Is Pub Culture really destroying the fabric of Indian Culture ?

From the blog of Shekhar Kapur, the oscar winner for "Elizabeth: the Golden Age'":::

Excuse me, but where does this moral culture really exist, except in the fantasies of those that the media are hyping up as India's moral brigade. In the small towns and villages of India ??? Where 10 times more women are raped and molested, abused, physically assaulted and mutilated for the mere crime of being a woman or a low caste ! There is no pub culture there. But there is a huge problem of alcoholism nevertheless.

Where young men are killed and hanged and young women are killed by their own families just because they fell in love and wanted to marry out of their caste. There is no pub culture there.

Alcoholism is a problem. No doubt. But there is more alcohol related domestic abuse against women in India by their husbands in their own homes than anywhere else. If any of the supporters of the moral policing would just care to g to one of the shelters for domestically abused women, they will know that the real problem with alcohol is not in the pub culture but at home.

And if India is progressing towards a country where men and women stand equal in jobs, status and financial independence, where we have had women as our Prime Ministers, Chief Ministers, and Cabinet Ministers, then why should men and women be treated as any different ? If drinking alcohol in a pub is immoral for a woman, they why is it morally OK for a man ?

I have seen too many families destroyed by alcoholism to be able to make a stand for excessive drinking. So what should one do ? Ban alcohol ? Lets get real. the very people who form the moral brigade will probably not go for that. Corrupt pockets are fed with that. State coffers rely on taxes on alcohol. And banning alcohol merely drives it underground, and gives the underworld goons a god sent opportunity to make money. Tourism collapses.

There must be checks and balances. But the answer is NOT to target the physically weaker sections of our people. Women. That is not moral policing. It is sheer cowardice.

And I cannot understand why the Chief Minister of Rajasthan has a problem with a girl and a boy holding hands ? He does not seem to have such a problem when the same hand raises itself in violence rather than affection.

For Prelims

1. Who has been officially declared as the new CM of Maharashtra after Vilas Rao Deshmukh stepped down in wake of Mumbai terror attacks?
A. Narayan Rane
B. Sushil Kumar Shinde
C. Balasahib Vikhe Patil
D. Ashok Chavan

2. Who has recently become the second Indian woman to achieve the feat of breaking into the top 10 in the latest Badminton World Federation rankings?
A. Sania Nehwal
B. Madhumita Bisht
C. Shambhavi Bajaj
D. Aparna Popat

3. The prestigious United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2008 has been given to seven people including
A. Sania Nehwal
B. Benazir Bhutto
C. Sister Dorothy Stang
D. Both B & C

4. India has recently signed a nuclear and space deal with
A. US
B. Russia
C. China
D. Taiwan

5. The author to win Booker Prize this year for his debut novel is
A. Kiran Desai
B. Salman Rushdie
C. Aravind Adiga
D. Arundhati Roy

6. IBSA stands for
A. India, Brazil and South Africa
B. International board of System Analysts
C. Indiana Baptist State Association
D. International Blind Sports foundation

7. The Muslim organization recently banned by the UN for being a terrorist outfit is
A. LeT
B. LTTE
C. Jamat-e-Dawa
D. Hizbul Mujahideen

8. Which among the following states does not have a legislative assembly of its own?
A. Goa
B. Mizoram
C. Punjab
D. Andaman & Nicobar Islands

9. The sand and rock bridge between India and Sri Lanka is known as
A. Howrah bridge
B. Adam’s bridge
C. Pamban Bridge
D. Mattancherry Bridge

10. Official residence of President of France is
A. Elysee Palace
B. Kremlin Palace
C. Topkapi Palace
D. The Palace of Grand Duke Nicolai

11. ‘AUROVILLE’ is
A. A Palace constructed in the memory of Aurobindo Ghosh
B. An Indian community center in New York
C. A garden housing newly developed hybrid plant varieties
D. World’s first international town sponsored by UNESCO

