MENTALROBICS

       We exercise our body regularly to stay in shape physically but have we ever paid attention to staying fit mentally? The mind needs to be flexed in order to remain active, improve your creativity and boost your memory.  As with any exercise, repetition is necessary for you to see improvement. Try doing some mentalrobics (mind exercises) everyday. Once you continue with them for a while, youll notice astonishing results.

       As we know, the two hemispheres of the brain think in different ways.  The left brain tends to be logical and analytical, while the right brain tends to be more creative and spontaneous. Both types of thinking are valuable and one must try to develop their skills in both. Unfortunately left brained thinking is given more importance and value in the society and workplace. Rarely are people encouraged to think creatively and explore alternate solutions.

      This over emphasis becomes problematic when students move into the professional world.  For any new project to be started, the ideas must be clearly defined and understood (left brained). But as it progresses, more creativity is required to make it effective (right brained).Our minds are constantly filtering and processing the data so that we do not have to pay attention to everything. Your consciousness is presented with only the relevant data that you need, to make decisions. Small details are often ignored.  For example, do you know which color is on top of the traffic signal lights? Or which side is Gandhiji facing on a 10 rupee note?

     Whenever you are free, try to notice something that you normally wouldnt. Focus on an object and try to see all the minute details and recognize that it was made that way for a reason.  Sometimes art students are made to bend over and look at the world upside down. This different orientation gives a new perspective to look at things.

     Here are some simple ways to improve the balance and coordination between both sides:

Left Brain workouts:

     Write: The process that goes behind crafting the right sentence structure to perfecting spelling and grammar is one of the best ways to enhance both your logical as well as your creative side. This can be done by blogging, social networking or simply writing down something in your book.Involve yourself in logic fuelled activities such as crosswords, Sudoku, Math problems or a game of chess. Try and crack reasoning or aptitude tests that are freely available online to boost your grey cells.Learn a new skill, activity or language.READ that book, don't skim. Reading engages your mind wonderfully while skimming content and running your eyes through a page only weakens the left brain in the long run.

Right Brain work outs:

      Take five minutes off to minutely observe your room or deskspace. Remember the details with your eyes closed, and for authentic results, record yourself while at it so you know where you stand. Doing this regularly will strengthen your powers of observation and develop photographic memory.Word association, doodling and memory games help unlock your right brain's coolest weapon - creativity.Experiment for your brains sake. Sketching, painting, dance, music, theatre or writing can help stimulate your right brain.

Striking the right (and left) balanceJuggling demands great hand eye co-ordination and gets them in action together. But to offset your habits and left or right brain dominance, try doing daily activities with your non-dominant hand. If you are right-handed, use your left hand to write, and vice versa.

 Around 80 years ago, psychologist John Stroop came up with an interesting test to gauge the ability of brain's two sides to work together. Use alternate-colored pens to write a series of colour names but try to read only the color. So you may write 'Yellow' using a blue pen, but the challenge is to read it as Yellow and so on. This conflict-inducing test combines colour and language awareness and helps resolve conflicts between the two hemispheres.

Now that you know these simple exercises, dont slack. Start your mental workouts right away!

Disclaimer:This article is simply reproduced from other sources.There is nothing that I have added to this.

CRIME AND SOCIETY

I have a friend who happens to work as a Jailer.We had a discussion recently on the reasons for various crime and the attitude of the criminals.I came to know about certain interesting facts which I wanted to share with you through this piece of writing.

He said that all most all of the theft cases originates out of poverty and hunger. He had seen many Chain snatchers,buglers,looters.The striking commonality he found among all is that these people live under the condition of chronic poverty and has no work to do.This infers us that poverty and lack of job opportunity is at the root of the problem.

He told me that majority (he said 90%) of murder and rape cases were commited while the offender is under intoxication. This may be true, but we cannot jump to the conclusion that liquor consumption leads to crime.If we assume that liquor instigates the criminal attitude then most of the western and developed countries should be the cradles of crime since the liquor consumption rates are far greater in these countries compared to developing countries like India.

