Ravi V Chhabra relates how he met and was impressed
by the modesty of Shahkukh
Driving down to the Sariska wildlife reserve, I could never have envisaged meeting one of the most sought after actors in the industry at present – Shahrukh Khan of the Baazigar, Darr fame.
En route, the old wizened villager gave me directions for the sprawling mansion-turned hotel, the Sariska Palace, my destination, not it’s name but by the fact that the big Bollywood stars were lodged there. The crew had assembled there just for the shooting of the film Karan Arjun, being directed by Rakesh Roshan. The cast includes other big names like Salman Khan, Amrish Puri, Mamta Kulkarni and Raakhee.
The next evening, after the actors returned from shooting, I went to meet Shahkukh in his room. After a few knocks, Shahrukh opened the door and asked me to come in. in our conversation, I learnt that he had graduated from the same college as me in Delhi (Hans Raj college) and his first love was acting in theatre and that he came into films by chance.
I told him that I’d liked his role in Baazigar and he’d done justice to it. About his anti-hero roles in two consecutive hit films (Baazigar, Darr) depicting vengeance, he said “I do not have any moral, ethical and or social obligation to the audience. I do my best in each act. I am not vengeful.” In fact he says, “If you see Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman and Deewana, you’d probably say I’m a romantic, but romance for me is not a candlelit dinner or sending flowers”.
Expressing his views on love, Shahrukh says candidly that he loved his mother a lot and even now weeps when he’s reminded of her. He says he loves his wife as much and also his dog, who is like a family member. “If somebody were to ask me the definition of love, I can tell you if we knew the meaning it wouldn’t be there, it’s a feeling- a very powerful feeling.”
Shahrukh’s greatest inspiration had been his parents. He doesn’t have any idols but he admires Peter Seller and Michael J. Fox. He admits that he borrowed from Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachan, and Naseruddin Shah and, in fact, most serious actors. “They are all great and one has a whole range to learn from them.” He says.
Shahrukh says he loves overacting. “If you can overact and yet retain interest of the audience, that’s a real achievement.” He attributes his success to team work and “instinctiveness”.
Shahrukh didn’t shy from self criticism either. “I know I speak fast and have a limited number of emotions to offer, but I’m learning. I am doing my best love me or leave me. I know today I might be on top but I will definitely hit the bottom too.”
On his success, he says “success or failure isn’t important. I must enjoy what I do.” Meanwhile, a group of his admires rush into the room and I’m forced to bid goodbye to an actor whose modesty is intact despite his meteoric ascent.
(Hindustan Times, 30th January 1993. Available in hard copy only.)
Take it from him!
Doo Not Quit Smouking
Buyline Ravi V.Chhabra
In 2010, 930,000 adult deaths in India willl be caused by smoking.
$$ E-Cigarette Dimension $$
Lakhs of smokers die of cancer in Mother India. Sad. Most people do not take the surgeon general’s caution seriously. Sadder. Smoking is banned in public places and bars, pubs, clubs, bistros et al. Ridiculous/farcical. Smoking causes death. Factual. Reason: Every smoker who reads it, regrets having read it and furthermore, ignores reading it the secondtime. Brilliant! The Government is cold-eyed. (Guaranteed).
According to a 2008 report in dancingwithshadows.com, “A study has revealed that there are currently about 120 million smokers in the country and the rate of tobacco-linked deaths is increasing at about 3% a year. The study, conducted by Dr Prabhat Jha, of the Centre for Global Health at the University in Toronto and his groupies, said that in 2010 alone, smoking will lead to nearly 1 million deaths in India. Further, 70% of those deaths will occur in men and women aged between 30 to 69. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study was conducted on a nationally representative sample of 1.1 million Indian households. Dr. Jha and his colleagues studied the prevalence of smoking among 33,000 deceased women and 41,000 deceased men. This was then contrasted with the prevalence of smoking among 35,000 living women and 43,000 living men.
Tobacco is still sold in its most pure/raw formats in every cranny of developing India (read hookah). An unIncredible India, where the cost of a single kings' cigarette alone can provide for a basic meal for one. But, this is not happening. There can only be two reasons for it. One, the people(smoke addicts) are not get ting the message clearly and next, the Government has other pastimes rather than imposing a 'rightful ban' on tobacco at the cost of intimidating the lobbyists and tobacco companies.
“Now, smoke your cigarette and even enjoy (read Njoy) it as much because this one(a lesser known brand) comes without tobacco and is an E-Cigarette. It is actually good for health (for passives!). And, you don’t need an ash-tray to stub it either. It’s lifetime reusable”, says a lawyer-to-be Aman Thukral. Welcome to the world of virtual cigarettes or ‘Electronic Cigarette’ (EC). The tobacco-less avatars are imported mainly from Bangkok, Hongkong and the original and best-grosser NJoy - popular in the US, it is unreliably learnt is mostly of Chinese origin and costs higher. But the less famous brands can range from Rs. 6000 a pack (single rechargeable cigarette) upwards.
