Prelude to a budget for a common man

Well, its just about time when I can share my views about an upcoming budget with a popular government. Atleast, a government I would like to call popular so far. Well, I for that matter,  have been living with this hope of getting some benefit since last many years of your popular government. Yes - you Mr. Prime Minister. I voted for any Tom, Dick or Harry just because he was attached to your name as I had hopes from you. Who am I? I say that's a good question. I'm the one who doesn't get free electricity, who doesn't get tax free income, even if it is at the lowest slab of your categorization. I'm the one who doesn't have the privilege of any quota just because I was born with a certain type of last name. I also had no say or hand in how and why the ones who had a certain last name had a raw deal in the past. But I'm surely the one who had less number of available seats for Engineering/Medical/Civil Service or any similar areas. I am surely the one who fought through, not just competition, but also reservations/quotas and the red tape and the general looking down upon as the filthy, good for nothing, having no say types middle class kid.

I'm the one who, after fighting through all the previously created biases, didn't sit for a dharna to ask for a quota, or ask for lowering of passing marks or any similar concessions to permeate my growth on some pretext or the other - whether coming from the past or the future. I had none of the varying caps of religion on my head and I came with no certificate of my caste or religion to you or your predecessors to beg for leverages due to how and where and in which caste/religion I was born.

While I do not think I'm proud of my position today but I atleast carry the pride that I fought through it all MYSELF. Yes, MYSELF. I reached wherever I am because I persisted. I achieved what I did because I didn't give up against all the biases. I didn't get disheartened with all that happened around me. While my parents still had to pay for electricity and water when I was studying. They still had to pay for my education through their nose, sometimes through all their savings and assets. While they still paid for all this, I was not - even on a single instance, the one to damage or harm public property. I had no thoughts to protest against all the injustice I had to deal with.

But today, I pay taxes and you may not imagine how much. Because I still stay honest. I pay all the income tax, all the GST, all the service or any damn tax that you or your predecessors ever thought I could give. But I still do not get free electricity, I still do not get free drinking water, I still do not get free healthcare. And despite all this, I don't go about protesting against all the injustice met to me and destroy public property or leave alone disrespect the republic or the signage of my nationality.

I still get goose bumps when I see and hear about my soldiers. I still get teary eyed when I hear the National Anthem. I do not go on any media to criticize the Nation. I may cry foul about lack of structure or responsiveness. But I still hold dear the values I possess as a virtue of being an Indian.

But what do I get for all this. What did I get for all my life. I can be harrassed by any public servant without any remorse. I can be taken for a ride by any government functionary. I have to look for only 2 options if I get stuck. Either a bigger government functionary to bail me out or a bigger money bag to buy my already proved innocence. And then I pay taxes for this. I pay so much that it hurts after all this. It would not have mattered if it was not for you. It would not have been expected if it was not you - at the top.

I have been patiently waiting for my turn to get reprieve from past few years. I have been trying to console myself with every budget that it will come next year and the next or the next.  I must tell you now that I'm about to give up on you. I have been seeing what's happening around me at my expense, with my tax money, for quiet some time now. Whereas, no benefit has come back to me.

All I ask is, how long you think I should wait. Mr. Prime Minister, I ask YOU. How long should I wait?  How much longer would I be the one to only spend and not earn. How long will my spending drive the economy while no money is left in my hands. How long will I, the bloody common middle class man, be expected to pay all his/her taxes and not get any benefits while still see the ones who call themselves Farmers, Downtrodden, Lower caste, Exploited etc take all the benefits and credit as well as leverage to do anything and get away with it. I have paid, in cash and kind, in peace and dignity, in privilege and ignorance for long. I must tell you now that its too much and too long. I know in 1.3 billion my voice and my decision will not affect you at all but my last decision Mr. Prime Minister will be to leave hope or the country or both. But before that I want to rely on my last hope. And my last Hope Mr. PRIME MINISTER- IS YOU AND YOU ALONE.
JAI HIND And Hail the Indian Middle Class.

