Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College of AMU organized 48th College Day

 The Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University organized the 48th College Day. A farewell was also given to the final students of 2006 batch that was followed by a dinner hosted by the teachers as a part of the JNMC tradition.

Delivering the welcome address on this occasion, Principal and CMS, JN Medical College, Prof. Ashraf Malik stressed on continuing the traditions of the University. He also exhorted the students to show sympathy to the patients they treat and also show respect to their teachers.

Prof. S. Abrar Hasan, Dean, Faculty of Medicine highlighted the importance of teachers in a student life and advised them to focus on character building.
Adding to the fervor, senior teachers like Prof. L. M. Bariar, Prof. Humayun Ashraf and Prof. Tabassum Shahab presented songs while Dr. Monica Chaudhary and Dr. Sehal Khan of 2006 batch, presented their views on their stay in the JNMC. Dr. Tamkeen Rabbani, Reader, Department of Gynaechology proposed vote of thanks while Dr. Saira Mehnaz conducted the programme.

Prof. V.K. Abdul Jaleel, Registrar, Prof. Pervez Mustajab, Controller, Ms. Yasmeen Jalal Beg, Finance Officer and senior retired teachers also graced the programme. A souvenir was also presented to the students on this occasion. Earlier, the programme commenced with the recitation from Holy Quran by Dr. Nasruddin, Department of Pharmacology.

The little known facts of the CWG Opening Ceremony

About 1,200 moving lights, 25 stacks of speakers and about 2,700 shots of fireworks spread across the roof of the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium combined with a stage weighing 500 tonnes to create a spectacular opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games here today. The gigantic main stage, inspired by the ''mandala'', a sanskrit word for the geometric designs symbolic of the universe in Hinduism and Buddhism, which is one of the largest built for an opening and closing ceremony.

The stage was built within seven days by about 500 workers. Weighing an approximately 500 tonnes.

The stage is large enough to hold 500 people under it. The opening ceremony would have never been that spectacular had it not been for the lighting arrangements.

1,200 moving lights, 120 space cannons and 16 follow spots weighing approximately 75 tonnes was what it took to enchant the about 60,000 spectators. The 25 stacks of speakers produced 500,000 Watts of sound.

If one was impressed by the fireworks, it was because of the 2,700 shots spread over 88 locations on the roof of the stadium. The crowd had erupted in joy as the firecrackers went up in air heralding the beginning of the Games.

The entire system was supported by over 50 km of power cables that were used to provide constant power for the opening ceremony.

Raring to grow

With two-thirds of the population under 35, the world's largest democracy can afford to dream. The average Indian is expected to be only 29 years old in 2020, as against 37 in China and the United States, 45 in western Europe and 48 in Japan. The dreams are taking concrete shape; it's what the world calls a demographic dividend.

In India, it translates into a growing number of literate youngsters, which is both a challenge and an opportunity. India has 459 million youngsters who were born after 1975, the year India Today came into being, and just before 1997. These youngsters, from those who have just entered their teens to those about to pass into middle agedom, constitute the people who can and do lead the nation, in business, in arts, in politics and in society. Of these, 333 million are literate, which is 73 per cent of the total youth population. This population of literate youth has grown at 2.49 per cent between 2001 and 2009 which is good news for those who read, according to the National Youth Readership Survey (NYRS-2009) by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). Television has not made a dent on newspapers as a source of information; being seen by 54 per cent as a source for entertainment and 22 per cent for news and current affairs; about 63 per cent of the youth read newspapers to gather news and information on current events; only 10 per cent read for entertainment. The Internet-accessed by only 3.7 per cent of the youth-is more of Entertainment Central than an information one-stop shop. It is used for entertainment 14 per cent of the time, for reading books 4 per cent of the time, and for searching for new book titles for 1.2 per cent of the time. It is accessed at Internet cafes in 46 per cent of the cases, at home in 23 per cent of the cases and at the workplace in 13 per cent of the cases.

The interests of India's emerging leaders throw up a surprise. While 35 per cent care about science and technology, 34 per cent are concerned about environmental pollution. More expectedly, 77 per cent are interested in music and films, 72 per cent in news and current affairs, and 59 per cent in religion. "With 67 per cent of the literate youth agreeing to reservations for women in Parliament and local government, there is clearly a slow shift in attitudes in the next generation. The fact that so many were from villages and yet voiced opinions of this kind is very promising," says sociologist Dipankar Gupta.