The fnbworld spoke with one such ‘Electronic Cigarette’ dealer, who is studying law. Aman Thukral (23), says, “An E-Cigarettes box of (1 cigarette) costs Rs 6,000 (includes free 20-puffs trial /charger and doorstep delivery). The cigarette needs 2 hours of charging and can be puffed over 500-times, before it has to be recharged and it is, indeed, without any harmful effects or toxins/ tobacco-smoke. It gives out smoke and the same sensations in the lungs! It sure-shot facilitates tobacco de-addiction”, he asserts. Let's try it. Please.
{To order you pack, call: Tanya Loveinsky at: # +91.9810461711 or write to her at: fnbworld@gmail.com.}
Note: The article first appeared on: www.fnbworld.com, sometime in June 2010.)
No Laughing Matter
BuylineRavi V.Chhabra
Containing laughing gas is a serious issue. Though the gas makes up only nine per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions, yet it carries 300 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide, according to a recent study.
And, we must indeed be hopeful that the prominet environmentalists with credibility would have taken a note of this phenomenon.
Unlike carbon dioxide and methane, laughing gas or nitrous oxide has been largely ignored as a worrisome greenhouse gas. "It can survive in the atmosphere for 150 years, and it is recognized in the Kyoto Protocol as one of the key gases we need to limit," says David Richardson of the University of East Anglia in Norwich.
Richardson presented these findings at the Society for General Microbiology`s 162nd meeting.The potent gas is emanating from waste treatment plants and agriculture. Its release is increasing at the rate of 50 parts per billion or 0.25 per cent every year.
Medically, nitrous oxide is administered as analgesia by some dentists.It has a calming effect and relieves anxiety. There are no lasting effects from the nitrous - within minutes after coming off the gas, all your sensibilities return to normal.
Meanwhile, its time you gave a rethink to a great health regimen picking up in most and little leftover open spaces in Mother India - called laughter yoga or induced laughter! The world is becoming a very serious place, we need to cool it. So says Mother Nature. Haven't you heard her?
(Article is cut-pasted from: www.newsforsoul.com and it appeared some time in February, 2008}
Interview
'With Shabana, I was a
student again'
"Be it as the romantic tabla maestro wooing a much older Shabana in Saaz or as himself, the high-profile son of tabla maestro Ustad Allah Rakha, Zakir Hussain is always in the news. Performing as a soloist and with leading rock and jazz bands, he has given new meaning to fusion music. He has jammed with some of the world's best guitarists and composers like John McLaughlin and Frank Zappa, among others. Ravi V Chhabra has a chat with the maestro."
Q: How was it to compose music for the Bollywood film Saaz? Any plans to become a full time composer?
A: My first love is playing music... to play the tabla, but if something comes along for which I have rime, be it composing music or some kind of an act which I won't look silly doing, then I might try it. But I have no plans to do composing full time.
Q: How was it acting against Shabana?
A: Oh, it was a great learning and humbling experience. I was like a pupil standing beside an ustad of a certain tradition. One felt like a puny student again. I guess I need to have that happen to me every now and then, like a slap in the back. It's like the world is not your territory anymore!
Q: Who's been your musical inspiration?
A: My biggest inspiration has been my father, my teacher whom I have heard and also played with since a very young age.
Q: Who's your favourite musician and what do you listen to in your lonely moments?
A: Apart from my father, I feel John McLaughlin is a great musician, and I have a lot of regard for his musical training. I normally read books in my spare time. I am a reader by nature. I love to read Kabir, Rumi, Krishnamurthi or Ludlum, anything.
Q: What memories do you have of Frank Zappa?
A: I have very crazy memories of him. He was one of the greatest rock musicians America has ever produced. He was also a great composer, who hid his greatness in humour. It was just amazing to watch him work and control his musicians.
Q: How was it to perform in Israel? (He recently toured the country.)
A: It was my second visit to Israel... It's a beautiful country and perhaps the only one where you meet people from all corners of the world. One gets to taste a variety of cuisines and hear different languages.
Q: Would you call today's music fusion music?
A: I don't know... we tend to see musicians from various parts of the world come together and we automatically say it is fusion. But whenever an Indian goes to eat Chinese Food we don't say its fusion. So, I guess we're basically sampling various wares, finding out about various cultures and traditions.
I would rather call it interaction. It's a learning and educating experience for us as well as listeners. As I said, we are in a transitional mode. The world has opened up suddenly. It's like a big shopping mall and we're going into every store and picking up a tie, jeans, a shirt, buying a particular brand of cheese, a stereo. So, some things will stay with us and some won't but I don't like to call it fusion.
Q: Some critics say much of your sex appeal comes from your hairstyle. Any comment.
A: Well. I don't think I have a hairstyle. It has been like this since 1970. I don't ever brush or comb my hair, I just wash and leave it.
Q: Your fans feel you have glamourized the tabla?
A: I never made any such statement, I guess the media did. I got a readymade stage with maestros Allah Rakha, Krishan Maharaja and Santa Prashad already having established the tabla. And then, I got the media in its infancy, wanting to break out. I just happened to be there at the right time.
