A Nation on the March

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Singha
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Singha »

a high level delegation from japan has expressed interest in taking up the 5000cr blr-chennai expway along kolar district alignment. they have already bagged the delhi-mumbai industrial corridor project.
they were told these contracts are given based on 100% open auction bids. there are some indications they might bring the money and want to do a govt to govt FMS kind of deal on this one.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/busi ... 470109.cms
Dilbu
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Dilbu »

Brilliant job! I salute everyone involved in this colossal task. Proud to be an Indian. Jai Hind.
No new wild polio case for a year, India beats down deadly virus
As India reaches this ‘no wild case' mark, it will no longer be considered ‘endemic' to polio, a status it has harboured thus long, with three other nations — Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. If all tests for the wild polio virus in India — including laboratory analysis of acute flaccid paralysis cases with onset up to mid-January and environmental sewage sampling — return negative, India will officially be deemed to have stopped the transmission of the indigenous wild polio virus.

Following this, the World Health Organisation will remove India from the list of endemic nations, probably by mid-February. “India's success is arguably its greatest public health achievement and has provided a global opportunity to push for the end of polio,” said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan.
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Vipul »

ramana
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by ramana »

Awesome story of an enterprising young man;

Dosa Plaza
Arav
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Arav »

As Narmada water trickles in, life blooms in barren Jalore
Till three years ago, people were reluctant to marry their daughters into families of villages in Jalore, a barren district in the Thar desert of Rajasthan, for people have to walk up to 8 km every day to fetch water.

The rain-fed fields were dry, not even good for growing fodder. Small ponds and lakes, often the sole source of water, turned saline with dissolved harmful minerals. Migration was a way of life, and poverty rampant.

But things started changing when the Narmada Canal Project brought water to the area through a 56-km canal from the border with Gujarat in 2008. People are now eager to wed their daughters into the potentially prosperous villages — and also want to become part of the slowly unfolding success story by buying up land there.

But nobody is selling. Some Jalore farmers are now growing cumin, castor seeds, wheat, pearl millets, isabgol and even pomegranates, while others look forward to the day they will move into the same bracket. The price of farmland has soared from Rs.5,000 a bigha to Rs.2.5 lakh. (Roughly, six bighas make a hectare).

“Till yesterday, these people [in villages where water has reached] were in tattered clothes. Now, their wives are laden with gold,” says a functionary of the Narmada Canal Project.
Suraj
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Suraj »

Folks, no more on the topic of Modi, Arundhati Roy etc here. Any subsequent posts will be deleted.
kmkraoind
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by kmkraoind »

Bihar farmer sets 'world record' in potato production - DNA

Posting in full. We need farmer education courses and workshop to educate and provide necessary tools and techniques (assuming it is not scammed as an annual scheme with a new name) we can achieve export surplus in every agri product. God had blessed India with major fertile lands, plenty of water and sunshine. The good news is that Magahada seems to be rising once again.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's dream of India's second green revolution taking off from Bihar seems to be coming closer to reality. A young farmer of Darveshpura village in his native Nalanda district has set what is claimed to be a world record in potato production through organic farming.

Three months ago, a group of farmers in the same village had created a "world record" producing 224 quintals of paddy per hectare using the SRI (System of Rice Intensification) method.

The potato farmer, Nitish Kumar, has harvested 72.9 tonnes of tuber per hectare. The world record so far was 45 tonnes per hectare held by farmers in the Netherlands, officials said.

Nalanda District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agrawal said thatseveral officials and agricultural experts were present in the field at the harvest time to verify the claim and record it.

"The world record is the result of hard labour and experiment with organic farming," Agrawal told IANS.

Kumar Kishore Nanda, a soil scientist, who helped Nitish in his farming, said success was a result of the organic method of farming. "Once again the organic method of farming proved superior to other methods of farming."

Nanda said that the loam soil of the village is suitable for several crops, including the potato.

Rajesh Umath, a district horticulture officer, said the new record will certainly go a long way in removing doubts about low production associated with organic farming and encourage other farmers to adopt it.

Nalanda, the home district of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is already the leading potato producing district in Bihar with farmers growing the crop on over 27,000 hectares.

