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April 16, 2014

Indian Voting Experience

The day finally dawned. The fifth phase of the Indian Lok Sabha Elections 2014, special for multiple reasons.

Firstly, probably never before has the country ever been this politically active since independence. Everybody is eager to exercise their Franchise. Everybody believes that they can make a difference and hope for a better country.
By the trending and popular choice, it seems that BJP is out to form the government and Narendra Modi to be the next Prime Minister of India.

Secondly, it happens to be the first time I shall be voting. It's probably hard to describe and might seem exaggerated but the feeling of casting a vote is something else.
But what gave me true happiness was to see the number of people who have turned out to vote this time. The sheer number just speaks volumes of how people are taking an active interest in deciding their leaders. It's happiness to see that people no longer posses the air of ignorance that one used to exist towards voting.
Its thought provoking to see what actually triggered this uproar of people suddenly becoming so active.
Four reasons come to my mind.
A. The power of Education.
B. The White Knights Rises.
C. Tired and fed up citizens.
D. The wow factor.

A. The Power of Education.

This is probably one of the spear heads in creating socially and politically aware and responsible citizens. Ever since I have studied about Universal Adult Franchise and political science as part of curriculum, voting has always been something that students look forward too. This clearly translates into these students becoming citizens who are aware and believe that they have the power, and this flows into my next point.

B. The White Knights Rises.
(Disclaimer : Title used just for fun and not debate about whether the below mentioned people are really white knights or not)

The recent times have seen people without initial political agenda enter into politics to "Clean" the system and make India a better country. The special impact this has had is that it's broken the monotonous trend in politics. People do not view these candidates as another contender but as a game changer, they do not think of them as a person in the race by profession but by choice, i.e he is there because he wants to bring about a change in the system. They seem him as different, a saviour or messiah, one to solve their problems.
The examples of them have been many, but some impactful people have been Arvind Kejriwal, Nandan Nilekani and many more.
And maybe people are right in placing their hopes on these people as by popular choice we have seen these people making issue based campaigns or showing ways to circumvent policy paralysis.
No surprise at all if Nandan Nilekani upsets Incumbent MP Ananth Kumar.

C.  Tired and Fed Up Citizens.

Clearly this is known to everyone. People are fed up, they no longer are keeping quiet about them being denied rights they were initially promised. And this mixed with thought provoking leaders and educated citizens we now have a voter pool who is not as prone to the false promises of the candidates.

D. The WOW factor.

Lastly, the wow factor that exists among the youth. They find it cool to vote and exercise their rights. Probably this is the section which is becoming more aware and some do take an active interest to research on the candidates.

So finally, this has been probably the only time when standing in line and in the sun has not been a pain but moreover a source of happiness.

My vote has been cast. All the best BJP, All the best Narendra Modi.

December 30, 2013

DID NASA LAND ON THE MOON ?

Just yesterday, my friend Vinay asked me a really intriguing question " Do you believe that the moon landing actually happened? " At first, it seemed obvious that we did. As I began digging deeper I noticed several strong evidence to prove that it was just staged. Some explanations by NASA were definitely strong, and some others seemed just too vague to be true.

People have gone all ballistic about how evidences point away from what NASA tries to tell us. But let's keep an open mind while reading further and also give NASA the benefit of doubt.

If I have made an errors( blatant even), kindly notify me in the comments.

I have made a list of the popular "Give Aways" and tried to find reason as to how these claims CAN BE proved wrong( i.e saying that they did land on the moon).

Let us see at the "Give Aways" :-

1. The infamous "Waving Flag" theory.



Hoax Claim :- Conspiracy theorists have pointed out that when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted the flag, it was fluttering.
As you might all know outer space has no atmosphere( no air) hence how did the flag flutter?

My Theory :- The flag was constructed in a special way for the surface of the moon. A taut wire runs end to end along the length of the flag to keep it in place without waving. Without this due to gravity the flag would just sag( and hence appear as waving).
Also, NASA claims that the flapping was caused by the astronauts struggling to plant the flag into the ground( external force causing the fluttering). In further support, they claim that the flag was rippled as it was folded during storage, and the ripples have been mistaken for fluttering of the flag.

2. Where are the stars ?



Hoax Claim  :- Another argument that people make is that, in outer space without the atmosphere, you should be able to see the stars much more clearly than from earth, but not only is this not true, there are no stars whatsoever.

My Theory :- This is the same as to how it is difficult to observe stars in the sky in big, well lit cities. The light from the sun incident on the surface of the moon is too bright for any camera to capture at a distance, it would not be possible to capture light coming from stars which are billions of miles away. Even the human eye would have to block the moon landscape to see even points of light in the sky.
The fact that all manned landings on the moon happened during lunar daytime, strongly supports this theory.

