Protectionism

[app_engine]

Ohio bans outsourcing for state jobs :
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ites/Ohio-bans-offshoring-of-IT-projects-by-govt-depts/articleshow/6515714.cms

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:13f2793ac0]Obama will encourage companies to invest more in the U.S.

Persisting with the theme of protecting American jobs, President Barack Obama in his latest speech on the economy said that he would press for tax breaks only for companies that created jobs on U.S. soil and not those that created jobs abroad.

In a series of speeches across the U.S. over the summer, Mr. Obama also specifically mentioned “jobs of the future” going to countries such as India and China, and repeatedly underscored his intention to pre-empt that trend.

Addressing a gathering at Cuyahoga Community College in Parma, Ohio, on Wednesday, Mr. Obama said, “For years, our tax code has actually given billions of dollars in tax breaks that encourage companies to create jobs and profits in other countries. I want to change that.”

He said that instead of tax loopholes that incentivise investment in overseas jobs, he was proposing a more generous, permanent extension of the tax credit that went to companies for all the research and innovation they did in the U.S.

His comments also followed in the wake of steps taken by the U.S. Congress to hike the fees for H1-B and L visas, mostly requested by Indian companies with U.S. operations. Following the passage of this bill and comments by its sponsor, Senator Charles Schumer, criticising companies such as Infosys for being “body shops,” Indian companies and industry bodies such as National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) had warned of negative fallout of protectionism.

In a reference to White House plans announced this week to help the economy grow and spur hiring by businesses, Mr. Obama noted that it was encouraging companies “to invest more in the U.S.” was the key to job creation.

As part of this plan, all American businesses would be allowed to write-off investments made in 2011, a tax break designed to aid small businesses in upgrading their plants and equipment. Mr. Obama said, “If we are going to give tax breaks to companies, they should go to companies that create jobs in America — not that create jobs overseas.”

He said that in fact making this distinction was one of the key differences between the Republican vision and the Democratic vision for the economy and the country. “That's what this election is all about,” Mr. Obama added

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/article623499.ece?homepage=true

First stop buying cheap goods from the chinese, America.[/tscii:13f2793ac0]

[app_engine]

I read in a report that about 3 million jobs are currently in India in "off-shore" stuff with 61% of them doing U.S. work (obviously the turnover is billions of $).

I wonder how many U.S. people can be employed for the same cost (may be 1/10th or even less) and how much work can be done by that force, that could possibly be lazy / complaining / not work "round the clock" etc...

[rajraj]

af and ae :

Is it really protectionism? I don't think so! Obama is sending a message to corporations to give the American workers their fair share.

To underestand that you have to go back to the 70s. In 1970 a fresh graduate in engineering (B.S) was paid about $10K by a large corporation. The CEO's compensation was about $200K, 20 times the starting salary of a fresh graduate.

The fresh graduate could buy a townhouse for $25K to $30K in a Washington D.C suburb.
This year a fresh graduate is paid about $60K to $70K. The compensation for that CEO is $25 Million, about 400 times the salary of a fresh graduate.

The townhouse that sold for $25K to $30K now sells for more than $400K. Owning a house is out of reach for a family with single income.

That is known as salary compression for the worker.

Now, look at the changes in benefits in the last 40 years:
-there is no traditional pension where the employees did not contribute. The company took care of the pension fund

-the employee did not pay any premium for health care in 1970 and the deductible was insignificant. Now, they pay for health care - premium and high deductible

-there was employee stock purchase plan at 15% discount. Now it is 5% discount

-the annual pay raise was 10% to 15% or even higher. Now, it is very low around 5%

-There was a time when an employee could accumulate vacation upto 50 days. Now, they have to take it in the year they earned it

On top of that jobs were shipped overseas at low salaries - about $15K or lower for a beginner (correct me if I am wrong)

And they got a tax break for creating jobs overseas!

Where did all those savings go?

-accumulated cash in trillions of dollars

-buying smaller companies instead of hiring workers for new projects

-paying enormous compensation for higher level executives(CEO,VP and others)

-The worker did not get anything but a squeeze in salary and benefits! :(

That is what Obama is concerned about.

A recent news item projects people below poverty line to go upto 45 million. That is a shame in a country like the US

Obama is a compassionate man who cares about the average American unlike his predecessor. It is a question of who is to bell the cat? He is stepping up.

It is not protectionism!

America is no more the land of milk and honey I came to in 1965! Things have changed and changed a lot for the worse. That is why I have been telling Indian students to go back. At least they have a support to system to fall back on. Here nobody cares if you run into trouble. Sad! But, that is the harsh truth.

(There is more! :) I am not sure I want to scare people! :) )

[app_engine]

rajraj sir,

I didn't comment anything on Obama :-)

My only remark is that the state telling something like "don't import" is nothing but protectionism and reminds me of the "license Raj / high customs duties era" experienced in India during my initial career days:-)

There's not much difference between both.

Having said that, I'm totally against the greed by "officers" of corporations, who themselves alone cannot claim the total stake for profit or loss of any org.

In any case, the current workforce in U.S. cannot simply claim entitlement to a great life because their "forefathers worked hard". They got to work with current realities and compete in a global market. If they want max share (or) want to control global market, they need to play by global rules, isn't it?

(BTW, for all practical purposes, I'm a U.S. worker at present and have been so for the past seven years, so it applies to me as well :-) )

[rajraj]

a_e ! :) I very rarely get into a debate! :)

[ajithfederer]

RR sir :bow:

I agree with everything you said. But I believe this is a case of misled policy making. This is not a complete solution and it has repercussions. I am up for New Laws and Govt Trade Policies which either curb outsourcing or encourage Local employment more. That would be a more rightful solution. After all its their country and no body can question if new laws ban such practices. Another example is the US Govt increased the h1/l1 fees by 2,000$ to prop up mexican border projects. I am afraid that many perceive it as something very wrong. I really don't know what to say :).


Obama recently spoke about an idea called "Made in America". I don't know whether you heard about it. Its a move to make the manufacturing jobs shifted outside the country to you know where (China) to inside the country. I believe if they really want to stop outsourcing they should start with that one. And the Chinese have been flooding the American Market with cheap goods which have been given subsidies by the Chinese Govt. You name it any product(electronic, dress, household items) be it anything they have the stamp "Made in China". I believe he has to stop that one and make policies as such. I don't even want to start about the Chinese Govt's deliberate attempts to undervalue their currency which increases US Trade deficit.

Foreign workers within the country at least bring some tax revenue, don't they. This move may even hamper that. Outsourcing has its woes I understand but at-least it is done legally. And to stop outsourcing the country needs new laws which defend worker's rights and more stringent procedures which prohibits companies to avoid outsourcing. Frankly I don't see that happening as they have a lot of problems now. I am also alarmed at the fact this also would be one of their broken systems like healthcare, Immigration(Legal and Illegal) and their foreign policies.

[rajraj]

af,
You are right. Moving manufacturing to other countries was their first blunder.

Moving jobs requiring college education is probably right. Because, the US produces only 70 thousand engineers a year. But, why move call center jobs by banks and other companies when the jobs do not need a college degree or a degree in engineering? That is greed! :)
Higher salary is not an entitlement. Salaries should at least keep up with inflation. That has not happened. The purchasing power of $70K today is less than the purchasing power of $10K in 1970. The corporations know that and the government knows that.
The rule of thumb is that starting salary should double every ten years. That has not happened. That is one reason for people under poverty line increasing. It is not that they don't want to work or don't work. That below poverty line population includes those who work but do not earn enough to feed a family.

Europe has better laws to protect the worker. We don't have. That is a problem.

Global economy has a downside for developing countries like India. India will feel it ten or fifteen years from now. By that time it will be too late to do anything.

( I don't want to be columnist or a preacher here! If you like I can say more! :) )

[ajithfederer]

:bow:. You just nailed it.



Moving jobs requiring college education is probably right. Because, the US produces only 70 thousand engineers a year. But, why move call center jobs by banks and other companies when the jobs do not need a college degree or a degree in engineering? That is greed! :)


Sad but true.


Higher salary is not an entitlement. Salaries should at least keep up with inflation. That has not happened. The purchasing power of $70K today is less than the purchasing power of $10K in 1970. The corporations know that and the government knows that.
The rule of thumb is that starting salary should double every ten years. That has not happened. That is one reason for people under poverty line increasing. It is not that they don't want to work or don't work. That below poverty line population includes those who work but do not earn enough to feed a family.


In fact I am baffled by their capitalistic views which even promotes sweat shops and tortures illegal immigrants to work under pressure.


Europe has better laws to protect the worker. We don't have. That is a problem.


I don't know how this can happen. Is it because of India being a service oriented economy?. Please elaborate


Global economy has a downside for developing countries like India. India will feel it ten or fifteen years from now. By that time it will be too late to do anything.



Please continue sir :)


( I don't want to be columnist or a preacher here! If you like I can say more! :) )

[Sarna]

( I don't want to be columnist or a preacher here! If you like I can say more! :) )
Please continue sir :)
+1 :)

[rajraj]

I don't know how this can happen. Is it because of India being a service oriented economy?. Please elaborate


Global economy has a downside for developing countries like India. India will feel it ten or fifteen years from now. By that time it will be too late to do anything.



af, sarna : To underestand why I said that you have to follow what is being harped about in India:

" India will be a superpower by 20xx"

You can replace 'xx' with 20,30,40,50,.............

What does it take for a country to become a superpower?

It must be

-an economic power
-a leader in science and
-a leader in technology

India is not a superpower in economy even in Asia - Japan and China are.

We have not produced a Nobel prize winner in science since C.V.Raman. The other two winners, Chandrasekar and Ramakrishnan, won for work done outside India

We are nowhere near becoming a leader in technology. We are just a manufacturing wing for leaders in technology. But, we had the opportunity to take the initiative in technology. We missed the boat. When MNCs were allowed to operate in India there should have been some demands by the Indian government, specically to establish research centers/labs in India. They would have done it because India had/has cheap technical labor with fluency in English. But, the golden opportunity was missed.

I hear that IBM has established a research lab in IIT,Delhi campus with a budget of $50 million. That is peanuts for IBM. In the US they spend about $6 billion on R &D, about 6% of their revenue, if I remember correctly. India should have demanded that they spend 6% of their revenue from software develped in India on research labs.

Of course, India does not produce enough Ph.Ds to staff the research labs.

In one year China produced 22000 Ph.Ds and India produced less than 9000. China has a strategy for science and technology. India does not have one ( not that I know of).