Bihar is the third largest potato producing state after Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Last year, five farmers of the village are said to have created a world record when they produced 224 quintals of paddy per hectare.

A young farmer, Sumant Kumar, produced 224 quintals of paddy per hectare beating the world record of Yuan Longping of China with 190 quintals of paddy produce per hectare.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has certified Sumant Kumar's record.

The SRI method of paddy cultivation was introduced in the state three years ago. Initially the farmers were reluctant to adopt this new technique despite the state government providing free seeds, fertilisers and experts to guide them. But now more farmers are interested in adopting this method in paddy cultivation.

An upbeat chief minister had then termed it "a big achievement" in the agriculture sector in the state. The next green revolution in the country would be ushered in from Bihar, he had said.
abhishek_sharma
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by abhishek_sharma »

Avinash Dixit: A great Economist

One of his papers is among the best 20 e-con papers published in last *100 years.*
krisna
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by krisna »

Judgment of dissent
The Abiding Importance Of Radha Binod Pal
THE two Indians who are revered the most in Japan are Mahatma Gandhi and Justice Radha Binod Pal (1886-1967). The latter is remembered chiefly because of his dissenting judgment in the Tokyo Trial which was set up in 1946 after the Second World War. The trial convicted Prime Minister Tojo but excluded Emperor Hirohito. Seven of the 28 accused were sentenced to death, 16 to life imprisonment and two were awarded shorter and lighter prison terms. During the course of the trial, two died and one was excluded on grounds of insanity.
Radha Binod pal wikipedia.
The Yasukuni Shrine and the Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine has monuments specially dedicated to Justice Pal.
In 1966, the Emperor of Japan conferred upon Pal the First Class of the Order of the Sacred Treasure. Pal is revered by Japanese nationalists and a monument dedicated to him stands on the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine, seen as a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism. The monument was erected after Pal's death.

Justice Pal's dissent is frequently mentioned by Indian diplomats and political leaders in the context of Indo-Japanese friendship and solidarity. For example, on 29 April 2005 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh referred to it as follows, in his remarks at a banquet in New Delhi in honor of the visiting Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi:

"It is a noteworthy fact that though we have gone through various phases in our relationship, in times of difficulty, we have stood by each other. It is important to recall that India refused to attend the San Francisco Peace Conference in 1951 and signed a separate Peace Treaty with Japan in 1952".[6] This, Pandit Nehru felt, gave to Japan a proper position of honour and equality among the community of free nations. In that Peace Treaty, India waived all reparation claims against Japan. The dissenting judgement of Justice Radhabinod Pal is well-known to the Japanese people and will always symbolize the affection and regard our people have for your country."

On December 14, 2006, Singh, made a speech in the Japanese Diet. He stated:

"The principled judgment of Justice Radhabinod Pal after the War is remembered even today in Japan. Ladies and Gentlemen, these events reflect the depth of our friendship and the fact that we have stood by each other at critical moments in our history."

On August 23, 2007, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Pal's son, Prasanta, in Kolkata, during his day long visit to the city. Prasanta Pal, now an octogenarian, presented prime minister Abe with four photographs of his father, of which two photographs were of Radhabinod Pal with Nobusuke Kishi. They chatted for half an hour at a city hotel.
Image
yasukuni shrine
Image
Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine
Gaurav_S
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Gaurav_S »

I hope this is the right thread to post some pictures. Admins else please remove it. Just thought these efforts are worth noticing.

Ajab story: Online classes in Gujarat village

Image

[edited Ramana]

Image

Image


Really motivating.
Last edited by ramana on 26 Mar 2012 09:33, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Edited. ramana
svinayak
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by svinayak »

PRESS RELEASE NETWORK
http://www.pressreleasenetwork.com

Think for India - Dr Jawahar Surisetti launches a movement for thinking in India



Raipur, India - Mar 25, 2012 (PRN): Dr Jawahar Surisetti, eminent educationist and psychologist and author of international bestseller " Mama and me", has launched a movement " Think for India- Socho to jaane" which raises cudgels against the current education system which feeds children with education but not with the power of thinking. He aims to talk to and convince atleast one crore Indians in the one year to join his movement to introduce thinking in education.