3. Different shadow lengths



Hoax Claim :- As you can see in the picture, shadows given off by astronauts are of different lengths, even though they might be standing close. People claimed this to be a faulty lighting system at the Hoax Set Up stage.

My theory :- This is similar to the situation in deserts. We can observe that our shadow lengths change as the hilly landscape( due to sand dunes) causes all sorts of changes in lengths of shadows no matter where you stand.

4. Deeper impressions by footprints than lunar module

Hoax Claim :- The Lunar Module weighed about 17 tons, yet the astronauts who walked on the moon seem to have made a deeper foot impression. How is this possible ?

Theory :- The measured weight of 17 tons is when it left earth. By the time it reached the moon, it was just 1350 kilograms. The fuel burnt from the decent stage propellant would have removed at least 9-10 tons. On top of this, the foot pads are of 37 inch diameters, which is much more compared to Neil Armstrong show span. And as we know Pressure = Force/Area. The force of the Lunar Module was distributed well enough.

NASA quotes Neil Armstrong - "the LM foot pads are only depressed in the surface about 1 or 2 inches". On the other hand, the footprints of the astronauts were depressed only a fraction of an inch, although people often exaggerate their depth.


5. The C rock



Hoax Claim :- The infamous picture of a rock on the moon which contains the letter "C" stamped on it. This gives the impression that the moon rocks are nothing but simple old stage props and some designer forgot to remove the C.

Theory :- NASA claims that the C is just a photographic glitch, a hair which got in during the development process.
But not a convincing enough theory.


I have barely touched the tip of the iceberg, and there are hundreds of these hoax claims.

These links will definitely intrigue you even further. Feel free to discuss with me in the comments.

http://www.braeunig.us/space/hoax.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing_conspiracy_theories

Edit :
An interesting video that my friend pointed out.




December 29, 2013

ABSOLUTE FREEDOM OF SPEECH







We as human beings have this innate quality to express ourselves, and more importantly express ourselves freely. But in reality, this is not realized. Every society places some limits on the extent to which we can exercise speech, as speech always happens in a context of competing values. In context when opinions differ and views vary.

In status quo different societies have different philosophies regarding freedom of speech. However, there are 3 approaches adopted.

1. Allow absolute free speech, whereby an individual may say whatsoever he deems fit and has complete immunity from prosecution as a result of it.
2. Dismiss notion of free speech thereby censuring and molding the expressions of individuals and society so as to prevent the criticism of the state.
3. Allow free speech, but with reasonable limitations (Like in India). The yardsticks to define what is reasonable are various and varied.

Absolute freedom of speech is not only important and essential for the good of the individual but also vital for societal evolution.
Many opinions come up, and the opinions contrary to the established philosophies must not be curbed, instead they should be allowed and encouraged. Only by this way will these opinions evolve through critique and revaluation and if they don't accommodate the changing sensibilities they must be considered redundant.

Suppressing views based on grounds of being wrong or counterproductive is in itself harmful as it will lead to monopolization of judgement as to what is "okay" and what is "not okay" by society.
Society exists to serve individuals. Therefore, individuals speech must not be subjected to collective's approval.

Truth can only be established through discussion and it remains the truth only  as long as it is disproved. Discussion is very vital as it enhances the society's understanding of what they stand for as well. It also breeds "greater tolerance for intolerance".
 History is evidence to how things that are deemed eternal truths by one generation might have been considered to be absurd by another. The level of acceptance and tolerance towards a particular view point is subjected to the context and the situational sensibilities.

Now let us consider extreme events which involve outright outrageous matters such as castism, sexism etc. Individuals must be allowed to air opinions of even such a nature. Allowing them to express themselves will enable societal discussions on the matters they propagate. Censuring the individual will make the individual cling on to this opinion even more strongly and moreover will lead to others repressing that opinion even further. In an environment where the freedom of speech is absolute, the society will get desensitized towards expressions engineered to provoke a reaction among the masses.

As long as a thought exists in an individual's mind, he or she will desire to express it. As long as this thought exists, the only rational thing to be done is to allow him/her to express it, so that he/she might share the merits of the thought or stand a chance to learn its demerits by virtue of the crowd reaction to his thought.

What is your stand on "Allowing Absolute Freedom of Speech" ?

I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to death your right to say it.
                                                                                                  - Voltaire

December 23, 2013

THE STORY OF THE AAM AADMI PARTY, SO FAR.


AAM AADMI. Never have such common words stirred such high emotions among the people of India. Already in turmoil, India was/is looking for a change. Hope that "A Change" will provide them solace from the wrath of the existing government. 

The Aam Aadmi Party started by Arvind Kejriwal and co, is merely a year old and has already managed to make a place in people's heart as the hope that they were looking for. With the recent Delhi election results, they have definitely made history. But how far will this dream continue ? Let us look at scenario so far and as of now.