So it is not the liquor but something else is at the root of the problem.It appears to me that the root of the problem is illiterate and ignorant society  where in the crime breeds.If we can provide good education to our children which provides them good opportunities thus removes the poverty.Good education also builds good conscince.This completely changes the way society thinks and operates .I think this is the state of society which we see in most developed nations like Swedan,Norway,UK etc.

He was explaining to me the case of a rape accused who is very young ,illiterate and belonging to a poor scheduled tribe community.This boy raped his younger sister who is a minor while he was drunk.His parents has become furious but  tried to keep this act secret fearing social reaction.Anyhow this matter has been leaked to the villagers and they conducted a panchayat and decided to lodge a complaint against this boy since they wanted  to teach him a lesson so that he won’t commit this crime again.Thus a case of rape was booked and he was arrested.

Here comes the interesting part of the story.My friend was observing this boy  for 3 months,he said that he is very good,obidient and hard working guy that he ever seen in his career.when my friend asked him  that as to why he has committed such a horrible  crime,he replied that he was very ashamed of what has happened that night.Further he said that it is all due to liquor that he has consumed which had awoken the animal instincts  which he could not control at that fit of the moment.

This incident reveals two important facts.One,how vulnerable the girls/women in the poor families.second, how, even the most obidient and good people turn out to be criminals.This incident further accentuates the fact that the  presence of  poverty,lack of education ,lack of employment  at the root of the crime.My friend also mentioned some of the laws which are grossly being misused(according to him).One of them is Dowry act.He said, he has seen many cases in which wife is wrongly implicating their husbands into dowry harrasment case.

He was explaining to me one such  case of a poor couple.Wife studied 10^th standard and husband is illiterate.My friend told me the version of the accused(the husband) which he apperently believed . wife has extra-marital affair with another guy and also she often scolded her husband of illiteracy and poverty.One day having fully drunk, this guy has abused her verbally and the next day with the help of her friend this women lodged a complaint of dowry harassment upon which he was booked and arrested.

This verion of the accused might be right or wrong, but we cannot completely deny the fact that this act is being misused.I guess same is the case with Domestic violence act.My friend also said that another law which is often misused is SC/ST attrocities act.Though this act has definetly helped in curbing the henious attrocities on SC/ST communities,my friend says,it has also led to further widening the gulf between SC/ST and non SC/ST communities.There is a point in what he said.

Also he mentioned about the misdeeds of police that leads to perpetration of the crime.One of the normal practice of police is that they try to implicate the accused( who was caught in a case)in various crimes( like theft,robbery) which are already pending with them .This is to cover-up their inefficiency .This makes the accused feel bad about the system and he further pursue his criminal activities with increased vigour after he releases from the prison.

After having looked into various cases of crime and other systemic  factors we can conclude that there is a problem with the whole system as well as with our immature society.Reforming the system is not sustainable until the society becomes mature.It does not mean to stop reforms and wait for social change.Both reforms and social change should go in parallel.

The goodthing is that things are changing fast.As Markandeya Katju always says , we are in the midst of transition.The 'growing radicalisation of the masses(thoug this was not reached to the lower strata)', 'increasing  strugle in the society against ineffective government and evil forces ' ,'most vibrant media and the new phenomina of social media 'are the symptoms of this transition.This transition is the transition of power from state/govt to its people which I call as democratisation of democracy.

My sixth sense tells me that this transition wont take much longer than it usually takes, given the rapidity of the changes.All the other institutions should cope up with these changes or else they would be destroyed and new ones would replace them.This transition once completed brings in reformed and well functioning systems.And thus sets up a society which is envisaged in the premble of our constitution where there is no crime  & corruption but full of love, peace and joy.

Reservations on Reservations

"The present policy considers caste as the only impediment to equality and neglects many factors like economic status, availability of resources, residence(rural, urban) etc.Hence there is a need to take a comprehensive view and formulate a new policy"

The issue of reservations is always been a hot potato before elections. The reason is quite obvious and well known. Unfortunately, the reservation card is being played quite elegantly and reluctantly by our politicians to meet their own  needs at the cost of livelihood of millions of people and more worryingly national integration.