This diversity is evident in the following pages where 35 achievers under 35 are profiled. From Mumbai's school dropout Ajjay Agarwal who began the fast-growing Maxx Mobiles as a Rs 5-lakh start-up to Krishna Mohan Reddy from Berhampur, Orissa, a self-taught dancer who started a group of mostly labourers to win the Colors reality show, India's Got Talent; from the talented, mint fresh National Award winning music composer Amit Trivedi to wrestling champion Sushil Kumar, they have shown determination, innovation and gumption to build their careers.

Many of their narratives echo what the survey shows, that there has been a general tendency on the part of the literate youth to move from rural to urban areas. Rural mobility for long has been confined to the working class but with the increase in demand for skills which require higher education, rural youth are no longer averse to moving out. This is apparent from 82 per cent of the literate youth in the villages being "matriculates or below" and only 6 per cent being graduates, driving them to look beyond the rural limits for their careers. The survey also shows that the average age of Indian youth completing their highest education level is around 15. Data shows that 76 per cent of the literate youth have not gone to college.

And more worryingly, the growth in the number of literate youngsters was more rapid in urban India at 3.15 per cent per annum than in rural at 2.11 per cent, which means that access to education inside India is still low. A clear rural-urban divide is also discernible, in that the proportion of youth with higher education attainments is relatively greater in towns than villages, and gender differences are stark. "The quality of the human resource is of paramount importance," points out Rajesh Shukla, senior fellow, NCAER, and author of the NYRS. The demographic dividend can become a liability unless the growth is made inclusive, notes Isher Judge Ahluwalia, chairperson, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations. "The current GDP growth rate cannot be termed sustainable as a large chunk of society is not able to reap the benefits," she adds. This can become both an economic and social problem. Economic, because an additional 110 million youngsters are to be added to the workforce by 2020. They will need jobs, good jobs. And social, because of the diverse composition of this force-for instance, 40 per cent of the literate youth are OBCs, 62 per cent live in rural areas, and the biggest chunk, 23 per cent, is from south India.

But then the stories of struggle and of success in the following pages seem to suggest that what India's youth dividend imagines, it also implements.

Monsanto Takes Over Agriculture Of Semi-Arid Rajasthan

There is trouble ahead for the semi-arid regions of Rajasthan. What is presently classified as semi-arid region will soon turn arid, and barren. In a region where water is a scarce commodity, water guzzling hybrids will now be promoted with impunity. Rajasthan has in fact invited the multi-national seed giant Monsanto to sow the seeds of destruction. Monsanto has been handed-over the reigns of Rajasthan's agriculture, and in other words its food security.

Rajasthan becomes India's first Monsantoland.

Monsanto has signed an agreement with the Rajasthan Government to engage in public-private partnership to develop and market hybrid seeds of maize, cotton and vegetables like hot pepper, tomato, cabbage, cucumber, cauliflower and water melon. The MoU has been signed on behalf of the State Government with Department of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture, Swami Keshavanand Rajasthan Agriculture University, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, and Rajasthan University of Venterinary and Animal Sciences.

The MoU was signed in July 2010, and a copy of the confidential agreement was obtained using the Right to Information.

With Monsanto virtually taking over seed production and distribution, and at the same time being allowed to use the resarch and extension services of the State and the universities along with the Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) for disseminating the farm technologies, I wonder what role and task is left for the agricultural universities. If the universities have to be simply subservient to Monsanto, and be the executing agencies, isn't it time to close down these universities and save the tax-payers money? Why should the tax-payers bear the cost of providing supporting services which basically adds to the commercial gains of the private seed giant?

While the objectives include contributing to the agricultural economy through enhanced yields, encouraging cultivation of crops beneficial to farmers, the Rajasthan government has promised to bring in policies and programmes to make this possible by encouraging seed multiplication and distribution. Besides seed production and processing, Monsanto will engage in developing its proprietary germplasm in collaboration with the universities for which it will charge prescribed fee. Both the partners -- Monsanto and Rajasthan government -- will undertake feasibility studies and assessment to ensure that the hybrid seeds enter the seed value chain.

Interestingly, Monsanto will identify which hybrid seeds are to be cultivated, and will also evaluate cross-licencing agreement with the agricultural universities and the departments. To take cotton production to the next level, Monsanto has agreed to bring in mechanical harvesting equipment which will be made available to the universities at no additional cost. Students will also be provided with internships. The MoU provides a detailed list of activities to be conducted, which for all practical purposes means the virtual take-over of Rajasthan's agricultural research, education and extension infrastructure and services. Except that the State will pay for the staff salaries as well as maintenance cost for the infrastructure, universities and the two departments of agriculture and horticulture have been made redundant.

