December 2008 « What Ho!

14Dec/080

Brutal Justice

Late yesterday night the Warangal police shot dead the three accused in the Swapinika acid attack case. A classic "encounter" case. You can't do anything about the perpetrators of a crime so you take them to a remote location and kill them. Case closed. Easy.

What Srinivas and his friends did to Swapnika and her friend Pranitha deserves the strongest possible punishment but does it deserve such an end? From the point of view of the two young girls who are suffering in hospital and might be disfigured for life, maybe yes. And maybe also from the point of view of a patient public that has seen our society and it's values eroded over the years to a stage where a lynching is "good" solution. Because our laws are impotent. Our lawmakers are corupt. And our police is brutal.

The police did not lift a finger to stop the first crime even after a complaint was lodged by Swpnika and her parents. Maybe because Srinvas was the son of a local real estate baron. Somebody with money and muscle. Compared to that Swapnika and her parents are nobodies. Middle class Indians. Cannon fodder.

After Srinivas commited his dastardly crime and the nation errupted with revulsion, the police stepped in and commited a crime of their own. And offered it as a solution. The nation applauded. Girl students lined up for a police inspector's autograph. People stood in long lines in the wilderness to see the dead bodies of the three 22 year old "criminals", gunned down in the dead of night.

Is this what our society has become?

I too am a middle class India. A man with a young family. I too have a daughter. And a son.

I am afraid. Very very afraid.

Filed under: India No Comments

10Dec/080

IIT Kharagpur Alumnus Amongst Victims of Mumbai Terrorist Attacks

I was horrified by this email from the President of the IIT Foundation, Roy daSilva.

Dear Friends,

It is with deep regret that I have to inform you that we have lost an alum to the terrorists who attacked Mumbai.

Malayesh Banerjee was a Nehru Hall resident who graduated with a B. Arch. in 2005 and was to be married in early December, but his life was cut short.

Saket Kumar, Malayeshs’ batch mate, who was on site at the time of the shooting and with Malayeshs family in Ranchi, has conveyed our condolences to his father.

May his soul rest in peace
Roy daSilva,
President IIT Foundation

http://www.iitfoundation.org/?p=200

My deepest condolences to Malayesh's family and fiance.

The nation nurtured and cherished this young man and gave him the best education possible but it failed to protect him from a senseless and futile death. What a waste!

Are we to stand by and let these murderers from across the border and within go unpunished? I don't know about the rest of India but I for one want an eye for an eye. I know such thoughts are against the core teachings of my ancient religion but I am no Ram!

How much more innocent blood must we give before we are left to live our lives in peace?

Filed under: India No Comments

5Dec/080

Message from Prof. Acharya

Subject: [IIT Foundation] Message from Prof. Acharya Author: IIT Foundation Date: 03rd December 2008 6:13 pm
Dear Friends,
I am writing to wish you and yours a happy holiday season, inform you of a new and exciting phase of expansion and diversification , and request you to participate in building IIT Kharagpur for the 21st century.
Our institute was inaugurated on August 18th. 1951, by Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, during which he said that he expects IIT Kharagpur to be "one of the finest institutions of its kind not only in India but in the World"
We have achieved the first milestone, and have been ranked number 1 in India many times, hence, it is time to up the ante and aggressively pursue becoming one of the top schools in the world.
To do this we plan to: a) Increase student strength from 7500 to 11,500 by 2011 (20,000 students by 2020) b) Increase faculty from 520 to 1,150 c) Undertake expansion, renovation and renewal of the infrastructure to meet global standards d) Develop win-win collaborations with the world's leading universities e) Partner with the best in industry ??? and show results of the first phase of our plan by 2011, our Diamond Jubilee year.
This is no trivial task, however with the support of the government, administration, faculty, students and alumni, I am confident, we can succeed. Here's how you can participate.
1) Establish 'Chair Professor' positions supported by endowments created by alumni. The biggest challenge to the success of our plans is getting qualified and competent faculty within the constraint of compensation package that the country offers. To solve this, I urge alumni to consider creating an Endowment (Rs. 40 lakhs per chair), which,when invested will earn interest, and shall then be used to pay for Chair Professor positions in various departments. Details of this program shall be available from Prof. Amit Patra, Dean (Alumni Affairs and International Relations, deanaa@hijli.iitkgp.ernet.in, +91-3222-282034/283070.
2) Double the support and contribution for Initiatives 'seeded' by IIT Foundation. There are many programs that are needed to succeed. In 2008 IIT Foundation has provided seed funding for a) Collaboration with Universities such as UC Berkeley; b) Hosting the Alumni in Academia and Research Forum; c) Supporting the Faculty of the Future Initiative; and d) Advising and connecting with experts to create Centers of Excellence. During my visit to the US, this summer, I witnessed, first hand, the excellent results from the work being carried out, hence, I urge you to double your support for these initiatives so that they can reach thier full potential. Please contribute money,time, and you connections and networks to help them succeed.
I realize that the current financial markets are causing concern to all of us, however I would like to point out that the situation was probably worse between 1947 and 1951, but we endured the course then, and IIT Kharagpur was established. Once again, we must endure the course and make our alma mater one of the finest in the world.
I am requesting every KGP-ian to participate in 'Building IIT Kharagpur for the 21st Century' and complete the task of realizing the vision our founding fathers vision. So please, donate generously at http://www.iitfoundation.org/donate
Yours sincerely, Professor Damodar Acharya, Director and Alum, IIT Kharagpur
======================================================= IIT Foundation (IITF) http://www.iitfoundation.org webmaster@iitfoundation.org * IIT Kharagpur Alumni Network * =======================================================

Filed under: Uncategorized No Comments

4Dec/080

Determine the Sex of The Foetus Before you Conceive

I took this photo with my mobile phone at Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad, on Oct 18, 2008. I was waiting outside the Ultra Sound Lab with Padmaja and this sign was displayed prominently. It took a few readings before I was convinced that I wasn't mistaken. The Government of India as represented by the District Collector of Hyderabad and the District Medical & Health Officer seem to think that medical science has evolved so far as to be able to determine the sex of a foetus even before conception.