London Daily long back opined that “While world is marching towards development, there is a race for backwardness in India”. This comment was made in the context of Gujjar agitation for better reservations. This clearly indicates that there is something wrong with the current reservation policy. The recent demands of Gujjars, Jats and proposals for religion based reservations are signs of disintegration.Caste based reservations in the short run may pacify these communities but where is the end to such kind of demands, today Gujjar tomorrow somebody else. By saying so I meant no disregard for their problems but highlighting loophole in the current reservation policy. If not the current policy is reformed on a war footing, it may pose grave threats to the national unity in the long run.Hence, it is high time to introspect and review the reservation policy to achieve its larger goals without compromising on building a national identity while preserving diversity.

In our society discrimination is persistent since time immemorial. For India to be a global leader in the contemporary world where equality and fraternity are the buzzwords, there is a strong need to eliminate these deep rooted discrimination .It is our moral responsibility too. With this noble idea our forefathers had introduced the concept of caste based reservations which they felt was compatible to the situations prevailing in those days.

After decades of its inception, it is quite evident that its achievements are completely blurred by the pernicious caste identity that it perpetuated. There is no wrong with the caste based reservation policy per se but its failure can be attributed to political parties, leaders and ignorant society. Many lessons are to be learned from here.

There is another view against the whole idea of reservations. It argues that in the pursuit of social inclusion, we are compromising with the merit in public employment. There is a point in this argument too. But at the same time, we as a society cannot ignore the people who are being oppressed throughout the ages. There is a need to act on war footing to provide all sorts of opportunities to them to grow. As Supreme Court opined , we need to balance both merit and reservations.

Now a day’s major parties & leaders are shamelessly luring the minority voters by proposing religion based reservations. Which policy our forefathers did not dare to pursue out of apprehension that it may further widen the gulf between the religions and disturb the communal harmony. Adding to the fault lines of caste identity, these newly proposed religion based reservations may further widen the cracks and remain a stumbling block on the road to the national integration.

There is an urgent need to a fresh debate across India on this sensitive issue. The present policy considers caste as the only impediment to equality and neglects many factors like economic status, availability of resources, residence(rural, urban) etc.Hence there is a need to take a comprehensive view and formulate a new policy. In this context, it is worth trying a very novel idea proposed by Prof.Purushottam Agarwal some time back click here to view the report.His idea of MIRAA(multiple index related affirmative action) takes into account most of these factors  and suggests a new approach to the current problem.

It may be quite hard to convince our rotten political class to proceed with the reforms .But, thanks to the vibrant and more assertive civil society which kept our hopes alive. With its iron will, it can bulldoze the reforms over the heads of our politicians to achieve an egalitarian society. All that we need to do is to trigger another Lokpal like agitation……can we???

Elusive Higgs

"Higgs field and Higgs boson are very significant as these are the ones those possibly cause different masses to different sub-atomic particles"

There are two schools of thought regarding the properties and behavior of sub-atomic particles.One supports ‘standard model’ and the other supports ‘Higgsless model’.Standard model strengthens the idea of existence of Higgs field in the universe while the Higgsless model opposes this idea.By the way, what is higgs field? what is higgs boson or god particle? how are they significant? what is going on in LHC at CERN? To get the answers, go on reading….

Higgs field is a hypothetical field proposed by peter Higgs during 60s  in response to various challenges  to explain the particle nature in the Universe.His proposal is that there exists a field all over the Universe ,even in vacuum ,which causes different masses to different subatomic particles.This field is named after Higgs  which is like any other field such as magnetic field,electricfield etc.Higgs boson is a fundamental particle of higgs field just like electron in an electric field.This hypothesis ,if proved correct ,vindicates the stand of ‘standard model’ and provides new momentum to chase the mistery of mighty universe.