What was the reason India produced less Ph.Ds than China? We have more brain power than China. But, most of that brain goes to IT sector, a waste in my opinion.

Most of the IT jobs do not require a degree in engineering or computer science. Any college graduate can be trained to be a software techie. I met four such techies here - lawyer, M.Sc in Geology, M.Sc in Genetics and a B.Sc ! :)

In fact, that was how it was in the 50s and 60s. IBM used to take graduates with degrees in arts - economics, history, psychology, literature etc, give them a test called programmer aptitude test and if they passed they were given six months training. If they did well they were given a probationary title to work with an experienced programmer. Those were days when we had only a few high level languages - FORTRAN,PL/1,COBOL and APL( an internal language) and low level languages known as assembly language and machine language. Assembly language used mnemonics for instructions and machine language used hexadecimal numbers. But, those arts majors did well in those languages.

Now you have a number of higher level languages and you don't have to struggle with hexadecimal numbers to speed up execution.
It should be easy to train those with degrees in arts or sciences.
In fact you could train a high school graduate to do that. My youngest son wrote a compiler as part of a CS course in high school.

By diverting intelligent and creative people to IT sector we are short changing science. I think the government realizes that and is doing something. But, it is too little.

IBM has research labs in the US,Switzerland and Japan. I hear they have opened in some other counries also.

Why is it Indian IT majors do not have research labs? Why is it they do not branch into other areas to make India a leader in Science and Technology?

I hope you understand what I am getting at or where I am coming from?

(I said some of this in some other thread, the title of which I don't remember. )

There is more. I will post periodically! :) Hope you don't get bored. This hub is for fun, not for serious topics! :lol:

[rajraj]

When MNCs were allowed to operate in India there should have been some demands by the Indian government, specically to establish research centers/labs in India. They would have done it because India had/has cheap technical labor with fluency in English. But, the golden opportunity was missed.


I said this on Sep 14th. Today there is a news item in Wall Street Journal that talks about China demanding cutting edge electric vehicle technology in return for cheap labor for manufacturing those vehicles in China. That is how it should be.

Here is the link to the article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704394704575495480368918268.html

When India is ruled by wimps who have no vision, no foresight and no guts you get nothing in return for supplying cheap labor except wages. You saw how they handled Bhopal disaster and the recent nuclear disaster liability bill. And India wants to be super power? Who says you can not dream?

:)

[ajithfederer]

That's pretty shocking.
Thanks for bringing this article here sir. It's high time we start a news thread for Business Issues around the world.


When MNCs were allowed to operate in India there should have been some demands by the Indian government, specically to establish research centers/labs in India. They would have done it because India had/has cheap technical labor with fluency in English. But, the golden opportunity was missed.


I said this on Sep 14th. Today there is a news item in Wall Street Journal that talks about China demanding cutting edge electric vehicle technology in return for cheap labor for manufacturing those vehicles in China. That is how it should be.

Here is the link to the article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704394704575495480368918268.html

When India is ruled by wimps who have no vision, no foresight and no guts you get nothing in return for supplying cheap labor except wages. You saw how they handled Bhopal disaster and the recent nuclear disaster liability bill. And India wants to be super power? Who says you can not dream?

:)

[ajithfederer]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703440604575495733696520818.html?m od=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5

The chinese are not bulging yet while Washington is pressing for punitive actions against China in trade circles.

[rajraj]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703440604575495733696520818.html?m od=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5

The chinese are not budging yet while Washington is pressing for punitive actions against China in trade circles.

That is known as growing a 'Frankestein'! :) Nothing new for the US ! :)

[rajraj]

If you think IBM is all about computers, peripherals and computer related services read the article in this link:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20012306-52.html

There is no reason why the IT majors in India can not open similar research labs! It takes national pride,short in India! :( Remember it was Jamshedhi Tata who founded IISc because the British were happy churning out B.As to be clerks! :)

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:c10cbe7763]Anand Sharma turns the table on the U.S.

Describing the State of Ohio's ban on offshore outsourcing by government departments as ‘ill-advised', India has ‘firmly' conveyed to the U.S. its displeasure over the move and other protectionist measures such as the hike in visa fees for professionals.

“We have put it firmly in our discussions. I feel that the U.S. has seriously registered India's viewpoint as well as concerns of the Indian IT industry. We do hope there will be timely and appropriate responses,” Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told reporters here on Tuesday after his meeting with top U.S. officials, including Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

Mr. Sharma was here to attend the Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meet, which is the principle trade dialogue platform between the U.S. and India.

Citing the example of the recent Airtel-IBM deal, Mr. Sharma turned the table on the U.S., stating, “Airtel, an Indian company, has placed orders of $3.5 billion on IBM. Isn't that outsourcing? Where would those jobs be created? Where (would) those jobs would be supported?”

The largest orders for Boeing aircraft had also been placed by India. “How many jobs would have been sustained and how many jobs would be created?,” he asked.

Referring to the ban on government offshore outsourcing, he said, “We hope that there is no other State which would follow the ill-advised and less informed path chosen by the Ohio state government.”

He said at a time when the global economy was reeling from the aftershocks of the economic crisis and was coming out of a recession, any inward-looking step of protectionism would slow down the pace of recovery.

“It is better to avoid it, particularly since the U.S. is the world leader, is the largest economy and, therefore, there are expectations (from it) in that context,” he said.

Under the Border Security law, the U.S. had in August hiked the fees for H-1B and L1 visas by at least $2,000 for the next five years. Indian professionals, particularly in the IT sector, use these visas for short-term contracts in the U.S., which account for about 60 per cent of Indian software exports of $50 billion.

The two sides also discussed the issue of a Totalisation Agreement, under which the Indians on short-term jobs would not have to pay the social security tax in the U.S. Since they do not stay there for long, they are not able to use the benefit of the social security in return for the taxes.

Keywords: Trade Policy Forum, Ohio, outsourcing ban, Airtel-IBM deal, Border Security law, visa fee hike


http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/article741953.ece

The hi-lited portions speak some sense :clap:.[/tscii:c10cbe7763]

[rajraj]

af: Here is the link for Bharti Airtel-IBM deal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703904304575498093194524802.html

This is for Airtel's IT operations in African countries. I supect they will send IBM(India) employees to those countries in addtion to hiring locally. I don't think it will create jobs in the US. I heard that IBM is planning to increase the workforce in India to 100K employees! :) It appears as though Sharma has not gotten all the facts right. I will talk to some IBMers here to see what is going on! I stay informed about what happens in IBM ! :lol:

Boeing order is a necessity. It is a choice between Airbus and Boeing! India does not have the technology and it did not care to develop the technology. :(

[ajithfederer]

Appadiyae Konjam boeing deal pathiyum solllunga sir :lol: :).

And Yes IBM is increasing its work force in India laying off many here. But Regarding Boeing isn't that the case with most of the countries?. I mean you only have Boeing or Airbus. That's it right?. All the countries in the world go for one of these two right?./

[rajraj]

Appadiyae Konjam boeing deal pathiyum solllunga sir :lol: :).

And Yes IBM is increasing its work force in India laying off many here.

I edited my post to include Boeing deal! :)

A country should stand on its own legs. We had 60 years as an independent country and we did not act! See Japan devastated after WW II and where it is now! Independence means independence from imported jobs also! :)

[rajraj]

Appadiyae Konjam boeing deal pathiyum solllunga sir :lol: :).

And Yes IBM is increasing its work force in India laying off many here. But Regarding Boeing isn't that the case with most of the countries?. I mean you only have Boeing or Airbus. That's it right?. All the countries in the world go for one of these two right?./

A few months back an IBM executive said that the company would reduce the workforce in the US to 100K. People in the company were upset and there were a lot of questions. A Vice President had to come out and deny that. But, my supicion is that it will come true and, India and Brazil will get those jobs eliminated here.
Recently IBM asked Indians employed here to consider returning to India. They are also 'asking' people close to retirement to retire! In this country there is no retirement age!

As a business student you must have heard of the 20/80 rule. That is 20% of the workers in any organization create, innovate and push the state of the art. The remaining 80% implement what that 20% creates. India and Brazil ( and may be China) will get the jobs from that 80%. The US will not depend on other countries to innovate and will not ship those jobs overseas. This has to do with protecting intellectual property.

As for Boeing India has no claims to creating jobs in the US. It does not have the technology or expertise to build high capacity airplanes. I am not sure they even build four seater planes. As you said it is true of all countries. It is Boeing or Airbus. Concord is gone.

It will help if people like Sharma took a look at business dailies and weeklies published in the US and Europe ! :)

[rajraj]

Friedman on China's Moon shots:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/opinion/26friedman.html

China is asking one of their oil companies to fund battery development for electric vehicles. The idea is to reduce dependence on oil and also reduce pollution. What does India do? Tata announced Nano. Could the government have asked them to develop and manufacture electric vehicles? Nano is for short haul, within a metropolitan area and not for long distance driving. An electric vehicle would do. China has vision. What do we have?
Read the article and learn about their research in DNA.

Who will be the next super power?

[ajithfederer]

En pangukku idhu from the same ny times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/business/global/27yuan.html?ref=business

Unnala mattum than panna mudiyuma naanga enna summava ? :lol:

[rajraj]

Unnala mattum than panna mudiyuma naanga enna summava ? :lol:

af: You have the answer to my last question! :lol:

[ajithfederer]

WTO says US ban on Chinese poultry is illegal

China, in turn, has sharply criticized what it deems an upswing in protectionism in the United States and other rich countries since financial markets collapsed in 2008. It has since become more assertive in challenging the U.S. and other countries to respective Chinese trade rights.

"While urging its trading partners to further open markets, the U.S. has adopted more restrictive and protectionist practices in its domestic market," Chinese Ambassador Sun Zhenyu noted at a WTO meeting Wednesday.

Sun said American industrial subsidies, stimulus plans, bailouts, national security exemptions and "Buy American" or "Hire American" provisions "go against the commitment to opposing trade protectionism made by the U.S. at various multilateral forums, contradict its own preaching of free-trade spirit and have negatively affected international trade."