Q: More experiments with Western musicians?
A: I have a new album coming up with John McLaughlin this month. Besides, I just did an album with jazz musician Farrow Sanders that also features Carlos Santana and Trilok Gurtu.
Q: What would you have been if you weren't a tabla player?
A: I would have been a tabla player... (laughs)
(The article appeared in the American Express Cardmembers' EXPRESSION India • February, 1999)
Attitude Man: Shiv Khera
"Shiv Khera, top-notch management guru and hot-selling author of the bestseller You Can Win, in an exclusive conversation with Ravi V Chhabra about managing a life, a company and a country ."
"Shiv, your problem is attitude." drawled the business-like Canadian, manager of the insurance company Shiv worked for. It was a routine day in the life of Shiv Khera, then a less-than-successful sales person. His boss was telling him something most employers’ throw at their employees at some point or the other. No big deal. Yet, for the 20 something immigrant, it triggered a spark deep within. It was a turning point. He did two things: stopped blaming people, the world, destiny, and made up his mind to give more than hundred percent. At the lime he was drawing only $150 a week, not good money even for the seventies. But within a few weeks of the incident, his performance as a sales person improved. From then on, the only way was up.
Growing up in small town Bihar, the son of coal mine owners, Shiv Khera was a laidback young chap. A habitual backbencher, he failed his 10th standard. "That really shook me and T geared up and passed the 12th standard with a first division," recalls Shiv. Following the nationalization of mines, the family fell to bad times and had to move to Delhi. After college (where he didn't fare too well) Shiv decided to join his married sister in Canada and try his luck at making something of his life.
Today, relaxing in his plush Vasant Vihar house, the perfectly groomed 44-year-old sophisticate is a far cry from the gauche immigrant who landed in Canada one bleak winter day not so long ago. "I did it all. From washing cars to selling car tyres and making detergents, but nothing seemed to work," says Shiv. Till he learnt to change his attitude, that is.
One of the tilings which helped bring the turnaround was books. Norman Wilson Peal and his book the Power of Positive Thinking became Shiv's Bible in those years. "I was spending $20,000 a year on books hock then," he says. Today his personal library is worth about a quarter million dollars. "And I'm still reading, still learning," he adds.
So what is his claim to fame? To his clients (the list includes Lufthansa. ATZ Grindlays, Bahamas Quality Council and Boehringer Manheim) he is an educator, motivator, management guru and attitude pundit all rolled into one (a la Stephen Covey?). But Shiv has his own definition: "I'm a catalyst who likes to share what I have learnt from people much wiser than me."
Coming from any one else, this would be the ultimate management clinch (if there's any sure thing!) but sonieh. Shiv makes it sound -cere. He has this indefinable quality abt -him that spells credibility, he has :: knack of using words to have maximum impact. He is also methodical and about his book You Can Win; it's like a destruction manual that describes the tools required for success.
But is it all so simple? "It could be. Attitude may not change in 30-years, it may change in 30 seconds. The minute something appeals to the head and heart our attitude changes”, he savs. Mistakes are all part of the game. "The person who tells me he has never made a mistake has to be a person who has done nothing all his life, and that's the biggest mistake," he adds.
Critics say his book is too simplistic, more an instinct based feel-good manual than a product of serious research. In fact, it's difficult to really get to the 'man', he is just too glib, too full of set phrases and quotes which pepper his talks. Uncharitable quarters even say he gives a "temporary high". But the flak doesn't bother Shiv, he is umfazed; his USP is his conviction which carries through to the audience. And there's a world-full of them.
Currently based in Singapore and out of India for the last 20 years, Shiv is very Indian; he makes it a point to eat an Indian meal (mostly vegetarian) at least once a day. Rooted in family values, he is deeply attached to his wife and his two grown-up daughters. He marvels at how even today for the rural child in India, the entire village is a family. Apart from family and work, Shiv enjoys working out in the gym and manages to make at least a couple of trips to the gym every week.
Despite his claims about being Indian to the core, Shiv is still vociferous about the bad in India. "We're a country of 950 million honest people who have become criminals. Just to live in this country you have to break a law - you are either giving a bribe or taking one, or breaking a law in some way or other. If one were to go by the book, the whole country should be in jail! We talk of brain drain but it's better to have brain drain than brain in the drain.
''The remedy is to take pride in the country. Country must come first, company second. There's no money problem, there's a credibility problem. We're not the first country to have problems but we're a country that's not coming up with solutions. There's vision but vision without action is hallucination. It's not the action of rascals but the inactivity of good people that kills the system," declares the pundit.
But he sees hope in the Indian spirit of entrepreneurship. "It's everywhere, look at the fruits seller. He buys fruit from the whole-seller and sells it for a profit around the corner. In the US, be it in industry, medicine or science. Indians are at the top. They just need the environment." So what made him settle in Singapore, not India? "Well, it still maintains the culture of the east and has all the amenities of the West. Most of all it's a great place to bring up kids in - the society is clean, no crime, drugs, pornography." No false sense of loyalty here.
