), a natural water body. It is surrounded by the Deodar pines which make it an excellent picnic spot. There is a small temple of Durveshwar Mahadev by the side of the lake. We then headed to McLeod Ganj to reach the Bhagsu Nag temple and Bhagsu waterfalls. The temple is dedicated to Lord Siva with a fresh waters spring. The waterfalls are 1.5km from the temple but the road is not accessible to motor vehicles. Hence we had  to climb up a little to reach the falls, the pure, unsullied water gushing out of the waterfall and the mist emanating from the fall is a delightful experience. We have to walk through a small Tibetan market as we descended from the waterfalls.

Our next stop was the most important Buddhist temple Tsuglagkhnag or the Dalai Lama temple which had the statues of Shakyamuni, Avalokitesvara and Padmasambhava. It houses the huge collection of the original preaching of Buddha written in Sanskrit. The exquisite beauty of the statues and the numerous Tibetan Lama’s added to the integral beauty of the temple. This place is seat of Tibetan cultural activities and the place is known for Tibetan souvenirs, garments, carpets and handicrafts.

We then decided to travel to Sidhabari, 10 Km from McLeod Ganj the final resting place of Swami Chinmayananda. On the way we saw the newly built legislative assembly of Himachal Pradesh just abutting the Chinmaya Tapovan. My face was beaming with happiness as we stepped inside the Tapovan complex. It was my dream as a youngster to visit the place and rest my head in the lap of the great Indian spiritual leader. When I rested my head at the feet of Swamiji’s statue to pay my humble salutations, I felt a shudder of joy pass through my body.  Every grain of the sand in the Tapovan seemed more pious, for it is the home of the most revered Swamiji. The complex has a huge lively, imposing statue of Lord Hanuman, a temple of Lord Rama, located among the overarching branches of a beautifully maintained garden. The picturesque beauty and the majestic disposition of the Tapovan guarded by the huge mountain ranges offered an inexplicable bliss and happiness to any restive soul. Undoubtedly, the solace and peace of mind it proffered makes it the best place for meditation. Though I wanted to spend few more hours at the sacred place, we were constrained by time. Unwillingly, we headed to our next destination, Baijnath Mandir 55km from Dharamshala and 16km from Palampur. Palampur is a very big town with a sprawling Agriculture University. On the way, we stopped at the famous tea gardens of the Kangra valley.

Baijnath Mandir (1314mt) is a temple dedicated to Lord Siva, located on the banks of river Binwa, a tributary of Beas River. The temple has been continuously under worship from the 12^th century when the temple was constructed. It is a typical North India temple built in Nagara Style. The old inscriptions on the temple walls suggest that it was the place where Ravana after his intense penance sought the Divine blessings for immortality and invincibility. He then urged Lord Siva to accompany him to Lanka, Siva transformed into a Sivaling. Ravana was carrying him to Lanka, but then was tricked by a Devata and he had to rest the Sivaling in this place. The temple attracts huge scores of tourists as it is considered as swamyambhu. At present the temple is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India and the rituals are performed by the local temple board. Throughout our entire course of travel we were really surprised by the invincible Wi-Fi connectivity. The construction of roads is extremely difficult task in the hills. But barring very stretches of bad roads, we travelled through well built roads. The people of this region were extremely friendly, cooperative, conceited and the regular deceit a trademark of the tourist places in India is absent. Our entire travel has been a massive hit because of the people who were very accommodating and helpful. Another important feature was the overwhelming presence of huge areas of the hills under the cantonments. Perhaps, their intervention has been the reason for the well maintenance of the infrastructure.

After this arduous journey of the day, we returned to our hotel rooms at night and enjoyed the mesmerising beauty of the mountains on a full moon night. With all the fond memories and experiences of the Divine Hills, we had to head back to the regular din and clamour of the cramped city roads. On way back to Chandigarh, we managed to squeeze time for a quick visit to the illustrious Rock Garden. We were extremely satisfied with our trip which has been a journey through the untamed nature. It offered the much needed solace and peace of mind. Body and mind are now recharged to gear up for new tasks and adventures in the busy world of the metropolis.

Chinmaya Tapovan, Sidhbari

 

 

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A Tribute to Bharat Ratna C.N.R.Rao

 

Professor Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao who has been conferred the highest civilian award of India, the Bharat Ratna, is an internationally renowned chemist and third scientist to join the pantheon club of Indian scientists to have received this prestigious award. This elite group of scientists include Nobel Laureate and Physicist Sir. C.V.Raman who was awarded Bharat Ratna in the year 1954, and the renowned aeronautical engineer and former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 1997. The other prominent personalities related to science & engineering and been awarded Bharat Ratna includes the famous civil engineer Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya (1955) and physician, B.C.Roy (1961).

