Chinese on our territory? Frankly speaking we don’t give a damn

Words of self-assurance?

The Chinese have entered 10 kilometers into the Indian territory in the Ladakh region of the country. They have set up a camp fit for a platoon-size division of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and are using military helicopters to drop supplies at the camp site. The Indian government is opposing the belligerence shown by the Dragon in a voice that can be called a murmur in the cacophonic world of international diplomacy.

The territorial incursion reportedly happened overnight on April 15, three days after which Indian and Chinese military commanders held a flag meeting to discuss it. The Indian side wanted the Chinese to go back. Obviously, they failed. But until April 19 the Indian junta, which is high in expressing nationalistic sentiments in words but low on showing it in deed, was unaware of all this...

But why we don't give a damn? Find it here:

http://www.newsyaps.com/chinese-on-our-territory-frankly-speaking-we-dont-give-a-damn/16390/

Why China, not US Presidential Elections, deserves our interest (Part II)

It is barely possible for any story to bypass the government and bureaucratic hurdles and reach the world populace. Layer after layer of restrictions have made the emanation of free and fair information out of the country almost impossible. There could have been more negative stories coming out of China but we do not know them because the country has succeeded in controlling the media and the internet.

But despite all this, China is interesting, very interesting. The simple reason, to put psychologically, is because anything that is mysterious is interesting. China is the only superpower in the world which has been able to keep its mysterious image intact. Who until the day of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony knew what was to come? Who was not left enthralled after watching the opening ceremony? That event can easily be termed China’s remarkable entry in the league of the big players of the world. Perhaps the steps, created through fireworks, shown going towards the ‘Bird’s Nest’ – the main stadium packed with leaders and spectators from across the world – were those China’s.

Click Here to read more:

http://www.newsyaps.com/why-china-not-us-presidential-elections-deserves-our-interest-part-ii/3183/

Why China, not US Presidential Elections, deserves our interest

I am not interested in the US Presidential Elections. I am not interested in who becomes the 45^th President of America. I am not interested in either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. I am not interested in what the world’s largest democracy is doing. I am interested in the events after Hu steps down in China. In fact China, not US Presidential Elections, deserves our interest.

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http://www.newsyaps.com/why-china-not-us-presidential-elections-deserves-our-interest/3169/

Senkaku islands row: Chinese nationalism vs Japanese economy

The island row between China and Japan is something that is giving sleepless nights to every nation touched by the waves of the East China Sea. Over the past few days, the dispute over who owns Senkaku islands (to the Japanese) or Diaoyu islands (to the Chinese) has catapulted into a major international crisis and regularly gets a dominant space on Google news searches. Some also fear a worst case scenario – war.

Click here to read more:

http://www.newsyaps.com/senkaku-islands-row-chinese-nationalism-vs-japanese-economy/2663/

India needs doctors, not MBAs

Yesterday I was talking to a boy - a trainee in the company I work for - about his goal in life. He was more than happy to tell me that he was attending a coaching institute where they prepare students to face one of the countless MBA entrance exams. I am a journalist not an MBA and therefore I asked him whether it was necessary for someone to obtain a Business Management qualification. He gave me a perplexed glance, raised his eyebrows and replied in an accentuating manner, “Of course, it is.”

“Everyone is going for an MBA. Why? Because it guarantees you a good job with a fat paycheque,” he said in an excited way. The conversation then proceeded to other things.

Just a few days back I read in a regional newspaper about a boy in a small town who fell from a tree seriously injuring his liver. The report said that he was bleeding profusely and was taken to a nearby medical center. His family was mulling over the possibility of taking him to a top hospital in the city. The problem was that the distance to the hospital in the city was of a good measure and the doctor treating the boy in the local medical center knew that he may not survive the distance. Therefore, this doctor took it upon himself to save the boy’s life. According to reports, his treatment kept the boy alive and fit enough for shifting to the hospital in the city. The boy survived.

Imagine the fate of the boy had that doctor opted for a career in Business Management early in his life. Frankly speaking, India needs more doctors than MBAs.

According to various reports, India has approximately 6,00,000 doctors. Data available with the World Health Organisation puts that figure to 6,60,801 as in 2005. India has a population of over a billion. In approximate figures that translates to 1 doctor per 1,800 people.  Countries like Brazil and Thailand are better off with a ratio of 1:844 and 1:500 respectively. No need to think of Germany which has a ratio of 1:296.

Worse is the fact that a majority of doctors or, in other words, the medical facilities are concentrated in urban areas of the country. There are many areas in rural India where there is a serious dearth of proper medical services. Those areas are dominated by quacks (unqualified people posing as doctors) and/or practitioners of Ayurveda, Unani, Homeopathy or Siddha. The later ones provide basic medical treatment but cannot operate on a person in the case, say for example, of the boy I wrote about above.

Even in the urban areas, the government run hospitals are few and far between. Add to it the pathetic conditions of many of them and you have the perfect threat to the dream of a developed India. Most of the hospitals are privately run, a majority of which charge a fees that may put an average Bollywood actor to shame. There is no need to discuss the government as every Indian is aware of how it functions.

Talking about government, India’s closest competitor is way ahead. China had 19, 05,436 registered medical practitioners for its population as in 2009 according to the WHO. Yes, China presently holds the distinction of being the most populated country in the world but India will soon surpass it. Consider then the situation here. 

We are in dire need of more doctors. We also need to stop the tendency of medical practitioners to leave for foreign shores. According to a report, there are nearly 60,000 Indian doctors in countries like US, UK, Australia and Canada alone.