Higgs field and Higgs boson are very significant as these are the ones those possibly cause different masses to different sub-atomic particles.For instance, mass of electron is less than mass of neutron because the higss boson in the ubiquitous Higgs field offers more resistance to neutron movements than electron and causes greater inertial mass to nutron.And this explains the missing link in understanding  particle nature in the Universe.Higgs boson is said to have more mass than any other particles like electron or neutron.Greater the mass the more instable it becomes and readily disintegrates.Thus the Higgs boson particle is not a stable particle that can be watched easily.To capture this we need to create special conditions.

This is what is exactly  being done in the Large Hadron collider(LHC) at CERN(french abbreviation) i.e European organisation for nuclear research.LHC is a high energy particle accelerator which simulates the condition for high energy proton-proton head on collision.This collision is said to release huge energy and makes way for the appearance of Higgs boson for a sufficient enough time to capture it on film.LHC is in a circular shape of circumference  27 km, built 175 m beneath Geneva.LHC is not only to find the existance of Higgs boson but also to unravel many more secrets of the universe hitherto unknown.

Recently on 13th of December an experiment was conducted in LHC.Through this scientists could arrive at insufficient clues to the existence of Higgs boson.They are gearing up for another move by learning from past experiences.Possibly Higgs boson’s fate would be decided in a couple of years.We need to wait and watch.Whatever may me the outcome of these experiments ,that marks another leap forward by the mankind in comprehending the Universe.

ARABIAN FIGHTS.......

"Arab spring is a historical event that marks the beginning of a new era .This entire event would definitely change the way the world looks at this region"

A historical movement is at its culmination.Possibly Syria,yemen are next  to fall to the  middle class might.This is a progressive change but there are many doubts about the future of these countries.The inherent threat lies in the active participation of islamic fundamentalist elements in this process.Could they successfully build modern democracies like Turkey,Malaysia or they end up making more Pakistans and Afgnistans.This is the big question in the offing.

In the  hindsight ,it is conspicuous that the predominant force in these movements  were educated youth and middle class.This shows the potential of the people especially middle class.Their power to topple the most cruelest regimes is worth noting.Even in India ,we recently  witnessed  the same kind of response against corruption  in a varying degree.Educated middle class is  warning the government and politicians that ‘see , we are watching every act , wont tolerate even the minute misdoing of yours ,will strike hard if things are not handled properly’.This is a progressive development .

Coming back to MENA(Middle East and North Africa) region , Tunisia marked the begening of the revolution. Self immolation of a vegitable seller  due to the distress caused  by the economic conditions and police brutality is the trigger.Within a month, protests spread  like a wildfire  across the country and made Ben Ali to flee .After several months,  Tunisians could successfully elect a new government of Ennahda party which has islamic origins.Despite being islamic,the current state of affairs hints the formation of new constitution which envisages a  liberal democracy.This  is a good ending.

Taking inspiration from the Tunisian event  ,Egyptians intensified their protests.The importance of social media in this process is worth mentioning.Facebook,twitter played a crucial role.Initially  Mubarak seems to be suppressive but eventually  could not withstand the might of middle class.He was forced to resign and put under trail.The Military which helped the protesters could win a soft corner in the public .It paved the way for it to subsequently took over the government.But here Salafist muslim elements which were deep rooted in Egyptian society are hindering the progress.’Muslim brother hood ‘, a fundamentalist  organisation which played a crucial role in the revolution  seems to occupy the center stage in the government.This narrowed the hope for a liberal democracy .

Our past and present  experiances tells us that  fundamental islamism is a stumbling block in  the roadway to progress.It should be tackled not with force but with the spread of modern education.The remedy is to spread modern education rapidly in these areas where  religious extreemism is prevelant.Development is another key that holds a great promise.

Libiya is the recent to fall in line. Witnessed a boody civil war due to severe resistence by its cruel dictator Gadafi.This event clearly shows us that anybody howsoever powerful  cannot  rule against the wishes of the people.If he has done so, would meet a brutal end like this.The other authoritarian regimes across the World should learn a lesson from here.

The future prospects of  Libiya seems bleak.Here the population is divided on ethinic grounds.The rule of Gadafi has perpetuated this phenomena for long.This  effects the political stability which is very essential to build a modern democracy.Also there is a leadership vacuum which is accentuating the problem.We need to see how far  the west which helped in topling the regime can help in successfully  building a new democratic regime .

