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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Water Woes in China

 

Water is the elixir of life. History is replete of so many stories when wars are fought; kingdoms are built and have flourished where abundant water reserves existed. All the river banks have been the cradles of various civilisations of the world. Even the highly developed cities are built on the banks of rivers and seas. Hence there is not an iota of doubt to undermine the quintessential need of water.

The much touted superpower of the South Asia, China is facing terrible water woes. The International definition of water stress defines the requirement of usable water to be 1000cubic metres per year per person. But the availability in China is less than half of the International definition and stands at mere 400 cubic meters. China is home for nearly 20% of world’s population and has meagre 7% of fresh water. The northern part of China which has half the people and two thirds of farm land is experiencing severe water stress. The vast stretches of agricultural lands are at the verge of turning into a desert. The water scarcity in Beijing is on par with Saudi Arabia where it is 100 cubic metres per person per year. There is alarming drop in the ground water levels by 300 meters from 1970. In 1950’s there were around 50,000 rivers and canals with a catchment area of around 100 square kilometres. Presently mere 23,000 water sources have remained implying critical shortage of water. In a race to put mega infrastructure in place, China has mindlessly surrendered to the over exploitation of its precious water reserves.

The passionate Communist leaders obsessed with constructing huge infrastructures have come up with an idea of building another gigantic project to mitigate the water crisis. The country has the already earned the distinction of constructing maximum number of dams in the world has now decided to add one more to its illustrious record. The Three Gorges Dam project on the Yangzi river, infamously popular as the North- South diversion project costing around $79.4 billion is underway. Under this project, the water from the lush green Yanzi river basin in the Himalayan Plateau would flow over 2000 miles through various canals to reach the parched lands of yellow river in the north.

The government instead of seeking recluse in desperate and burdensome measures could have followed a tougher water management regime. Water is availed by the cities at nominal prices. Hence imposing high water tariffs would at least put a check on the usage of precious water. Industries recycle less water and agriculture wastes lot of water. Polluters should be fined. Though the cost of cultivation and burden on industries would increase, the resultant outcome would be much better than spending billions on the water diversion schemes. Even the available ground water has become unfit for washing let alone drinking. But all the marvellous engineering feats would be futile if attempts to improve the water supplies and their judicious use are not considered on a war footing basis. A survey estimated that a third of water of the Yellow river, where four thousand petrochemical industries have been constructed is unfit for agriculture. Imposing higher water tariffs and imposing stern punishments for polluter can curtail irrational use of water.

China is contemplating on the use of shale gas reserves located in the driest regions. Each shell gas well requires 15,000 tonnes of water per year. It is planning to set up 450 coal stations to augment the increasing power needs. A modest estimate suggests the water requirement to be 90,000 tonnes of water. Arguably it is a water intensive process and it might be in its best of interest to refrain from such an activity. Curtailing the development of massive infrastructure projects which put lot of demand would indeed the best way to address this issue in its present form. Only 40% of water is recycled, the water productivity is $8 worth output per cubic meter against $58 in European countries. The water charges are one tenth of the major European countries and government is reluctant to increase the tariff fearing a massive public unrest. According to a World Bank estimate water problems in terms of damages to health has entailed a loss to the tune of 2.3% of GDP.

The grand project aimed at diversion of water from bountiful regions to the water deficient regions appears to be a desperate and futile exercise. These extravagant efforts might in fact cause a severe damage to the environment as these involve digging channels and canals through various mountains, plains and unfriendly terrains. This would change the precarious balance of the ecosystem and many organisms would be killed in this process. Further with the diversion of water the plankton and the benthic population might be severely damaged. Their numbers would seriously diminish. The proposed dam is on the Upper reaches of the rivers Brahmaputra and Mekong. The full fledged dam might potentially subvert at least 1% flowing water from the giant Brahmaputra and would even change the course of the river. This would have serious implications on the regional stability and in the end Chinese would be able to enhance water supplies by mere 7%. At the end of this giant, engineering display and marvellous daunting tasks which China is obsessed with might achieve very little.  Even desalinating seawater might turn out to be cheaper than the humongous dams and canals planned across the rivers.

The challenges of water stress may not be a tale of China alone. It might soon be the worst nightmare for all the developing nations, who deliberately over ride the warnings and rush towards myopic development. This might endanger our invaluable natural resources air, water and soil.

 

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