India is shining again!!!

This is a great moment of celebration: all Indians can be really proud of the achievement at the Oscars. It is a triumph for Indian talent combined with the dedication of the British mind. Right from Rahman, Resul and the hundreds of people who worked hard to make Slumdog a perfect success no words can express their joy and excitement!

Rahman's success proves a known fact; to be successful one needs to be extremely passionate. Success came knocking when Rahman and music became inseparable. He dreamt that one day his music will be played all over the world and the dream has come true!

After all the hype one shouldn't forget the inhuman conditions in which millions of children live in India's slums. More than half of them do not go to school and are deprived of their childhood. Thanks to Danny Boyle, we can't hide our underbelly anymore!!

It is a golden opportunity for us to provide all basic facilities to the poor. The government, corporates, NGO's and the general public should come together to fight poverty in the country. We need to put all our children back to school. It is indeed a shame when more than 19% of our children suffer from malnutrition and more than 87% of India's population in the rural areas do not get the minimum calorie requirements.

But, this is a chance of a life time. Nobody can deny our right to celebrate. JAI HO!!

Crisis and Opportunities

This is a brief report on the Business Seminar organised at Y.B. Chavan Centre by MEDC on Economic Outlook and Business Prospects for 2009-10. The key note address was delivered by Dr. Suresh Tendulkar, Chairman, PM's Economic Council.

Dr. Tendulkar began by telling about a Chinese word "wei ji" which is supposed to mean both crisis and opportunities. The global financial crisis should be seen as an opportunity to increase efficiency and productivity. Further any crisis can make people wiser. It has brought all central banks together abandoning their usual 'beggar thy neighbour' attitude. Milton Friedman and even the current Fed Chief argued that central banks are to be blamed for such financial crisis.
"Great Depression is caused by the poor policy making by the central bank." Milton Friedman.
Dr. Suresh Tendulkar tried to lessen the anxiety of the people who came to attend the seminar by saying that one should not bother too much about the stock markets. "The most sensible thing about the sensex is that it does not make any sense!"
Elaborating the theme of his lecture 'Economic Outlook' he stated that any economic forecast is conditional since the policy makers can only provide incentives or disincentives while the success depends on many factors.
The economic outlook for fiscal 2009-10 is made on a number of assumptions relating to the expected turnaround of the global economy and a host of domestic factors. The positive factors are the expectations that the financial markets may revive sooner due to the co-ordinated efforts of the central banks in fighting recession. Since November, major central banks have been cutting interest rates to spur growth. The European Central Bank reduced the rate to 2.5% while the Bank of England went a step further to bring down the key rate to 2% for the first time since its inception.

The fairly optimistic outlook by the Prime Minister's Advisory Council is based on a couple of domestic factors like a 5% growth in agriculture for many years which created strong rural demand. He said that the Indian agriculture is not affected badly by the global meltdown. However, demand in the urban sector has been affected as a consequence of the rising interest rates. Dr. Tendulkar was of the view that the fiscal stimulus and easing of the rates by RBI would help the urban consumers. Better foreign exchange position is also giving us confidence.
He reminded the audience that the comfortable position that we enjoy today is the result of the dismantling of government controls since 1991.
On the flip side he pointed towards the poor progress in infrastructure due to lack of coordination between the central and state agencies and the underperforming power sector. Though we can expect some improvement in the power sector when gas from Kaveri Basin and other sources start commercial production.
Answering queries on the financial sector he opined that asset quality will deteriorate in the short run before the situation improves. After all, the so called 'vanila 'or 'exotic' instruments had turned 'toxic' all over the world. Dr Tendulkar ended his discourse by warning against the 'irrational pessimism' created by the media on the impact of global financial turmoil on Indian economy.(Are we moving from 'irrational exuberance' to 'irrational pessimism'?)
Some quotes from Milton Friedman:
"Governments never learn. Only people learn."
"Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government programme."

LEADERSHIP QUALITIES

Thirty seven year old Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has been asked by the Republican Leadership to deliver the party's response to Barack Obama's maiden State of The Union Address to Congress on 24th February.

Republican party leaders have declared that their party must not be simply the party of "Opposition", but the party of "Better Solutions".

Jindal has been selected not just because he is young.He has reformed government and brought many innovative ideas to make it work for the people.Jindal who is the son of first generation immigrants has made ethics and governance his central theme of
campaign like Obama.
Now the million dollar question being asked again and again by Indians-whether we will ever have an Obama.....
As an Indian, Iam too frustrated with the class of politicians we have inherited.The dance of 'mobocracy' we witnessed in UP, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa recently and mute response from political leaders across India have been too disgusting.They don't deserve our votes. By keeping quiet they have shown their poor leadership abilities.How can any such person bocome a true leader like Obama or even Jindal?
I love Obama for his honesty . He has the courage to admit his mistakes and never loses his cool.Look at the leader who invited John McCain for dinner and consultations immediately after a landslide victory.Obama has some of the best qualities of Mahatma Gandhi, Mandela and Martin Luther King(Jr) .