C.N.R Rao’s scientific career spanning more than 5 decades is best known for his research in the field of solid-state and structural chemistry. He has been awarded Bharat Ratna along with Sachin Tendulkar the greatest Cricket legend.

C.N.R Rao born on June 30^th 1934 obtained his bachelor’s degree from Mysore University and Masters Degree from Banaras Hindu University (BHU). His unquenchable thirst for scientific inquiry and investigation has led him to pursue doctoral studies from Purdue University. He completed his Ph.D in a short span of 2 years and 9 months and carried postdoctoral research work at University of California. Being the only son to his parents, he moved to India in 1959 and embarked on his unending scientific journey by joining as a faculty at Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Four years later, in 1963, he moved to Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur where he soon became the head of the Chemistry department. From 1984-94, he was the director of the IISc for ten long years.

His early research was on spectroscopy and molecular structure and published two books titled Ultraviolet and Visible Spectroscopy and Infrared Spectroscopy. He later started working on solid state and material chemistry. In early 1960’s his initial research was beset with many difficulties due to financial constraints and limited experimental facilities. Realising the need for a well –equipped laboratory to compete with researchers in the advanced with determined efforts, he slowly developed all the research facilities at IIT Kanpur by 1970. By then he moved onto research on metal oxides which constitute the largest family of materials with widest possible properties and solid state chemistry.

In the last 20 years, he has made rapid strides in the field of nano technology with a special focus on nanotubes, nanowires and graphene. Even at the age of 79, he remains an active researcher with exemplary output. Rao has been credited for publishing work extensively on the chemistry of various materials including their novel methods of synthesis, discovery of new materials, and tailor making of materials with new properties. He works on the high temperature superconductivity, colossal magneto resistance, multi-ferroics and open-frame materials has crucial applications in the field of semiconductors.

Rao started publishing research articles as early as when he was 19 and has nearly 1500 publications and 44 books so far to his credit. He is reckoned as Tendulkar of science as he was the first Indian to reach the h-index of 100 in April 2013 with research citation of 50,000. By cracking into the h-index of 100 he has entered into the coveted league of world’s big-wig scientists. In common parlance, h-index, the term coined by the physicist, Jorge Hirsch, it is a tool to measure the productivity and impact of the publication of a scientist or a scholar. This index is based on the number of the most cited papers of the scientist and the number of the citations, the individual receives in other scientific publications.

He has the unique distinction of being one of the few scientists in the world, who is member of major scientific academies of the world. Till now 47 universities have conferred him with prestigious doctorates. He was awarded the Hughes Medal by Royal Society in 2000 and the first recipient of the Indian Science Award instituted by Government of India. He has received several international medals and honours which include Padma Sri, Padma Vibhushan and other state honours. Unlike various career scientists who are have made it to the h-index, Dr. Rao is associated with various projects other than research.

Prof. Rao has been the most influential in formulating country’s scientific policies over several years. He has worked with different governments and has been a member of the scientific advisory council to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He is currently the Head of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Prime Minister. He has been urging the Government for not only increasing the current budgetary allocation of 1% of GDP towards science and technology to 2% but also emphasised the immediate need for extending greater moral and intellectual support for the entire arena of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). He strongly advocates that national interests can be served by integrating the STI into the economic and societal policies and believes that science has the power to steer the nation ahead in the global spectrum. He is well known to scientists of India for his undying scientific spirit and childish curiosity.

C.N.R. Rao is an out-spoken critic of the rampant bureaucratic red-tapism ailing the Indian science. An avid educationist, he unleashed a wide range of reforms in the scientific education in India. He has been the driving force for setting up of new high profile Indian Institutes of Scientific Education and Research (IISER). This specific initiative of the Government is established to identify and encourage scientific temper among the youth. Prof. Rao is the founding president of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), established to commemorate the birth centenary of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1989. JNCASR is the premier research institute with international acclaim and earned high repute for its high quality of research. He loves working with younger people, post-docs and produced over 150 Ph.D students.  He still continues to serve as the Linus Pauling Professor and Honorary President at JNCASR apart from being on the editorial board of several scientific journals.