After his 2 year long strenuous research for which he has been awarded the Man of the Year by the US state, he has surveyed 30000 students in India and an equal number in the US and Europe . The findings of this research have alarmed him that the students in the current system use only two of their five senses in the learning process. Secondly only 47% have fun during their learning period. The view of the students is that their teachers do not encourage or like questions being raised in the classroom and reward discipline and adherence. Students also felt that the key to their parents' hearts is success in exams.

Consequent to his research , he innovated the Think! Curriculum which is based on the linear learning process where all the five senses are used for holistic learning and the children are forced to think. The assessment and learning processes are open ended and force the child to come up outcomes which involve thinking. There are a lot of games , activities , life skills in this joyous journey of Think! that the students encounter and love it.

Another problem is that internationally including India, the curriculum available is expensive and could be afforded by elitist schools only, so the access is only to a few students. Life Educare, the company that owns Think! Curriculum wishes to reach out to all private and public schools in India and make this curriculum affordable and available to all.

Think for India, the movement will take off with a series of seminars on The Art of Thinking for students, teachers and parents and in this interesting series of interactive seminars in schools and colleges will kickstart the process of introducing scientific but interesting methods of introducing thinking in the teaching learning process of school as well as higher education institutions. After doing this in India, this will go international.

The website http://www.thinkforindia.com will be launched in April this year.

Once the system and the curriculum force the students to think, they will become more employable. Currently the academics in educational institutions give certificates and degrees but the corporate world says tat only 13% of the available human resources in the country are suitable for employment. This is because there is a lack of development of thinking processes in the education system.

For more information, contact:

Dr Jawahar Surisetti
Tel: 9303277947
Email: jawahar4@yahoo.com

###

Information from Press Release Network may be freely distributed to any publication. Wherever applicable, please cite Press Release Network as the news source.
Rahul M
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Rahul M »

Gaurav, I agree it's very ahem, motivating. pic 2 especially. :mrgreen:

(what happened here ?)
hnair
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by hnair »

:rotfl: Looks like some drone-birather's idea of the perfect women - no talking, just massive investments in the diary sector. Nation on march indeed
JwalaMukhi
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by JwalaMukhi »

Ah! where is Shri.Dr. V S Ramachandran to explain the phenomena of diary sector?

Exaggerated diary sector is artistic norm (since eons - India's sculpture scene has plethora of examples) to motivate hapless mujahids and goes by peak shift.
http://scienceblogs.com/mixingmemory/20 ... _art_r.php
Recall that the peak shift principle involves the exaggeration of certain visual features. One way to strengthen the peak shift effect would be to isolate a single visual modality and exaggerate features in that modality, as, for example, the stick with three red lines isolates the color red from the chick's mother's beak, and then exaggerates them. One might argue that this is what Van Gogh has done with color in many of his later paintings, in which the entire form of the painting is defined by exaggerated color.
Avarachan
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Avarachan »

MurthyB wrote:This group is doing something great. Hope they succeed, and it becomes a real mass movement. The talk on their website sounds like it is some BRF member? Anyway, kudos. Would like to join them one day when I am in that neck of the woods.
Have you ever felt frustrated by the filth around you?
Have you ever wished India was a cleaner place?
Have you ever felt like doing something about it, and not known where to start?
Don't all of us Indians feel the same?
Good overview of their work and other videos on this channel:

Interview and other videos

The Ugly Indian website
Thanks for posting this! I had never heard of them before, but what a great group.
svinayak
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by svinayak »

Why comparison with the west. India has to create its own based on its knowledge

"Indians have different standards of hygiene than westerners"
Prem
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Prem »