The Unfortunate Genesis of a Rapist

Where do rapists come from? Everytime this brutal atrocity happens, many of us think that how do men become rapists. We talk about what should we do when a rape is committed. From capital punishment to hanging in public to castration and what not. But in all this, are we at all looking at the root causes while trying to create a deterrent? While creating a deterrent is equally important to stop this most inhuman crime but will that help, or is it helping so far. There have been capital punishments. The overall rate of conviction is pretty slow in our country. Something needs to be done for this for sure. Just having the laws or making them more stricter will not help unless we catch the culprits faster and put them to trial faster as well as get them to sentencing & implementation as soon as possible.

In this, I feel there should be liberties taken by the laws to not allow a few constitutional rights to the convicts. Here, I'm not saying we take away the right to a fair trial from the convicts but why do we need to give them the option of creating the drama that the lawyers in Nirbhaya case did. Why do they need to have the right to file multiple review petitions and then mercy petitions. Atleast one of these rights should be taken away from these rapists who have been convicted in all courts.

Besides this, there is another important aspect that we do not look at. How do men become rapists. Why do they think 1. that its ok for them to rape and 2. that they can get away with it. In my view, it all starts from the way we bring up our boys. Keep in mind, the world over, rapists have not been found to be from lower and less privileged parts of the society. Instead the point 2 of the above Why applies more to the privileged offenders.

The moment you tell your boys when they are small that a girl is weaker than him or that he, being a boy, is more privileged than the girl, you are sowing the seeds of a society where the men think of women as lesser beings. The way a man in the house treats the women of the house, mother, wife, sister, daughter has a direct relation with what the boys in the house will learn. This act of unknowingly creating a divide between the genders early on is a seed not given its due importance. The reason is because not every boy who sees this divide does grow up to be a rapist but what we need to see as parents is - that every man who rapes must have been bought up in an environment where women were considered as objects and not equals. Don't we agree?

So, in my view, the genesis of a rapist starts with the parents or the one bringing up the boys. If we have to do something about preventing rapes and not just punishing the ones who commit them, we need to address this early on as citizens, as parents and as soceity. The government, judiciary and law enforcement has a role to play ofcourse in creating a deterrent but we have our share as well. Now, you'll think which mother would knowingly create a monster who rapes women. Well, as I said, thats not done knowingly. But while committing supposedly small mistakes in treating girls different than boys or a simple statement to a boy like 'why do you cry like a girl?' is causing damage we don't realize. So, can we put the blame also on the parents of rapists? No, not the blame for sure. We can put the onus on all parents, however to ensure the following when they bring up kids:

1. Ensure an environment of true equality between genders. Don't just preach but practice it.
2. Don't become a shadow of your kids but do keep an idea about the company they are keeping to avoid any corrupting influence.
3. Talk to your kids, at the right age, about the physiological differences between the genders and initiate what we call Sex Education yourself. This supported by Schools efforts could ensure they don't take to wrong means to explore their own or the opposite genders' sexuality.

I might be sounding idealistic or impractical to some but I do strongly feel that this heinous act ought to be stopped at law enforcement, law making as well as parenting angles. By focussing on these aspects, we need to address and stop the genesis of a rapist.

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families and as well with every citizen who feels the agony of seeing what goes on in our country or this world.

I can end this with a small creation I wrote at the heart of the Nirbhaya movement in 2012 which, unfortunately, still gives the state of affairs.

Ayee hai tu is jungle me, tune kya zurrat ki
Bhediyo ke shor me kaun sunega tere dil ki,
Upar wale ne jo gulistan ijaad karne ki taaqat di tujhe,
Wohi taaqat teri ruswai ka sabab ban rahi yaha,
Is naimat ka wazan bhul gaye teri parchhai se nikle,
Tere dard ko samajhne ki aadat nahi kisiki yaha,
Sochna padega inteha hai kyunki ab,
Tere bina kaise duniya chalegi inki,
Aaj aye to aandhi toofan par kal kya,
Andheri galiyo me kya phir teri cheekh sunai na degi,
Jo boyega ye insaan beej dilo me, usi ka anjaam milega,
Aaj ye thaan lo ki kal ye zulm nahi hone denge hum,
Ab is farishtey ko aabru nahi khone denge hum.

