AAKASH TABLETS: Buses become more Classy!

If iPad sales signify something, it has to be the demand for tablet computers. From education to light computing, the tablet form factor has finally hit the bull’s eye. Using a tablet is more convenient than having to open a laptop to work on. Tablets have been designed to replicate the pen and paper metaphor for reading and writing. Applications like Flip board, iBooks and Amazon Kindle have justified the iPad as an interactive replacement for a bag full of books. And now, eliminating the trouble of carrying newspapers, magazines and MP3 players on your way to work or school.

As part of an initiative to go paperless, members of the Indian Parliament are being offered tablet computers for office use. The initiative is open for debate right now among all the sectors and it remains to be seen whether this leads to any major change among the inner circles of the Indian government.

Recently tablets were also seen fitted on the back of the seats in AC bus of BEST with the bus number 458. This bus runs on Thane-Borivali route. The passengers who board this bus also get an immediate experience of Akash tablets. It is indeed a novel promotional strategy and can lead to an increase for its demand.

 The world’s cheapest Tablet is designed keeping in mind specific group of users specially students. One can’t help but think about the benefits of developing a similar approach for the Mangalore to Manipal buses that run round the clock every day.

BY ANUBHAV SHRIVASTAVA

Photo courtesy: http://www.beforeitsnews.com

Sub edited by: Deep Venky

MANIPAL AT THE END OF A CIGARETTE BUTT

“Beta, are u sure you want to go to Manipal? I mean I have heard a lot about that university and I am not quite sure if you would be able to be yourself in that place. I just don’t want to see a different version of my son after four years.”

“Yes mom, I am dead sure I want to go there. Look at the greenery over there, the scenic places I can go to over there in addition to the amazing campus and hostel facilities that Manipal provides.”

I am sure all of you have faced such dialogues at one point or another before coming to Manipal from either family or friends before starting off on your journey for higher education in Manipal. Manipal has one of the best hostels and campus in India but despite this it is tainted with the reputation of drugs and alcoholism.

The question arises why? Why only Manipal? It is an open secret that such things are done in all other colleges ranging from IIT’s and NIIT’s to universities like DU (Delhi University). Well the answer lies in Manipal and the kind of crowd it attracts.

The diversity of the crowd in Manipal is one of its selling points and one of the main points on which the University takes pride but also leads to its downfall at some point. People from many different countries are attracted to this place bringing with them a different set of cultural and moral values. Yes, it is in fact great to have all this in a college but many of these people come from countries where doing drugs is kind of a novelty and if caught they do not get let off so easily. When they come to terms with the fact that drugs are so easily available in Manipal and you can get off with it much easily than their home country they do tend to slack of a bit and encourage this kind of stuff. Can’t write this sorry!

Location wise Manipal is great, with popular destinations like Coorg, Gokarna and Goa which are less than five hours away by train. It is a great way to unwind from the daily grind we face here but it does bring with it the share of disadvantages it has to offer too. Drugs like hash and weed with their easy availability attract college going students as a lucrative and cheap way. What is available at $100 in USA can be attained for one tenth of its price here. Unknowingly, the frequency of abusing such substances increases and slowly but surely students gets hooked onto them.

With it the main aim or purpose gets destroyed- STUDIES. Backlogs pile up and clearing them gets difficult. Some manage to scrape through but some are left behind. Year backs become a commonality among such groups of students. College events like Solar Mobil, Formula Manipal and Parikshit which are conducted for students’ extracurricular, take a back seat for such students.

A University as rich as this and with a pool of talent so great that it can give even IIT’s a run for its money goes dormant. This friends, is MANIPAL AT THE END OF A CIGARETTE BUTT.

By
ROHAN TULI

“INCOGNITO” (Revels’11, LCA Winners)

The Jan Lokpal Bill . The classic case of idealism . Part one .

-By Shiv Ram Krishna Pande

As the wide spread uproar in India continues with the social activist leader Anna Hazare at the top of it , lets take sometime out and view of how this can be even implemented.

 

Saying that , I agree to the fact that corruption in India is immense , widespread and in every sphere of the working class .This includes both the private and the public sector .

Social movements have always been short lived in India . Just like in case of worshipping cricket stars , we love our real life heroes also rather shortly .

Take for example the uproar against the government after the 26/11 attacks on the city of Mumbai .

But can THIS social movement against the snake of corruption last its course ? Can it really be the first step needed to root out corruption from the helm of the Indian Government ?

The idea of the Jan Lokpal Bill isnt new .

The Lokpal Bill was first drafted and passed by the Lok Shabha (The lower house in the Indian Parliament ) in 1969 . But it failed to go through the Rajya Sabha (the upper house) and hence failed.

Consequently , the bill had been introduced time and again with no end results.

Here we can clearly see how the government has been playing the rules of a democratic system to its advantage .

The Jan Lokpal Bill draft of 2010 was written by Shanti Bhushan , former IPS Officer Kiran Bedi,Justice N. Santosh Hegde, advocate Prashant Bhushan, former chief election commissioner J. M. Lyngdoh in consultation with the leaders of the India Against Corruption movement and the civil society .

The draft of the bill speaks volumes of how frustated India as a society , is because of corruption . Clearly its a ver powerful bill that can shake the government inside out if implemented properly.

This draft was passed onto the GOI (Govt of India ) through the NAC (National Advisory Council ) . As expected the GOI took an immensely strong step against the draft and after serious modifications to it was sent back to the NAC.

Calling the GOI self indulging and corrupt , former soldier of the 1965 Indo Pak war and social activist Anna Hazare has gone onto a fast onto death.

Now , lets look at plain political theory that we all learnt at school.

A bill can be passed only and only by a legislator .