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/0 ... ?mobile=nc
There’s An Energy Revolution Brewing in Bihar, India
Something’s brewing in Bihar. After decades of being India’s most notoriously “backward” state, the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has tempered corruption, built roads and spurred development.Given the impressive achievements of his previous term, it’s no surprise he rode to overwhelming victory in recent elections. What is surprising is that his campaign platform consisted of more or less a single promise — to deliver electricity access to the 82% of the over 100 million inhabitants of Bihar who lack it. With little fossil fuel reserves to speak of, Bihar will need to write a blueprint for a clean energy revolution to deliver on that promise.As Shaibal Gupta, Secretary, of the Asian Development Research Institute puts it, Bihar now requires an infusion of energy to further “lubricate” the wheels of development. That’s putting it lightly. Bihar faces a 30% peak power deficit (highest in the country) due to its paltry 546 megawatts of installed capacity — about the size of one average coal plant. Worse, Bihar loses roughly 38% of the meager amount of energy it produces through transmission and distribution. That’s like taking almost half of this capacity and pouring it down a drain – while you pay for it.The states chief minister has tried to construct new coal plants to reverse the situation but to no avail. Worse, India’s coal crisis is raging, reducing the likelihood that any new coal plant Kumar is able to build will be able to secure coal at affordable rates. Add the lead time for a new coal plant (at least 5-7 years to complete) and it’s pretty clear turning to renewable energy is the only way to make good on his campaign pledge.But these factors can be said to be true for any number of country’s still heeding conventional wisdom and dumping billions into failed grid extension efforts powered by heavily polluting coal plants. Which is why Greenpeace India has launched a campaign to push Bihar in the direction of the quickest most promising way to deliver energy access – decentralized clean energy (read their new report here). The campaign is creating the political momentum to catalyze a clean energy revolution building on the pioneering work of entrepreneurs like Husk Power and green light planet.
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by vera_k »

Maharashtra to make vandals pay for bandh mischief
The highest fine so far recovered has been Rs 7.8 lakh from a Shiv Sena activist, who led an attack on a five-star hotel on January 21, 2009. MNS workers were ordered to shell out Rs 57,000 for vandalizing the office of the registrar of the University of Mumbai on January 22 the same year. MNS and Samajwadi Party workers were ordered to pay Rs 2,000 and Rs 12,000 respectively for damage caused during protests on November 9, 2009. The state penalized supporters of Narayan Rane Rs 4,300 for an attack on the office of a Marathi daily.
ramana
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by ramana »

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/kar ... epage=true


Bijapur, June 4, 2012
UNAVOIDABLE: Hemant Nahar says that till a few years ago, they were collecting 50 paisa, but after the 50 paisa coin was withdrawn from circulation, they increased the price to Re. 1.

The poor can buy a meal for Re. 1 at the Nahars' garment shop

Sixty-five-year-old Gollappa Patil clutches his cracked aluminium plate and waits for his turn to be served. He stands in a queue, along with others like him who have been abandoned or are destitute. They quietly collect four jowar rotis and some curry and rice in broken plates or polythene bags and hand over Re. 1.

By handing over that coin, they are not just buying food, but another day of survival.

For four decades

For four decades, this nondescript garment shop in Kabraji Bazaar of the city has been providing meals to poor and homeless people at an unimaginably low price.

Hemant Nahar, the proprietor of the shop, personally serves the food every day between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Began in 1972

It was his father, Nathilal Nahar, who began the altruistic action of serving food to those in need in 1972 after there was a severe drought in the district. “My father could not bear to see people dying of starvation and so decided to provide food to people at the lowest price possible. In later days, many people belonging to the Jain community began giving donations,” says Mr. Hemant Nahar. Mr. Hemant Nahar has continued the good work after his father passed away two years ago.

For a mere 10 paisa

He says that back in his father's time, food was sold for a mere 10 paisa. The money was collected to pay the salary of the cook or to pay the flour mill. It was later increased after the 10 paisa coin was withdrawn from circulation.

He says that when they first started serving food at the shop, over 100 people would come and buy food. However, now only around 50 people come to the shop to buy food every day.

He says that many people donate jowar and vegetables. “Some people also provide donations, which is again used to pay the salary of the cooks.”

“Till a few years ago, we were collecting 50 paisa, but after the 50 paisa coin was withdrawn from circulation, we increased the price to Re. 1,” he says.

Sometimes people who are unable to pay Re. 1 are given food for free.

Mr. Hemant Nahar says that feeding the poor and needy gives him spiritual satisfaction.

Persons interested in helping Mr. Nahar can call on 08352-250114.
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Vipul »

India's station in Antarctic operational.