Peace

Back to the Digital basics

I know its been ages since I posted. Can't even get away by apologizing now. I would, however, try my best to be regular in the midst of all the usual, mundane happenings which take away all my time. Now, back to our focus, on our friend...technology. Oh yes, I still believe technology is our friend!! 

A lot has changed in our surroundings since my last post. A General Election in our country, which was no less than a world cup of cricket or football, whichever sport you like. A new government, installed at the center, which shows a great resolve in using technology in all areas for the benefit of the country. What was most interesting to see was the increasing use of technology in the elections. Whether it was the way they were covered by the media or it was the way political parties, especially the winners, used technology to spread their wings.

With our new prime minister, who was batting for his current position during the elections used some sort of 3D holographic technology for addressing remote political sessions for the BJP workers. There were Social Media cells for all the National parties who were fighting the elections on social media. Data analytics was back again in compiling or analysing the results of the opinion or exit polls. Election analysis has been around for ages but calling it Data Analytics now feels good.

So, the elections were won and the elections were lost. The new government has been very optimistic about technology. This goes on to show their focus on everything online and a central government promoted Digital India program. What is it that we stand to gain from this? Good question...Aha..I'm sure it is.

The national digital program, for starters, aims to tackle the issue of access to the digital bandwagon. So, there is a plan to connect villages with national fibre optic backbone. Skeptics have their views about why wait for the fibre to reach them when you can get them connected by satellite connectivity now. There may be a point there but I do believe in the long term, a VSAT connection cannot replace a physical line access. Going back to the question, if villages are connected, a lot of governance can be enabled. This backbone can give a platform for a whole new world of information based services, to be used by a very large population of the country (read prospective customers). 

These services can range from best practices sharing platforms for farmers to online marketplace enabling a farmer to sell his/her product and buy seeds, manure or advice just like we buy our t-shirts online after comparing options that are available. This platform can also be a hunting ground for our entrepreneurs to look for ideas which work towards reducing, or better still, removing the digital divide. And, needless to say, while they are at it, they can make some {read as much as possible} money and aid the economy's growth.

While I do understand these are just ideas and need a lot of work before implementation. But then, it all starts from an idea. Isn't it?  This leaves us a very good topic for you guys n gals to come back on this blog with your feedback and suggestions. Please do drop in a word or two about the government's ambitious plan, how do.you think it can be improved. What additional avenues can it provide to various segments of our society. From a farmer to a cold storage guy, from a transportation company to a distributor of fertilizer. From a cloth weaver to a online fashion store company. And of course, many more. We will continue to talk more about the Digital India program in the coming weeks/months.

I'll sign off for now with these thoughts and will surely wait for your comments. In the meanwhile, remember that Technology is our friend!!

Cheers

N E O

Crime & Technology

Oh my god, I have been so far away from my blogging in the past months. Again,

apologies for breaking my promise of being a regular. Circumstances, that’s it! No excuses. Now that I'm back, let’s see what we can talk about this time. From the fact that I broke my promise, it sure feels like committing a crime sometimes. Why not talk about use of technology in Crime: Both proliferation and prevention?

I know its again an interesting but sensitive topic but then it is something which affects us all the time. Crime is something which can really alter the way you feel, your well being, your mental state. If you live in a place which is calm, relatively low in crime, you will most likely feel safe, free and secured. On the other hand, if you live in a place where Crime is a daily affair around you, you are not likely to be free, safe or secure.

Enough to ascertain the importance of the topic. Now, lets come back to our friend technology. Technology does play a role in Crime, no doubt about it. The point is whether the technology use in prevention is enough to overplay its role in enabling crime. Good question?? I know, the answer is not simple either, which is the case which all Good Questions, isn't it?

We see or hear things where technology is being used for Crime prevention. All the time you hear about CCTV surveilance, Centralized distress call management [Dial 100, 101 & 102 or 911 services], metal detectors, x ray scanning machines on airports are all examples of use of technology for crime prevention. It is another aspect on how successful they are in different environments.