Any committee that is hence formed will also have our elected representatives implementing it . Thats why they were elected , by us , to do our work .Now this is plain theory so kindly do not throw in moral rebuttals .

Now the reasoning against the drafted Jan Lokpal Bill –

1. It gives the body formed as much power as the Supreme Court or the Election Commissioner .

 

Doesnt it seem shocking to anyone , that now the people will nominate any citizen to weild power as two of the most powerful and independent bodies of India ?

 

Offices like the Chief Justice of India and Chief Election Commissioner are obtained not only after clearing the toughest examinations in India but also years and years of service to the Nation , day in , day out .

 

Offices like the CJI and CEC are no joke . They arent ordinary class of citizens . These are the people who have worked only and only with the system for their entire lifetime .

 

Now , if this citizen is given such power , where is the certification that absolute power comparable to the CJI and CEC wont corrupt him ?

Communism and Socialism were bright and powerful ideas as well . See where those lead to the Soviet Union and India . the Soviet Union collapsed and India also became bankrupt . A brilliant idea and reality are miles apart , always .Please try and understand this .

2. The Composition of the body .

The body with powers equivalent to the office of an idependent judiciary and a body which holds the largest elections in the mordern day world is to be headed by an citizen .

This is what the britishers describe in their accent as – Bollocks.

 

A non office bearer cant hold such an active position . There are claims that a retired Supreme Court Judge should head the body .

Now suddenly are we being told to believe how clean and error free the former servers of the Judiciary are ?

Did we just praise our normally slow and inconclusive judicial system ?

Again what if such absolute power corrupts him/her ?

Wont the person looking as this office to expand on his retirement benefits ?

Cant he use this office(although after office years ) to challenge the working of the CJI , CEC , PMO , MEA , MOD ?

What is again the guarantee that The Chairman of this body wont open up files against ones he has personal grudges against ? Lets be very very realistic about this claim.

 

3.This is the peoples bill .

No my fellow Indians , its not . This bill was also made by government officers . Some of the most powerful of our parents times . Have a look .Fomer  Union Law Minister , Former CJI , Former IPS officers .

 

4. Targeting IAS /IPS officers .

Why are the industrialists extremely clean people ?

Dont they make black money ?Maybe far more than the bureaucrats infact.

Also please remember there is a Vigilance Commission to check over the government. I have personally seen officers to go Tihar Jail for corruption .

There is no such vigilance in the private sector . Its all upto the ‘seth’ to decide whom to hire and fire.

But no , Industrialist help the nation grow forward , while bureaucrats pull us back . Let me very clear , when the country needs help , its these officers who put themselves in the firing line , not the industrialists.

Diplomacy is war with words . Its again the GOI who braces itself for it and not the FICCI .

 

5. Punishment as proposed by the GOI is a maximum upto 5 years while the Jan Lokpal bill says it should be a lifetime sentence .

Again , have we all lost our brains ?

Because a person made moolah , maybe loads of it , we are charging with the same sentence as murder and rape  ?

 

IS THIS YOUR VISION OF A DEMOCRATIC INDIA ?

A JUST AND A RESPONSIBLE NATION ?

HOW DIFFERENT ARE WE FROM A DICTATOR THEN ?

THIS BILL AND ITS CHAIRMAN ISNT VERY MUCH AWAY FROM IMPOSING UNDER PRESIDENTS RULE. WAKE UP INDIA  . MY TURN TO SAY – JAAGO INDIA , JAAGO.

 

India is a immensly complicated and populated country . No single party can form a government now .Coalition politics needs comprimses (of every sort). We as young Indians need to realise that money will change hands , at the highest level . Will we challenge someone as brilliant as Manmohan Singh because he might have had to compromise ?

 

Offices like the PMO , the MOD , the MEA , MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) arent the offices of Tom , Dick and Harry that you can prosecute them as per your ‘Things to Do List for the Day ‘ . These are the very best people we have got . Thats the reason India from a near bankrupt country in 1991 is being called as an emerging superpower . This is why we can have Nuclear Weapons and yet not be dying of hunger due to sanctions . Instead we get a nuclear power deal to celebrate alongwith the nuclear weapons . At the same time , when a country like Iran tries to develop anything mildly NUCLEAR , they are hit by sanctions so hard that people cant even invest outside .

 

Offices above mentioned do their work very quietly . This is because not many have the knowledge or the insight of what is good for the country in the long run . There is a reason why there is deep secrecy about the MOD and its working . There is a reason why we have less Diplomats and more Engineers . Not everyone is capable of understanding the running of International Relations arena . Comprimses are made , benefits are exchanged . National Morale and Character is challenged every single day . These offices have to remain independent and out of the reach of the tea sipping Indian who wakes every morning , looks at wife and says – This Country is going to the dogs .

If it is going to the dogs , why dont you step up , qualify for the Civil Serives examinations ,the Indian Bar eaxm , fight the elections and work for the nation .

One cant be outside the electoral side of an democracy and talk about correcting things . If you and I want to bring about a change . Jantar Mantar or less food isnt the answer .If we are so many , lets all get in it and clean it up . Shouting isnt the answer .Thats seeking refuge .

In all fairness my dear fellow Indians , you and I are terribly lucky to be protesting against the government who is atleast willing to listen to us after we going on a hunger strike . Have a look at Yemen , Libya , Bahrain , Syria, Iran and even The Russian Federation  .

The pictures tell you all how such a revolt , however peaceful can be rooted out of the pages of history in a day or two .

Be happy that the fathers of our constitution gave you Fundamental Rights , a Free Press(and that includes India TV ),Democracy , Republic and Secular ideas.

These are glaring and gaping holes in this Movement To Remove Corruption .

My second note shall provide the solutions.