9 girls out of top ten toppers - O-Balle-Balle ji...

9 out of the top 10 in the Punjab High School Board results just declared are girls.
O-Balle-Balle ji...

'This is outside your mandate Mr. Comptroller & Auditor General, Sir!' by K.J.S.Chatrath

‘Army’s ammo won’t last 10 days if there’s war: CAG’ (http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/army-s-ammo-won-t-last-10-days-if-there-s-war-cag/78596.html.

If true, then this is of course a very worrying matter. As per our structure, this needs to be looked into by the Chief of Army Staff, the Defence Ministry, the Defence Minister, Cabinet Sub-Commiittee on Defence, if there is one, Parliamentary Consultative Commiittee of Defence Ministry, the Union Cabinet, the Parliament and by the Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces- the President of India.

By trying to take on a role which is far removed from accounting and auditing, the Comptrolleer and Auditor General is only embarrassing all.

Ma tujhe salaam... ....

Ma tujhe salaam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDn2bn7_YSM

"Comptroller & Auditor General is not a technical expert/body" by K.J.S.Chatrath

“Criiticising the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said the under-development plane has ‘shortfalls’ with limited ‘operational capabilities’ and is ‘overweight’ with issues of its survivability....”. http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/cag-tejas-has-limited-operational-capability/78177.html

Incidentally a 'comptroller' is a management level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization and an 'auditor' is a person appointed and authorized to examine accounts and accounting records, compare the charges with the vouchers, verify balance sheet and income items, and state the results.

The current incumbent of the post of CAG may have had invaluable experience of working as Secretary Defence & Secretary Defence Production, but one feels that it would not be correct to assume that the mandate of the of the CAG is to do a technical evaluation of aircrafts. One would suggest, with utmost respect to this Consitutional Authority to let a committee of technical experts be appointed to look into the technical aspects if considered necessary by the Government or the Parliment and CAG limit his advice to his core responsibilities-accounting and auditing matters.

'Indian management gurus and some smarty jargon' by K.J.S.Chatrath

Recently I read an article in The Economist* Schumpeter/Twilight of the Gurus. It begins by explaining in quite simple and pointed terms that the past two decades have been driven by two major economic changes- the rise of the developing world and the digital revolution.

I smiled in approval on going through the portion which makes a complimentary reference to ‘the ascent of a remarkable group of Indian management theorists, most notably C.K. Prahalad (who died in 2010). They focused on subjects such as the buying power of the developing country consumers, the virtues of frugal products and the difficulties of doing business in places with poor infrastructure and weak institutions.” And as if this was not enough to gladden my heart, the article goes on to say that ‘the list of business schools with Indian–born deans, includes those of Harvard, Cornell and Chicago universities.’

The article ends by raising an interesting point- there are still no Chinese management gurus to challenge the leadership of the ageing Indian establishment. It did leave me a trifle confused- China is doing better than India in the economic sphere but the Indian management gurus are better than their Chinese counterparts. ....

By the way, this one page article also provided me with a stomach full of smarty jargon, of the type that reminds one of the IMF-World Bank experts. Here are a few gems: 'The end of competitive advantage’, ‘hyper competition’, ‘the attackers advantage’, ‘disruptive innovation’ and ‘thought leadership’.

'Breakthrough in storage and portability of solar power' by K.J.S.Chatrath

Storage and portability have been the two major problems in harnessing the abundant solar energy.

I am absolutely thrilled at the prospect of these having been sorted out, as claimed by 'Tesla'.

Just imagine the implications for a country like India with clear sunshine days almost throughout the year.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Tesla-unveils-battery-to-store-solar-energy/articleshow/47127917.cms

'The ideas of Mr. Kailash Satyarthi on child labour' by K.J.S.Chatrath

I had never heard of Mr. Kailash Satyarthi till the news of him having been awarded the Nobel Prize came. Then I tried to find out what wonderful work this extraordinary man had done to deserve this honour. I am still trying....

The editorial page of today’s Times of India, now grandly renamed as ‘The Times of Ideas’, carries an article ‘No Half Measures Please’ by Mr. Satyarthi on child labour. For those who have not read this article, I reproduce below some of the ideas of Mr. Satyarthi in this aricle:

“There exists a vicious circle between poverty, illiteracy and child labour. Child labour and poverty have a chicken-and-egg relationship….
This slippery slope continues unabated till one such child is imparted education. It is a well-researched, but often ignored fact that child labour perpetuates poverty…

The government must take effective measures to give all children an education that enhances their employability, entrepreneurship and ethics….

We as a country must invest in imparting skill-based education to our youth. This will go a long way in ensuring that the vision…to harness the demographic dividend of India is fully realised.”

On first reading these appeared to me to be just hackneyed, worn out clichés. But may be these carry some strong serious meaning which I am unable to decipher.