From the monthly archives:

July 2007

Make Research An Attractive Career Option

by Nipon on July 31, 2007

India will soon join the league of a few advanced nations to boast of a dedicated military satellite. An ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) project, the satellite will be launched by the end of this year. The satellite, capable of capturing advanced imagery, will be dedicated to military surveillance. This will surely add to India’s military might. It also speaks volumes about the advancement India has made in the field of science and research.

However, with the current generation completely ignoring pure science at graduation, there is going to be a severe crunch of brains in the field of research in the long run. Real development of a nation – for example, construction of dams, production of high yielding crops or sending satellites into the space – is inextricably linked with the advancements in the fields of science and research.

Students are flocking to lucrative career options as engineering and management that are simultaneously less brain-taxing but more rewarding. Such is the system in our country that a B.E. grad can bag a handsome job after 4 years of study whereas, after years of toil a P. hd research scholar is not sure whether he will get one. It is time the govt. did something to make research an attractive career option. Last time I read in newspaper the central govt. has allocated extra funds and taken steps to make the general courses and research more attractive. But these are surely not enough to attract the best brains.

Also, the work environment in government institutions is not at all conducive to work. Amartya Sen could not work in Jadavpur University due to dirty politics. A great historian (I am forgetting his name) has written in a series entitled Bangalnama in Desh magazine about his bitter experience as the HOD in Delhi University. Cheap politics and nepotism filled the air of DU. Unless the environment is rendered clean and free from all sorts of politics how can the best minds be lured to research?

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Roaring Rupee at nine-year high

by Nipon on July 24, 2007

The Indian rupee continues its climb against US dollar touching a new nine-year high of 40.22 in early trade today. However, the rupee value remains the same as par other currencies. A weak dollar and huge dollar inflows into the market – $5.8 million in July alone – are responsible behind the rupee’s surge. In fact, over the past few months the rupee has strengthened as much as by 10% against the dollar and may soon breach the crucial 40 mark which has so far been held in check by the central bank’s intervention – the Reserve Bank of India has been buying dollars to check further rise of rupee. The RBI has bought $23.4 billion between January and May. State banks are also buying dollars on the central bank’s behalf.

The rupee stength is not an indicator of the national economy though. It is not that Indian economy has improved by 10% with respect to US economy. Nevertheless, the rupee is at present the strongest currency in Asia.

The strength of rupee has seriously hit exporters. Wipro, the 3rd largest software exporter, had lower margins than expected. The IT industry fears there will be no pay hikes for a next few quarters. However, employees of companies like Capgemini that has its client base mainly in Europe need not worry. On the other hand, Indian IT firms having a dollar-dominated client base are badly hit. These companies have started expanding their markets to reduce dependence on a single market i.e. US.Indian Rupees

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Mini Matters

July 20, 2007

The human body is compressible, and although lacking all sense of biology, the mini-bus conductors are well aware of this fact. So between 9 to 11 in the morning a hundred such human bodies are compressed into the 12 inch by 20 inch tin boxes.
The technique is to pile the bodies towards the back [...]

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Kal Baishakhi

July 16, 2007

The only event in the Kolkata weather is the monsoon. It comes fully equipped with smoke and dust and dead, dried leaves. The dust enters your hair and your nose and you run indoors from the storm. The grey nimbus clouds are like poison- dark and cool. These are not the white cotton clouds you [...]

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