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Showing posts from 2011

To see Buddha smile at Odisha!!

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Assumptions and misconceptions run huge when we ignore facts or are ignorant about them. The same stands true especially when mumbaikars are treated as north indians, assameese called as nepalis and south indians given the nomenclature of madrasis. State citizens have a tendency to create countries within their states to show their dominions over them, in fact forgetting the Shakespearean quote ' all the world is a stage and all the men and women are mere actors' .. the functionality of statehood was aimed at uniting people, communities and beliefs. Unfortunately, we create fiefdoms within ourselves, to form a bigger state entity called 'individuality'.   Raj Thakareys and the MNS, Tamil Elams and regional groups is gaining momentum in this 21st century   where West Asia is fast becoming democratic and grouping itself to form a state entity. I am awed at the challenges which our Iron Man, Vallabhai Patel was faced, with dignity and grace. Recalling one

The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010

Introduction The passing of Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010 also forms part of the ‘To Do’ List for Indian Parliament this winter. Unfortunately, the bill seems to have evoked minimal discussion within the legal community and civil society, may be because it is clubbed with titans like the Lokpal Bill. No one has a case against the relevance of this bill which requires judges to declare their assets, lays down judicial standards, and establishes processes for removal of judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts. This bill which has been pending for a while was also in the limelight in recent times, especially during instances of allegations of misconduct against judges, both sitting and retired. Appointment of Higher Judiciary - Present System of Collegium The Supreme Court of India in the case of Supreme Court Advocates –on Record Association v. Union of India (AIR 1994 SC 268), also known as Second Judges Case, introduced the collegium system of judicial

Curbing Vandalism

As the proactive role of courts are being seriously debated and many argue for drawing boundaries for the seemingly undefined ‘judicial activism’, the recent decision of Kerala High Court ( Hemant Kumar’s Case,2011 ) imposing preconditions for grant of bail, in cases involving destruction of public property, deserves attention. The judgment states that accused in cases involving destruction of public property should deposit the value of the property destroyed as security to be eligible for bail. Call it ‘judicial activism’ or a case of ‘judicial innovation’, recent media reports suggest that the judgment has started making repercussions, as major political parties in the state have instructed their cadres to be cautious on the streets. The judgment has also initiated a public debate, as the Kerala Government is trying to prepare a detailed valuation of public property destroyed in past few years and also intending to set up fast track courts to specifically deal with such cases.

Negative News

Negating Negative news By Madhu.S “The question of negative news arises out of negation of moral principles” Negative news have two dimensions, one in which is portrays a matter in a negative manner (context specific) and other which gives a negative view of a matter (content specific). For example, the death of a person can be given a negative outlook by incorporating ‘suspicious circumstances of the cause of death’ equal to that of a murder. This is the context specific negativity. Content specific negativity arises in case where news is shown to believe on the bad reputation of a country or a person. This type of negative news is used usually to cause discomfort or throw bad light on a person or a country, something which the western media usually does while portraying Afghanistan or like countries. Interestingly the scope of negative news is immense, as there exists a class of people who take interest of such news and another set who uses it as an opportunity. The co

FDI in retail debate - Part 1

By D. Dhanuraj FDI in retail sector has been a pending decision from the Government. That too at a time everyone ditches at the Governance for the lack of direction and the reform drive. Corruption, scam, tainted image of the Government.. all are adding pressure to the Government. It is argued that any such reform like FDI in Retail can push the Government forward and shed the image of stagnation in Governance. In India, organised retail sector is not going to be a threat to kirana shops in the immediate future as India is diverse and the Purchasing power of each family and individual vary a lot. The organised retail is a long way to get accomplished as we lack the supply chain management, ware housing, processing, refrigeration etc. They say  more than 33 million are going to lose their livelihoods as a result of this policy. I wonder how it going to be as it is not Tsunami to strike the small merchants over night. there is a trade off always in any sort of changes happening in th

Free speech and defamation

by D.Dhanuraj Three events or incidents caught my attention in the recent past. Though they are three different contexts, I tend to look through the angle of freedom of expression and personal choice. Hon.Kerala High Court punished comrade Jayarajan for calling the judges 'Shumbhan'. Later, he was given bail by Hon. Supreme Court. Not getting into the legality of the issues here, I started myself asking this question; 'Who is Mr Jayarajan?'. He is not a minister or not an MLA while he had these remarks on Judges. He is a state committee member to CPI(M). then the next question splashes across my mind; why should people listen to him? in fact, it has been the volume of the followers to his speech that got him into trouble. But there is no twitter or face book fan following pages reflecting the popularity and damage he has caused to the system by such remarks. then who is culpable? all the visual channels and print media had given adequate coverage for the reported sp

Santhosh Pandit and Hippocratic Malayali

By D. Dhanuraj I am surprised by the way media, public and critics approached Santhosh Pandit's 'Krishananum Radheyum'. Many say, it is not a film but a musical album whereas some others say that it is comedy show. whatever it is, as per the Censor Board certification, it is a movie with a 'U' certificate. media reports that theaters are packed for this movie and has already generated surplus revenue for the director. now comes the question many ask these days; Is this movie making a history in Malayalam film industry?? I don't consider nor make any comment as it is the audience and applause that one craft gets in its wider platform that make an art live for ages. in this case, let it be decided by the society and art connoisseurs. But I don't understand why everyone is passing teasing comments on Santhosh Pandit. The debate how good the film is that what  i appreciate but he cannot be called as criminal by anyone for such an enterprise. In Malayalam the