Interest in a career in medicine must be increased. Better opportunities should be created in India itself for the doctors to stay back. More colleges are needed without compensating on the quality of education. Medical research must be given a boost.

The Medical Council of India lists 335 medical colleges imparting education in India. Compare this to the 1600 odd MBA colleges and you know where the country is heading.

Doing good business can never become the parameter of gauging a country’s overall development status. Of all the countless number of MBA graduates that we produce in India, 60 percent are fools, 30 percent know how to fool others and only 10 percent are the real MBAs.

Nearly every Sales Executive whether in a retail store or at your door is an MBA from an institution which may be operating out of a rented apartment. There are many MBAs who were unable to even pass their school exams properly, if you know what I mean. Barring those who pass from the elite IIMS or a handful of other equally competent colleges, nearly all of them are aimless people. In other words, since they were not good in any other discipline, they chose MBA for the simple reason because it is easy to pass if it is not from the IIMs or the other competent ones. They are the fools.

Some go for an MBA with dreams of becoming as ‘wealthy’ as Tata or Birla. Nobody wants to ‘be’ a Tata or Birla. They fail to see the hardships these legends of business faced to build their empires where it stands today. Such MBAs always try to take the shortcut to earning more money. They will never back down from fooling a gullible person into buying something which he/she may not need at all. They are those who fool others.

Over the last few years some innovative minds have come out with new business models that are essential for economic as well as social development. They face political, financial or other problems but continue doing their work. These are the real MBAs. They have the potential to give a positive direction to a business and society equally. Interestingly, many of them do not have an MBA qualification at all.

If the government continues to allow opening of MBA institutions on the premise of making India a developed nation, it will have disastrous consequences in the long run. The people of India need more doctors and medical researchers to counter the ever rising cases of unknown diseases. The Japanese Encephalitis is one such example where lack of proper medical facilities claimed more than 800 lives. The government should stop boasting about Medical Tourism if it cannot protect its own people on the ground.

By 2031 there will be a shortfall of close to a million doctors. According to the planning commission, India is short of six lakh doctors, a million nurses and almost two lakh dentists. What will India do with the money if the people do not live to enjoy the wealth?

It is the duty of the government to take concrete measures in protecting the people of the country. More needs to be spent on health, especially public sector. According to reports, of the 5.1 percent of the GDP spent on health an approximate 17 percent only is spent on the public sector.

Improving the economy is good but it should not come at the cost of lives. Bundles of money and batches of MBAs could not have been able to achieve what that doctor did in the small town. After all, saving a life is incalculably valuable than a billion dollar business plan.

For Sale: Patriotism

The brave stories of the valiant soldiers who gave up their lives in the service of the country had always inspired me to join any wing of the Indian armed forces. Thus, I rued the moment when I couldn’t due of a medical defect. And now, I pity the condition of my motherland when I come across reports of the manner in which our defence forces are conducting themselves.

Who will hold the hands that rise in salute to the motherland?

It seems that the Indian armed forces are too bored of the ‘Honest Institution’ tag and are desperately trying to replace it with ‘the most dishonest institution of all’. Otherwise, how can we explain the long list of scams that the army is figuring in? More importantly, should we start fearing for our own safety when we read reports of the Chinese army slowly ‘invading’ our lands?

Amidst the hustle-bustle of the IPL drama and the daily matinee of the Indian democracy, news on infiltration by the Chinese army in the Western Sector of our country, slithered in. Both the governments denied it. As usual, our army downplayed it.

This was not the first time that the PLA walked fearlessly on our soil. In September 2009, an alarm had been raised within the government after Chinese incursions in Zulung La (Chumar Sector), located in the east of Leh, was reported. Such transgressions are not new to our North-Eastern borders.

Enough reports have been written on the acts of the PLA and many more might follow. What is important to note is the fact that such intrusions raises fingers on our military’s capability to safeguard our borders.

It is true that our defence budget is less than a third of the military spending of the Chinese which, according to official estimates, stands close to $70 billion. However, to quote an old proverb, “a battle is fought with weapons but won by the men wielding them”. Thus the men who fight are far more important than the weapons. Now, if the same men— who are supposed to defend— turn their attention from the battlefield to satisfy their greed then “Delhi, we have a problem.”

The involvement of the top brass of our armed forces in a large number of scams has brought nothing but disgrace to our military and thereby to the nation. The level of corruption in the forces has reached to such higher proportions that for the first time the Army chief had to appear before the PAC in connection with alleged irregularities in running of the Canteen Stores Department (CSD).

If the top level of the armed forces engages itself in such embarrassing activities then it is easy to deduce the message that will pass into the lower ranks. Since a soldier follows his General then he will do what his General does- including corruption.

If a soldier, today, builds a palatial mansion for his family, even if through corrupt means, then the country shouldn’t blame him. Why? Because he is trying to secure the future of his loved ones for he knows that if he becomes a martyr then this corrupt military may not provide any assistance to his wife and children. The Adarsh scam is the perfect example.

In a nation where the widows of the braves who laid down their lives for the country are not given the respect and assistance they deserve, we should be ashamed of ourselves if we selfishly expect our soldiers to remain patriotic.

The shortfall of officers in the defence services can perhaps be explained with the fact that the youth believe that sacrificing oneself for the country only in the name of devotion will be utter foolishness in this money-minded society.

Therefore, if the military can sell its patriotism why shouldn’t they?