According to a news item in today's ToI; Skype has refused to co-operate with Indian authorities in a matter relating to the nation's internal security. Apparently, Skype has refused to share the encryption code which it uses to encrypt the data communicated over the VoIP service it provides. This encryption code will help the Indian Intelligence agencies to intercept communications and could be an important tool in the fight against terror.
This refusal on the part of Skype has prompted Indian Intelligence authorities to consider banning Skype – which again, as the article points out, is easier said than done since Skype hosts its servers outside of India.
Now, I am not a believer in internet censorship – since it is a free medium after all. But, this is a serious matter and has a direct bearing on the internal security scene in India. Further, the report says that Skype has already shared the encryption code with Governments of countries like US and China. Then why not with India? The article does not mention why Skype has refused to share the information.
I think it is in the best interests of everyone involved if Skype co-operates with India in this case. Failing which, India should consider banning the service; the possibility of by-passing the ban notwithstanding, considering the fact that China has succeeded in strictly monitoring each and every aspect of internet use in the country!
“The whole Indian system is bloody inefficient- Says who?”, thundered my pal; Mr. Professional (MP) recently when I was cribbing about inefficiency being the principal ingredient of the Indian DNA.
“Have you ever tried registering your property (site/house)? Then you would have inevitably come across the remarkably efficient bribe system. Everything is fixed. The bribe you pay (over and above the registration charges of course) is either a fixed percentage of your property value; or follows slab-rates depending on the property value. It doesn't end there. Each person's share of this pie is clearly defined beforehand, all the way up to the minister; no less. And have you ever stopped to marvel at the process of bribe collection and distribution?”
I definitely saw sense in what MP was saying. I pointed him to this excellent article by Atanu Dey which explains how trucks are routinely overloaded in exchange for a bribe. I was astounded at the way it works – and how seamless the entire process seams to be. Everyone stands to gain – the lorry operator, the corrupt officials at the check-point, the road construction contractor, and not to mention the babus and netas.
That only charged up MP all the more. He now focused his energies on bashing the LPG cylinder delivery chain. “Do you have any idea why you have to wait for 10 days to even 2 weeks for delivery of you LPG cylinder from the day you book it? It's because the dealers are stocking it up and providing it in black. The process is so streamlined, you won't even suspect something's cooking. You'll even dismiss the delay as yet another manifestation of the Great Indian Inefficiency Syndrome!”
Well, well, well. MP's right this time. The various processes and systems which corruption has spawned should be taught as subjects at the various B-Schools. They're probably six-sigma or better. If only this skill had been put to proper use. And here we are, the educated middle class, who's blissfully putting it all down to inefficiency. Ha!
According to this news item in today's ToI, Poland has approved a law that mandates castration of child sex offenders in some cases. The news item also adds in the same breath that this move has sparked criticism from human rights groups.
Two points I want to raise here:
One – Heinous crimes call for heinous punishment! Why can't other countries around the world take such concrete and seriously tough steps to curb the menace of child sex abuse?
Two – The part about criticism from human rights groups had me thinking: Can an adult who mercilessly sexually abuses a child really qualify as “human”? Why can't human rights groups look from the child's point of view for once?
Looking forward to a humane world which treats its children as human too!
We all have heard about blood cancer and lung cancer. But, ever since I came to know that my close friend Lai has “nose cancer”; I have been discussing with friends and I came to know about forms of cancer I had never heard about – cancer in the knee-cap, in the esophagus.
Another very prevalent form of cancer about which awareness is only recently increasing is breast cancer. In the past five years, I have known of about eight women who have lost their lives to B-cancer. All Indian, most of them middle-aged. I always used to hold our culture and women's attitudes responsible in equal measure for this. Its not only about awareness. Its also about the social outlook towards the problem. We Indians being notoriously conservative in all these (often wrong) matters; the problem is only compounded. People (both women and their husbands) shying away from consulting doctors; and self-examination being either unheard of, or worse – people having partial and wrong information about self-examination. After all, its our great culture, I used to think, where even using the B-word is taboo (if you haven't noticed, I'm even using “B-word” .. instead of .. well .. the B-word) – let alone getting oneself examined for cancer.
But that was before a friend told me about yet another form of the disease – testicular cancer. A few days after I came to know about this, I was also pointed to former World cycling champion Lance Amstrong's story (he has survived T-cancer to become the world champion).
And now that I know about T-Cancer, I no longer blame women or culture or society for the prevalence of B-Cancer. Suddenly, I understand the hesitation, the shame, the shyness that women must be going through when faced with the prospect of an examination. I understand it is not only about the examination itself – it is also about how to face society. Which also explains the hesitation to consult even lady doctors.