Hybrids are water guzzling crops. They consume roughly 1.5 times more water than the high-yielding varieties. At the same time, hybrids require increased application of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. At a time when across globe and also within India questions are being raised about sustainability of agriculture, I fail to understand the logic of large-scale introduction of hybrids of maize, cotton and vegetables. What is the use of launching extending the Green Revolution to the northeast parts of the country when the northwestern belt is being virtually turned unfit for food cultivation.

Common sense tells us that you need to cultivate crops that require less water in arid regions. I wonder where has common sense disappeared when it comes to developing suitable and appropriate agriculture technologies. How can anyone justify growing hybrid crops in water deficit regions? Why is the Rajasthan Government so determined to destroy Rajasthan's semi-arid agriculture for all times to come? 

CWG will result in economic impact of $4,940 mn

Commonwealth Games 2010 is expected to result in an overall economic impact of USD 4,940 million on India's GDP during a period of four years ending 2012 and create an employment opportunity close to 24.7 lakh.

According to a Games Organising Committee document, this figure is almost three times the economic impact the 2006 Melbourne Games had on Australian GDP.

"It is estimated that the Commonwealth Games 2010 would result in an overall economic impact of approximately USD 4,940 million on India over the period of 2008-12," the document said.

It said the 2002 Manchester Games created an impact of nearly USD 3,400 million in Britain's, while the Melbourne Games created an impact of USD 1,600 million on Australia's GDP.

The OC estimates said the Delhi Games are also expected to create an "enormous employment opportunity" of close to 24.7 lakh jobs.

Oil Analyst Tells Forbes: Peak Oil By 2017

Respected oil analyst Charles Maxwell has told Forbes – and with it the North American business establishment – to brace itself for peak oil by “2017 or 2018.”

Maxwell is rapidly becoming the new Matthew Simmons, an establishment peak oil whistleblower. Simmons, present when the term peak oil was coined, went on to obtain a degree of mainstream respect for the concept, based on the pioneering work of M King Hubbert. In the Forbes interview, Maxwell suggests “around 2015, we will hit a near-plateau of production around the world,” with peak oil experienced within two to three years of this.

Much of the reaction to this isn’t over what was said – Maxwell has voiced similar peak oil warnings previously – so much as where it was said. Forbes is not noted as a friend of the peak oil hypothesis, which states geological restrictions mean there will be a time of maximum oil output and that, despite investment and innovation, production will subsequently diminish. Unconventional oil supplies such as Canadian oilsands will not be able to prevent this, despite the hype. Canada’s Prime Minister may claim“Alberta's tar sands are second only to Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil reserve,” but these are “energy- and capital- and time-intensive” and have lousy flow rates – output cannot be scaled up to meet the ravenous global demand for oil.

An item in Oil Price, with the clear headline Respected Oil Analyst Forecasts Peak Oil by 2017, notes with surprise that:

Respected oil analyst and oil industry veteran Charles Maxwell (nicknamed the ‘Dean of Oil Analysts’) has forecast peak oil by 2017or 2018:

His prediction is not so remarkable, as is where he made his prediction. The prediction was in Forbes, which has often scoffed at the notion of a near-term peak.

But a number of disparate commentators, working independently, are predicting a tightening in oil supplies perhaps as early as 2011. Reports published this year by a UK business consortium, the US military, insurers Lloyds, Kuwait University engineers, the German military and an Australian think tank collectively point to a coming supply crunch between 2012 and 2015. Together, they refer to a list of issues including oil industry underinvestment, declining new discoveries and aging oilfields - at a time of surging global demand.

According to the International Energy Agency’s Sept. 10 Oil Market Report, global demand is predicted to reach 86.6 million barrels per day in 2010, and then 87.9 million barrels per day in 2011 – passing the all-time high of 86.9 million barrels per day established in 2008 before the global economic downturn. Soaring demand is being pushed by China, the world’s fastest growing major economy and its largest energy consumer, and India, the world’s second-fastest growing economy.

The IEA’s chief economist Fatih Birol who, as I’ve mentioned previously, has been repeating the phrase the era of cheap oil is over at any chance he gets, was recently quoted talking about non-Opec oil “reaching a peak” and saying that “strong real demand growth and lack of investment in production [suggests that] in 2013, 2014 we may well see higher prices than we have seen in the recent past.”