Woo hoo :boo:


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100929/ap_on_re_eu/eu_wto_us_chinese_poultry

[rajraj]

af: First China has to practice "Buy Chinese". The cheap Chinese products are meant for export and not for the domestic market ! :)

Read this:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704654004575517950869853586.html

There is something interesting about technology development in China. Their strategy is to get existing technologies from the US and other developed countries and at the same time start developing technologies that the developed countries have started developing! (Too much development! :lol: ). This is known as 'leap frogging'. That is, you don't retrace the path taken by others. But jump over them like a frog. That must be the strategy for India also. But, that does not seem to be the case.
Recently, Anna University announced that they had developed and manufactured LEDs and were looking for partners. This at a time when China is dumping, into the US, four dollar LED Flash(torch) lights. That implies China is far ahead in LEDs.

So much about vision and foresight in India! :(

[rajraj]

Dinamani editorial on drug testing in India:

vibareetham arangerugiradhu?

http://www.dinamani.com/edition/Story.aspx??SectionName=editorial&artid=311803

Hindu news item:

US apologizes.............

http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/03/stories/2010100354070900.htm

See whether you can connect these two and the global economy? :)

[ajithfederer]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703431604575522242672430182.html

US Bank bailout ends today. Still some banks owe 66 bil$ to the govt.

[rajraj]

Hindu editorial on Nobel prize for Physics:


http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/07/stories/2010100751881000.htm

Key words in the editorial:

'...........creativity and the ability to leave the beaten path.......'

That is what we need in India to ignore 'protectionism' and become independent of outsourcing. Most of the bright graduates are taking the beaten path and knocking on the doors of IT sector corporations. When will the Indian government pay attention? :(

[gaddeswarup]

Rajraj,
It is interesting that they learnt from a technician. From NY Times article Physics Nobel Honors Work on Ultra-Thin Carbon (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/science/06nobel.html?_r=3&hp):
"To do that, they needed very thin pieces, which they first tried to produce by filing down graphite crystals, with no luck. Then a technician showed them how graphite was cleaned before being observed in a scanning tunneling microscope by peeling layers off with Scotch tape.

The scientists placed a flake of graphite on some tape and then by folding the tape over it again and again, gradually cleaved it thinner and thinner until it was only one atom thick."

[rajraj]

Swarup,
Good to see you back. This is not the first time for technicians to lead the way for Ph.Ds. In the company I worked for a technician was fiddling with a circuit to get better signals and mentioned it to the engineer, a Ph.D, in charge of the project. The engineer developed a mathematical model to do the fiddling and found a solution that went into a product. The patent has both as inventors! That is why we don't brush off ideas from anyone, a technician or a Ph.D ! :)

In fact I was helped by my technician with an idea. In 1972 I was working on finding inexpensive ways to produce a tone generator for touch tone telephone systems we use today. Except that we did not have a touch tone telephone to demonstrate what I came up with. My technician solved it by cannbalizing a digital calculator and using the pad with the digits 0 to 9 ! I used to carry that pad with my circuit all over the country to demonstrate what I did ! :) Those were fun days! :)

[rajraj]

Sugar coated pill from the Economist:

http://www/economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/display.cfm?id=6899464

The article projects India to surpass China by 2013 or earlier. But, it also points out to corruption and infrastructure problems. Will the government address these two issues? :(

In other words you can forget 2013! :(

(Hope you can get the article. Clicking on the link in the post may not help!)

[gaddeswarup]

[tscii:2733d2afc4]Rajraj,
The link does not seem to be working. Can you pl. give the name of the article, author and the date.
This might have alredy been discussed, but the former vigilance commissioner N. Vithal has written extensively and has many concrete suggestions including the implementation of Benami Transaction Act:
http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/Benamiact/introduction.htm
See also
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Govt-revamping-Benami-Transaction-Act-to-keep-check-on-black-money/684104

The following link does not seem to be working at the moment.
From http://www.laymansmba.com/2009/09/30/forging-a-public-movement-for-recovery-of-indias-stolen-assets-black-money-from-foreign-countries/ (Forging a Public Movement for Recovery of India’s Stolen Assets (Black Money) from Foreign Countries):You are aware that several reports have appeared in the Press in the last one year or so suggesting that Indian nationals held $1456 billion (about Rs.70 lakh crore) in secret Swiss Bank Accounts....Recently, Swiss Authorities have also reportedly told Government of India that they are not going to give names if India just throws the Telephone Directory at them! It is strange that despite Government being seized of the matter since 2008, it has, so far, not presented specific cases to them. Recovery of India’s public money from foreign countries especially Switzerland can go a long way in setting the country firmly on the road to becoming an economic superpower!" and recommends among other things "viii. Prescribe procedure for confiscation of benami property under Section 8 of the Benami Transaction Prohibition Act (BTPA), 1988.""
[/tscii:2733d2afc4]

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:b6fe9eabb3]Thanks rajraj sir. The news item is below.

The Economist

India's economy
India's surprising economic miracle
The country’s state may be weak, but its private companies are strong

Sep 30th 2010

HORRIBLE toilets. Stagnant puddles buzzing with dengue-spreading mosquitoes. Collapsing masonry. Lax security. A terrorist attack. India’s preparations for the 72-nation Commonwealth games, which are scheduled to open in Delhi on October 3rd, have not won favourable reviews. “Commonfilth”, was one of the kinder British tabloid headlines. At best—assuming that the organisers make a last-minute dash to spruce things up—the Delhi games will be remembered as a shambles. The contrast with China’s practically flawless hosting of the Olympic games in 2008 could hardly be starker. Many people will draw the wrong lesson from this.

A big sporting event, some people believe, tells you something important about the nation that hosts it. Efficient countries build tip-top stadiums and make the shuttle buses run on time. That India cannot seem to do any of these things suggests that it will always be a second-rate power.

Or does it? Despite the headlines, India is doing rather well. Its economy is expected to expand by 8.5% this year. It has a long way to go before it is as rich as China—the Chinese economy is four times bigger—but its growth rate could overtake China’s by 2013, if not before (see article). Some economists think India will grow faster than any other large country over the next 25 years. Rapid growth in a country of 1.2 billion people is exciting, to put it mildly.


People power

There are two reasons why India will soon start to outpace China. One is demography. China’s workforce will shortly start ageing; in a few years’ time, it will start shrinking. That’s because of its one-child policy—an oppressive measure that no Indian government would get away with. Indira Gandhi tried something similar in the 1970s, when she called a state of emergency and introduced a forced-sterilisation programme. There was an uproar of protest. Democracy was restored and coercive population policies were abandoned. India is now blessed with a young and growing workforce. Its dependency ratio—the proportion of children and old people to working-age adults—is one of the best in the world and will remain so for a generation. India’s economy will benefit from this “demographic dividend”, which has powered many of Asia’s economic miracles.

The second reason for optimism is India’s much-derided democracy. The notion that democracy retards development in poor countries has gained currency in recent years. Certainly, it has its disadvantages. Elected governments bow to the demands of selfish factions and interest groups. Even the most urgent decisions are endlessly debated and delayed.

China does not have this problem. When its technocrats decide to dam a river, build a road or move a village, the dam goes up, the road goes down and the village disappears. The displaced villagers may be compensated, but they are not allowed to stand in the way of progress. China’s leaders make rational decisions that balance the needs of all citizens over the long term. This has led to rapid, sustained growth that has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Small wonder that authoritarians everywhere cite China as their best excuse not to allow democracy just yet.

No doubt a strong central government would have given India a less chaotic Commonwealth games, but there is more to life than badminton and rhythmic gymnastics. India’s state may be weak, but its private companies are strong. Indian capitalism is driven by millions of entrepreneurs all furiously doing their own thing. Since the early 1990s, when India dismantled the “licence raj” and opened up to foreign trade, Indian business has boomed. The country now boasts legions of thriving small businesses and a fair number of world-class ones whose English-speaking bosses network confidently with the global elite. They are less dependent on state patronage than Chinese firms, and often more innovative: they have pioneered the $2,000 car, the ultra-cheap heart operation and some novel ways to make management more responsive to customers. Ideas flow easily around India, since it lacks China’s culture of secrecy and censorship. That, plus China’s rampant piracy, is why knowledge-based industries such as software love India but shun the Middle Kingdom.

India’s individualistic brand of capitalism may also be more robust than China’s state-directed sort. Chinese firms prosper under wise government, but bad rulers can cause far more damage in China than in India, because their powers are so much greater. If, God forbid, another Mao were to seize the reins, there would be no mechanism for getting rid of him.

That is a problem for the future. For now, India’s problems are painfully visible. The roads are atrocious. Public transport is a disgrace. Many of the country’s dynamic entrepreneurs waste hours each day stuck in traffic. Their firms are hobbled by the costs of building their own infrastructure: backup generators, water-treatment plants and fleets of buses to ferry staff to work. And India’s demographic dividend will not count for much if those new workers are unemployable. India’s literacy rate is rising, thanks in part to a surge in cheap private schools for the poor, but it is still far behind China’s.


Advantage India

The Indian government recognises the need to tackle the infrastructure crisis, and is getting better at persuading private firms to stump up the capital. But the process is slow and infected with corruption. It is hard to measure these things, but many observers think China has done a better job than India of curbing corruption, with its usual brutal methods, such as shooting people.

Given the choice between doing business in China or India, most foreign investors would probably pick China. The market is bigger, the government easier to deal with, and if your supply chain for manufactured goods does not pass through China your shareholders will demand to know why. But as the global economy becomes more knowledge-intensive, India’s advantage will grow. That is something to ponder while stuck in the Delhi traffic.

Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2010. All rights reserved.

http://www.economist.com/node/17147648[/tscii:b6fe9eabb3]

[rajraj]

Google has an 'audacious' idea!

What does Infosys have?

Google funds off-shore windmill energy transmission:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/science/earth/12wind.html


Google gets involved in solving problems faced by the US.

[rajraj]

Another sugar coated pill, this time from the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/15/world/asia/15india.html

I was looking for an appropriate word to describe the Indian Government.

This article provides one: DYSFUNCTIONAL :(

You can see how dysfunctional it has been from the way it is handling the Swiss Bank deposits! :(

[rajraj]

Good news:

Heavy foreign investment flows into India:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/business/global/14indiastox.html

Is it really that good? No!

Too fast a growth will increase the value of the rupee and affect export earnings! The effect can be detrimental to India! Foreign investors will pull out if the growth slows down. This happened earlier. As they in the US 'there is no free lunch' ! :(

[ajithfederer]

Indian jet deal could create 27,000 jobs in US


"If either jet wins, we estimate that it could bring 27,000 jobs to the US," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake told a Baltimore-based think tank, thus indicating the importance US attaches in bagging such a deal.


Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/business/indian-jet-deal-could-create-27-000-jobs-in-us-60148?cp

[rajraj]

Manmohan Singh on science in India:

http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/20/stories/2010102062951400.htm

Some excerpts:

-Do not follow the path followed by developing countries

-shortage of skilled manpower and research facilities

-scientific bent of mind in children by changing the present teaching methods that emphasize memory than inquiry

( in other words 'rote learning' )

I remember mentioning rote learning as an impediment to independent thinking and curiosity a few months back in some thread.

One hubber responded and said: "Rote learning or not we get jobs" ! :(

With that mindset how is Manmohan Singh going to change education in India?

Sadly, it is a lot of talk and no action! :(

[rajraj]

What does Manmohan Singh mean by 'inquiry'? Some of you are probably wondering! :) Here are two anecdotes to think about:

1. A boy was in second grade in a Montessori school. He was more interested in mathematics than other subjects. The teacher enouraged him and taught him addition and subtraction and stopped. But, the boy wanted to move on and learn multiplication and asked the teacher to teach him multiplication. The teacher refused and explained that he needed to put in more time in writing. The boy accepted it and put in more time in writing. But, multiplication bothered him and was thinking about it. Finally he figured out what multiplication was and told his teacher that multiplication was nothing but repeated addition. The teacher congratulated him and still wanted him to continue writing.
He went home and told his mother the samething. The mother also said he was right and congratulated him. The boy responded: " You know that too". He thought he had invented something. :)

Consider what happened here:

The teacher did not shut him up when he wanted to learn multiplication. She took the time to explain why multiplication had to wait.
When he announced what multiplication was. She did not discourage him by saying multiplication was done differently to save time. She did not scold him and call him impertinent (adhika prasangi). Because, she wanted to encourage and nurture curiosity,creativity and 'inquiry' in the boy.

Can you imagine this happening in schools in India? It did not happen when I was in elementary school.


2. A boy was in 5th grade. The teacher asked the class to write an essay on a topic. The boy came home and told his mother he had to write an essay and mentioned the topic. The mother told him to look up the Encyclopedia Britannica in the shelf and get what he needed. The boy replied: "No amma! We can not copy. We have to go to the library, get some books, read and then write in our own words". So, they went to the library. The boy browsed the racks and picked up a few books. He read the books and wrote the essay.

How many parents take the children to libraries in India when they are in elementary school? How many take them to book stores to buy books? The children are glued to the text books. The routine is to read , memorize and regurgitate! :(

I like the school system here because it promotes creativity, curiosity and inquiry! Now, you know why the US leads in the number of Nobel prize winners. This is true even if you exclude those who migrated to the US after college education. The US is also the leader in patents.

But, the schools are not that strong in math and science compared to some other countries. That will change.

Indian system of education has to change if it wants to be a leader in science and technology. I don't see it happening in my life time! :(

[gaddeswarup]

Rajraj,
My experience with American schools is very minmal and I assume that there is a lot of vaiation. I recently came across this article
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=14723
which suggests that many American children learn more out of school than in school.

[rajraj]

Swarup,
That is what I said in my post. I am fully aware of the weakness, because I taught as a visiting professor for 15 years. The students dread mathematics. I taught a course on Error Correcting Codes which was also offered under Mathematics. I spent almost a month teaching the students the required mathematics -Finite Fields! :) There is plenty of opportunities for science related hobbies. Remember, we used to build crystal radios in India.
But, those who are gifted and talented are given special treatment and sent to a special schools. In fact, the gifted and talented are allowed to enter college after 10th grade by some universities.





But, the schools are not that strong in math and science compared to some other countries. That will change.

[rajraj]

China is now the leader in super computers!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/technology/28compute.html

They did not design the chips in China! They bought them from two American companies.

What is the IT sector doing in India? :( India can also buy chips from the same American companies!

Leader in super computers ---> Next super power?

[rajraj]

More on China's Super Computer:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20020991-64.html

Wha a change in 45 years? The first computer I used in 1965 performed at about 100 kiloflops (If I remember correctly) !

key words in the article:

- " leapfrog the performance"

- " moving beyond just manufacturing"

Phrases India has not understood well yet! :(

[rajraj]

The secret of Chinese super computer:

It is in the interconnection of chips and how the data is routed:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20021122-64.html

The Chinese have invented a new and unique interconnection technology to get higher speed in their hybrid super computer using CPUs and GPUs !

It would be interesting to know how many of the American Experts of Chinese origin helped.

Sadly, India does not seem to be interested in using the American Experts of Indian origin! :(

Fast moving China has alarmed the countries bordering China:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/world/asia/31china.html

[rajraj]

Thomas Friedman gives a few hints to President Obama on his visit to India and unwittingly tells India what to do to become a super power:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/opinion/31friedman.html


"American's leadership was because of ideas,imagination and meritocracy". This is according to an Indian in India. Turn it around and it becomes an admonition to India:

If you want to become a super power you better promote ideas,imagination and meritocracy.

But these are sorely lacking in India! :( When it will reach the level the US has is left to your imagination! :) Any ideas?

[rajraj]

The U.S : A Land of Opportunites. When will India become one?

An Op-Ed column in the Hindu summarizes what I said in this thread so far. The author is an Indian professor in an American University!

http://www.hindu.com/2010/11/05/stories/2010110553471300.htm

What characterizes bright Americans:


-imagination
-ideas
-determination
-risk taking
-no fear of failure
-inquisitiveness (no obedience to teachers in rote learning)


Next, I will give you an idea to take some risk !

Have a Happy DeepaavaLi ! :)

[app_engine]

What Obama's visit to India means for Americans (http://www.bbc.co.uk/tamil/news/story/2010/11/101106_obamaindiavisit.shtml)



ஒபாமா பயணத்தின் மையப் புள்ளியாகப் பார்க்கப்படும் வர்த்தகப் பிரமுகர்கள் மற்றும் தொழிலதிபர்களின் மாநாட்டில் அமெரிக்க ஜனாதிபதி முக்கிய உரையாற்றினார். அதில், இந்தியா மற்றும் அமெரிக்க தொழிலதிபர்கள், தொழில்முனைவோர் கலந்துகொண்டார்கள்.

அந்தக் கூட்டத்தில் பேசிய ஒபாமா அவர்கள், இரு நாடுகளுக்கும் இடையில், 10 பில்லியன் டாலர், அதாவது இந்திய ரூபாய் மதிப்பில் சுமார் 44 ஆயிரம் கோடி ரூபாய் மதிப்புள்ள ஒப்பந்தங்கள் கையெழுத்தாகியிருப்பதாகவும், அதனால் அமெரி்ககாவில் 50 ஆயிரம் புதிய வேலைவாய்ப்புக்கள் உருவாகும் என்றும் தெரிவித்தார்.

[ajithfederer]

In a decade India helps create 700,000 jobs in US (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article872816.ece)

[app_engine]

சிங்கம் : அமெரிக்காவின் பணிகளைக்களவாடுவது இந்தியாவின் நோக்கம் அல்ல (http://www.bbc.co.uk/tamil/news/story/2010/11/101108_obamamanmeet.shtml)

[rajraj]

Our Banana Republic -Kristof

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/opinion/07kristof.html

Kristof talks about widening income gap. He is right. In 1970 the CEO of the company I worked for made 10 times my salary. Now, if I worked for the same company with the same experience the ratio would be between 200 and 250 ! :( This despite the fact the company has a huge cash reserve!

Connect this to the outcry against outsourcing. It is going to get worse if the 15 million unemployed Americans do not find a job. Then the worst is likely to happen - backlash against brown and yellow skins. Because the perception here is that the two countries benefitting from outsourcing are India and China! The average American has no clue that many of the outsourced jobs require engineering degrees! We have to wait and see!

[rajraj]

"Innovation and creativity are the engines of economic growth". David Brooks

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/opinion/09brooks.html

He also says:

-American children are raised to challenge their parents

-American underlings are relatively free to challenge their bosses

-You are less likely to have to submit to authority

These are traits that promote creativiy and innovation giving strength to fight for what is right in creative efforts!

I remember how much I had to fight to get a new idea into a product! :) There were absolutely no repercussions. Imagine that happening in India! :)

Of course, reading these columns give you the impression that the columnists are worried about declining US leadership and rising China! It is going to be hard times for the next few years!

[app_engine]

Obama visit - editorial in "The Hindu" (http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article886250.ece?homepage=true)

[gaddeswarup]

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2010/1114/Why-some-young-US-workers-now-seek-fortunes-in-India
from Christian Science Monitor

[gaddeswarup]

Another encouraging report:
http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2010/11/15/entrepreneurship-tech-boom-erupts-in-india/

[rajraj]

Two thirds of the Ph.Ds from American Universities are awarded to foreign-born! :) Many of them are inclined to return to their home countries.

http://www.todaysengineer.org/2010/Nov/COMPETES.asp

Ph.Ds returning to their home countries is good news for those countries. It is bad news for the US. When I finished in 1968 the only option was to teach in one of the IITs, if I returned. The only IIT which had a powerful enough computer for my work was in Kanpur. How things have changed in the last 40 years. A laptop has more power than the first computer I used. Then there is internet to access any technical paper you want. Yet, I don't see the research activity that should be there in India. What can I say? Sad! :(

Hope they bring back all the deposits in Swiss banks and fund research! Wishful thinking? :)

[gaddeswarup]

Rajraj,
I wonder about the reasons. You might have written about it before. In my own case, I find that I worked (retired now) better abroad than in India eventhough I was in India most of the time until the age of 47. Probably cultural reasons? Too much importance and status after a few publications and lots of people salaaming?
The facilities in some of the Indian institutions seem much better than those abroad ( at least when expensive experimental set ups are not needed). But even in theoretical topics, my impressionis that India is not doing well. The emphasis seems number of publications in western journals rather than either quality or relevance either to the subject or India. I think that the work even in the best institutes does not seem any better than that in second tier American universities. Just wondering.

[rajraj]

swarup,
I did not discuss research in India because I did not think this was an appropriate forum. I will post my thoughts soon. You touched on some aspects - culture and status consciousness!

[app_engine]

Cotton yarn price issue (http://www.dinamani.com/edition/story.aspx?&SectionName=Tamilnadu&artid=333879&SectionID=129&MainSectionID=129&SEO=&Title=)

This issue seems to be snowballing into a crisis. Tough time for Indian garment exporters!