12. Bihu is the dance form of which state?
A. Assam
B. Sikkim
C. Meghalaya
D. Arunachal Pradesh

13. Who coined the word ‘asassination’?

A. Shakespeare
B. Rabindranath Tagore
C. Bernard Shah
D. Abraham Lincoln

14. World human rights day falls on?
A. December 1
B. December 10
C. December 17
D. December 19

15. Which vitamin will be lost while cooking?
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D

16. In which year was the first modern Olympics conducted?
A. 1892
B. 1896
C. 1902
D. 1894


17. The World Environment Day is observed on the
A. 6th June
B. 5th June
C. 1st Dec
D. 10th Dec.

18. Name this Indian Tennis player who has turned Hollywood filmmaker?
A. Leander Paes
B. Mahesh Bhupathi
C. Vijay Amritraj
D. Ashok Amritraj
19. Who was the 1st ODI captain for India?
A. Ajit Wadekar
B. Bishen Singh Bedi
C. Nawab Pataudi
D. Vinoo Mankad
20. When was the first cricket Test match played?
A. 1873
B. 1877
C. 1870
D. 1788
21. India is the world's leading producer of this mineral...?
A. Gold
B. Silver
C. Mica
D. Iron
22. Which one of the following correctly describes AGNI ?
(A) A fighter plane
(B) A versatile tank
(C) A long-range missile
(D) A long-range gun
23. Which of the following companies of Indian origin has been placed amongst the World's seven Best Firms in Financial Sector ?
(A) IDBI Bank
(B) HDFC Bank
(C) Bajaj Capitals
(D) ICICI Bank

24. Who has been recently appointed as the ONGC Chairman?

A. R.S. Sharma
B. Subir Raha
C. Bimal Jalan
D. G.N. Bajpai

25. Which of the following countries is not a member of the SAARC?

A. China
B. India
C. Sri Lanka
D. Pakistan

26. Who alongwith Bill gates co-founded MicroSoft?

A. Steve Ballmer
B. Paul Allen
C. Jerry Yang
D. Steve Jobs

27. Who is the ISRO chief?

A. G Madhavan Nair
B. APJ ABDUL KALAM
C. L AIyyanga Nair
D. Ramakrishna Sharan

28. Who is the Chairperson of IIM Ahmedabad?

A. Vijaypat Singhania
B. NR NarayamMurthy
C. Bakul Dholakia
D. Arjun Kumar



29. Which company acquired the assets of Kinetic Motor Co. earlier last year?

A. Tata Motors
B. LML Motors
C. Mahindra &Mahindra
D. TVS Motor Vehicles

30. AOL stands for...
A. Arranged Outer Line
B. America Over LAN
C. Audio Over LAN
D. America Online
31. Which of the following places are known as the "Emerald Islands"?

A. Lakshadweep Islands
B. Daman & Diu
C. Maldives
D. Andaman & Nicobar Island

32. Rabindra Nath Tagore composed the National Anthem of?

A. India
B. India, Bangladesh and Nepal
C. India and Bangladesh
D. Bangladesh

33. Which former Indian President died as a result of a road accident?

A. R.Venkatraman
B. Rajendra Prasad
C. Faqruddin Ali Ahmed
D. Giani Zail Singh

34. What scientist discovered the radioactive element radium?
A. Isaac Newton
B. Albert Einstein
C. Benjamin Franklin
D. Marie Curie
35. Name the oldest mountain range of India...?
A. Himalayas
B. Nilgiris
C. Aravallis
D. Vindhyas
36. In Hindu mythology, who is the god of death?
A. Indra
B. Sarswati
C. Yama
D. Brahma
37. Which are three 'mukhupdesh' of Guru Nanak Sahib Ji ?
A. Kirt Karni,Naam Japna,Wand Chaakna
B. Kirt Karni,Naam Japna,Langar Chaakna
C. Mehnat Karni,Naam Japna,Wand Chaakna
D. Kirt Karni,Gurdwara jana,Wand Chaakna
38. Who among the following is the author of the book "Unaccustomed Earth" ?
A. Shobha De
B. Arundhati Roy
C. A. P. J. Kalam
D. Jhumpa Lahiri