India's new fully automated station, 'Bharati', is now operational in Antarctica but it will take a few months of close monitoring to achieve trouble-free operations, sources said.

Scientists of the 30th and 31st expeditions returned recently. "A 13-member team is staying on to conduct experiments and maintain the station," Rasik Ravindra, director of National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) said.

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India is now among a few nations, which have set up more than one station in Antarctica. At present, Maitri, which was built in 1989 is serving the Indian scientific community in carrying out research in diverse scientific disciplines in the cold continent.
The new one situated in Larsemann Hills in East Antarctica, is 3000 kms away from Maitri and 6000 kms from Cape Town, South Africa.

"The Bharati project has been completed in three years," Javed Beg, director, NCAOR (logistics) said. Heavy machinery and equipment was transferred and a helipad and pipeline laid during the first two years. "This was the prelude for the construction activity, which commenced from November 2011 and was completed in March 2012," Beg added.

The NCAOR is expecting to make it fully operational by February 2013. "The systems need fine-tunning and scientists are having a tough time as there are some teething problems," a scientist said.

Antarctic has emerged as a pedestal for front-ranking scientific research. India launched its first Indian Antarctic Expedition in 1981 under the vision of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, a source said. Around 30 nations are carrying out research in Antarctic while 50 are signatories to Antarctic treaty.

NCAOR organized a debriefing function for the 30th and 31st Indian Antarctic Expeditions at its campus in Headland, Vasco on Tuesday, June 26, 2012. Its director welcomed the participants and summed up the highlights of the expeditions.
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Vipul »

SAIL to supply 50,000 tonne steel for CERN-like Neutrino Observatory.

The Steel Authority of India, the country's largest steel maker, will supply 50,000 tonne of special steels for building a CERN-like underground detector for the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO).

When the project is completed, INO will house the world's largest magnet, about four times larger than the 12,500-tonne magnet housed in the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.

About 50,000 tonnes of soft iron plates will be required for fabricating the neutrino detector. INO is being touted as the next frontier to take particle physics beyond the standard model which led to search for the elusive 'God particle' or the Higgs boson.

For this purpose, a two km underground tunnel is being constructed in Theni between Madurai and Kochi. The expirement is likely to cost $250 million.

The project is being executed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in association with over two dozen institutes like Mumbai's Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) and Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) in Kolkata.

"We will source low carbon plates from SAIL for the project," Prof. Naba Mondal of TIFR and spokesperson for the INO project said.

The project will study properties of neutrinos and use magnetized iron calorimeter (ICAL) as detector.

These value added special steel plates for the INO project will be tailor-made and can command a premium of over 100 per cent in the international market. For instance, if ordinary steel plates cost Rs 40,000 per tonne, these plates can be priced at Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh per tonne, an official affiliated to the steel industry said.

Confirming this, Pankaj Gautam, CEO of SAIL's Bhilai Steel Plant said: "It is a project of national importance and we are proud to be associated with it.

We had many rounds of discussions with the BARC and TIFR team before preparing a detailed protocol. The required chemistry of the slab was finalized and 5-6 plates (about 100 tonnes) were successfully rolled on a trial basis. We hope to soon get commercial orders for these plates."

While laboratory trials for soft iron plates were carried out at Research and Development Centre for Iron & Steel (RDCIS), Ranchi, Bhilai Steel Plant took up the industrial trial.

"The experiments will involve high end technology on a scale that has not been tried out earlier in India. We will develop and transfer the knowhow for the building blocks to set up what will be the first in a series of such experiments. We hope to start work in 2017. Apart from the tunnel, it will involve setting up an underground lab complex to conduct research in particle physics," said Prof. Mondal.

Apart from steel plates, the INO project will also outsource high performance glass for 30,000 particle detectors and nearly 3.5 million fabricated chips or electronic channels using cutting edge electronics.

The project is being jointly funded by department of atomic energy (DAE) and department of science and technology (DST).

"We chose the neutrino to understand particle physics beyond the Standard Model. The main idea is to collaborate in a global research project and also bring back some of those learnings to conduct world class research in our own backyard. China has been following this strategy successfully," Prof. Mondal said.