[rajraj]

Friedman's wake up call to American parents and the government:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/opinion/24friedman.html

He is citing India and China to scare the Americans. India is not there yet! It has the potential to be there, if only the leaders paid attention ! :(

[pavalamani pragasam]

Just heard a narration of real story from reliable sources about the 'free' culture in the US. Many teenage girls in high schools get pregnant and deliver children to avail the government allowance for the child, an amount sufficient for the mother's expenses also to a large extent. The mothers do not even know who the father of the child is, not bothered to know also. Not a very important information! But one particular girl after 2 or 3 years of the child's birth just got curious to know who the father is. She approached all her boy friends of that particular period and took DNA test and found out the father. The father is drawn affectionately to the child and offered to pay for the child's maintenance. But the present husband of the girl has maganimously declined the offer. The father continues to visit his dear child! His new wife also has no problem with it.
appadiyE pullarichchipOchch!!!!!
ada ada ada- my children, your children and our children perunthanmai!!!!
enakku innikku pasiyE pOyiruchchi!!!!

[ajithfederer]

The what?? :)

PP amma, adhai pathi yen inge eludhanum ? :)

[pavalamani pragasam]

:roll: Perhaps the government aid part prompted me to post here!
Will make a good story in the story section or a good kavithai in kavithai thread! :think:

[ajithfederer]

Adhu seri, adhukkum protectionisathukkum enna linkknu puriala :)

[pavalamani pragasam]

sari, vidunga. Confusion!!!

[P_R]

:lol:

[rajraj]

Imaginary cable from the Chinese embassy in Washington,D.C by Friedman:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/opinion/01friedman.html

He is right! It may be worthwhile learning Chinese! :) I learnt German,French and Russian (don't remember much now). It never occurred to me to learn Chinese! :lol:

If you read between lines you will get the idea that India does not have to worry about protectionism. China will have all the jobs we need ! :(

[rajraj]

Is Grove suggesting protectionism?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20023920-64.html

Go through the readers' comments to see how American workers feel!

It reminds me of something that happened about 25 years back. I visited one of the IITs to learn about their research activities with an intention to fund them if I found some area of interest. I had a meeting with a group of faculty members. All I heard was complaints about how the government red tape prevented them from importing anything they needed for their research. Later I met a professor who had designed a chip. But, India had no semiconductor process line to put his design through. Just imagine how things would have changed for India, had that IIT been allowed to import process equipment. India would have been the chip manufacturing hub edging out China! Sad! :(

Companies here donate outdated process lines to universities for their research and training students. I don't think any of the institutions in India approach the American companies.

[gaddeswarup]

[tscii:00cb190247]Amar Bhide "Where innovation creates value"
Abstract: It doesn’t matter where scientific discoveries and breakthrough technologies originate—for national prosperity, the important thing is who commercializes them. The United States is not behind in that race.
https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Strategy/Innovation/Where_innovation_creates_value_2304
(needs registration). [/tscii:00cb190247]

[rajraj]

A college degree does not necessarily mean you have to work for somebody else. You can start a business and don't have to worry about protectionism :) Here is an article that tells about young college graduates who started their own businesses:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/business/12yec.html

Of course you have to find a niche market.

In 2006 our family vacation was in India. I thought I should get some colleges interested in offering courses on video game design and analysis. I asked my son(middle one) who was teaching video game design at Cornell University to prepare a lecture. He is a co-founder of 'Game Design Initiative at Cornell University'- gdiac for short. Here is the link:

http://gdiac.cis.cornell.edu/

An assistant professor at IIT,Madras arranged a seminar for my son . It was well attended. But, participation was low - not many questions. At the end I asked the assistant professor whether they would be interested in starting a program in video game design. He nodded in the negative.

Obviously he did not know that video game industry was projected to be a 50 billion dollar industry by 2011 (next year) and India's share was about a billion dollars. In other words there is a great opportunity for enterpreneurs in India.

Some of the youngsters who visit this thread can start a video game company. It does not take a lot of people. When my younger two sons were at Cornell as graduate students they teamed up with another Ph.D student and developed a video game for a competition as a hobby. They did not win any prize. But the sponsors paid the fees to attend a conference on video games.

You can do it. Try a small game and present it to IT majors like Microsoft for funding. Microsoft , Sony and others fund small companies. For needed technical backgroun you may visit gdiac website (link shown above). MIT and Carnegie Mellon also offer courses on video game design. That was why I thought IIT,Madras would be interested. If top universities like MIT,Cornell and Carnegie Mellon see fit to support the industry by offering courses, IITs should have no hesitation in offering courses on video game design!

Some of you should consider designing a game. You can do it!

( Sound like Udhayamurthi's "unnaal mudiyum thambi"? He was my chemistry demonstrator in Kumbakonam college ! :) )

[gaddeswarup]

Rajraj,
Can I post your recent message in my blog ( the blog is mostly for learning purposes for me but a few Telugus visit it, I think). If you think of any relevant material, pl. send it to me at anandaswarupg@gmail.com
Thanks
Swarup

[rajraj]

No problem swarup! :) Feel free to post it in your blog!

[rajraj]

China set to become second largest R&D spender:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-20025751.html

U.S will be worried. India should be worried even more. They are probably worried about how to swindle more without getting caught. Unfortunately there is no R&D in that field to help them! :lol:

China has a goal. China has vision. India has nothing. It is in a deep slumber! :(

[rajraj]

Rajraj,
I wonder about the reasons. You might have written about it before.
.................................................. .............................................
But even in theoretical topics, my impressionis that India is not doing well. The emphasis seems number of publications in western journals rather than either quality or relevance either to the subject or India. I think that the work even in the best institutes does not seem any better than that in second tier American universities. Just wondering.

Swarup,

There are a number of reasons why the quality of research papers published are not uniformly good.

- It is not that papers published by American professors/researchers are all of high quality. In my opinion 90 percent of the papers published are not worth the paper they are printed on. I mentioned this to a fellow professor and to my surprise he agree and said," The person who writes the paper knows there is not much worth in it. The person who reviews knows that and the person who publishes it also knows it. But, that is the game we have to play." He was right. It is known as publish or perish game. So, they milk their dissertation or the paper already published for more papers! The quality suffers.

-Not all dissertations can be milked for more publications. If all dissertations had something of a breakthrough they would have put a man on the moon a hundred years back! :lol:
But, there are some outstanding dissertations that have resulted in more high quality papers and opened up more research areas.

One such dissertation is by Leonard Kleinrock, known as the father of internet we depend on so much today. As a Ph.D student in MIT he made his own proposal for his dissertation on "Communication Networks" in 1961 or 62. Remember, those days computers were not fast enough for communications. There was not even 'terminal to computer' communication. You had to use punched cards. Kleinrock was creative and had vision. As professor he published more than 200 papers. With advances in computers and telephone communication what he wrote in 1962 came true. The first internet communication was demonstrated in Sep 1969 between UCLA in Los Angeles and SRI in Palo Alto.

Here is what he says about that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuiBTJZfeo8

Here is his home page
http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~lk/

After his dissertation and papers many universties must have started working on packet switching and other communication network problems.

Another example is in Error Correcting Codes. In 1958/59 two Indians , Bose and Chaudhury, laid the foundation for modern coding theory for codes used in CD players, high capacity storage, cell phones etc. Sadly no Indians picked up the work by these two Indians even though it was purely theoretical. But, two American professors Reed and Solomon followed and defined the code for non-binary systems- data stored as bytes, in the same year. For the next 25 years there was a flurry of activity and papers in that field- efficient and encoding and decoding. I was involved in it from 1980 to show that the code can be implemented in hardware. In 1981 we demonstrated a hardware encoder and decoder. But, the cost was prohibitive and had to wait till 1994 to introduce it in a product. But, research was going on to improve the efficiency.

We have to thank Reed and Solomon for making CDs and high quality music possible! :) They had no clue as to where it would be used! In fact, I invited an expert in coding from one of the top universities to give a talk and to discuss what we were doing. At the end he remarked that he did not know we were using RS codes in storage systems. But, he has been teaching coding theory for a long time! :)

Sadly Indians do not see the potential of what they read in technical journals. Had we followed Bose and Chaudhary we would have been the leaders in that field! :(

I used to teach a course on 'Error Correcting Codes' and in one semester I took a CD player to show how a scratch on the CD had no effect on the music played! :)

Hope this helps! I am sure this is not what the hubbers expected. If anybody wants me to delete it I will! :lol:

[gaddeswarup]

Rajraj,
An aside. I think R.C. Bose took a course on Abstract Algebra by F.W. Levi (it was published by Calcutta University, I think. I used to have a copy) who was in Kolkata at that time as a refugee from the Hitler regime. I think that he was introduced to Galois fields in that course. Later on he was one of two-three people recruited by Mahalanobis who wanted to do research relevant to India. At some stage his abstract algebra knowledge was put to good use.
And thanks for the reply.

[rajraj]

Research relevant to India:



Rajraj,
Later on he was one of two-three people recruited by Mahalanobis who wanted to do research relevant to India.

There is an area which needs to be addressed. The youngsters who visit this topic can try.

Many in my generation in India are not comfortable with computers. Many writers -novelists, short story writers, poets and others - are not that familiar with unicode etc (to my knowledge). In fact, one of my classmates asked me whether there was anything to convert handwriting to print. There is not much going on in India in that area.

Here is a golden opportunity. Develop a Tamil ( or any other Indian language) handwriting recognition system to get the printed text. It is not an easy job because handwriting varies. But, you can start with one sample ( may be, your own) and perfect the recognition as much as possible. Then think about how to make it general. You might want to contact a writer and make a proposal to provide him/her the system. If you succeed, you can try seeking funds from one of the IT sector companies. I am sure IBM and Microsoft would be interested because it makes good PR (public relations). A foreign corporation operating in India solving some of India's problems will go well with the public!

Of course, it takes a lot of creativity and thinking out of the box. You have to train a computer to recognize 247 different characters(letters). You need background in
-Artificial Intelligence --> Learning Machines ---> Pattern Recognition ----> Character Recognition

Make a New Year resolution to be creative, be your own boss and forget protectionism ! :)

Happy New year!

( I did some work in printed character recognition (Roman script) in 1968. It was purely academic because you communicated with a computer using punched cards. Now you have all the gadgets you need! )

[rajraj]

Man Mohan Singh on science and applications in India:

http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/04/stories/2011010465161400.htm

Kabil Sibal and 'Navaratna' universities?

http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/04/stories/2011010460130100.htm

How does calling some universities 'navratna' promote research?
The motivation has to come from the students and teachers. When the brightest don't go for pure sciences there is no hope! :(
The curriculum must change starting with elementary schools. Unless that happens all this talk means nothing! :(

[Shakthiprabha]

raj,

good thoughts. I am afraid a normal man who wants to earn his daily idli and chutney is safer doing mundane jobs call it programming or system analysis or lil more than that. Companies may take up such research n development works.