The role played by the west is very crucial in Gadafi’s fall.Perhaps, out of their vested interests ,they played an active role to topple the regime.Despite future uncertainties, by and large, justice has been delivered to the people who had suffered during last 42 years.But the brutal end of Gadafi is unfortunate .He might deserve a respectable death.  UNO(United Nations Organisation) once again proved that it is a useful tool in the hands of the west to force their will on the rest of the world.This strengthens the need for UNSC(UN Security Council) reforms.

In Syria the protests are intensifying but very brutally being suppressed by dafient Assad.Everyday news papers are pouring in reports on killing of civilians.Unlike Libiya,Syria is much more complex a issue to be dealt by the west .Because Assad got a strong support from middleclass traders and the military.And neighbouring Iran and Israel would also jump into the business if west intervenes.This would make entire region unstable.This region is supplying for most of the energy needs of the world .Any hasty action in the part of west puts world economic development at stake.Yemen is another case where things are very different.News reports are suggesting that Saleh is ready for peace talks.Incidents of violence are also being reported. Only time will tell how the story ends here.

To conclude,Arab spring is a historical event that marks a new era in the history of the world.This entire event would definitely change the way the world looks at it.This also opens up a wide range of oppurtunities to developing nations like India .We need to build up strong relationships with the new regimes in both political and economic spheres.The immediate step should be to offer help to these nacent economies in terms of training ,institution building,capacity building ,infrastructure and so on.This will pave the way to pursue our interests in this region in near future. 

"A project of this scale ,if failed ,could be fatal to the future of our country.So be warned!!!"

            An ambitious project AADHAR which was conceived by UIADI could be a revolution in transforming India if implemented properly.This is a mammoth project with huge complexities and resource requirements.One estimate says that to completely roll out this project it would cost around Rs.1,50,000 cr($33.45 bn).A project of this magnitude requires a thorough scruitiny of pros and cons and a carefull cost benifit analysis.Also there should be a carefully drawn out strategy of what to do and how to do.Has the  UIDAI  done enough homework to make sure to achieve the real moto of AADHAR?It is up to the reader to answer this question.

           In the words of Nandan Nilekhani(UIDAI chief) ,there is an urgent need to automate the interface between the government and citizen.According to him this is the area where corruption breeds.This is very right.Some examples for these interfaces are like ,application for a gas connection or ration card, receiving certain services like ration and compensation for crop damages and MNREGA wages etc.If we can restrict physical transfer of money direcly form govt to citizen most of the low level corruption can be checked. In this case I think Aadhar alone cannot do miracles.Recent Public services act(which has been adopted in many states) along with Aadhar  could be successful.

          The biggest question is how an Aadhar number can make this possible?The first thing that we hear more frequently about Aadhar is to revamp the PDS .Here the idea is to empower citizen vis –a –vis  FPS owners.it means ,BPL citizen can go to any FPS he wants and can get the ration by simply showing his aadhar number and giving his biometric details.This empowers the citizen from being exploited by a single FPS owner to whom the citizen belonged to.Yes ,certainly it is a good idea,but I think our policy makers(UIDAI officials) did not take into account certain villages which are very isolated and far from other habitations to avail the above benifits.Because they had to go to the only FPS available to them.

          There are 6 lakh Fair price shops present in India.There is a need to provide robust Aadhar infrastructure like biometric scnners, computers, printers,internet connection and skilled manpower in every FPS to integrate it with Aadhar.It would again place a huge burden on exchequer and also going to take very long time.Some people argue to the extent that it may not be possible practically.If it really so,it would be a great mistake in the part of govt.So there is an urgent need to chalkout a clear strategy (which is currently lacking now)  to implement all the stated goals of Aadhar .It has to place the implementation plan in public domain and take people into confidence.