However; shame, shyness, culture – none of these justify neglecting or concealing the disease, whether B-Cancer or T-Cancer. It is a matter of life or death, for God's sake! I feel that the awareness (at least regarding B-Cancer) is spreading these days – which is definitely a good thing. All we need now is a change in societal outlook towards these killers – an outlook which strongly discourages young men and women from ignoring these diseases.
On a closing note, I think we should put the internet to good use in such matters. Information regarding self-examinations for various forms of cancer is available on the internet; including videos (for example on sites like videojug). These can be used to make the youngsters more aware of these issues; which would help them take preventive measures.
Looking forward to a society which values human life more than it does shame! JAI BHARAT.
There was a news item last month - traffic violations in Bangalore will become dearer; not only in terms of the fine applicable, but also in the sense that repeat violators stand to lose their driving licenses. It appears to be a very good move .. on the face of it.
But just dig a bit deeper; and suddenly it all becomes very clear. It is just a very smart way for the traffic police to make more money; and demand more bribes. The target – those people who insist on paying the fine and getting the receipt rather than paying a bribe.
Given a choice between paying a bribe and getting your “violation” tracked, thereby risking losing your license; what would you prefer? I think I'd rather pay the bribe – principles take a back seat. Especially because of the fact that it is virtually impossible to drive in Bangalore without breaking some rule or the other – albeit unwittingly. For,
Many of the signals are faulty. Some signals stay permanently red for most of the days; and suddenly start functioning properly only when there is a cop around.
With bullies behind you honking and shouting and abusing you when you wait at a red signal, I think the sensible option is to face the police rather than face the bullies!
Signals in Bangalore do not follow a standard convention (especially the “blinking green arrow”, free left turns; “free straight” all are very irregular)
Huge number of signals are obscured by signboards, trees, and other such.
Most importantly, sometimes you are concentrating on the vehicles around you rather than craning your neck to see where the signal light is. Or, you are following a bus and the signal is simply not visible.
Bottom line – since it is very difficult to perfectly follow the rules while driving in Bangalore; and since I would not risk losing my license; I think I will need to compromise on the “no-bribe” principle if this proposal is implemented by the transport department.
On a closing note, how I wish the traffic police and transport department tried to target the deliberate violators; rather than the unfortunate ones who break the rules by mistake!
Imagine one fine day, human beings were to vanish from earth. No, we are not talking about extinction or asteroid collision or anything of that sort. Just imagine that all our constructions, all our signs are retained – just we humans are plucked from the earth. What would then happen?
“The World Without Us”, by Alan Weisman, tries to answer just that question. I'm sure we all know what we've done to the Earth. But, reading this book will give you a more complete picture of this. It leaves no stone unturned, no aspect of human interference untouched. Just a sample of what are the topics the book touches upon:
What will happen to New York city without us?
What will happen to oil refineries?
How long before the nuclear power plants disintegrate without humans to maintain them?
What will happen to farms and farmlands in the absence of humans?
Will corals reinvent themselves sans us?
How long will the non-biodegradable poison (plastic) continue to poison the animals, bird and aquatic beings after we're gone?
Will nuclear waste buried at several places deep below the earth continue to poison all future species for millions of years to come (remember, fuel-grade Uranium has a half-life of 700-million years)?
What is even more interesting is that in order to understand what will happen in future; Alan takes us through a history of how the arrival of humans wreaked havoc with the environment. How the appearance of humans coincided with the extinction of megafauna (massive animals like giant sloths which were twice as big as today's elephants). So guys, if you though the industrial revolution was the beginning of the destruction of the earth, you are off by a few million years!
Then, Alan also takes an educated guess as to what might be the monuments which will last the longest – and as you would have guessed, most of them are ancient!
I think I'll leave you with that – and rate “The World Without Us” as a must-read if you are an environmentalist or a nature-lover. The author has travelled to all corners of the earth in quest of the answer; and he takes you from corals to deserts to Chernobyl to Serengeti to the Korean DMZ to the 5-centuries old forests in Poland and Belarus. All this makes for a very interesting read; not to mention a very relevant and thought-provoking one at that.
Viral Fever ka Side Effect 1: H1N1 fear grips you :)
.. like the guy who was just before me in the line at the hospital. He mentioned the s-flu word to the doc and got a mild scolding from the doc for believing the the media hype!
Viral Fever ka Side Effect 2: Unread count bloat!
Hmm .. lets see – unread tweets: 150 – that's easy to clear. Google Reader unread blog count: 350! Now you know why I have not been commenting on your blogs of late!