May be next generation would blossom a big change. Lets wait and hope.

I personally do not understand, how handwritten text is going to survive after 20 years, when kids of these days are too familiar with computers and typing system. Even if one such is invented (thanks to creativity and research and insight involved) it would become redundant with this generation or maximum the next. Correct me if I am wrong.

There are other areas and wider scope for research, if and when risk element is willing to be taken. Big companies can take the risk and open up their R&D, but would they be willing to do it for something which would last or be used for maximum couple of decades?

[rajraj]

shakthi: Read my signature and think about this proverb:

"When the caterpillar thought the world was over it became a butterfly" !

:)

Thomas Watson Jr had a different vision than his father who said what is in my signature. He gambled with a revolutionary architecture for IBM 360 series and it became a big success! That was the beginning of byte addressable computers! You know the rest!

[rajraj]

How does calling some universities 'navratna' promote research?


The Hindu asks the same question in an editorial:

http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/10/stories/2011011051171000.htm

"Name-plating organizations can not produce innovation."

"Rising India can certainly ivy-coat university buildings but that will not guarantee academic excellence and creativity."

Remember what I said about my visit to a leading engineering college in Tamilnadu. They live on ivy-coats and name-plating! :(

[rajraj]

Innovation to solve India's problems: A Bihari educated in the US goes back to Bihar to build a power plant to generate electricity from rice husk (umi in Tamil). Read the article and the readers' comments where they cite more such innovations! :)

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/a-light-in-india/

That is creative thinking and giving back to society! :)

We need more of them!

[rajraj]

14 year old eighth grader writes a game that competes with a very popular game. That is ceativity! :)

How many eighth graders in Tamilnadu have the time to spend on creative activities? :(

The curriculum is so heavy that leaves no time to bring out their creativity! :(

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-20028707-235.html

How many of our computer science graduates would be willing to try this?

[rajraj]

China is an 'economic Sputnik'! Now, the US is looking at putting an 'economic man on the moon' !

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/business/23japan.html

What will India do apart from watching China keenly (according to foreign secretary Nirupama) ?

[rajraj]

Fertilizing the creative minds:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-20029403-76.html

Reading the article may give you some ideas to solve some of the global problems! It will be great even if you make a dent! :) You don't have to go too far! There are a lot of problems to be solved in India!

When will we see a similar conference in India?

[rajraj]

California towns go for solar energy:


http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20030345-54.html

What prevents Tamilnadu Electricity Board from doing the same in rural areas?

[rajraj]

China is moving towards global currency along with the US dollar,Euro and Japanes Yen ! It tried to get dollar replaced by euro. Now this new move!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/business/global/11yuan.html

It won't happen anytime soon. But, it will!
What has India done? Got a symbol for the rupee! :)

[rajraj]

China's GDP five years back was half that of Japan !


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/business/global/14yen.html


That is aggressive growth with aggressive leadership!

Next post I will compare China and India !

[Stiglitz]

Next post I will compare China and India !

Looking forward to it rr. :)

[rajraj]

It is six months since this thread was started. We have seen China and India in the news a lot. Here is my summary of what we saw:

China

-Builds the fastest super computer in the world

-Edges out Japan as the second largest economy

-Edges out Japan to take second place in R&D spending

-Proposes Euro as the international standard

-proposes a new international standard for currency

-plans to build a large power generating plant with solar panels

-gets an American solar panel manufacturer to build a plant in China

-having developed the economy starts paying attention to social indicators such as income gap

-shoots an official to death for corruption

-China produces three time the Ph.Ds India produces

--------------------------------------------------------

India

-corruption in commonwealth games

-corruption and nepotism in Adharsh housing scheme

-Spectrum scandal

-appointing a person charged with corruption to head CVC

-Supreme court taking over spectrum case

-Billions of dollars of black money in foreign banks revealed

-Appointing a committee to revamp engineering curriculum with no results in more than a year

-proposing navaratna universities

-proposing an institute to produce Ph.Ds in sciences

- a Bihari returns to build a plant to generate electricity from husk

-Tata plans to invite Starbucks Coffee to India

-A billionaire industrialist builds a 27 storey mansion in a city that 'boasts' of the largest slum in Asia (may be in the world?) !


----------------------------------

The comparison brings out a stark truth that China in moving at a fast pace to move closer to the US.
The furutre of India looks bleak. I hope I am wrong. But, the pessimistic assessment will come true if India does not act to clean the corruption ridden government.

China is definitely ahead of India in technology. Catching up with China takes time even if India starts today. But what we see is the leaders being oblivious to the contrast. There is too much inertia and apathy! :(

What can India do? In the next post!

[gaddeswarup]

http://www.samachar.com/Student-innovations-use-simple-tech-to-solve-everyday-problems-lehgKbdagfd.html
"Student innovations use simple tech to solve everyday problems"

[rajraj]

Soar powered car developed by a team of students:

http://news.CNET.com/solar-car-chases-checkered-flag-at-indy/8301-17938_105-20058645-1.html

More on alternate energy later!

[rajraj]

It is clear that India is not going to match or surpass China in R&D spending. China is now looking at the income gap between the rich and the poor. Improving the standard of living of the poor is their goal. India could learn from China about bridging the gap between the rich and the poor. One area where India should invest is electrictiy and cooking gas for the poor.

Here is a list of alternate energy sources:

------Sun ( solar energy using solar panels).
US and a few other countries are well advanced in harnessing the sun (light and heat). A furniture factory in Europe is planning to use solar panels to power the entire factory. China is planning a large solar power station (2 Mega watts or more). There are several installations in the US using solar power. In fact the US started funding solar energy research as early as 1973.
You can build solar panels to produce a few megawatts to feed small villages. In the 70s NASA built a solar power plant to serve 100 people in an Indian (Native American) reservation which had no access to the grid. That was in the 70s. Why is India not doing anything even 40 years later?
Inertia? Lethargy? Apathy? :(

------Wind
Google is planning to power a data center entirely by the power from a wind farm. There are wind farms in California and other states.

------Organic waste ( food, leaves and other plants to generate gas)
A garbage collector who collects garbage for about 20 million households is doing it. Imagine how much power India can generate if they collected all food waste from restaurants and houses. San Francisco collects organic waste separately for that purpose.
A Bihari returned to Bihar to build a plant to generate electricity from husk. Estimate the amount of husk produced by all rice mills?

------Animal waste
An artist visiting a park in New York city developed a system to generate gas to burn in a lamp collecting dog dropping in the park. People who walk their dogs in the park collect the droppings and deposit them into that system. We have an abundance of animal droppings in rural areas. Why not put it to good use?

-------Human waste
A scientist has built a system in a village in Tamilnadu to generate cooking gas from human waste. It is near a dalit colony and the dalits cook their food using that gas. Why not replicate that system elsewhere?

-------Piezoelectricity
Israel is using piezoelectric materials in a road to generate electricity to feed traffic signals and lamps. (If you put pressure on the piezoelectric material it generates electriciy. Cigarette lighter uses that principle. Record players used them. Quartz clocks use them.) The state of California is planning to use them in roads to generate electricity. With all that vehicle traffic it will be a winner.
Imagine piezoelectric side walks in T.Nagar shopping area and the electricity it will generate. Japan tried it in railway stations near ticket counters.

India has no choice but to look into all these energy sources. Will the government take note?

If there is interest, here are two books about solar energy:

1. Wind/Solar Energy by E.M.Noll ( published in 1975)
2. A Guide to the Photovoltaic Revolution- Sunlight to Electricity in One Step by P.D Maycock and E.N.Stirewalt (published in 1981)
These books give the history of photovoltaic cells (used in solar panels) and also a list of installations and a list of manufacturers.

Quote from the first book:

" You may not require an alternate source of energy today. However, this book contains an economically viable method of supplementing your current requirements and planning for your future needs. Planning ahead is a trait of an intelligent, self-reliant and rugged individual."

This was written in 1975 looking far ahead. That is America. Leave no stone unturned.

(I wrote in some detail because of the business opportunities offered by alternate energy sources. Any youngster out of college can try it if he/she is a risk taker and likes new ventures. It will help if the IT majors established a venture capital fund. Nothing to lose by approaching them for capital! )

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

It is six months since this thread was started. We have seen China and India in the news a lot. Here is my summary of what we saw:

China
--------------------------------------------------------
India
----------------------------------
The comparison brings out a stark truth that China in moving at a fast pace to move closer to the US.
The furutre of India looks bleak. I hope I am wrong. But, the pessimistic assessment will come true if India does not act to clean the corruption ridden government.

China is definitely ahead of India in technology. Catching up with China takes time even if India starts today. But what we see is the leaders being oblivious to the contrast. There is too much inertia and apathy! :(

What can India do? In the next post!

Superb aggregation rajraj sir! India's innovation is not too bad but not catching up too. There are lot of initiatives from govt, universities, companies and individuals. Innovation and Entrepreneurship has become hot words. Lots of sites are coming up to support, help understand about innovating, startups entrepreneurship etc.

Govt + Private Sector:- Microsoft has joined with National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) for a startup fund competiton - Microsoft Bizspark.

Tata had developed Supercomputer named Eka, which is 4th fastest in Asia(thats not good ranking, but still). Many indian corporations are coming up tih innovation cell inside their campus but most of them help only to foster in their own business areas. When running innovation camps, no doubt, most of the companies do that only for their own pride or business, and if possible, both. There is almost nothing to contribute to society and to solve day to day common man's problems.

Even Media is at it. CNN IBN ran a televosion sompetition show for finding best startups, with huge prize for the winners. Times of India runs http://www.ideas.economictimes.com/ which is quite high profile and popular.

Lots of Indian startups are raising up, still none of them are foreseeable for a success scale like a facebook/twitter etc. We are yet to see a big winner/

There is a chennai based company called Zoho, similar to google office(google apps) and gives much better service. It was started with Plus two students as workforce and now a successful company with still 10% of workforce as school students, they are given stipend to continue their engineering along with their work for the company.