Shiv is also a very practical guru. With no fancy management school degrees behind him, he feels the environment - from the home to the political and social climate - determines the personality. "College education is only an add-on," he declares. Shiv rattles off stories of success against odds - Walt Disney who went bankrupt seven times, Thomas Edison who was partially deaf and had only three months of formal education, Sudha Chandran who dances on one leg - to illustrate his point that most success stories are also stories of great failures.
He has western hates too: he abhors their TV serials for instance, "mere stories of bed-hopping". Simla Barbara, The Bold and the Beautiful, Dallas. Dynasty, he trashed them all. "Media has to be more responsible; there's a direct correlation with society. When violence goes up in the media, it does so in the streets too."
As we part I wonder what this guru would have to say about the Dayavans and Arjuns (unabashed glamour portrayals of violence on the silver screen) churned out as routine entertainment to the 950 million out here.
While Mr Amit Dutta Gupta, chairman and CEO, Hindustan Office Products Ltd., (HOPE) feels "The Government should take a fresh look at current excise duty slab on software imports. This will certainly help medium sized engineering vis-a-vis architectural design organizations to go for in-house CAD/CAM facilities".
(The above article first appeared in: Cardmembers' EXPRESSION India, January, 1999; Personable section.)
Finally, Interactive TV By MTNL! Ravi V. Chhabra, EFY News Network
(Tuesday, October 17, 2006 5:40:27 PM)
Now you can choose, demand, receive and control content customized to your taste
Tuesday, October 17, 2006: Imagine demanding a movie via the television remote control or booking cinema tickets through your TV relaxing on your bed? Yes,this is shortly going to be within the ambit of your MTNL broadband connection! The IPTV is poised to revolutionise the home entertainment.
The state-owned MTNL, in association with Aksh Optifibre Ltd, has launched India’s first IPTV service in Delhi that will make TV viewing completely interactive. The IPTV will allow viewers to opt, demand, receive and control content customised to each individual.
The service will be offered to all MTNL broadband subscribers in Delhi and Mumbai using its existing broadband network. Initially, the service will offer traditional television broadcast, time-shifted TV (last one week’s television content aired by any channel available at the push of a button), video and music on demand and video calling on TV facilities.
When asked by EFYTimes about who would tackle the advertising revenue, Vijay Yadav, managing director, South Asia-Utstarcom (the service enabler), said, "MTNL will function as the service provider taking charge of operations and revenue collection. The software, hardware, service set-up and content delivery for IPTV service will be managed by Aksh Optifibre Ltd."
The IPTV service will be priced aggressively and will have tariffs comparable with DTH or cable TV. The minimum service fee including the rental and a basic service will be Rs 135 per month. The fee is completely de-linked from traditional billing for broadband usage and the video data beamed will be charged as a fixed monthly amount, independent of the number of hours or MB used.
The system is also CAS-ready (no separate set-top box required) and resultant fee rationalisation for pay channels will automatically be adjusted in the monthly charges.
Registrations for MTNL-AKSH IPTV service in Delhi will be opened from 25 October 2006 and commercial operations will begin from November 1.
Pre-Budget: Grass and roots!
By Ravi V Chhabra
Grassroots is a synonym for common people. But ask the humble tillers of this predominantly agrarian country, who await the season’s cloudburst in awe and desperation. For them, Grass connotes fodder for cattle, while ‘roots’ denotes an emotional binding with the soil.
The agriculture segment is indeed the backbone of this country. Yet, mountains of foodgrains get rotten lying uncared for. The issue is not of producing more but of its optimum reach. It is time the Government took concrete steps to change this scenario, once for all.
At present, most of the agricultural produce in the country is freely marketed through private trade operating in organized markets/mandis. Except for commodities whose prices are administered, viz., petroleum, coal, nitrogenous fertilizers etc, most agricultural commodity markets operate under the normal forces of demand and supply. In order to save the farmers from cartels of traders and encourage farmers to undertake the cultivation of certain specific crops (foodgrains, oilseeds, cotton, jute, tobacco, sugarcane, etc) the government also fixes minimum support/statutory prices for some crops and makes arrangements for their purchase on state account whenever their price fall below the support level.
The Government bodies include the Commission for Agricultural Costs and. Prices (CACP) for recommending minimum prices of certain commodities; the Food Corporation of India Ltd. (FCI), the Cotton Corporation of India Ltd. (CCI), the Jute Corporation of India Ltd. (JCI), the National Cooperative Development Corporation Ltd. (NCDC), the National Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd. (NAFED), the National Tobacco Growers Federation Ltd. (NTGF), the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation Ltd. (TRIFED), the National Consumers Cooperative Federation Ltd. (NCCF), etc for procurement and distribution of commodities; and the Tea Board, Coffee Board, Coir Board, Rubber Board, Tobacco Board, Spices Board, Coconut Board, Central Silk Board, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), State Trading Corporation (STC), Agricultural & Processed Foods Export Development Authority (APEDA), Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), the Indian Silk Export Promotion Council, the Cashew-nuts Export Promotion Council of India (CEPC), etc for promotion of production and exports of specific commodities.