And UK Energy Secretary Chris Huhne earlier this month spoke of a possible doubling in the price of oil, and a subsequent oil shock.

It’s hard to escape the impact of the repetition of the same few projected dates for the onset of peak oil by independent commentators. Which adds credence to the comments of Charles Maxwell, Weeden & Co.’s senior energy analyst - he's clearly not going out on a limb, after all. The Forbes interview, Bracing For Peak Oil Production by Decade's End, quotes him saying:

A bind is clearly coming. We think that the peak in production will actually occur in the period 2015 to 2020. And if I had to pick a particular year, I might use 2017 or 2018. That would suggest that around 2015, we will hit a near-plateau of production around the world, and we will hold it for maybe four or five years. On the other side of that plateau, production will begin slowly moving down. By 2020, we should be headed in a downward direction for oil output in the world each year instead of an upward direction, as we are today.

And at around 2015, we will be unable to produce the incremental barrel in the global system. So a tightness of supply will begin to be felt. Let's say in 2013, we may produce 1% more oil than we did the year before and then if we have a demand growth of 1¼% in 2013, we'll be very slightly tightening the system.

The difference between supply and demand is not going to be very much at first. It would not normally cause a big rise in price. On the other hand, in 2014, that tightness begins to grow and it is now a trend. By 2015 perhaps we're only able to produce 0.50% more with about 1.25% higher demand, so that we're 0.75% short. And now we have to raise prices enough to stop some people from using that oil because it is actually not available.

He suggests that oil “supply and demand are now in rough equilibrium and that means that prices are in a range between about $69 on the bottom and about $86 on the top,” but supply will most likely begin to turn tight “around 2013 or 2014.” It will naturally be followed by a price spike – and, he suggests subsequent windfall profit taxes on oil companies – and a global scramble to find alternatives to oil.

That begins to scare people, since they can look ahead and see that the issue is not going to be resolved quickly, since you have to find the oil many years in advance of being able to produce it. We just haven't found enough oil for a number of years, so this problem is now beyond the reach of some big, major discovery that suddenly would provide us with a sufficiency. And so far, we have no technological breakthrough to assist us.

So we're going to have to make a switch from using oil to using more coal or more natural gas or more nuclear or other alternatives. But most alternative supplies (such as hydropower) can't be expanded quickly. Solar power is too small to be meaningful. Wind power, again, is too small, and most of the good places for wind have already been taken.

Nano may become available overseas in a year or two: Forster

Nano, the world's cheapest car made by India's Tata Motors, could be available overseas in a year or two, the company's CEO Carl-Peter Forster has said.

"We don't know yet, but in a year or two perhaps," Forster said in an interview.

"We are looking at that very carefully," he said when asked about would one be able to buy the miracle car outside India.

"Because first of all we would like to satisfy local demand. We believe that it in its current and present form a car for developing markets. So we're looking at specific developing markets. So if you're living in one of these developing markets, Asia for example, possibly Africa,possibly Latin America, you might be able to buy (in a year or two perhaps)," he said.

When asked about cases of a few Nanos catching fire, Forster said it is being investigated. "There were three or four cases. We are finding out what it is. It's a strange mix of some misuse, some after-sales equipment. And we are getting to the bottom of it. We have to find ways to protect against some of the misuse," he said.

Forster, who is upbeat about the new Land Rover rolled out by the company, said it is doing excellent. "Strong demand coming out of the recession... with extra-strong demand I would call it. We have the right product right now, strong diesel engines. Particularly Range Rover is doing fantastic."

Talking about the smallest Range Rover ever introduced he said: "We introduced a small Range Rover today, which is the smallest ever, almost two sizes smaller than the current smaller Range Rover. Great demand. Great interest. Call it - Let me call it that. It will be in the market next year."

The Tata Motor CEO said they are making money with Jaguar, Land Rover combined. "It's a combined entity. We have to look at it as a combined entity. We've made good money in the first quarter of the fiscal year, yes," he said.

"We have a great order bank. Incoming orders are slowing down a bit, but not much. A bit. But we see continued strong demand in China, which is offsetting the slowdown in a way. So we have continued to be positive," he said.

Forster denied that the company is shedding any jobs from its plants in Britain. "There are no job losses. Actually we're creating jobs," he said.

On consolidation plans Forster said, "... the idea is to basically consolidate, to take the people from the one and put them into the other and create a larger entity which would be more efficient and flexible. That is our mainstream plan. The unions are objecting. Let's say they have other ideas."