Prof. Rao is very fond of music and relaxes by running his fingers deftly across strings of Veena and Sitar. He strongly believed the need for inculcating scientific temper among children and with his wife Prof.Indumathi he has authored several books for children to make chemistry learning friendly. Rao stressed that-“Stamina, tenacity, doggedness and perseverance with a little bit intelligence are needed for a success scientist”.

His commitment toward nation stems from his childhood association and interest in the freedom movement during his early school days. He grew up listening to the inspiring speeches of leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Sarvepalli Radhakrishna. His spiritual roots can be attributed to his close association with his mother who used to tell mythological stories. The unstinted commitment shown by him towards fostering greater ties between science and society accentuates the need for culminating the progress made by science for progress and development of nation.

 

 

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Dilemma Of The Present Education System

In honour of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, a great freedom fighter, eminent educationalist and first education minister of Independent India, his birthday, Nov 11^th has been declared as National Education Day. He has been instrumental in the establishment of Indian Institutions of Technology (IIT) and laid foundation for University Grants Commission (UGC) to supervise and promote higher education in the country. He worked for the establishment of national educational system with free primary education and modern institutes for higher education. It is pertinent at this juncture to understand the current status of our education system. It is strongly believed that “Education is basic to the creation of an atmosphere in which human beings can meet one another on a plane of friendship and equality”. This year National education day celebrations are marked by the inauguration of 40^th Jawaharlal Nehru National Science, Mathematics and Environment Exhibition by the President  Pranab Mukherjee in Gangtok.

In Andhra Pradesh this day is celebrated as a Minorities Welfare Day and the state government has decided to felicitate various personalities who have contributed to the development of Urdu language and development. Maulana Azad shares his birthday with Acharya Kripalani, a prominent freedom fighter.

Our rural education system was evaluated by a NGO Pratham working in collaboration with UNESCO and UNICEF in rural areas of five states- Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Assam and Himachal Pradesh and has submitted Annual Status Education Report (ASER) for the year 2012. The report raised serious doubts about the progress made by Right to Education Act (RTE), 2009. The main objective of RTE is to ensure quality elementary education to the children of age group 6-14 throughout the country.  A sample survey conducted in five states indicate that learning levels of rural children have come down and just five out of 10 people of Class V were able to solve a simple arithmetic problem. There is sharp decline in the reading abilities of the children especially in the government schools and more people are sending their wards to private schools. To sum up even though there has been a massive improvement in the enrolment rates the quality of education imparted is not commensurate with the amount of money spent.  ASER has made some valuable recommendations to improve the learning standards which include teaching in mother tongue, urgent revisions of the syllabi, proper teacher recruitment policies and imparting child-friendly education.

India over period of six decades of independence has been successful in obtaining an enrolment level of 97% in the primary schools of which hardly 30% of them reach 12^th class. As the ASER report indicates, our existing system of learning is abysmal. It needs a total revamp. The core ingredients of our basic education are marked by the glaring absence of emphasis on building the core skills of learning. Our education system fails to arouse curiosity in children, moreover poor dissemination of information fail to evoke interest and the urge to question. Proper emphasis and importance hasn’t been laid on vocational training and skills. Thus our current education system has failed to empower the child after nearly 15 years of education to choose their choice of profession either academic or vocational. Moreover, the age old curriculum is hardly revised to reflect the changing power of analysis and abilities of children to confront the challenges of globalised and increasingly information driven world.

The standards of our education system were scrutinized on an International platform in 2009 when children from Himachal Pradesh and Tamilnadu were selected to represent India for a test known as PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment). India fared 73^rd position out of participating 74 nations, trailing ahead of Kyrgyzstan which was at the bottom of the table. This World Wide assessment test was conducted by Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for 15 year old children to assess their abilities in mathematics, science and reading. India has withdrawn from the PISA test in 2012. In contrast our compatriot China topped the test and their children from Shangai excelled in all the three aspects of the test displaying an outstanding performance. Till 1990’s India and China had almost similar infrastructure but soon China made rapid strides in education with its dedicated political commitment. It has reformed its education system in stages and the results are brilliant.

Even our statistics in elite education are not so encouraging.  In 2002 India had 11,974 PhD’s as against China’s 14,706 and US had a total of 40,024. Within tune of 5 years, India had 20,131   doctorates while China had nearly double the number of PhD’s 41, 464 and was inching closer to US that had 48,117. By 2010 China outnumbered US in producing the record number of doctorates. India ranks 12^th in the field of science and technology in terms of publication and has 119 researchers in field of research and development per million as against 715 in China and 468 in US.