39. The 6th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas-2008 was held in?

A. New Delhi
B. Mumbai
C. Bengalaru
D. Lucknow

40. What is the objective of eleventh Five Year plan (2007-12) ?
(a) Removal of Unemployment
(b) Inclusive growth
(c) Growth with social- justice
(d) Development of minorities


















Answers:::
1) D
2) A
3) D
4) B
5) C
6) A
7) C
8) D
9) B
10) A
11) D
12) A
13) D
14) B
15) C
16) B
17) B
18) D
19) A
20) B
21) C
22) C
23) b
24) a
25) a
26) b
27) a
28) a
29) c
30) d
31) d
32) c
33) d
34) d
35) c
36) c
37) a
38) d
39) a
40) b

Entrepreneur or Business Owner - What is the Difference

Are you a business owner or an entrepreneur? The difference between the two is more of a mindset. Let’s look at Aaron and Kyle, twin brothers who start a family restaurant, as an example.

The Business Opens

Kyle has an idea for a family restaurant he’d like to open. He’s done all the background work, figured out the business plan and is all set, except for the initial funding. His brother, Aaron, is a physician at the hospital. He’s been looking for some place to invest a bit of money and is willing to invest in the restaurant and allow his brother to take care of running it. They agree on details and the restaurant is opened. Unfortunately another family restaurant opens within a week on the same block. Both restaurants are struggling to stay afloat.

Kyle

Kyle has spent years planning for this restaurant. It is his dream and he has been spending sixteen hours a day there. He’s hired the best cooks and even dons an apron himself from time to time to see that his customers are happy. He wants this restaurant to succeed. As he sees it losing money daily, his thoughts turn to what he can do to make his restaurant stand out above the other one. Failure is not an option in his eyes.

Aaron

Aaron’s accountant comes to him concerned over the money he is losing on his investment. Aaron talks with his brother, explaining he had expected to profit from his investment. Aaron tries to convince Kyle to either close down the restaurant or change the focus so it is not in direct competition with the other family restaurant. He can’t understand why his brother would want to hold onto a failing business.

The Difference

Kyle is a business owner and Aaron is an entrepreneur. It doesn’t mater which individual does the actual day-to-day running of the business. The significant difference between a business owner and an entrepreneur is where their emotional investment is. A business owner wants the business to succeed. He will do everything he can to bring about this success. He won’t consider changing to another product. On the other hand, an entrepreneur wants to succeed. He doesn’t care what product or service will achieve this goal and is always willing to consider a complete different direction should one direction prove unsuccessful. Do you want your business to succeed or do you want to succeed?

This is what determines the answer to whether you are a business owner or an entrepreneur.

http://physicianentrepreneur.com/?p=565

Current Statistics for GD

11 Feb 2009: Govt infuses Rs 3,800 crore in 3 banks to raise capital adequacy.
Under the recapitalisation package, Central Bank of India will get Rs 1,400 crore, while UCO Bank and Vijaya Bank will get Rs 1,200 crore each, home minister P Chidambaram told reporters



BUSINESS WITH DIFFERENT COUNTRIES:::
South Africa - $6.2 billion trade

Static Statistics for GD

INDIA:::
Population aged 65+: 6,16,52,80,000 (6.16 Cr)
GDP growth (% growth) - 7.3
Annual rates of inflation (%) - 8.38
Tourism receipts (US$ million) - 11,151

• India spends 1.2% of its GDP on health
• India emerges 2nd in medical tourism race. In 2007, Indian hospitals treated 4.5 lakh patients from other countries against topper Thailand's 12 lakh. - Deloitte
  

Foreign Recipients of Nishan-e-Pakistan

• Queen Elizabeth II, 1960
• Hu Jintao, 24 Nov, 2006
• King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, 1 Feb, 2006
• Morarji Desai, 19 May, 1990
• His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, 23 Mar, 1983
• Richard Nixon, 1 August, 1969
• Dilip Kumar, 1997
• Dwight Eisenhower

Where Real Innovation Happens

Came across an article published by Forbes. It really penetrates deep into the real thing of entrepreneurship. "Don't look for the gilded road to fortune. Look for passion."A perfect example of creating ur own path than to follow one.