One can simply not deny the level of success achieved by the AAP. Winning 28/70 in debut, stunning the Congress and giving a tough competition to BJP is no mere feat. The 2 giants of Indian politics already know what worked for the AAP, and this is what causes them more problems, it's Arvind Kejriwal's party connected to the people at the grassroot level. It's just that simple. They managed to find out the real problems faced by the "aam aadmi" such as high electricity bills, water shortage, lack of basic civic amenities etc. and they have taken oath to fix that. They did not stop there, but have also taken upon an ambitious plan to remove Corruption through a powerful Lokpal bill.

Out of the many promises made by AAP, let's see at the few challenging and interesting ones.

1. End VIP culture. No more politicians moving about in cars with red beacons on them. No bungalows for ministers.
2. Pledge to reduce water and electricity bills.
3. Vowed to provide 700 litres of free water to every household (This could cost up to 340 Crores)
4. A strong Lokpal with 15 days of power.
5. Concept of Swaraj or Self rule.

Now let us see the 5th point mentioned above. The idea of self rule. Recently, to form the government they reached out to the people and made their decisions based on votes through Sabhas and SMS.

As per AAP statement - 
Q. 
Will the AAP seek the opinion of people every time it takes a decision? 
A.
No, the AAP will not conduct an informal referendum unless a contemplated action deviates from its "core principles", as the acceptance of Congress support decidedly is. And yes, it will elicit people’s opinion, through public meetings, on the kind of legislation they should enact, to serve certain collective goals.

Now stop here and think. If the absence of these core principles the statement made has no stand. Even so,in a country where representative democracy exists, if every decision is going to be decided in this manner, it's clearly going to cause problems for obvious reasons. 
So, the AAP need to establish it's core principles, if it plans to establish power in other states.

So in all, it's good( tremendous start) by AAP and they need to keep the momentum going. The decision to form a Minority government and not a coalition, just shows the change that is already coming about.
The field is ready, Arvind will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Delhi any time, it's time for action. All the promises made by AAP, need to be worked on now. They have 5 months to show to the country their capabilities and show India that the change that they hoped for as arrived. The Aam Aadmi Party. 

This is an interesting video. 






December 20, 2013

2014 MOVIES TO LOOK OUT FOR

The year 2013 has come to an end and  we've seen some good movies along the way. As we start a new year, let us see what 2014 holds in store for us.




  • Transformers 4: Age of Extinction 
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • RoboCop 
  • The Lego Movie
  • Noah
  • Edge of Tomorrow
  • Interstellar
  • The Amazing Spider Man -2 
  • Jupiter Ascending
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • X Men - Days of Future Past
  • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
  • Godzilla
  • Captain America : The Winter Soldier
  • Rio 2
  • How to Train Your Dragon - 2
  • Non -Stop
  • Need For Speed

December 19, 2013

THE STORY OF INDIAN RESERVATION

One of the most raging debates in our country and among the youth is on the concept of reservation. Whether to have a reservation system or not is a question that needs to be debated upon and answered. 

" Though the Article.15(1) of the Constitution says that the “State shall not discriminate any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them”, it also provides for compensatory or protective discrimination in favor of certain sections of the disadvantaged people. Article 15(4) of the Constitution stipulates that notwithstanding the provision stated above, the State can make “special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes”." - NCIE





The following table reflects the typical caste-based reservation profile:
SC and SC Converts to Buddhism13.0%
STs7.0%
Vimukta Jati3.0%
Nomadic Tribes (NTI)2.5%
Nomadic Tribes (NT2)3.5%
Nomadic Tribes (NT3)2.0%
OBC19.0%
Total50.0%

So, we see that the Indian Constitution has a law, and by this law - 'Reservation was made to bring underprivileged classes on par with the general or privileged ones.
Our country now sees a variety of reservations, for women, physically challenged, based on economically backward status and most importantly, based on caste.

Scheduled Castes(SC) and Scheduled Tribes(ST) constitute approx. 22.5% of India's population. And a reservation equal to 22.5% (SC - 15% and ST 7.5%) has been made. On top of this a concession is made on the qualifying marks, by about 5-10%.

Though reservation clearly discriminates, it was once started with a good objective of uplifting the unprivileged section of society, so as to ensure equal opportunities. But due to lack of checks and effective measures, people have started misusing it. There are innumerable examples of students making fake documents/certificates just to get a seat in an educational institution.

Despite crossing numerous decades of independence, the condition of the people in 'reserved' category shows no improvement. The entire idea of reservation is proving counter productive for the nation. The system has caused the upliftment of one section at the cost of another, which is not right and unfair. Instead, the state should establish equal opportunities for all. And moreover, a candidate who is capable does not need any certificate of his caste to prove his worth. 