India is producing nearly 50 lakh graduates every year and a small fraction of them pursue research. In other words the number of people actively engaged in research and innovation driven projects are abysmally low. From the huge chunk of freshly churned graduates nearly 47% are unemployable indicating the deplorable state of present education system. Education has failed to empower the degree-holders as they lack the innovative spirit, out of box kind of thinking and entrepreneurship. Hence again millions of rupees have to be invested in their training for imparting employment skills. This muddled situation has a massive impact on the long term development and sustainable growth of the country. It is showing signs of economic and social strain across the country even. Another disconcerting feature is lack of formal linkage between the industry and academia which could ensure a regular flow of inputs from experts on the course curriculum and research. Further, there is a serious shortage of qualified and professional faculty thus creating an impediment for passionate learning.

The falling standards of Indian education system became apparent with the publication of Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rankings which ranks 800 Universities from 76 countries. QS Rankings are made on the basis of four criteria - research, teaching, employability and internationalisation and sadly for India, its elite IIT’s are ranked at 222^nd position. Even in the Times Higher Ranking no single Indian University figured in the top 200. As a consolation, few Indian Universities could find place in the top 50 for some subjects.

Quality higher education is an enabling factor that can ensure a growth rate of 9%. Urgent steps must be taken to improve quality of technical education and faculty development. Curriculum has to be reformed and efforts are to be directed to bring about all round development in a child. Standard assessment practices must be in place instead of a system ridden of stress of examination. Professional training of teachers and teacher promotions should be based on the student performance.

The basic focus of education should change from the concept of making student mere repositories of information to set high standards in education for educational progress and innovation with a view to develop capability. India’s biggest advantage is its demographic divide and it has to fully utilise this opportunity to bring out the best in the nation where nearly half the population is less than 25 years old.

 

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Tanishq Jewelley Ad - A New Hope Of Change ?

New advertisements hitting the idiot box more often mirror the rapidly changing dynamics of our society. They showcase the changing trends and the aspirations of young India. Young India is desperately trying to break the shackles and bondages in the name of progress and liberty with a view to build society devoid of the orthodox superstitions. It’s no wonder that mass media would be the best instrument to bring a gross change in the deep-seated traditional mindset. The latest Tanishq Jewellery ad was one such as it has created a debate. Initially the ad was ignored and downplayed, but with every passing day it is catching the attention of people for its bold new concept. It has aroused an urgent sense of interest in the new trend of remarriage of a single mom.

Indian society is diverse and in the political parlance, the divide between Bharat and India is immense. A tiny cross section of the society and especially the young brigade are aspiring for a new India devoid of caste, creed, sex and other religious barriers are lunging ambitiously with new ideas leading towards their idealistic society. On the other hand, the vast a majority are still creeping in the dark corridors of orthodoxy and sinking into quick sands of age-old customs. This kind of ads may not bring an instant change in the society but these may be considered as humble attempts to bring about change in the obstinate minds etched with unscrupulous mores.

Modern Indian society is trying to seep in new changes as it perception towards certain issues has changed. Parents who were earlier very averse to the idea of divorce fearing societal repudiation now appear to comply with their children’s wishes of moving out of troublesome marriages. Unlike few decades back, remarriage is no longer looked as a moral taboo. But it hasn’t yet been received with greater enthusiasm and happiness either since our country still has the unceremonious reputation of being very discriminative towards women. A large chunk of society is not comfortable with the celebrations for starting a new life, if it is a second marriage more so for a woman. They still have their reservations.  

Putting aside the business interests of the TATA group, this ad has been successful in generating a small inkling of change in the thought process of people. But at the same time it has raised few eyebrows among the oldest generation who are still averse to the idea of the remarriage and its celebration still to say.  In reality, remarriage for a single mom is still an arduous process and it has to be often embraced with lot of compromises by a woman. This trend is picking up in well-to families. Though there has been a considerable increase in such marriages, their sustenance on long term is still an issue of great concern and debate.  Most of the marriage bureaus still complain of greatest difficulty in finding suitable matches for single mothers. Society is gearing up for new changes but unfortunately women are unable to receive their due share of pie. Moreover, our society is not yet welcoming the new changes with open arms. Unfortunately still these new changes are received with peevish arrogance by the self styled moral upholders of society.  

It might be too early to predict the results of the new seeds of change, but slowly the idea might sink into the society. 