          Also officials are talking about integrating all welfare schemes with Aadhar.This calls for the deployment of e-infrastructure at a large scale which is a very costly and time consuming affair.Unfortunately there is lot of ambiguity that what miracles an Aadhar number can do to the implementation of these schemes.UIDAI officials are also highlighting another aspect that creating bank accounts would become very easier and hasslefree with Aadhar numbers.This is a very good idea but does a BPL citizen really want to open a bank account?A honest answer to this question is "No".The Financial inclusion to be successful,more than issuing Aadhar number,in the first place we need to create more employment oppurtunities,education,financial awareness among the poor.

          Despite the above deficiencies,UID number would be very crucial in the current situation to strongly suppress the menace of terrorism and to strengthen the national security.It is also very much reqired to identify poor and destitute who are leftout from the development and to align them with the growth path.There are many countries in the world which are having the concept of UIDs to citizens.Some of them are  successful with them and some of them are not.It would be very much helpful for us if we study their experiences and use the knowledge here .

         The so called reforming of citizen-govt interface, which is very critical ,is not thoroughly analysed.There is no proper plan of prioritising and implementing things.This is a matter of great concern and a thorough public debate is required to discuss the strategy and its pros and cons.A project of this scale ,if failed ,could be fatal to the future of our country.So be warned!!!

Corruption and Lokpal

        CORRUPTION..............the first thing that comes to our mind is politics .But today its scope is much beyond this.It is deeply rooted in our society.In fact ,you and me are also among the list of culprits who are perpetrating this phenomina.You may wonder how.In the past,when we were applying for a DL,during the police verification for the passport ,we might knowingly or unknowingly indulged in this.In fact it became a custom.Even in corporate sector, we see people throwing gifts and parties to bosses to get the things done in their favour, this is nothing but corruption.

     The seeds of curruption were sown througout our evolution.Man being a utility maximiser, always tries to maximise his benifits .At times he compromises with ethics and morality.This is the source of corruption in the society.As per the current state of affairs,it seems to me that we reached to its culmination.It is high time that every one of us has to play our own part to envisage its peaceful demise.

    Coming to the current debate on Lokpal ,both the parties(team anna & govt) are partially valid in their view points.We cannot completly deny any one of them.Lokpal's jurisdiction vis-a-vis PM became a center point of the debate.This is a complex issue and worth a pragmatic insight.Nobody is above the law and PM is not an exeption to that.But if we bring PM under lokpal ,in a vast country like India with different shades of openions and views,every other day a complaint would be filed against PM and that follows procecution.In this kind of turbulant environment,how can a PM work upto his potential?And he being the supreme executive,entire administration would become disfunctional and unstable.It requires a serious debate in the parliament and accordingly a decision has to be taken.

     Next comes the judiciary.Our constitution vested a tremendous responsibility on judiciary to uphold the constitutional values in the society.And it is also very particular about separation of powers between the three pillers of state  namely executive ,legislature and judiciary.In such case,to what extent, is it appropriate to bring Judiciary under the purview of  a supreme Lokpal?

      Lord Acton(an eminent scholor ) very rightly said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.What is the gaurentee that a supreme Lokpal as suggested by Anna and team would not fall prey of the corruption just like the way judiciary,executive,Legislature are suffering now?I am afraid,that it would become a Frankenstien's monster.

      I am not denying the necessity of any Lokpal kind of institution.But I beleive authority without accountability could lead to despotism.So there should be proper checks and balences to its power and authority.By the way, this is what our constitution says through "doctrine of separation of power".

     At the same time Lokpal cannot be a mere advisory body as conceived by the govt .It should be empowered to initiate procecution on its own.The entire govt mechinary should be put under its purview.Judiciary should be out of purview of Lokpal.Judicial suprimacy cannot be encroached upon as it is against to the basic structure of constitution.Present Judicial accountability bill will take care of judicial corruption.

      Finally,we should realise that the major problem does not lie in the tackling mechanism or laws which are in place, but  it lies in the people and the society where corruption breeds.Hence,onus is on every one of us to root out corruption which is directly or indirectly linked to our day today life.Then only the so called Lokpal could  be effective.   Yes,the movement has began and I am sure that it is just a matter of time to experiance a brand new corruption free India.