India has been conducting experiments on neutrinos since the fifties and in 1965, detected atmospheric neutrinos for the first time. Research into neutrino physics, instability of protons continued at Kolar gold mines, one the deepest mines on earth, till 1992 when Bharat Gold Mines that owned the mines went bankrupt. "We are now taking a shot at it again with support from DAE and DST," Prof Mondal added.
svinayak
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by svinayak »

http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/ ... 558820.ece
Creating Changemakers

OLYMPIA SHILPA GERALD
SHARE · COMMENT (5) · PRINT · T+


A day with ‘Payir’, founded by a middle class man who left a million rupee job to empower villages to become the change they wished to see

It is obvious as we bump across the craggy excuse for a road straddling the districts of Perambalur and Tiruchi that our car is alien to these parts. Yet high school boys stop to salute as they cycle by, a destitute woman petitions at the window and little girls wave and call out ‘maama’.

The man seated near me is far from the formidable rustic type but obviously commands respect. While his peers work in air-conditioned offices in the United States, Senthil Kumar Gopalan makes his own mud blocks for low-cost buildings, trains youth in software development at a rural BPO, wields technology to make education appealing to students and sits down to rice grown organically in his backyard.

The 38-year-old founder of Payir has kept faith with his childhood ideals. His organisation lives the Gandhian code of being the change you want to see, empowering villages to take responsibility for their own development. Six years after Payir’s silent efforts, half a dozen villages in the heart of Tamil Nadu can claim better health care, education and employment.

At an age when career choices appear confounding, fifteen-year-old Senthil committed himself to social change. “My cousins recorded my mock interview as I planned my life for the next forty years. Initially all of us have idealistic views of changing the world,” grins the son of an erstwhile cashier at the Pennadam sugar factory. “Many things haven’t happened the same way. As we go along, we know our limitations, and life teaches us a lot of things.”

Reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Swami Vivekananda shaped his thinking, but he attributes his ideals of rural development to Gandhi. “I can say the books that I read made me. These leaders lived in me.”

As with best-laid plans, Senthil’s well-crafted one went wrong. His family struggled with debts in his final year at engineering college and Senthil rushed into a sales job. But he soon found himself in a respectable position in IBM, capitalizing on the software boom. There, he reworked his plan to accumulate enough savings for his parents and his dream venture. “I went to the U.S. specifically to earn money,” he admits.

Did the great American dream push the humble Indian one aside? “Before I left I made a commitment I would return after five years.” And he kept it, quitting his job as technical director though his company offered to double his pay of one lakh dollars per annum. After making a fixed deposit for his parents, Senthil earmarked Rs.40 lakhs to kickstart Payir.
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by SaiK »

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/oth ... epage=true
Dalit woman makes history in Rajasthan
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by krithivas »

The silent Indian national Anthem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CieFO1KuSi8

A very beautiful rendition - spread the melody and the message at will.
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Vijay Hirani »

http://www.firstpost.com/economy/guess- ... 50087.html

It seems that Gujarat has made big gains when it comes to tackling malnutrition. Figures overall including Uttarkhand and West Bengal are quite good as well.
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by SwamyG »

http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option ... &Itemid=66
The patent regime is riddled with unconscionable inequality. The prolific products of the third world that are visualized in the arts, rare exhibits, crafts, music, minerals, wildlife, natural phenomena, etc, are often not patentable. The genes of plants, including the latest find of coffee from Ethiopia and other parts of Africa are kept for further research and seeding in London and other Western capitals, rather than anywhere in Africa.

African creation of music is easily pirated or paid for at a minimal fee by the developed world. Constant changes of technology offer new distribution channels that augment the wealth of the super-rich while rendering just tit-bits to creators of know-how within Africa. In any case, piracy invalidates the patent law.

India is one of the exemplary countries in the third world that has been persistent in pursuing the search for fairness and a new world order for the poverty-stricken lot. This earnest quest for independence of the country has changed its foreign relations with the Western world from being blind loyalists of the colonial powers, to pursuing objectives that suit their situation.

This independent posture has finally spilled into the economic and social arena, making India such a magnificent country to be reckoned with. Thanks to India’s independent initiative, it now produces generic drugs that are a cheaper option, in the third world, to the unaffordable drugs produced in the West.