Indian Oil Corporation and petroleum price hike

By D.Dhanuraj Some times it is very difficult to understand the rationale and logic of these numbers and demand Oil marketing Petroleum comapnies raise. Sometimes it is confusing also. According to www.moneycontrol.com reports, IOC had decalared   an equity dividend of 95.00% amounting to Rs 9.5 per share  for the year 2010 - 2011. According to the annual report of IOC which is available on their website , the profit after tax for the year 2010-2011 is Rs 7445 crores. in Chairman's report, though he discusses about the gap between international price and the domestic price, he does not delve into the details of how much it costs to the company for every liter of Petrol sold.  Moreover, IOC is a Maharatna company. the definition and status of Maharatna company might be different but it actually helps the share holders to understand the value of the company. Here, a Maharatna company which has a profit of Rs 7445 crores demands for the price hike telling the world that they are o

Gender Perspective on Urban Development and Planning

The Indian constitution guarantees equal rights to women. In addition, India is a signatory to the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination against Women ( CEDAW ) thus underlining its commitment to the elimination of Discrimination against women. But it cannot be denied that gender inequality exists and in varying forms. In the urban space, women constitute a diverse group but with specific gender interests which are because of some common sets of roles and responsibilities. Cities in general have more number of women headed households, single women living by themselves, working women with travel needs, etc. In addition, urban life poses greater risks with regard to safety and security of women. According to a women’s safety audit study undertaken by UNHABITAT in 2007, feelings of insecurity and fear of crime and violence are highest in large cities.   The report says that though urban design and planning do not generate violence but they do create and environment that offers g

Office of profit- what is it?

by D.Dhanuraj I never understood the office of profit argument. In recent times, this has been a controversial definition for political hara-kiri. Now, it has taken an alarming proposition that can cause for midterm assembly elections in Kerala. The debate is on ‘whether the chief whip of the ruling front (UDF in this case) enjoys the office of profit or not?’ I am not a legal expert to cite the various judgements and provisions in the law to prove or disprove the argument. Yet as a researcher, it looks so funny to me when the very idea of office of profit and these positions (Chief whip in this case)are interchanged for political vexation .   What do we mean by a political office? From President to local ward member can be included in that long list. What is their duty? In Indian context, to perform and drive for the societal needs and meet the social challenges in truly democratic way. What is the role of Government and who are all responsible for the Government? From PM or CM as

Hartals and Petroleum price hike

by D Dhanuraj Another Hartal day passed in Kerala. It is a ritual all Malayalees are used to for ages. Not many will ask you about what happened post Hartal? did they have any impact on the cause? I dont think anyone did a study on these and made a report on cost benefit analysis of hartals. Sometimes, i wonder hartals add more business to the state economy as beverage corporation outlets have Onam business on the previous day of hartal and of course many tour operators are benefiting from hartals.  Keeping jokes apart, I want to discuss the philosophy of hartals called by left parties to protest the oil price hike. Though I am in favor of declaring the oil price according to the international price market, I do believe that the system is not transparent one. It is still controlled by the party in ruling. When they postpone the price hike due to impending assembly elections, the scheme of things are very clear. There was no explanation for not slashing the price when there was a fal

Random Thoughts on Universities in Kerala

by D. Dhanuraj Whenever I travel outside Kerala, I have noticed that others look at Malayalees with lot of admiration for the simple reason that Kerala ranks very high in literacy rate. When i meet my friends there, I complain about the lack of quality of education in Kerala. Then, they are again astonished; how come it is possible for a high literacy rate. I do have to go for hours to share the experience and explain the reasons. Yesterday, I met a friend of mine and we were discussing the quality of university education in India. It is considered that quality of higher education in Kerala is very poor. Reasons are many that include the lack of professional management of universities as they are politically managed than professionally. Political bosses believe that universities are to centres for politicking. Syllabus is obsolete or woven with intricate political ideologies most of the times. Teachers unions dictate the daily functioning where as syndicate is stuffed with the repre

'Jobs to Be Done' Marketing Model

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Marketing is one of the most important functions of a business in order to remain competitive and profitable. A sound marketing strategy determines the sales graph even more than the quality of the product. The traditional marketing model is characterised largely by the practice of market segmentation. This implies to dividing the market into product categories, which can be a function of price or else dividing the customer base into target demographics based on age, gender, education, income level, etc. Despite many of these sophisticated marketing techniques, it can be seen that most of the products launched are not successful at least to the degree intended. Prof Clay Christensen from the Harvard Business School suggests an alternative or rather an effective marketing model that can help make products that people really need and hence will see an increase in the sales chart. It is called the Jobs to be one marketing model . According to this concept, consumers do not by a produ

Criminals and brutality in India

Nearly 7,500 people have died in official custody in India over the past five years, according to a report by a human rights group. This report by Delhi-based Asian Centre for Human Rights says many of these people were tortured in custody. But the government routinely attributes deaths in custody to illness, attempted escape, suicide and accidents. Suhas Chakma, director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights, says prosecuting responsible officials takes a long time in India, and leads to a culture of impunity. “It takes about 25-30 years to prosecute somebody. And by that time many of the accused are dead, or possibly the relatives that have filed a complaint are dead," he said, adding, "So there is a culture of impunity which is given by the government of India, and I think this is the single most important factor which is encouraging torture." Interesting notes and facts: In India, the attitude towards criminals remains the same as it was during the British rule