However, the moot factor is for most of these institutions to push the green reforms forward have become obsolete and near-defunct. The States have slackened in adopting the model Agriculture Produce Marketing Act. Some additional incentives may be provided to encourage the states to bring in the model act. In keeping with the thrust of the Government on the development of rural and agricultural sector and encouraging processing of perishable products, the Government should consider extending the tax holiday to businesses which use other agro inputs produced by farmers/ agricultural sector such as fresh milk, food grains, cereals and plantation (tea, coffee). This would help better achieve the objective of promoting agro processing industries and thus the development of agriculture and rural sector.
Indian agriculture still suffers from (i) Poor productivity, (ii) falling water levels, (iii) expensive credit, (iv) a distorted market, (v) many intermediaries who increase cost but do not add much value, (vi) laws that stifle private investment, (vii) controlled prices, (viii) poor infrastructure, (ix) produce that does not meet international standards, (x) inappropriate research, (xi) tax evasion by the unorganized sector leading to the lack of a level playing field. All these hamper both the farmers and the Industry.
The chambers of Indian industry are apt in demanding the Government doing away with the inefficiencies caused in the food chain by multiple intermediaries and outdated regulations. States need to be persuaded to do away with the Mandi Tax and the current APMC Act. The Integrated Food Law should be implemented and fertilizer subsidy be reassessed. Essential Commodities Act be scrapped and free inter-state movement of goods be assured.
The role of the government is normally limited to protecting the interests of producers and consumers, only in respect of wage goods, mass consumption goods and essential goods. The government is promoting organized marketing of agricultural commodities in the country. But that’s not enough. There is too much lethargy and the chain needs to be looked into in terms of its bureaucratic nature. Schemes to woo active private players’ participation in marketing the produce and a boost in FDI in key areas in the segment like R&D, organic farming, alternate energy sources, farming machinery and food processing units needs to be pursued. Streamlined aggressive export measures and mass marketing is the key in agriculture segment.
(Indiabiznews, February 21, 2005)
Pre-Budget: Scissor levies
for threads of growth!
By Ravi V. Chhabra
Indian textiles/clothing have been known for their quality and appeal the world over for ages now. With the world of high fashion too accepting the arrival of Indian czars & czarinas at the Paris club, what better time to give this segment the fillip it needs for growth. This will impact greatly on the pricing of finished textile merchandise, both meant for the bulk supplies and to the upmarket retailers - enabling these to proliferate in the fast consuming garments markets such as US, Latin America and Europe among others.
Due to the Multi-Fibre Agreement (MFA) surcease on January 1, 2004, China now looks set to dominate the US $500-billion global garments trade. This time, however, it is creating a controversy not with the US, but with developing countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and those in the Caribbean. The MFA, which allowed the US and Europe to negotiate bilateral quantitative restrictions with developing countries, was a discriminatory trade practice; hence the poor countries pressed for the end of the quota regime as a pre-condition to the formation of the WTO, so as to allow free competition in the international trade of garments and clothing. Developing countries such as Turkey, Ghana and Sri Lanka were eagerly waiting for the quota regime to end, thinking that their trade will boom. That, however, was before China and Vietnam entered the party. Ironically, for them, it seems that quotas instead guaranteed market access to many developing nations and secured employment. With the quota regime gone, it is indeed time India got to taste its blossoming soon enough.
The global trade in textiles is likely to grow at about 5 per cent in the coming few years to reach a level of about US $600bn by 2010 compared to US $353bn in 2002. The domestic per capita consumption of the textile fibre is 3 kg as compared to the world average of about 8kg. During the Budget 2004, the Government has completely revised the excise duty structure on textiles. Now, the mandatory excise duty is 24 per cent on Polyester filament yarn and 16 per cent on all other man-made fibres as well as yarns.
The CENVAT scheme for textiles has been made optional. Textile industry wants the SED on polyester filament yarn (PFY) to be reduced from 8 per cent to zero. While they want a reduction in the excise duty from 16 per cent to 8 per cent on man-made filament of these fibres and yarns other than PFY; they want a scaling down of the excise duty on Polyester POY to at least 16per cent from 24 per cent in order to compete against other yarns like cotton, acrylic, silk, wool, etc.
In its detailed pre-Budget memo to the Finance Minister, the Indian Cotton Mills Federation has sought excise duty cuts on textile machinery from the current 16 per cent to 8 per cent, the same duty cuts for furnace oil - a driving force for these machines in many power-strapped states and last but not the least, Customs Duty relaxation on the import of textile machinery parts also.
While more than 95 per cent fibre consumption in the country is from domestic production and only a handful of producers account for most of the domestic production. However, customs duty applicable on man-made fibres such as PSF, VSF, Acrylic Fibre etc is at a peak rate of 20 per cent.. On the intermediary products such as PTA, DMT and MEG also, the current duty is 20 per cent, though paraxylene, which is a raw material for intermediaries, attracts a customs duty of only 5 per cent.