He has the unmatched ability to capture the hearts and minds of the people, especially the youth.Do the so called leaders in India have any of his qualities?Obama has the hallmarks of a great leader.

According to Newell, author of 'The Soul of a Leader,Character and Ten Lessons in Political Greatness',a political leader has to have two or three things they want to get done,and so have the ability to focus on them from the outset,and to know ahead of time what they are.

"Great Leaders don't make up any agendas as they go along and don't just respond to the pressures of daily events", Newell.
Starting a website and Blog or sleeping in a village with an 'English tourist' is just not enough to become a mass leader!

Teacher Tube: Video Sharing for Teachers

It is a wonderful day and the weatheris cool.In my search for new ideas for teaching and learning ,I came across a wonderful site " TeacherTube.com".Though it is very similar to YouTube,it has many advantages to the teaching community as compared to YouTube which is very general .In YouTube one has to really search and find a video on education. In TeacherTube everything is for teachers. Is n't it really cool!!
I really congratulate the great teachers behind this innovation.



Teacher Tube: Video Sharing for Teachers

Waiting for the Inauguration

On the eve of the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States,people around the world are excited like never before.The only other President who ignited whole world during the recent times was John F Kennedy.People all over accepted Kennedy's words,"My fellow citizens of the world,ask not what America will do for you but what,together we can do for the freedom of man"
His oratory evoked hope for the whole world especially for the youth for whom he was an icon.It was a sort of assurance to the world that America will stand for justice and freedom.
However,the American dream died gradually for many around the world as successive presidents pursued the interests of only the rich and the powerful.Things became worse during last couple of years when Washington tried to destabilise nations allegedly to help big American oil companies.
Finally, the world was pushed in to a severe economic crisis since Great Depression by the Wall Street corporations and greedy financial institutions aided by the inactive regulators of capital market.
What is so special about this election in America?This time the whole world voted for the future president of States much before the American voters made up their mind.Right from Buenos Aires to Birlin to Mumbai it was only Obama Obama.
Once again our hopes and aspirations are raised by the man from Hawai who enterd politics with a "genuine sense of mission to make life better for most people in the middle class."
Ronald Regan declared in 1981 that "government is not the solution to our problem,government is the problem"
Obama believes that" a pro-active leadership with honesty and integrity can provide solutions for the people"
We are all waiting for OBAMA to lead us to a progressive and peaceful world out of this severe recession.

A Victory for Democracy!

The industrialists assembled in for the 'Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit' took an extra-ordinary step forward and declared "Narendrabhai, the leader of the western state is the most suitable person to become the leader of the nation". There is no disagreement on the spirit of the declaration made by the group including the highly respected Ratan Tata at Ahmedabad. Large number of Indians agree that we need a strong leader with a vision for the country. This belief has been strengthened further as a result of the vulnerability of the country to multiple terror attacks.
Except for the familiar reaction of a lone spokesman of the ruling party at the centre, even the most secular among the secular press also seem to be supporting this view. Such a thing was unimaginable in India earlier. So liberalisation is taking strong roots in the country!
During the 60's and 70's the Congress Party used poverty as a weapon to garner votes while blaming the Tatas, Birlas and the Mafatlals for all the problems faced by the country (Reliance was too small those days). The political leaders collected funds from businessmen by selling licences to a selected few while creating an "Inspector Raj" across the country.
The businessmen in India never dared to praise an opposition leader like Modi before. It is surely a sign that the industry is gradually getting out of government control. All credit should go to Narsimha Rao and Manmohan Singh.
Let us call it a victory for democracy when people speak out without any fear!

Creating a Librarian's Blog

Blogging@Your Library

I am presently working on a very intersting presentation for the Refresher Course for University and College Librarians. Library is the "Heart of a Learning Institution" and a librarian meets more students than the teachers or the head of an educational institution. Many studies conducted in American Universities have tried to establish the positive relationship beween good libraries and student progression.
When we talk to students about their reading habits in Mumbai, they often complain about the difficulty in accessing books in the college libraries or unfriendly behavior of the staff. My plan is to create a Librarian's Blog which can give information to members on all new arrivals of books, periodicals and events organised in the library.
I will write more about it after the presentation on 15th January at the Academic Staff College, Mumbai University.