5 explicit reasons to worship BATMAN....read on and don't dare to differ!

Let us thank Bob Kane and Bill Finger (co-creators of Batman) first. They gave us a hero with unparalleled charisma and valor. No adjective can aptly describe the Gotham's vigilante. He is too big to be subsumed in text! And you will know exactly that, once you devote yourself to the study of the man's journey. 

"Sometimes I admit, I think of Bruce as a man in a costume. Then, with some gadget from his utility belt, he reminds me that he has an extraordinarily inventive mind. And how lucky I am to be able to call on him."    - Superman

Christopher Nolan has beyond doubt, dignified our age by attempting to portray bits of the Bat's life and events on celluloid but the cosmic truth remains that the lesser mortals are far from understanding the enigma called - Bruce Wayne. You may decide not to be fascinated by him and I can't do much about it but yes, I can tell you never to ignore him because in your life, sometime or the other, you need him - shades of his personality, his dedication, his perseverance, his activism, his bravura, his tenacity, his poise, his spirit and his conviction. Decide for yourself which of the following reasons pull you closer to the Bat - - - - 

1. With an empire left for him to thrive on, he instead chose to take on the big bad dark world of crime. And that was not impulsive, mind you! He knew his time would come and for that to happen, he prepared himself - trained his mind and body and never succumbed to bouts of depression. Patience is the word and he showed the world that you don't need personal glory in your bid to do good. What is important is a burning desire to pursue your goals and not lose sight of them even in the darkest hour.

2. With tragedies the only gift in his lonely life, he decided to make them his ally. He never found love but that didn't deter him from spreading it, arguably in his own discreet style! He took whatever fears he had in his stride and confronted them instead of melting before them. He gave a new meaning and identity to the lives of countless species of one of the most despised mammals on earth - the bat. 

3. He knows how to respect honest souls like Gordon and his Butler! He never hinted that he alone could do what he dreamt of; created the bat-signal, Robin and then there was the Arkham Asylum. He showed his pragmatic side when he allied with the Outsiders and as an original founder of the Justice League. He is more of a facilitator than controller in difficult times and let everyone develop his or her skills to contribute to a situation. That way, he encouraged initiatives and promoted democracy.

4. Without super-powers at his possession, he does only what he can. His physical might and mental prowess have been proven assets that no one can take away. He too bleeds like us but never winces. He has mastered pain and has one thumb rule - - if something is wrong, correct it and if you can't, then learn to accept it. The latter part refers to his fate, the irony of his parents' demise, his failing love life. But undeterred, he drags on the war against evil and who knows, someday, you might find him beside you when you join hands with the good forces!

5. Worship him because he is the BATMAN.....invincible, universal and lasting!

I welcome all Bat followers to contribute to my praise for the bat and help me in spreading his legacy...And for those who doubt - no, he ain't dead! Long live the bat! 

Put an end to pesky calls and SMSes!

Dial or SMS 1909 (toll free) and register in either of the two categories:


Fully blocked category - - stoppage of all commercial calls/sms [START 0 to 1909]


Partially blocked category - - choose from preference list for receiving preferred SMSes


START 1 --- Banking/Insurance/Financial Products/ Credit cards
START 2 - - Real estate
START 3 - - Education
START 4 - - Health
START 5 - Consumer goods and automobiles
START 6 -- Communication/Broadcasting/Entertainment/IT
START 7 - - Tourism




A redressal mechanism:


If a customer receives UCC (Unsolicited Commercial Communication) even after 7 days of registration, he can register a complaint with his service provider within 3 days of receipt of such UCC by dialling or sending sms to 1909.


SMS COMPLAINT FORMAT:


SMS telephone no. - xxxxxxxxxx, dd/mm/yy, Time hh:mm to 1909


Its worth knowing that "140" number series has been allocated to telemarketers, allowing mobile subscribers to identify such calls. 


Fines for slip-ups ranges from Rs. 25000 (first offence) to Rs. 2.5 lakh (sixth). Habitual offenders would be blacklisted. 


*** 29 SMSes per day is the average usage among Indians in urban cities. 75% of them however receive at least 4 marketing/promotional texts a day.

Good Governance in an era of Globalisation

If managed well, the interplay between globalisation and good governance could become a trans-formative process to stabilise society. Such a type of stabilisation can be achieved through:


- Improvement in public security, economic management and public administration
- Shared system of values through core public and private sector institutions
- Development of civil society and indigenous executive, legislative, judicial and administrative institutions
- Following the good governance norms, democratic development and an effective capacity for development


Because of the profound transformations the global economy is witnessing - transformations arising out of the global market economy and out of the amazing new ICTs - there is an imperative need for efficient and equitable governance, robust global co-operation, strong institutions, exemplary leadership and perhaps especially a powerful global rule of law.

India set to expend more on atomic power!

For the 12th FYP, the Centre's proposed nuclear investment envisages a cumulative investment of close to Rs. 87000 crore. This is undoubtedly the highest allocation ever on beefing up atomic generation capacity. Of this, about Rs. 64800 crore has been fixed on new starts, which largely entail imported light-water, reactor-based projects to be set up with equipment supplies from global vendore such as France's Areva, US firms GE-Hitachi and Toshiba-Westinghouse and Russia's Atomstroyexport.


Currently, there are 20 nuclear reactors in India being operated by state-owned NPCIL, that add up to a capacity of 4,780 MWe (mega-watt electrical). NPCIL - which has a surplus of Rs. 12000 crore, including cash reserves - has said that it funds new capacity of up to 10,000 MWe through its own financial resources and is looking for financing from other sources, including through JVs with core sector PSUshaving strong financials and cash flows such as NTPC, IOC, Nalco and ONGC.