There is also a near monopoly in man-made fibre production in the country. Since imports are unviable at current import duty and therefore negligible in quantity, the textile industry runs the risk of becoming uncompetitive in the global scenario. The industry therefore, rightly wants the Customs Duty on all man-made fibres and their intermediaries such as PTA,DMT, and MEG be reduced at least to 10 per cent for being buoyant. India’s textile industry can grow manifolds as it holds a promising potential as a forex winner.
(Indiabiznews, February 21, 2005)
EFY Times
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Wikipedians,Citizendium Is Around!
By Ravi V.Chhabra
Larry Sanger, whose brainchild this project is, confirmed to EFY News Network that the trial version could be launched as soon as Monday.
Sunday, October 22, 2006: For those who swore by the Wikipedia as the knowledge-bible at the slightest doubt or ‘moused’ for facts online, there is an arch rival – Citizendium! The project is the brainchild of none other than the co-founder of Wikipedia, Larry Sanger, who is now among its harshest critics. He confirmed to EFY News Network that the trial version could be launched as soon as Monday.
He told this correspondent via an e-mail, “A trial version of the wiki was launched ‘internally’ a few days ago among a group of about 20 people. This coming week (possibly as early as Monday), we will start inviting others, from a set of over 250 applicants, to join us.”
Notwithstanding the controversy about the right for ‘anyone’ to post on the Wikipedia, the project is being launched by Wikipedia’s co-founder Larry Sanger and is called - ‘Citizendium’ (Sit-ih-Zen-dee-um)! In simpler terms, a Citizen’s Compendium will be a wiki project open to public collaboration. But, unlike Wikipedia, the community will be guided by expert/academic editors, and contributors will be expected to use their own names, not anonymous pseudonyms.
The initiative is being led by Wikipedia’s co-founder, Larry Sanger, who, after leaving the well-known wiki project, became one of its more vocal critics. Sanger first announced the effort on 15 September at the Wizards of OS conference in
Berlin. Sanger, who holds a PhD in philosophy from The Ohio State University, has taken a leave of absence from the Digital Universe Foundation in order to lead the new project. This week, the fledgling Citizendium Foundation will launch a six-week pilot project open to potential contributors by invitation (see http://www.citizendium.org/cfa.html).
"Wikipedia has accomplished great things, but the world can do even better," said Sanger. "By engaging expert editors, eliminating anonymous contribution, and launching a more mature community under a new charter, a much broader and more influential group of people and institutions will be able to improve upon Wikipedia’s extremely useful, but often uneven work. The result will be not only enormous and free, but reliable."
Gareth Leng, professor of experimental physiology at theUniversity of Edinburgh, has agreed to serve as one such Citizendium editor. Prof Leng said, "Public understanding of science needs scientists to help to explain, clearly and objectively, what science can do and what it can’t, its weaknesses as well as its strengths, its failures as well as its promise. At the Citizendium, our role will not be to tell readers what opinions they should hold, but to give them the means to decide, rationally, for themselves."
The Citizendium will begin by `mirroring' Wikipedia’s content, which its licence, the GNU Free Documentation License, permits. Contributors will then be able to edit articles under the new system. The eventual goal will be to either improve or replace all Wikipedia-sourced content. The Citizendium’s expert editors will also be able to bless versions of articles as `approved', but without freezing further article development on the wiki. Participants hope a giant body of trustworthy free content will result.
The Citizendium is ramping up organizational work quickly and a number of people have already put in many hours on the project. Since its initial announcement, the project has added over 340 members to its main e-mail discussion list, where discussions have focused on what policies the new project should follow. There is also an active Web-based forum and a planning wiki.
The pilot project will be invitation-only. Invitations can be applied for on the website (see http://www.citizendium.org/cfa.html). During this time, editors, community managers called "constables," as well as rank-and-file authors will together develop the rules of the project. They will also actually get to work editing and creating new articles.
For the pilot project, Steadfast Networks of Chicago is providing a server and bandwidth free of charge. Three experienced system administrators, including Peter Hitchmough of the
UK and Greg Sabino Mullane and Jason Potkanski of the US, are leading the Citizendium’s technical efforts. The chief constable for the project is Ruth Ifcher, who played early, key roles in the Citizendium’s predecessors, Nupedia and Wikipedia. The project mailing lists are being hosted by PurdueUniversity, and the main mailing list moderator is Australian Phil Wardle. Project leaders have launched a contributor recruitment drive to attract college students and professors, research scientists, independent scholars and people who simply like to read books. Already, partly as a result of early news coverage of the Citizendium on Slashdot.org, the Guardian, and in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, dozens of well-qualified people have already applied to become editors. One of these is Jaime Nubiola, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Navarra (Spain). "I was involved in Nupedia years ago," Nubiola said, "and I am excited now to take part in the Citizendium."