There is a startup called Notion Ink, bunch of IIM( not dropouts :) ) which developed a tablet computer which managed to receive lot of free press, and was even touted as iPad Killer(not anymore)

There is this guy by P R Rajenderan who did an innovative "Comics Creator" and won Intel Developer Challenge (http://appdeveloper.intel.com/en-us/contest/intel-atom-developer-challenge-winners) at international level ( Note the other, winning indian faces too there :D )

All this looks positive, but still, the govt and universities have to seriously gear up and inspire the students so that more students, young experts are encouraged to do innovative & creative works, rather than getting into the MNC Monkey who jumps btw IT cos and join the herd mentality. well innovation is dire needed in things outer to IT, than inside IT.

Govt have to invest heavily on this and run ad campaigns all over country, and even encourage school dropouts to run their creativity & innovation engine. I am very hopeful Indian youths have hidden(not sudden) talent, latent talent which one day will bang on the whole planet. Only that govt has to realize its already bit late but right time to trigger the youth towards great achievements.

Meanwhile, Indian govt does comic acts on itself by announcing super-vaporwares like $35 Tablet :lol: (பட் உங்க நேர்மை/intention எனக்கு புடிச்சிருக்கு!)

I am also too skeptical about the rising population, but, here is an article (http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JSC8yMDExLzA1LzA1I0FyMDAzMDA=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom) to say there are positives too, about becoming crowded country -
India’s growing population is regarded by many as a time bomb, by others as a blessing. Both these approaches miss the point. A huge population is in itself neither a boon nor a curse. It all depends on how productive it can be made. Educating a billion-plus people and ensuring they are healthy would create a world-beating nation. A nation of the same size with a huge population of the poor, malnourished and illiterate would be a disaster. The way to go should be clear: invest heavily in developing human capital and the world will be at our feet.

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

There is an indian magazine called Entrepreneur (http://entrepreneurindia.in/). While Entrepreneurship is a common word, this magazine, and lots of indian websites supporting Entrepreneurship are trying hard to ape the west, and try to implicit that Entrepreneurship/Startup etc mainly is about doing something new in ITES/Websites/Mobile etc. Thats a bad trending, whereas sites like www.pluggd.in are doing their best to mean that Entrepreneurship is common thing.

[rajraj]

Rao, former director of IISc, harps about research in India and laments the fact that we (India) missed the boat in developing expertise in semiconductors. My question to him is : "What did you do when you were the dirctor of IISc?". I heard some rumblings about super conductivity research in IISc. (Those interested in learning more can find out for themselves. It is not something I want to post here!) Now, he is a science advisor to the government of India. Lot of talk and no substance.

At least he is aware that China is moving faster than India to be at the top in research. He projects 5th place for India despite the fact we have the best brains in the world. The new buzz word is Nanotechnology.
Even in this new area China is ahead.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2066308.ece

He also laments that IITs and IISc are not the best in the world. What is new? It is not like my days (1961-63) when the brightest chose to go to IISc. Now they go to the US. Talk about brain drain? :(

This is not the first time for Rao to harp about research. See the link below:

http://www.thehindu.com/2009/10/30/stories/2009103061650300.htm
(you may have to search for this with the words "Rao re-orient research" )

In 2009 he wanted research re-oriented to address Nano technology. What has he done with the authority he has as an advisor to the government. Has he sent hundreds of aspiring scientists to the US to become experts in Nano technology and return to India? Did he establish a fellowship program dedicated to Nano technology?

May be some of you know. In that case educate me! :)

I was a student in IISc during the years 1961-63. We had one course on Electronics that included transistors (discrete). It was a brief introduction. Nothing about fabrication or the materials used. I had to learn about those in the US. I felt that the institute could have done more! Only when you enter a college or university in the US you get the rude awakening about what we missed/miss in India.

No wonder Rao accepts the fact that IITs and IISc are not the best in the world! :(

[rajraj]

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-06-07/news/29630044_1_iit-faculty-iit-bombay-technology-institutes

Out of 1000 Ph.Ds awarded by IITs in a particular year only 10 were IIT graduates. About 50 percent of the graduates leave India never to return. No wonder the IITs lack in research. What is India planning to do? More talk? :(

[rajraj]

http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/society/article2134518.ece

" If creative math is to be encouraged,teachers should not insist that students solve problems in the only way they prescribe." - Professor Berndt in the article.

Lack of creative thinking is the problem in India. In my days we used to solve problems in different ways, even in examns, known as aliter (another way). Not sure whether students are encouraged to use aliter?

[gaddeswarup]

The question should be "Would the world ever produce another Ramanujan?". In the whole history of mathematics, I think that only Euler and Jacobi had some of the skills similar to those of Ramanujan. My answer "I doubt it".

[rajraj]

Kiplinger's Magazine has an article on energy sector in the US:

http://www.youkioske.com/actualidad-economia/kiplingers-june-2011-1/

You will have to scroll a few pages to read the article on Energy Crisis.

The article mentions First Solar, a photovoltaic cell manufacturer, that was founded in 1999 and went into production in 2002. Their revenue in 2006 was $35 Million and is expected to be $3.8 Billion for the year 2011.
Here is the financial statement showing growth from 2007:
http://investor.firstsolar.com/financials-statements.cfm

That is what we need in India - a photovoltaic cell manufacturing plant. We don't have any, to my knowledge. The CM of Tamilnadu seems to have asked Hillary Clinton for US investment in Solar energy in Tamilnadu. The investment should come from within and the technology from the US and other countries. Here is a golden opportunity for the NRI community to do something for Tamilnadu.
It should be understood clearly that the MNCs are interested in the cheap labor available in India and not in making India a technology giant. That is for Indians to do. The governement of Tamilnadu should contact First Solar which is looking at expanding in China and other countries( if First Solar has not considered India so far).

C.N.R. Rao said that we missed the boat in Semiconductor technology. Had we not missed the boat we would be manufacturing photovoltaic cells on a large scale and supplying other countries. Of course we need experts in semiconductor/thin film technologies. That will make sure we don't miss the boat in solar cells.

I should also mention that most NRIs are interested in making money in the growing Indian economy. They have no interest in solving India's problems. It is for the government of India to change that mindset.





---------------------------------------------------------------------
Swarup: I agree with you. But, I am also optimistic because Ramanujans are born and not made by colleges. I attended the same college he attended in Kumbakonam. In his welcome address, the principal wanted to see a Ramanujan from the first year students. The college is yet to produce a Ramanujan! :)

[rajraj]

In the 70s and 80s UK used to complain that they coached and produced Ph.Ds and the US poached them. That was true to some extent. The US has not given up poaching because they want to be the best in science and technology, and patent filing. Here is an article on what IEEE thinks:

http://www.todaysengineer.org/2011/Jul/immigration.asp

About fifty percent of the Master's degrees and more than two thirds of the Ph.Ds granted by American universities go to foreign nationals says the article. That is true. Without foreign students research in American universities will come to a halt. India contributes to the US by coaching the best in IITs,IISc and other leading institutions and sending them to the US for higher education. IEEE wants all of them to stay back. They don't have to worry much. Most of the Indian Ph.Ds stay back. When I worked in the industry I had five Ph.Ds in my department including me. All were foreign born -Indian,Chinese,South Korean and Lebanese! I had to sponsor one for green card and the company took care of all the expenses. Now you know why the US is the leader in technology. India has some of the best brains. But most of them prefer the west! :( That has to change if India wants to catch up with China and Japan!

[rajraj]

Chairman of ADB has a vision and a message to all Asian countries. Hope India gets the message.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/asia-must-take-bold-action-to-realise-its-full-potential-adb/articleshow/9455589.cms

Asia must take radical steps now toward investing in innovation and clean technology -ADB Chairman.

This applies to India more than any other country in Asia!

Innovation (creativity) is the key word here!

[groucho070]

rajraj-sir. Judging from our films, innovation means "inspiration" from other films. Inspiration means, steal and don't give proper credit. Interesting.

[rajraj]

Some schools and colleges have installed solar panels to meet their energy needs!


http://www.expressbuzz.com/cities/bangalore/schools-and-colleges-look-for-power-from-above/302995.html

If schools and colleges in Bangalore can do it what prevents the schools and colleges in Chennai and other cities from going solar? All those self financing colleges mint money by selling seats. They should be directed to go solar followed by other colleges. The private high schools also should be required to go solar.




groucho: We can not do much about copying in movies though it is illegal ! :(. I am more concerned about rote learning in schools! :(

[ajithfederer]

4 Indians among MIT’s top 35 innovators

Two Indians and two persons of Indian origin figure among Top 35 Innovators under-35 in the latest list of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Technology Review, the world’s oldest Technology Magazine established in 1899.

Ajit Narayanan, Invention Labs, Chennai and Aishwarya Ratan, Yale University, who were part of TR35 India Winners announced in March 2011, have made it to the annual list of people who exemplify the spirit of innovation in business and technology.

The honourees are blazing new paths in a wide range of fields, including medicine, energy, communications, IT, consumer technology, entertainment, and robotics, Cambridge, Massachusetts, based institution announced Wednesday.

Chennai—based Ajit Narayanan, 30, was selected for his work on affordable speech synthesizers. He is currently working with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, to improve the quality of the speech synthesis. He also plans to use mobile app stores to distribute a version of his software with about 90 percent of the full Avaz system’s functionality.

Aishwarya Ratan, 30, was working with Microsoft Research in Bangalore when she won the prestigious honour for her work on converting paper records to digital in real time. Ratan has since moved to Yale University, but the NGO that she was partnering with continues to test the slate in villages.

Two winners of Indian origin include Bhaskar Krishnamachari, 33, University of Southern California who has been selected for his work on smarter wireless networks and Piya Sorcar, 33, for Teachaids software that can be localised to teach taboo topics.

The TR35 will present their work and be honoured at an awards ceremony during the 2011 EmTech MIT conference, taking place Oct 18—19 at MIT’s Media Lab, USA.

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/article2396527.ece

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

Why these news(above 2 in particular) are posted here?!? I thought they shud be posted in 'Picked from todays Paper' in Current Affairs Section, or the Gadgets/Tech in this section.

And that 4 Indian Innovators among MIT is better covered here - http://www.pluggd.in/4-indians-in-top-35-innovators-under-35-list-from-mits-technology-review-297/
That chennai guy Ajit Narayanan has made a tablet pc for disabled ppl superb idea! here is his website - http://inventionlabs.in/aac/

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

http://www.techonlineindia.com/article/11-08-25/Solar_powered_robot_wins_Intel_India_Embedded_Chal lenge_2011.aspx


Solar Powered Crop Harvesting Robot - T J David & Kudikala Shravan Kumar, International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad


This invention relates to the most energy efficient, lightweight, remote-operated solar powered crop harvesting robot. The objective of this invention is to overcome drawbacks of prior arts of conventional harvesting machines. This most energy efficient crop harvesting machine requires only 500 W of electric energy stored in batteries, which can be charged by solar PV panels or by grid power with domestic current.