Forget Silicon Valley. Traditional wisdom is that it represents the model for American innovation: a hotbed of young entrepreneurs with easy access to capital from a large pool of savvy investors.

Think again: The World Wide Web was started by Englishman Tim Berners-Lee because he was frustrated with how hard it was to share information at CERN, the huge physics lab in Switzerland where he worked. Linux was developed by a Finnish college student who wrote the operating system "just for fun" and is only one example of thousands of open-source software projects begun around the world by people who were writing software to "scratch their own itch" and giving it away for free. Even the personal computer revolution, which took root in Silicon Valley, began with a bunch of hobbyists at the Homebrew Computer Club.

It turns out that many of the great waves of creative destruction that have reinvented Silicon Valley didn't start there. More important, they didn't even start with the profit motive.

Rather, they started with interesting problems and people who wanted to solve them, exercising technology to its fullest because exploring new ideas was fun.

I call these people "alpha geeks." They are smart enough to make technology do what they want rather than what its originator expected. The alpha geeks exercise an idea or a gadget, pushing it past its current limits, reinventing it and eventually paving the way for entrepreneurs who figure out how to create mainstream versions of their novel ideas.

I've watched this process now for better than 30 years as a computer book publisher, conference producer, technology activist and early-stage investor. I learned early on that many of the innovations behind my best-selling books weren't coming from companies but from individuals. Their ideas spread through a grassroots network of early adopters and tinkerers long before entrepreneurs and investors appeared on the scene to figure out how to make money from the idea.

The Internet developed in this early adopter Petri dish for more than 15 years before entrepreneurs and venture capitalists clicked on their first e-mail. I was publishing books on free and open-source software in the mid-1980s; Silicon Valley didn't get the open-source message till 1998.

Even recent venture booms, like the one around Web 2.0, a concept that my company popularized in 2004 to remind people that the Web had continued to evolve after the dot-com bust of 2001, missed the story till it was well underway. Key ideas and projects were born during the years when investors had given up on the Web. Only developers driven by a strong personal vision kept at it.

So where's the alpha-geek innovation happening today?

I see it bubbling up in areas like manufacturing, open-source hardware, sensor networks and robotics.

Yes, there are start-ups in these areas, but, more important, there's an enthusiast boom. The Maker Faire, an event O'Reilly Media launched in 2006 to celebrate the people playing at the interface of digital technology and the physical world, last year drew 65,000 attendees, including many families, to view the work of the 500 exhibiting "makers."

Or consider synthetic biology, where high school students are exploring the frontiers through events like the International Genetically Engineered Machines competition. When high-schoolers are doing genetic engineering, you know the future holds some big surprises!

We see innovators working from the outside to put flesh on the vision of government transparency articulated by the Obama administration. Software "hacks," like chicagocrime.org, one of the first Google Maps mash-ups, are becoming a prototype for how government data can be turned into new consumer services by start-ups like everyblock.com.

Tools for investigative journalism put together by nonprofits like the Sunlight Foundation presage the work of start-ups like Apture and Evri. And of course it's hard to ignore the fact that tools for grassroots activism, born out of political enthusiasm by a few "hackers" working for Howard Dean in 2004, turned into real products that helped win the national election only four years later.

How about the energy crisis? Yes, some of Silicon Valley's biggest investors are going after this opportunity. But even here, serendipity and personal curiosity play an unexpected role.

Consider Greenbox, a start-up founded by Jonathan Gay, one of the creators of the ubiquitous Flash technology for online video and animation. After retiring following the acquisition of Macromedia by Adobe (nasdaq: ADBE - news - people ), he built an "off the grid" house (mainly because it was too expensive to bring power to his remote location). He designed some tools to visualize and manage his home power consumption--then realized that they could become the basis of a new business.

So don't follow the money. Follow the excitement. The people inventing the future are doing so just because it's fun.

Tim O'Reilly is the founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media, thought by many to be the best computer book publisher in the world. O'Reilly Media also hosts conferences on technology topics. Tim's blog, the O'Reilly Radar, "watches the alpha geeks" and serves as a platform for advocacy about issues of importance to the technical community. He can also be found as @timoreilly on Twitter.