The resourcefulness and independence of mind of the Indian state, its refusal to succumb to the unwarranted clamour of the already wealth-soaked countries, is a stirring example of what independence ought to mean.
You ought to ask what the official verdict would have been if Uganda had been the one that had faced the onslaught of Novartis’ application for exclusive vending of its drugs in the country.
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Singha »

yes , generic drugs made in places like india and brazil are about the only hope for tens of millions in the third world incl pretty much all of africa.
folks like japan and soko are firmly in the carpetbagger camp on this one.

the inventor of glivec himself says he is not in favour of the rapacious prices charged for these potent drugs
http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 356_1.html

Brian Druker, director, Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health and Sciences University, is the man who invented the molecule — imatinib, the precursor to Gleevec (Glivec) — as a promising anti-cancer compound in 1990s. “This patent decision clearly makes more affordable drugs available immediately and this is good for patients in the short term,” Druker said in an email response to Business Standard.

“I have consistently spoken out about what I view as the high price of drugs, but if we too severely restrict the price of medications, we may lose the ability to invest in new drugs,” he added.

In 2007, Druker reportedly said the price at which Novartis was selling imatinib around the world had caused him considerable discomfort. “Pharmaceutical companies that have invested in the development of medicines should achieve a return on their investments. But this does not mean the abuse of these exclusive rights by excessive prices and seeking patents over minor changes to extend monopoly prices. This goes against the spirit of the patent system and is not justified, given the vital investments made by the public sector over decades that make the discovery of these medicines possible,” said Druker. His statement is widely used by pharma non-government organisations across India to challenge the claims of MNCs.
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by RamaY »

Don't know where to post this...

http://tridentgreentech.com/

Demo plant goes live in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh
Trident Greentech after several lab studies and the ongoing rigorous study to identify the nearness of the microbe to finalise and name the specie has taken a step forward to demonstrate the technology invented.
 
The site is finalised on the bay of bengal in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh in India. The demonstration is planned to treat 6000 liters of Sea water per batch and it would be around 36000 liters per day .
 
This demo plant will generate around 10000 litres of Drinking water, 15000 liters of water for irrigation , 2 Tonnes of Urea and 1 ton of Sodium and around 2000 meter cubes of Organic Gas per day. The plant is PLC controlled and automated.

Using the Power of the Nature
Our team will demonstrate the Power of the Nature, using latest technologies & bio-technologies, in the respect with the nature, we will implement a Pilot Plant and demonstrate all the benefits and possibilities of this new technology.
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Nikhil T »

Slideshow: Delhi's Kashmere Gate ISBT gets airport like feel.

I used to board a bus every 2 weeks from this ISBT, 10 years back when I was in college. It is truly remarkable that they've been able to clean up to a standard befitting the national capital. Love the stainless steel pillars and wall covers - much better than those generic white tiles that stain so easily.
Kudos!
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Suraj »

:eek: That's a bus terminal ? Quite a job well done. I don't mind the roughness around the edges - they can be sorted out without much difficulty - it's a massive stride forward from what most of us know a bus terminal to be.
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by member_20317 »

Inflexion point:

Despite whatever you see around you, at this moment:

1) how many of you would still be long (all in playing blind) on India? :).

2) What is it that motivates you to feel/act that way?


PS : Needless to say, it is not important to reply on the forum, but request you to reply to yourself.

PPS : I am sorry JE Menon ji. Hope this works.
Last edited by member_20317 on 04 May 2013 16:52, edited 2 times in total.
JE Menon
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by JE Menon »

ravi_g - you have been warned.

Suraj, when I saw the bus terminal, i nearly crapped in shock! Fabulous stuff.

Meanwhile, biggest mall in India will be in Kochi - Lulu Mall; copy paste from Dubai obviously, but who gives a fu(k? I'm just happy that Kochi is getting something; letting my provincial pride slip through there.