Viral Fever ka Side Effect 3: Ruined Weekend
A packed Independence Day weekend goes waste – in bed. And you start wondering why you always fall sick on weekends. Why not on weekdays when you can skip work for a couple of days?
Viral Fever ka Side Effect 4: A book completed.
Well – you dont feel like watching TV, you dont want to switch on the laptop; but then you want to avoid rusting. So what do you do? You complete that book you've been reading slowly forever now. You read more in 4 days than you've read in the whole month before this :) (stay tuned for a book review)
My close friend, Lai, has been diagnosed with nose cancer. When I came to know about this, my mind was a swirl of emotions. I did not even know what to think. But, I read his blog completely; and once I did that, I started seeing Lai and this whole matter in a new light altogether.
One – Lai refuses to be bogged down by self-pity. What's the point of being sorry for oneself? He has decided that he's going to fight the cancer. That's remarkable – in a world which is hell-bent on making patients sorry for themselves; where more people lose their lives to the loss of hope rather than to their root suffering itself!
Two – Lai has turned this situation into a source of hope. He wants to motivate other cancer patients like himself – to fight; to survive. To quote him “Cancer is a new beginning – not an ending”! This is now the main purpose of his blog.
Now; I can not even imagine what I'd do had I been in his situation. Its very easy for me to sit here and throw in an opinion that one should be strong, one should fight, one should not give in .. blah blah. But the real impact will only be known to one who is actually the patient.
However, Lai's blog proves that hope and the will to fight are the most indispensable companions of a patient. After seeing the situation from his point of view; I now feel that I can encourage anybody to fight their diseases, their suffering rather than throw in the towel. I now view Lai as an embodiment of hope for cancer patients – the world over.
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I have now decided that:
I will never feel sorry or sad for a cancer patient in the future – no-one's going to gain anything from it.
I will do all it takes to spread Lai's message, his blog, his determination, so that it reaches other cancer patients.
I request you to do the same. The larger the number of cancer patients who find the hope, the motivation and the strength to survive from this initiative – the larger would be our bit in helping Lai. You can also contact him through various channels – details are over at his blog.
You never know when youtube videos suddenly become “no longer available” - so let me also put into words, what this video is trying to say. This minute-and-a-half clip shows a video grab of a news item shown on India TV in the immediate aftermath of the 26/11 attacks. The reporter is making a complete fool of himself in his attempt to draw the attention of the nation to the plight of the pigeons who had made the Taj their home (and who were supposedly the “pride of the Taj”, according to IndiaTV). There are several melodramatic phrases used by the reporter (which I'd rather not translate).
This clip is too stupid to even warrant a comment. All I want to say is – guys @ India TV – please see this news item and look back at what exactly you were trying to prove by airing this clip (at a time when one billion people were terrorized; and awaiting news of their near and dear ones in Mumbai, hoping the terrorists had been captured, praying that the victim count had stopped rising)
Really, what's with nutcases who take something obvious and package it as news, announcements, surveys and more?
Just pick up the newspaper following any terrorist activity – and you'll see politicians right up to the Honorable Prime Minister giving statements like “Prima facie, it appears to be the handiwork of terrorists”. Oh REALLY?? Damn .. and here I was, thinking that the strays were celebrating animal Diwali!
Then, we have a new survey almost every day in the newspaper – which claim to have unearthed some sacred truth – like this survey which has reached a conclusion that dudes driving and text-messaging at the same time are more likely to meet with an accident than those who don't. Oh bloody freaking WOWWW!! Who would've figured THAT out?
I can clearly see where this is heading. The day is not far when we will see a news report that will read something like this:
The Bangalore-based company “Ridiculous Surveys” has published the findings of its latest study titled “Study on Human Reaction, Resistance and Resilience to Head-Smashing”. In the report released today, the company claims it has found that Nine million, Nine hundred and ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety samples out of the 10 million surveyed, died when their heads were smashed with a 30-kilo block of stone or concrete.
It has also revealed that the 10 who survived were empty-headed and hence their skulls acted like an elastic band; thereby absorbing the energy. George Bush, former president of USA, is reported to be one of the survivors. So, is a certain Mr. Saif Zali(m) Ardari, who is also a President just like George Bush (not to be confused with the honorable President of Pakistan – Mr. Asil Ali Zardari – whose mention in this article has nothing to do with this news) but the country over which he presides is unknown. The study concludes that beating a person's skull to pulp will almost definitely kill him or her.
Any similar news items/surveys you have come across (or foresee ;) ?
Disclaimer: This is my personal blog. All the views and opinions expressed on this blog are entirely my own and do not reflect the views of my employer, organization, relatives, friends, acquaintances or any other person/entity.