The project will also be reaching out to professional and academic organizations. "Such organizations usually have an educational mission, with which we will be uniquely positioned to help," said Sanger. "So we want to make a special place for representatives of these organizations in our editorial workgroups. We hope they’ll respond positively to our solicitations, which we’ll be sending out soon."
After initial work, the project will be opened up to public view, and to contribution by anyone who supplies his or her real name, a working e-mail address, and a statement of commitment to the Citizendium’s `social contract', or basic policies.
The Citizendium Foundation has started the process of applying for 501(c)(3) status. The organization has received a firm commitment for a significant seed grant from a foundation, as well as small personal donations. Finally, discussions are under way with a major computer manufacturer about the possibility of project support.
Baltej Singh Dhillon stands over six-feet tall but for over 300,000 Sikhs in Canada, he is much taller. Not only is his name synonymous to a crusader - who fought for the rights of Sikhs to wear turban in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1988, he is an RCMP officer and a perfect gentleman. Born in 1966 in Malaysia, Baltej is a happily married man, who believes in family values.
This proud Sikh, a true warrior, came out victorious in 1990 -- unscathed despite a death threat by his opponents, when he won his first ideological battle that started way back in 1988. There were a stream of protests that included over 195,000 Canadians signing petitions against Mounties wearing turbans. Baltej's opponents even filed a petition defending their case in the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Sikh in shining armor continues to inspire thousands of Sikh youth aspiring to join the RCMP. Dhillon is presently an officer in a RCMP detachment in Surrey, B.C. He works as an investigator with the task force probing the 1985 bombing of the Air India aeroplane, in which over 300 people aboard died.
Speaking to India Post, Dhillon, who was honored at Baisakhi Day recently, by Canada's Sikhs as their ideal image of a Sikh-Canadian says "we are thankful for the acceptance given in the country and, at the same time, we also must make a promise to the country -- that we will stand on guard to make Canada a better place for all to live.
As a matter of fact, I was not destined to become a crusader. Having been able to wear the turban in RCMP meant an acceptance into Canada's mainstream. To be allowed to wear the turban is a clear indication of getting accepted. I just wanted to join the RCMP as an officer and to be able to work with equal respect and dignity in every way. In fact, ever since my childhood, when I started wearing the turban, I never thought of being without it ever", says Dhillon.
Dhillon feels duty must always come first. "My foremost prayers are my doing the daily duties honestly and without any fear or favor. If we are true to ourselves, which also means doing our day-to-day tasks and responsibilities truthfully, then we can never falter. The most important thing is to have respect and love for one another and that obviously includes right to pray or worship".
A father of two daughters, Dhillon is very much a family man, who loves playing badminton and jogging with his wife and children whenever he gets time. He also likes to pamper his wife on weekends by taking over the kitchen. "We all need a break. All married men must put themselves in their wives situation and then only can they have the right perspective. I have a lot of regard and respect for women. Men might be strong physically but women are stronger emotionally. We have a lot to learn from them.
As for his word of advice to his fans and Sikh youth, who wish to join the RCMP, Dhillon says" Follow your dreams and do not compromise on your values, beliefs and high moral values. Do what you think is right. Follow the path of truth and you will never go wrong. As long as the intentions are good, one shall always win. And remember to be grateful to people who help you achieve your goals".
Baltej's favorite pastimes are watching Hindi films, with favorites ranging from Amitabh Bachan and Hema Malini, among others. He loves listening to contemporary music, especially Yanni and dancing to the Bhangra king Daler Mehndi's music. Baltej also likes to play the tabla and is a fan of Indian tabla maestro Zakir Hussain.
DemocrazY!
By Ravi V. Chhabra & Manish Sharma
The recent election verdict to the three state assemblies has spelt a piquant outcome testing the democratic tenets to the core. The political developments one is witnessing in Bihar, Haryana and Jharkhand are filled with intrigue. Jostling for power by hook or crook is the norm and does not leave much to say. The American definition "of the people, by the people and for the people" is being put to a special test here. Electing through the ballot box, metaphorically speaking, has not offered a clear solution either.
Take, for instance, the case of Haryana. While the Indian National Congress is able to breeze through without much ado in Haryana trouncing the Indian National Lok Dal, the prosperous northern state sans a Chief Minister till date. Factional feuds within the state Congress have disabled the Haryanvis from enjoying a peaceful transition. Is this power play at its peak? It is unacceptable to be convinced that such happenings are nothing unusual and more importantly that these are signs of a vibrant democracy.
A political party that boasts of more than a century -old existence ought to have developed or inculcated "best practices", having been in power for donkeys years. Unfortunately, the response has been otherwise. As usual, the post-poll scenario is chaotic with various factions fighting for a piece of the pie, throwing everything to the wind. Despite delivering a clear verdict in favour of the Congress, the Haryana voters are put on the "hold mould" in terms of administration. Perhaps, "no governance" is some governance?
While the relatively rich Haryana can afford to tolerate the political tamasha, the mineral rich but economically weaker Jharkhand can ill afford such luxuries. Yet, the biggest of dramas is being enacted with the connivance of the state Governor Syed Sibte Razi, a Central government appointee. Instead of maintaining the decorum demanded of his Constitutional position and playing a bipartisan role between rival political conclaves to install a democratically elected government, Razi seems to have gone overboard with the entire media, deploring the "misuse of governorship".