Plus, have chappies seen the plans for T2 Mumbai airport? I love it, not too grandiose, but befitting a growing power:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/sli ... 090793.cms

Largest public art display programme - apparently the Reddys who own part of the airport are bigly into art
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Singha »

infra will only be as good over time as the civic sense of the people using it. we have seen what the horde can do to railway stations all over.
thats is why I have to ask - does mumbai have a separate hajji terminal?
I recall one dark night of seeing a separate hajji processing terminal in same line as old IGI so they probably have that "issue" covered.
in some smaller airports like guwahati, tents and shamianas are pitched outside the main terminal so a proper "arabic desert" feel can be given from day1 itself and the huge hordes may not shall we say "stress test" the existing terminal.
Suraj
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Suraj »

PRC faces similar troubles - all that shiny infrastructure is used by people who have no prior history of handling such developed world level infrastructure. Yet, even though their being a police state is partly a cause, people are also genuinely proud of being able to use such infrastructure and tend to be more careful than we might give them credit for. They may not be anywhere close to as civic minded as Japanese or western Europeans, but things aren't too bad... yet.

Even in India, people have tended to quickly follow the party line. I remember visiting the earliest Gurgaon malls in the early 2000s, back when there was no Delhi Metro, no Delhi-Ggn expressway and when most of the rural folks visiting the mall had seemingly never seen an escalator, and had to be hand-held up on to and off it by helpers. You've probably seen that too, having been in Gurgaon even earlier. It went away soon after, and nowadays such things are no longer seen.

JEM: T2 at BOM is pretty good for the constraints they're working under - they're pretty much building a new terminal through the existing one 'live' - unlike DEL T3 or Beijing T3, they didn't have the chance to build a greenfield terminal further off because there's just no space. There's even talk of connecting Juhu aerodrome's runway to make it an extra runway for BOM, a la Polderbaan if you're been to Amsterdam airport...
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by RamaY »

JE Menon wrote: Suraj, when I saw the bus terminal, i nearly crapped in shock! Fabulous stuff.

Meanwhile, biggest mall in India will be in Kochi - Lulu Mall; copy paste from Dubai obviously, but who gives a fu(k? I'm just happy that Kochi is getting something; letting my provincial pride slip through there.

Plus, have chappies seen the plans for T2 Mumbai airport? I love it, not too grandiose, but befitting a growing power:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/sli ... 090793.cms

Largest public art display programme - apparently the Reddys who own part of the airport are bigly into art
+1.

This trend started with the building of new airports. There is beautiful art in airports that depicts the cultural heritage and diversity of Bharat.

That Bus station is the way things are going to go in Bharat. Soon I predict many bus stations around Bharat will follow that model.
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Supratik »

I think the main problem in India is planning of urban space right upto the local level. That is why it is important to set international stds to local governance. On the side, it seems we are heading for all-India ban of gutkha, zarda, pan masala, etc. So may be those pan stains will be a thing of the past.
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by Yogi_G »

Isnt CMBT in CHennai supposed to be the loargest bus terminal in India and IIRC also in Asia? It is mentioned in the Maharana Pratap ISBT article that it is the largest in India.
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by disha »

{Post deleted. The previous poster already received a warning. That should be enough reason to avoid responding to it.}
Last edited by Suraj on 06 May 2013 09:36, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Political response deleted.
JE Menon
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Re: A Nation on the March

Post by JE Menon »

Cross Posting Kish from Contribution to Technology thread

Silver nanoparticles provide clean water for $2 a year

Quote:
SOMETIMES the solution to an enormous problem is tiny. Silver nanoparticles may be the key to supplying clean, affordable drinking water worldwide.

Thalappil Pradeep at the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai and colleagues have developed a filter based on an aluminium composite, embedded with silver nanoparticles. As water flows through the filter, the nanoparticles are oxidised and release ions, which kill viruses and bacteria, and neutralise toxic chemicals such as lead and arsenic.

Some nanoparticles leach into the water but at concentrations that pose no threat to health. Pradeep describes the process of making the filter as "water positive": 1 litre of water spent on making nanoparticles gives 500 litres of clean water.

In tests, a 50-gram composite filtered 1500 litres of water without needing reactivation, so they estimate that a 120g-filter that costs just $2 would provide safe drinking water for a family of five for one year (PNAS, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1220222110).

The filters are undergoing field trials in India with the aim of preventing waterborne diseases.
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