 

 

 

 

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The Manager: Inside the minds of Football’s leaders

 

Iconic leaders everywhere have a philosophy and character that has long lasting effects and these includes business leaders, political leaders and managers. The book by Mike Carson “The Manager: Inside the minds of football’s leaders” is a compilation of interviews with the high-profile managers in the Barclay’s Premier League Football. The managers who have contributed to this book have managed teams for at least 15,000 competitive matches and have been responsible for accumulating prestigious trophies.  Be it business or football leadership is the most important trait to succeed. Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs over 150,000 people. Football has become a lucrative financial venture involving the interests of various stake holders trying to make brisk business at the behest of ardent football lovers. Football managers Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, Roberto Mancini, Carlo Ancelotti, Roy Hodgson, Sam Allarydace, Harry Redknapp, Walter Smith, Mick McCarthy have redefined the game and took it new heights.

The book contains the insights and experiences of 30 managers whose wisdom and managerial skills have kept their respective clubs at the top. Hence it can be collective guide for the leaders in various fields, be it business, education, government, arts and non-profit organisations. This book may not offer immediate answers to all the difficult situations but brings forth a compelling language of leadership which will be useful for people operating in different settings and culture. Though the book is primarily meant to satisfy the curiosity of football fans, keen to know about the skills of their favourite manager, it is equally fascinating for anyone who is willing to take up challenges and hone their leadership skills. Young people endowed with special ability need careful, thoughtful and strong leadership to realise their true potential without affecting themselves and others. Players though considered as assets are human beings first. They have emotions, priorities, beliefs, perspectives, needs and fears and manager is a person who consolidates a friendly relationship between all the teams of the clubs to deliver the best on the field.

An important component of leadership is inspiring confidence trust, commitment and excitement. Concentrating on competence, diligence and communication (includes speed of decision making) are crucial aspects for keeping the club’s reputation in good stead. Football is a highly dynamic game and it demands great solidarity between the players of team to post a victory. The real task of the manager lies in bringing out the best from the huge potential at his disposal. Appreciation, recognition are the significant challenges to manager and they should never be sentimental. A manager is often held responsible for the outcomes of game and is expected to deliver all his professional responsibilities in the face of enormous expectations.

Another important cue in football business is Owner-manager relationship which is of paramount importance.  The tremendous levels of expectation of the game supporters and the ownership always keep the manager on tenterhooks. It is the emotional power of the supporters drives the business of club unusually strong. They are the life blood of the clubs. The manager is always under the watch by media and he is expected to face press conferences very often. Press conferences are a means to connect up to the public and it is also a medium to speak to public and seek their support. Thus, manager virtually becomes face of the football clubs and hence is either reprimanded or applauded for the performance of the entire playing team.

Further, football managers have to regularly face the uphill task of deciding the crucial 11 players for a match from the trained team of the 25 players. The players who are rested need a plausible explanation for not being included in the playing 11. They have to be sufficiently motivated and their morale has to be kept high so that they continue to remain fit for training and contribute selflessly to team when called upon. Of late, huge sums of money are offered to the players with exceptional talent and this can be destabilising. The task of coordinating various teams of the clubs lies on the shoulders of the managers. Hence, managers with exceptional multi-tasking are the ones have excelled in delivering the best for the club. They could cast a permanent impression in the hearts of millions of football lovers. The book showcases all the qualities of the extremely successful managers and their skill in honing the talents of players. Hence it is must read for an aspiring manager in any field.

 

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Impeccable Launch of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)

With the efficacious blast off of the Mars Orbiter (Mangalyaan) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 14:38pm yesterday, India has successfully launched its inter-planetary mission campaign. This Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is incidentally the 25^th launch for the PSLV which has been the most promising satellite launcher for India so far. ISRO has been pounded by the congratulatory messages on the successful launch of the Mars Orbiter into the earth’s orbit. The successful deployment of the solar panels by the satellite has further vitalised India’s robust and meticulous deep-space mission a winning start.

There are three crucial phases in this illustrious odyssey to the red planet.  The first phase of geo centric phase has thus been successful as the fourth and the crucial phase of the ignition was accomplished with remarkable accuracy. The journey so far has been on expected lines and the data from the navigation ships stationed 3000 nautical miles from Fiji in the South Pacific Ocean has further confirmed the satellite’s transition into the earth’s orbit. The satellite will make circumambulations of earth for three weeks after it is put in the elliptical orbit of 250 (perigee) kilometres by 23,500 (apogee) kilometers. Unlike the Chandrayaan-1 which had to travel four lakh kilometres, the Mars Orbiter has to travel around 200 million to 400 million km, hence ISRO will fire the 440 Newton engine on board at the orbiter’s perigee and keep incrementally increasing its apogee.  A prolonged firing will catapult the space craft out of the earth’s orbit and it will enter the heliocentric orbit. On Dec 1^st around 12:42 pm, satellite will start its 9 month long journey to Mars. It is expected to reach the Martian Orbit by Sep 24^th 2014. As the Orbiter approaches Mars, the Newton 440 engine is slowed down to enable the spacecraft to enter the Martian Orbit. The most crucial challenge in this entire mission is that the gap between the first firing and the subsequent one would be 300 days.