The Congress, sadly, is a beneficiary of this chicanery and, therefore, is expectedly at the receiving end of brickbats from most quarters. The general impression is that the Jharkhand governor is acting on behalf of the Sonia Gandhi-led Congress that is supporting the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha government installed already with the swearing-in of Shibu Soren as the Chief Minister.
There is a rethink within the Congress fold with the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh holding parleys with Mrs. Gandhi and other senior party leaders on the current political developments “possibly considering damage-control exercises - even while the President, seeking clarifications on the impasse, has summoned Razi. Surely, all is not well. The pre-poll arrangements have fallen flat as the electorate is left in the high and dry once again. If the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is making noises, their grouse is genuine and needs to be heard.
In the neighbouring Bihar, the scenario is dismal. A reticent Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan with 29 seats in a 243-seat Bihar Assembly is being wooed by all and sundry. Congress has already announced its support to Rashtriya Janata Dal “led by the irrepressible Lalu Prasad Yadav”after its efforts to rope in Paswan to lend support in the formation of a secular government failed. The NDA does not mind Paswan being sworn-in as Bihar Chief Minister simply to ensure the RJD's 15-year rule is not extended any longer and the Congress' dream run is halted. Paswan is parroting that he would neither support the RJD-led government nor the NDA-led alternative. But how long can he hold back his equally power-hungry fellow men? Therefore to imagine the formation of a government without the active backing of the bearded Dalit leader would simply be unrealistic. So much for the penury-ridden state now in a political stalemate.
One common thread in the entire din is the role of governors at the states level. The Jharkhand governor is not the odd man out. A few weeks ago, a similar drama was staged on the otherwise salubrious Goan soil with Governor S C Jamir denying the BJP incumbent sufficient time to prove his majority on the floor of the House but still conceding more time to Congress Chief Minister Pratap Singh Rane.
Debate and discussion on the role of governors in the Indian context has been done to death and still these species that play no big role in ensuring good governance are thriving! It’s time to revisit this area and take a final decision. It is time these political appointees work honestly and leave controversies at bay or the President himself ought to step in to restore sanity and a sense of fair play. It's never too late with two honest and non-politicos holding the posts of President and Prime Minister.
(The article appeared on: Indiabiznews, March 7, 2005)
Now, Watch Television
On Your Refrigerator! Ravi V. Chhabra, EFY News Network
(Wednesday, October 18, 2006 7:02:06 PM)
LG has lauched a refrigerator that comes with an in-built 15-inch hi-definition
television installed in the centre of its door.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006: New Delhi: Nobody wants to leave a match or a movie on television just to pick his favourite beverage from the refrigerator. Either miss the crucial moment, or stay hungry. Not anymore; LG has launched a 795-litre TV refrigerator – TV DIOS -- with a 15-inch hi-definition TFT LCD TV installed in the centre of its door.
The TV DIOS also has a built-in radio tuner with all FM channels and is supported by built-in speakers.
In addition to TV DIOS, the company also launched nine other models in the DIOS and frost-free ranges.
"LG is using patented Ice Beam Door Technology that cools not just from the sides of the refrigerator but also from the front and back, ensuring uniform cooling," said Girish V. Rao, vice president, LG Electronics.
He further added, “We are using a special patented catechet technology in the high-end refrigerators and this is our patent. Besides, we have the green eye door beam technology too. These technologies reduce the decay of foods by 15 to 20 per cent and hence keep the harmful bacteria at bay.”
With this launch, LG is targeting a 35 per cent overall market share in the refrigerator segment with 40 per cent market share in the frost-free segment and 30 per cent in direct cool segment.
The Frost-free range is priced between Rs 38,500 to Rs 65,000. The TV DIOS is available for Rs 2,25,000 and DIOS Refrigerators range between Rs 80,000 and Rs 1,35,000.
Expressing his views on love, Shahrukh says candidly that he loved his mother a lot and even now weeps when he’s reminded of her. He says he loves his wife as much and also his dog, who is like a family member. “If somebody were to ask me the definition of love, I can tell you if we knew the meaning it wouldn’t be there, it’s a feeling- a very powerful feeling.”
Tobacco is still sold in its most pure/raw formats in every cranny of developing India (read hookah). An unIncredible India, where the cost of a single kings' cigarette alone can provide for a basic meal for one. But, this is not happening. There can only be two reasons for it. One, the people(smoke addicts) are not get ting the message clearly and next, the Government has other pastimes rather than imposing a 'rightful ban' on tobacco at the cost of intimidating the lobbyists and tobacco companies. 
C
Tuesday, October 17, 2006: Imagine demanding a movie via the television remote control or booking cinema tickets through your TV relaxing on your bed? Yes,this is shortly going to be within the ambit of your MTNL broadband connection! The IPTV is poised to revolutionise the home entertainment.