Even the same can be operated with 500W of PV panel. The cost of harvesting one acre of land is Rs. 10, if grid power (at Rs. 5 per kW) is used for charging batteries, while a conventional harvester consumes worth diesel worth Rs. 800. :clap:

The weight of the machine is about 125 kg. It is operable both via remote and electrically, and it needs an embedded system and control to operate. The total cost of the reaping system is Rs. 50,000 and it is the only machine of its kind in this segment, at this cost. It can be adapted for cutting various crops apart from paddy and wheat by changing the cutter bar. It can provide both fodder and foodgrains at the same time.

It saves 80% of the harvesting cost, benefiting the farmers. The invented machine comprises of a lightweight metal chassis, having a low friction cutter bar with a dual edge cutting blade, without requiring a pressure plate to minimise energy losses. The self-balancing cutter bar remains suspended on the ground without requiring manual balancing of the machine when compared to conventional systems. The machine can manoeuvre in all kinds of farm field terrains, whether wet or dry. It has a two wheeled drive mechanism that can revolve 360 degrees in either direction, and has a very steep turning capability. It is a mass impact innovation/technology that will benefit farmers all over the globe.

Who said India is merely chunking out IT professionals doing repetitive jobs?!? Other inventions too are very interesting, there's one from Tanjore SASTRA

[rajraj]

Central government is subsidising solar power plants in colleges. Some colleges in the southern districts of Tamilnadu have installed solar power plants. Hope this spreads to all colleges and high schools.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/article2425204.ece

[rajraj]

Two Americans associated with Pay-pal fret about innovation being almost dead in the US. ( I don't think so! ) The editorial comment disagrees with them. It is true that "going to the moon" gave us a lot of innovations to make our life easy now.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-20105038-250/peter-thiel-max-levchin-u.s-tech-innovation-dead/

Read the comments from the readers.

Two Americans complain about the US, the leader in innovations, slipping in innovations. What do we do in India? Be happy as consumers of what the Americans innovate. When will it change? Will it ever change?

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

Food for thought (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7kcpdN6W5c&feature=player_detailpage#t=580s)
Warning:- Gopinath(Vijay TV) Haters don't see this!!

சந்துல சிந்து (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7kcpdN6W5c&feature=player_detailpage#t=2996s) :lol: :wink:

[rajraj]

Kabil Sibal proposes new electronics manufacturing policy:

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/article2509699.ece

This should have been done 20 years back. Better late than never? :)


Does the strategy include manufacturing chips? If so, where is he going to find the skills? Open more fourth rate engineering colleges? Most of the colleges do not teach electronics that well. Is he going to revamp the curriculum?
Ananthakrishnan is still doing it (after more than a year).

How is India going to compete with China,South Korea,Taiwan,Japan and other countries? Snatching market share is not that easy.

Lethargy,inertia,procrastination and, above all, lack of vision?

What is new? :(

India has missed the boat in semiconductor technology according to a former director of IISc. If this strategy is meant to catch up, it is going to be tough (swimming against the tide) !

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

Another good article about this
India drafts new electronics manufacturing policy - EE Times - News and Analysis (http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4228867/India-drafts-new-electronics-manufacturing-policy?cid=NL_EETimesDaily)

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

Rajraj sir, Manufacturing Integrated Circuits is a distant dream, already SPIC India is involved in manufacturing basic chips, see their customer base

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/681/screenshotgd.png

But its well known fact that India has long way to go to get a place in Mainstream Manufacturing. Nokia and flextronics doing EMS in Chennai is also a good thing, though its not known how much(technical expertise) did the soceity got back becos of those companies... Now, govt taking the 1st baby step in manufacturing is the beginning of light in the far end of tunnel...

[rajraj]

Manufacturing Integrated Circuits is a distant dream,........... Now, govt taking the 1st baby step in manufacturing is the beginning of light in the far end of tunnel...

Leaders are supposed to make dreams come true! John Kennedy wanted a man on the moon by the end of the decade in 1961 and it was accomplished. MLK Jr wanted equal rights for Blacks (Afro-Americans). The Civil Rights law was enacted in mid 60s by President Lyndon Johnson. T.J.Watson Jr wanted to change the landscape in computers and took the risk to go for IBM 360 series with a new architecture and changed the computing world. Initially he was laughed at! :( The list goes on. What India needs is vision and aggressive pursuit of the goal set. Hope your generation does it! :)

( Even before there was an LSI chip IBM was working on how to test them to make sure all circuits (gates) were tested. The work was not done by one group. About ten groups were working in parallel! That is aggressiveness! )

You are right. India has a long way to go. We have to run, not walk! :)

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

Sir, if u get time(1 hour! ) see the video in my signature, he talks about innovation and manufacturing. i hope you agree with most parts! (Skip the first 10 minits)

[rajraj]

sakala,
I already watched it. He has some blunt and pointed questions. Do those in power listen? Do the students listen? Here is something that happened about 30 years back. I met an educator who was at that time the director of one of the IITs. In the course of the conversation I asked him why India was retracing the path taken by the US in technology instead of starting where the US was and moving forward (it is know as "leapfrogging" ). Guess what he said? " I have been saying that. But, the political leaders won't listen." He also asked me to consider returning to India. You know the rest!
Time has come to let the technologists define the future of India. Things might be different now.



Sir, if u get time(1 hour! ) see the video in my signature, he talks about innovation and manufacturing. i hope you agree with most parts! (Skip the first 10 minits)

[rajraj]

China is now manufacturing its own supercomputer chips:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-20127439-76/made-in-china-countrys-new-supercomputer-uses-homegrown-chips

From buying supercomputer chips from the US China has moved to manufacturing its own chips.

What is India doing? Announced an Electronics Manufaturing policy without any mention about chip manufacturing! :(

And some are harping that India would surpass China in 2030 or so. How?

[rajraj]

A professor in Boston college talks about India's academic system and its ills:

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2607179.ece?homepage=true

He mentions a number of problems I have been saying in this thread over the last few months and also in another thread. He compares China with India in research funding. China spends seven times what India spends. You can imagine who will be second to the US soon! :(

Thinking capacity? How do you promote it if it is rote learning from kindergarten? Sad! :( As they say in Tamil, 'chattiyil irundhaaldhaan aappaiyil varum' !

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

Nice website

http://blog.ideas4all.com/

[ajithfederer]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-innovations/china-opens-doors-of-state-run-companies-to-worlds-top-talent/2011/09/14/gIQA1BMpQN_story.html

[rajraj]

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_19349995


"There is a complete absence of decision-making among the leaders in the government. If prompt action is not taken,the country will face a setback. You must appreciate how serious it is." -Azim Premji as quoted by Friedman.

What can be more damaging and insulting to the leaders in India? It appears as though nobody cares about the country. The US seems to be moving in that direction with a super committee failing to come to an agreement on how to reduce the deficit. Half of the committee members want to run the government without increasing taxes! :(

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

A Must Read Article. More than US, this article shud be eye opening to us Indians.

Apple, America and a Squeezed Middle Class - How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html?_r=2&ref=general&src=me&pagewanted=all)

The iPhone Economy (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/20/business/the-iphone-economy.html?ref=business)

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/7695/theiphoneeconomy.png

[rajraj]

An article on new science/technology strategy in India:

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/article3483341.ece

Quote:

".........100 doctoral fellowships under public-private partnership......"

It must be taken as a joke! :lol:

The US produces about 10000 PhDs in Science/Engineering a year and China produces a little more than 10000. India plans for 100 fellowships. Do these leaders ever keep track of what goes on outside India, especially in China which wants to beat Japan and then try to beat the US? These Indian leaders are 'frogs in the well' !
India is already lagging behind China a lot. What is needed is funding 10000 fellowships, not 100.
Indian Government has Scientific advisors. Do they ever find out what goes on outside India? Ramadorai, former chief o TCS is the Prime Minister's Technology advisor. What is he doing?

One of my IISc classmates earned his Ph.D in Canada and taught there for a while and returned as chief of an ISRO operation. Later, he became a scientific advisor to the government. I thought that would mean a big change in Science/Technology policy in India. Nothing happened, not that I saw anything in the media. May be, the political climate is such that bringing about a change is impossible! :(

And India wants to become a super power. A good joke! Have a good laugh! You will never come across another joke like that! :lol:

[Kevinsop]

That is a positive stance. I hope he stays with this. Thanks for sharing here at http://www.mayyam.com

[rajraj]

India ill-prepared to deal with China! :(

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3836618.ece?homepage=true

Even a casual China watcher would know that. In the early 60s Nehru visited China and people created a slogan -"Hindi-Cheeni bhaai bhaai". What hapened next? China invaded India in the Northeast! They make agreements. China does not care about agreements. Indian leaders don't seem to care! :(

[rajraj]

Here is an article about rising college costs in the US. Between 1995 and 2012 the college costs doubled while the cost of goods and services rose buy 50 percent. That tells you a lot. I don't think Americans will give up college education.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/09/09/megan-mcardle-on-the-coming-burst-of-the-college-bubble.html

I have been warning young parents about college costs and nudging them to save for college education. Now, they are forced to make compromises. Instead of sending their children to elite institutions they have to settle for lower ranked schools. My advice has been that if the child is very bright don't spare anything. But, most NRI parents consider their children to be very bright. "kaakkaikku than kunjum pon kunju" syndrome. It will change.


( I posted about life in America in another thread. Joe suggested I open a thread. I thought it would be appropriate to post in this thread. Feel free to comment! :) )

[rajraj]

Again a lot of talk and no action. At least, some are paying attention to the rot in education in India. Hope things change if India wants to be a super power. Neglecting pure sciences is no way to reach that goal.

http://www.thehindu.com/education/nobler-than-a-nobel/article4136659.ece?homepage=true


A quote from the article:

"All top performers in the board examinations are expected to pursue engineering,medcine or economics regardless of their interests."

Sad! :(

When my middle son went for Mathematics in college one Indian lady scolded him saying that there was no money in it! :lol: My son just smiled and walked away! :) Some NRIs push their children into medicine only to find them drop out after a year or two and go after their passions.