Cold Love > The Frozen Taj

Cold Love?? Shah Jahan would never have dreamt of it in the searing heat of Agra but that's what the sculptors have to offer to visitors to the Sapporo Snow Festival, in Japan (Hokkaido Island)...yes, you guessed it right! A Taj Mahal made of Ice!!!!!

**A brief trivia about the Snow festival: The festival took off in 1950 when six high school students put six ice sculptures at Odori Park.In 1955, members of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces joined in and they built the giant sculptures that have defined the Sapporo Snow Festival tradition.

The Indian Tourism Ministry has set up an Incredible India booth at the show and Mr. Subodh kant Sahai was also present there where he hosted the 'India Evening'.

The Tourism Ministry has been stepping on the gas to promote India as a favourable destination. Such initiatives have been slightly marred due to negative travel advisories by some countries though they serve a vital purpose of taking India to the world with the aim to bring them to India. in 2011, more than 5 million Foreign Tourists Arrivals (FTAs) took place!

(I just hope someone gifts me an ice sculpted Harley or Yamaha :P)

The Day the Web Went Black

Almost all of us are aware of the stance taken by the Indian Govt. against websites such as Google, Facebook, and Orkut among others, and popular opinion is against any move at curbing the freedom of the web. However, not many in India were aware about SOPA & PIPA^ until the 'wikipedia blackout' started since midnight (EST), Jan 18, 2012.

The 'Blackout' is surely an interesting move by Wikipedia and is a sure shot way of communicating Wikipedia's view point! However, this post is not about discussing the pros and cons of SOPA and PIPA but the implications of a permanent blackout of Wikipedia (assuming no other free online encyclopedia would pop up)..

Negative

The first thing that popped up in the minds of the 'students' i spoke too was: "OMG! How are we going to do our assignments!" ..............And it's easy to understand their sentiments. Daily, millions of students browse the web for information and most of them get it from Wikipedia. It's the ultimate source of information and we have become so used to this 'free' source that we would be quite significantly impaired by its loss.

The second thing, and perhaps the more important one, that strikes people's mind is that they'll be deprived of their right to freedom of expression!! Wikipedia and similar sites may well be blocked by Internet service providers once the laws (SOPA & PIPA) on account of piracy and IP right violations! And that too for no fault of their's since it is an open platform that anyone can edit, thus content could be 'bad' or 'illegal' and thus, the whole website would be blocked (That's what the these laws state!)

Positive

However, some bright minds pointed out that it would lead to more demand for books and an increased crowd at libraries!

It would also make the 'students' learn more and retain the learning for a longer period of time if they started searching the books instead of blatantly copying from the net.

It'll be good for the 'Music & Media' Industry....

Anyways..the important point for you to delve your mind on is the 'Impact of a permanent blackout of Wikipedia' on anyone and everyone!

Freaky Saturday the 14th

I don't know what's gotten into me but i've been busy updating various blogs, commenting on forums and  completing pending club work along with reading articles!!!! I'm surprised not  because of doing all this, it's just that i got this bug at 1 am and it's now 4.37am in my clock!

I'll try and keep up the tempo after i wake up. Forcing myself to sleep now! Friday the 13th passed off peacefully but i don't know what's wrong with Saturday the 14th!

PS: I managed to finish a book after a long time!!! Next one is still lying unread, thanks to the pile of other reading material i have pending!!

The daily morning update :P

The rupee is rebounding; food inflation at a 4 month low; RBI gives warning signal with a confidence booster; Food security bill tabled in parliament; Increased spending by US consumers; Kingfisher gets a booster from Sahara; Don 2 releases-Initial reviews are 'excellent'.......:D

Fuel inflation is still high at around 15%; Europe still looks grim; FIIs set to pull out more money from the Indian markets; Battle for Lokpal set to start again; Winters set to get chillier in Delhi!!!!!!!

And i've started a book titled 'Better under pressure' by Justin Menkes :)

Mayan Prophecy: A money minter for Mexico

The world may or may not end in 2012 but Mexico is sure to earn a lot from tourists in 2012. As 2011 draws to an end and stories about the 'end of the world' gaining strength, people are thronging to the 5 states (southeastern states of Campeche, Chiapas, Tabasco, Yucatán and Quintana Roo) which correspond to the early Mayan empire.

Recent estimates peg the number of arrivals at around 52 million (And India is expected to receive 5.5 million tourists this year :-o) which would generate around 270 million pesos (or US$ 19.5 million)*. The crowd will not only the the 'believers' but also students, academicians, astronomers (The Mayan calendar was a solar one) and other wanderers!

Source: *-http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2011/12/23/mexico-expects-52-mil-tourists-in-maya-region-in-2012/

The Poor are not Aliens!!!!

I request everyone to go through this article. Simple ideas that don't germinate in minds that are in power, perhaps because our education clogs our brainy cells!

Book: Poor Economics: Rethinking Poverty and the Ways to End It- Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee & Esther Duflo 

Article: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-11-25/news/30440949_1_comic-book-calcutta-nutrition

It talks about how the world's rich people think that the world's poor people are just hungry and want nutrients. The book talks about how the powerful people and the not so powerful people view the world through cliches...and how this viewpoint will lead to nothing substantive....

Customizing Careers

I was recently going through an an abstract of a book on Mass Career Customization and i found this very relevant! We are living in an era where not only has the current work force evolved (with increased women, changed expectations, new family structures and new technology), but the old workforce is also evolving at a rapid pace too(for the very same reasons).

Priorities are shifting and work life balance is of out-most importance, along with career growth. Today's employee wants everything. Organizations, therefore, need to have a thorough revamp of the existing models of  workplace norms and policies focusing on employees. And this is needed at every level!

My personal feeling, based on my observations, is that such MCC is also needed in Indian organizations (and is perhaps present in a few such as the Tata group). The model is based on 4 aspects- Workload, Role, Pace of growth and Location/schedule. The model has been found to be successful in retention of talent and in motivating employees in some parts of the world where it has been tested. Indian conditions, obviously require some modifications. Nevertheless, this is a must read for all those who are HR professionals, or are aspiring for a career in HRM.

*MCC is a model developed by Deloitte.