Progress is expected despite strong protests from locals and activists. The end to the Kudankulum stalemate is seen as a positive signal for new projects on the anvil. The Centre has, in principle, given a nod for 6 greenfield sites in Haryana, AP, MP, Gujarat and WB for setting up a string of new nuclear units. The bulk of this capacity augmentation by NPCIL will be through large-sized indigenous 700 MWe PHWRs and imported LWRs ranging between 1000 MWe and 1650 Mwe. For the LWRs, the govt. has shortlisted Toshiba-Westinghouse's ' AP1000' reactors, GE-Hitachi's 'ESBWR" reactors, Areva's EPRs and the Russian 'VVER' reactors, which are already being deployed at Kudankulum. 

P.A.

Q. The greatest menace among the All India Services is that it is highly politicized. Comment.

Ans: With the rise in the number of complex activities involving social security schemes, welfare programmes, and handling of technical tasks, the civil servants today increasingly find themselves placed in the political arena. No public bureaucracy operates in vacuum. The All India Services have to be seen in a political context and the long held politics-administration dichotomy has given way to a more effective concept of cooperation between the bureaucrats and the political class. Although policy making within a political environment is one of the core functions in the higher echelons of civil services, yet the concept of neutrality has long been held as a desirable aspect.   

Slowly but surely, the politico-administrative scenario began to change. Civil Servants increasingly became pliant tools in the hands of their political masters as they learnt quickly that they should not rock their boats too much. While R.N. Bannerjee, who was full-time Secretary to Nehru and Patel, could state that Secretaries in his time never felt that they were 'politically influenced, embarrassed or over-powered by them', there has been a steady deterioration in the 'ministerial timber' and the mounting populist pressure to deliver election promises compels the politicians to use the civil servants as sacrificial lambs. The problem is compounded by arbitrary, capricious or unfair political actions - transfers or disciplinary proceedings against a neutral officer. Many of the capable and honest officers thus give in. Ministers increasingly prefer officials who love to say "Yes Sir", thus blindly supporting their line of action without asking uncomfortable questions. This is one step away form the civil servants anticipating the views of the Minister and advising accordingly. Thus builds up a nexus or cozy relationship, where both stand to gain. The recent arrest of two IAS officers in Hyderabad by CBI officials has brought the matter to notice once again. The ARC report had also made a mention of this growing nexus. Such unhealthy practices tend to threaten the very fabric of the AIS. A further development of this unhealthy trend is the emergence of personal affiliations leading to an element of "politicisation" among civil servants. Following the rules in transfer and posting remains the only solution to end this nexus. 

 Fortunately, there have been civil servants who have had the courage of conviction to stand up and fight for the values they cherish and the principles they uphold. There was A.K. Chatterjee, an IAS officer in Patna, who in 1992 sought voluntary retirement after exposing the perverted politico-administrative system in Bihar attributed to the greedy politicians and corrupt self-seeking civil servants. Then there was P.S. Appu, who resigned from LBSNAA, Mussorie to stand by his principles. Therefore, it is not right to paint the entire All India Services with the same brush. 


B.G. Deshmukh, a former Cabinet Secretary believes that bureaucrats should not play politics but understand how politics works. They should be guided by a self-imposed code or by some broad principles enforced by a committee of peers. A belief that the service should never get politicized was religiously upheld by our the leaders of the past and it should remain true even today. Sardar Patel correctly stated, "The Services must be above party and we should ensure that political considerations either in its recruitment or in its discipline and control are reduced to the minimum, if not eliminated altogether". Hence, a civil servant cannot afford to be depoliticised, but he certainly cannot be fully politicised. Put differently, his involvement must be in policy politics and not party politics. 

LPG : Implementation - the main challenge in India.

Globalisation implies the integration of a country's economy with the world economy. It refers to the cross-border exchange of goods, services, products, capital, ideas, technology etc. Liberalisation refers to the policy of removal of restrictions, trade barriers and protectionist measures to enable the free flow of capital, technology and services. Privatisation involves attempts to transfer activities from the public to the private sector or a reduction in the size of the public sector. It also implies a reliance on the market and deregulation by the govt.


Liberalisation is a direct consequence of globalisation of credit and commodity markets while privatisation is a by-product of a composite of factors including the recognition of the need to for the improvement in efficiency and competition, reduction of public budget deficits, widening of the ownership of the economic assets, elimination of political interference in the management of various PSEs, up gradation of technology etc. Today, privatisation is at the top of the economic agenda of many developing countries. Most of them are restructuring the public sector in order to gain financial solvency and to reduce the revenue deficits. It is a fact that the growing interest in privatisation is a direct consequence of the maladies of the PSEs. The emergence of the concept of LPG has given a jolt to the time-honoured conception of state activity and the doctrine of the infallibility of state-controlled economic activity. Even a communist nation like China has taken a pragmatic course in its drive towards modernisation.


During the last decade, the enterprise reform has deepened with greater autonomy. Ownership has been separated from the management and government from enterprises by introducing the contract responsibilit system, leasing property transfer etc. so as to inject more dynamism into the enterprises and help them become independent entities responsible for their own profits and losses. A market system has been gradually taking place yet many critics believe there is a still a lot to do in this front.


Economic development is a complicated phenomenon and not amenable to simple and clear cut formula. it needs a supportive environment with the interweaving of sophisticated technology, skill diffusion, social ethics and values and a state structure with specific forms of mediation in regard to the capital-labour relationship.