Many of you who do online shopping in India must have thought about the reasons why you now have to remember and enter one additional one time password for all credit card transaction online. Its an added layer of security. If you credit card is stolen, it could be used online as the Card number, the expiry date & the CVV numbers are all present on the card itself. Thats all you needed to use it online earlier but now this one time password or 3D secure password thing has changed that. Although, a bit late but our financial watchdogs finally thought about it and implemented it.

Look at the darker side of tech use in crime and it will give you shivers for sure. All over the world, terrorist organizations have been using technology like Sat phones, internet for their communication needs. The open nature of the internet as its harms as well. If you go to google today and search for how to assemble a bomb, you'd probably get thousands of entries some of them will surely be useful for terrorists. If you wanna know the extent of this negative use, sometime back I heard that terrorists and extremists are using JPEG images to circulate secret information about their missions via encryption and encoding.

Now, this is another area where technology is struggling to find the balance. The difference is that unlike any other fields like medical and business, this is a domain where the positive use of technology should always be ahead of the negative use. The real deal is ofcourse unknown right now. Maybe in some parts of the world, we may have the Crime Prevention tech ahead of the other side but some parts are way below standards in effective use for prevention whereas the use in proliferation is high. All voer the world, crime prevention agencies are striving to be ahead in this race.

I again would like to leave you with a question. What according to you can we as citizens of developing nations do in order to ensure effective use of crime prevention technology or atleast to enable the agencies to do it? Think about it as its really an important aspects which lies in very trivial things. Hint: How many times have you denied being frisked at a mall entrance stating you are Some One from Some big agency/deptt etc? Got your minds rolling?? Keep thinking and Keep up with technology while I wait your answers.

Cheers

N E O

Finding Solutions with Technology

We kind of had different views as expected on the question whether Life Supports technology of vice versa. Ofcourse, I was expecting them as this is such a topic that not many people can deny the role of technology in supporting life and also at the same time, it is implied that this technology is also created by some intelligent & enterprising instances of the same life that its supporting. Believe me, it really does come to my mind sometimes that we overdo the application of technology in supporting life. In my view, helping people live a healthy life is one thing but making sure they breathe (even forcefully) while their body and vital organs are not functioning is another thing. But as there are many things (read emotions) involved here which do not toe the line of practicality, we still allow this forced support to life when it comes to our near and dear ones.

Let’s look at some other aspects where our technological innovations have helped us. Aah, taking the cue from the political environment around the world these days, we can surely talk about the role technology has played in the political uprisings in many countries. Our very own secondary abodes meaning the Social Networking websites are playing or have played a very vital role in aiding these developments. What happened in one of the African countries a few months ago where people got together to topple the government run someone who’s been doing it for 30 years, is a testimony of the importance of technology in such matters of International concern.

People used their Social sites status updates to gather support for the protests against the establishment. It gave them the easiest way to first vent out how they felt about it and then even go to the extent of inviting masses to join them in their crusade against the allegedly corrupt leadership. And we all know, how well it worked. Even today, we are seeing the results of this application reap tremendous benefits to people and groups very close to where we are.

Using technology to carry out anti establishment activities is one thing and going to the root causes of the anti – anything feeling and trying to apply technological innovation and scientific thinking processes to find solutions to those is another. I’m not averse to the former but believe that the latter might give better results even considering that it’s a much tedious thing to do. Really can’t find the links between my thoughts and my words…I thought so. Let me try and make it simpler. The most disturbing issue developing countries are facing is corruption which is also the root of current issues closer home.

Corruption, ofcourse, cannot be solved by anything technology can offer. But it can surely aid a conscious effort to eradicate or reduce corruption. While the systems developed to have a unique identification for citizens can help in tracking the financial transactions by each individual and entities, this entire framework can be helped by technology. Technological environment needed to allow such monitoring can be made free of glitches if there is a will to do that.