To look at this from another perspective, by this reservation system, India is creating a workforce for the world which fails to compete globally. The system is adding undeserving candidates to society, while the truly meritorious candidates are left out.

There was once a quota system in the United States of America, but it was abolished. Does this mean they are not working towards the upliftment of the under-privileged. No. They constantly asses the effectiveness of their measures and modify the reforms for a more effective upliftment.

Now, in what way can we change this ? The government should first abolish all rules relating to reservation and demolish the reservation system. The actual under-privileged sections of society should be identified. The level of financial aid/assistance should be noted. Then provide free education and other incentives. Once this is achieved, let them face the true competition that is out in the world. 

Making them capable and achieving success by the right spirit will infuse a fighting spirit in them. 

GENERAL ELECTIONS 2014 (INDIA)

The 2014 Lok Sabha elections is going to play a pivotal role in shaping India's future, either for the better or worse. One cannot assume the elections to have a mediocre outcome, as our country is already in turmoil. The scams and the controversies over the past term of the ruling government speaks volumes of what kind of turmoil India is in. If no change is brought about immediately, the country will probably plunge into a future which is darker than the present, with much more serious repercussions and more over into a future of no return. To avoid this, a major overhaul is needed that can break this inertia of political involvement in our country, and aspire to bring us out of this despair. We need a government that will no longer utilize state resources with intent of just manipulating vote banks, or for the benefits of the ruling party; all of which just leads to a dent in the country's economy. We need a government that will utilize the resources systematically for the betterment of the nation.


Consider the recent suspension of the IAS officer Durga Shakti. The response or reaction of the Uttar Pradesh government to her suspension and the aftermath of public outrage, speaks of the attitude of the government. The wide coverage of the media made it quite obvious of the irrationality of the cause behind her suspense. Yet, she never received justice. This clearly indicates of how those at helm of this affair have misused and flouted their power. 

Now let us take a moment to see how baffling this is. They commit heinous crimes, the media makes it pretty obvious of the "Blunder" committed by these politicians, yet they are absolutely care free. This sense of invincibility among these leaders, comes from the fact that they are convinced of the effectiveness of of their ability to remain in power through series of backdoor deals. 

When individuals like them roam freely in the streets, and the police men who question them are either suspended or 'taken care of', what hope lies for the 'aam aadmi' or common man who is already facing the problems of poverty, hunger and injustice. 

Over a fifth of India's population is the youth. Despite having such rich human resource, India has failed miserably is reaping the full potential of the demographics. But something that we can be proud of is the fact that our youth is now more aware of the opportunities that exist, and aware that they have the right to claim it. They are no longer ready to get along with the situation. A high percentage which is unemployed is frustrated and resents the fact that they are not given these rights.

One example that can be observed is the ridiculous, rules and regulations regarding the reservations for examinations. The plight of the General Merit category is nothing less than that of the poor. Comprising of over 85% of the country's population, and are given opportunities equal to less that half that percentage. 
The SC,ST, OBC dominate. Despite reservation on caste being strictly disagreed upon during Independence, by Gandhiji. It was still adopted JUST for the 1st 5 year plan. We are now a 62 year old Republic and yet this law prevails and decides the destiny of the students. 


In the past decade, there have been several incidents that have left the nation in anger. Recently, the gang rape in Delhi led to a major debate over the effectiveness of the Government. The protests were a cry of despair as the government did not perform its duty. 

The 2014 General Elections are set to be test to the general sense of frustration of the people. Testing the frustration to both their personal and national problems. The UP government gave a majority to BSP, in Karnataka BJP had previously got a clear majority after years of malfunctioning governments. And now, Congress received a clear majority, which proves that the people, and the present day youth will not allow a dysfunctional alliance to stand. 

The conclusion is clear, the GE are likely to reflect this mood, so far as the BJP can present a unified front to the masses. 
With the recent success in Delhi, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. It definitely seems to be moving in the right direction, and we can expect an impressive performace by BJP. 

So, to say in short. Narendra Modi should gear up for the big job.

November 28, 2013

CHEWING GUM = BAD IMPRESSION ???

Well the common notion that persists in society is that chewing gum leads to bad impressions.


A study done gives rise to interesting results.

Have a look.



November 23, 2013

HOW THE MAJOR RELIGIONS CONQUERED THE WORLD

Christianity. Islam. Judaism. Buddhism. Hinduism. All the major religions have basically competed with each other in an epic, historical game of Risk. Who can get the most converts?
While some religions started out strong and faded out with time, some went on strong to paint the entire world.

The following video shows the timeline of religion from 3000 B.C to 2000 A.D. It also pauses at certain parts in time when religious figures were born.