As the spacecraft makes several earth bound orbits, before entering the Martian Orbit, it has to pass through high-radiation environment of high energy electrons in the Van Allen Belts surrounding earth.  Accordingly, the spacecraft’s components have been designed to withstand the cumulative effects of the radiations. Hence, radiation shielding or radiation hardening has been provided with Aluminium coating to the components.

The engine will be subsequently fired and oriented after remaining idle for 300 days to enter the elliptical orbit of Mars 377km by 80,000km. The spacecraft is reoriented by delaying the fourth stage of ignition to use minimum energy to enter the Martian Orbit. This is otherwise referred to as increasing the coasting phase between the third stage (PS3) and the fourth stage (PS4) ignition. The coasting phase has been increased to 20 minutes to achieve the correct argument of perigee at the time of injection into the earth’s orbit from the PS4. This long coasting phase has been detected by the two ship borne terminals. The text-book perfect execution of events during the ignition phase on the launch day has further strengthened the confidence of the investigators about the success of later events of the mission.

The 450 crore satellite has a life span of six months and will carry out various scientific experiments with the five instruments on board.  All the instruments have been indigenously built. The Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad has made the methane and infrared sensor. Great deal of importance was assigned to detect the presence of methane gas, which is an indicator of life. Hence, a methane sensor is part of the pay loads. The thermal infrared sensor will give information about the origin of methane whether it comes from a biological or geological process. The Lyman Alpha Photometer made by the Laboratory for Electro-Optic Systems (LOES), Bangalore will measure the relative amounts of Deuterium to Hydrogen which will help in understanding the loss of water. The presence of water on Mars was detected by the Curiosity rover of NASA. Another instrument Martian Exospheric Neutron Composition Analyser or MENCA made by the Space Physics Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram will look at the exosphere of Mars. The Mars colour Camera will help in the optical imaging of Mars surface. The cost of the mission has been minimal as all the instruments and the equipment have been indigenously built. The Chandrayaan -1 had several instruments on board and it was a kind of International Mission with India as the Captain. But Mars Mission doesn’t have any foreign payload as there was a short gap of time between the time of announcement of the project and its execution. Hence the ISRO had to keep it as a close family affair instead of looking for partners. The project was accomplished in the record time of 18 months.

The Mars Mission would have two unique opportunities for major study during its eventful stay of 6 months. One of the Mars satellite Phobos will be in close vicinity to Mars Orbit and hence our Orbiter can study it. According to NASA’s forecast a comet is going to pass by the side of Mars at a distance of 50,000 kilometers. This will be another opportunity to observe the comet.

The entire Mars Mission is very complex and it is full of several technical challenges and one of it is communication with the satellite. The huge distance between the earth and Mars results in greater delay in communication. It takes atleast 20 minutes for a signal to reach Mars and another 20 min to receive the telemetry from the satellite. Hence to counter the difficult ISRO has built the spacecraft with autonomy. If any anamoly or misbehaviour were to occur, the Orbiter is equipped with sensors and transmitters on board that can detect any failure and reconfigure the system to enter into a redundant mode. The reconfiguration occurs autonomously in the Orbiter. Apart from the communication, power requirements also pose a tougher challenge as the orbit of Mars is farther from sun. Thus, it receives 42% less solar energy than earth. To compensate for the lower solar irradiation, three solar panels capable of generating 840 watts are accommodated on the Orbiter. A single lithium ion battery supplies power during the eclipse phases in the geocentric phase and Martian Orbit.

Three other missions European Space Agency (ESA) of European Consortium, National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) of the US and Roscosmos of Russia have been successful in their missions to the red planet.

This maiden inter-planetary mission initiated by ISRO scientists has been a modest attempt to explore the space with the available resources at its behest. Undoubtedly, they have proved their mettle and gave wings to dreams of millions of young Indians. This impeccable launch must have boosted the morale of the Indian scientists with the Mars Orbiter have several thousands of miles to go......

 

 

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