Now, in a system where giving or taking bribes to get work done is as normal as breathing, there can be a mechanism parallel to this system which counters the bribery aspect while eating the culture from outside. What I mean is that if you have to get your passport renewed and the validating authority from your local police station etc asks for a bribe explicitly. You give the bribe and at the same time log an incident into this parallel mechanism with proof. Let the investigation for this incident be then aided by various technological means. But mind you, its not a one sided sword, if there is something where you offer the bribe to a public servant in order to get out of a mess you’ve created or to get things done for you without following the process, then the public servant can also log an incident against you while still accepting the bribe from you.

All this ofcourse is not which can work alone. There’s going to be a need to review the entire framework of processes, way of working in different segments of the workforce. For instance, some process might just be in place so that people can extort bribes from public in order to get around them. These processes should be thrown out for sure. I would even go to the extent of looking at some sections where you can legalize a bribe (better call it commission or something else) so that some additional benefits can get to the individuals and then since it’s a legal income, it will go into the records and govt gets taxes on this amount too. Not so easy though but I guess we can give it a thought.

While I’m not saying every bribe could be legalized as there will be rare examples where additional compensation to anyone would deemed justified. I leave you all with these thoughts and asking you again to rattle your mind guns and send feedback my way. Tell me what you think might be the use of technology while we implement something closer to what I mentioned above. Till that time, Happy Reading and Keep Up with Technology!

Cheers

N E O

Life Vs Technology: Who is Supporting?

How is the technology space behaving in these times? Ofcourse the technological breakthroughs keep coming every day. Even as I write some one must be having his/her eureka moment right now. But then, how many of those breakthroughs are worth it. My gauge to see their worth is not how cool they might sound or how well I can impress others if I have access to those technologies. It starts from the basic utility of the technology developed and maybe ends at how viable is it to produce and make it reach the masses (ofcourse at a one up affordable price). I do not say affordable as that wouldn’t be practical. Come on, how many new technologies do you see having a price tag which doesn’t pinch your pockets?

Anyways, what I gathered from the last post’s feedback was that all of you are aware of many such technologies which are used for the benefit of mankind and some others which aren’t. Then there were moral arguments about many technologies used in healthcare domain – whether they should be used or not. The example is, the Life Support System or commonly called the Ventilator. I’m sure almost everyone must have heard about it and it sure does keep a person alive medically even though the most vital organs might have stopped functioning. Majority of arguments about this technology or its use comes as it is being abused by the healthcare industry to get more money out of the patients’ kin. Many argue that keeping a patient alive with this system is not a solution when the person’s body is not in a situation to bounce back to normalcy.

It is also worth noting that the use of this technology may turn out to be a ray of hope or in some cases a life saver. Many people who would oppose the use of this technology might have gone through this phase for their near or dear ones and at that time vouched for using this as well. Forgive me for saying but not many would have the resolve to be practical and not at all emotional at such times and ask the medicos to remove the Life Support and let the patient die his/her own death. Again, that’s all I wanted to say about this as it is a topic which does not involve only technology. I always believe that technology is good but People are better as they have many such technologies inside them which cannot be emulated by any tech gadget in today’s world.

Let’s look at other possible positive applications of technology in medical sciences. I’m going to touch a turf which is very ambitious. So, fasten your seat belts and keep your mind open till the end. Imagine a world where you could order a new liver from the nearby hospital when your existing one is not working properly. How is that possible? Well, it isn’t something directly from a Sci Fi flick but using today’s technology, medical scientists have been able to regenerate a brand new liver in lab. I will talk about this technology in a bit but before that think about a scenario when this can be applied to every vital organ of human body from the liver to the kidneys and the heart or for that matter their auxiliary parts (like the valves for the heart etc). Amazing it would be isn’t it?

This could be an extension of today’s technology called Stem Cell Therapy. In a simple language, stem cells are the simplest form of cells in our body which can be nowadays extracted from various means and stored in cryogenic (very low temperature) facilities. These stem cells have the inherent nature of repairing cells. They are being used to repair various parts of human body by injecting them to the affected area. Ofcourse, the treatment and preservation is costly today but that can be worked out later if its use increases.

Let’s think about adding to this tech a bit. What if we were able to merge the 2 fields of microprocessor controlled devices with the stem cell technology using biotechnology. As a result of this, we could control the behavior of the injected stem cells via microcontrollers and direct them to do (repair/rebuild) exactly as we want them to. I’m sure you are asking how would we control stem cells via microcontrollers. By embedding or amalgamating these microcontrollers within the stem cells. Ofcourse, then these would be called nanocontrollers and it might sound a coincidence to you all that nanotechnology is also an existing field of study and application today.

Sounds exciting, foolish or far fetched ??? Exciting it is for me but not impossible. History is witness that imagination has always been at the root of affairs while any big discoveries or inventions were happening. Take it from a classic tale by Isaac Asimov called The Fantastic Voyage where a team of doctors and engineers are made to board a submarine which is shrunk to a size such that it can be injected into the body of a patient who has a clot in his brain. Watch a movie made on this with the same name and you’ll see how wild any imagination can be. There might be regulations, laws needed to govern the access to these technologies for sure but imagine not losing your near and dear ones to these organ failures. There’s also going to be argument whether this is not intervening with the natural process of a life or in simple words – the GOD’s will. No comments on that for now J

I urge you to think about these things in the next few days and put in your thoughts to word on the comments section of this post. I will leave you with a question whether Life supports Technology or does Technology supports Life. Till we meet again, Happy reading and Keep Up With Technology!

Cheers,

N E O

Good Tech Bad Tech - No Clouds

Well, I see that the cute cloud is no more in demand. Ofcourse, it’s my fault as I gave in too much too soon on the cloud. So, let’s rest the clouds for now and move ahead with a promise to revisit them soon. We can talk about technological applications in various fields of daily life. Not that I want to become an advocate of anything technology brings about but its just that every tech has its core field of application and sometimes if we get carried away and start applying it into other areas, it may not turn out to be good. A classic example was shown in a Hollywood flick called Small Soldiers. The war between the Gorgonites and the Commando Elite takes an ugly turn when the toy company starts using Defense developed technology in toys.

That was Hollywood! Imagine if something like this happens in real life. It will be fun to see toys talking to each other though but then it can take an ugly turn anytime. So, where do we draw the line for technology? I personally am not a conformist to the new age education technologies. I see schools advertising that they now smart classrooms where digital aids are being used to teach children. I admit this would have a different impact on the kids while they see and touch things while learning about them. Graphical representation is always more effective. But the flipside is, we have this tendency of giving in to technology when it comes to assist us in our daily lives.

What does that mean?????? Is that the question? What I mean is that the moment a school teacher gets his/her hands on to technology, they would forget about the things he/she still needs to do as tech cannot replace the human element. A technology cannot teach any child how to respect each other or elders. It needs the warmth of a human guide to carry these things into the basic fabric of a child's psyche. Can you expect a digital interactive screen being able show the importance of love and compassion to kids? Naah, I can’t see that happening. One example of a humane aspect where we should leave out the tech and do stuff the old fashioned way.

So, again it all depends on how we use technology that comes our way. We visited our epics in the last post where Arjuna might have used some tech of their time to augment the capabilities of his weapons. Also, as one of the readers of this post added that Sanjay narrating the entire war episode to Dhritarashtra while not being present at the warfront - Sounds like Cisco Telepresence. Isn’t it? Looking at those things of past and what technology is bringing us now, it sure looks like there was a huge knowledge and tech in those times which was lost and now we are reinventing all of that. Maybe it would be a good idea to read the documentation of those old times. Isn’t it? Ofcourse all the techies dread reading the documents and insist of starting from scratch.

Now, this discussion is not exciting enough until I ask you all to pour in your views on the above ideas. So, I would like you to tell me via your comments that what is that one technology you have seen which is being used in the correct place and one which is being used in a not too appropriate place. Free Your Mind of the clutter and think whether all the tech you use today is doing you any good or does it belong to the place for where it was initiated in the first place.

Meanwhile, I will gather more stuff for you and let’s attach our views together to get to some conclusion, maybe. Till that time, share your feedback and as always Keep Up With Technology!

Cheers

N E O