Looks like the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Delhi Traffic Police have finally realized how badly the current roads and traffic signals are in need of major reforms.
The traffic signal system is undergoing a major sprucing up for the Commonwealth Games 2010. Delhi would soon see smart traffic signals doing more than just switching colours.
The Ministry of Home affairs has given a nod to the installation of the INTELLIGENT TRAFFIC SIGNAL (ITS) system in Delhi. The system would cover 302 intersections. The intersections en route to the venues of the Commonwealth games would be given priority and completed by 2010.
The system, as the name suggests, is intelligent enough. These traffic signals are well-equipped to monitor the flow of traffic and alter the stoppage time accordingly. Another very important benefit of these (probably to the traffic police and not to the general public) would be that vehicles flouting traffic norms can be detected by them automatically. This happens by way of an Automatic Number Plate Recognizer which directly reads the number plate of the vehicle and sends it to a machine in the control room which issues challan slips. A camera sends real time footage from the intersection to a control room.
The traffic police would now, with the help of a yet to be appointed consultant, finalize on the technology to be used in the capital. Also, the consultant would help the traffic police in the tendering process. The Ministry of Home affairs has directed the appointment of a world-renowned firm to undertake the process of installing the Intelligent Traffic Signal system in the national capital.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
What my passion is and why I think my passion is a passion.
Before I set out to talk about what my ‘passion’ is, let me first try to figure out what the term means to me.
A passion according to me is something you are crazy about. Something that drives you and gives you inner joy. Your life revolves around your passion.
My passion is to constantly improve by overcoming my shortcomings. What holds equal importance to me is what everyone strives for: to live life to the fullest, to have peace of mind and be happy.
Coming to why I think my passion is a passion, I’m not very sure if what I mentioned is technically supposed to be called ‘passion’. But the way I see the term, it totally fits the bill. It drives me.
On a heavier dose of introspection, I realize that I am passionate about this because it is extremely important to me. Why it is important is because I know that it would help me in my overall growth. That, in turn, is directly related to success – the underlying passion of each and every individual.
Everyone has success as a common inborn passion. They might choose to call anything their passion. But the passion to succeed is omnipresent.
Some people might even interpret the term passion to mean their favourite hobby or something they absolutely love doing. Even that’s a driving factor that gives you inner joy.
Whatever your passion may be, it is something that is yours. It is something that you have to fulfill come what may. And if you come to think of it, that shouldn’t be too difficult because it’s not a task. It’s something you are crazy about.
A passion according to me is something you are crazy about. Something that drives you and gives you inner joy. Your life revolves around your passion.
My passion is to constantly improve by overcoming my shortcomings. What holds equal importance to me is what everyone strives for: to live life to the fullest, to have peace of mind and be happy.
Coming to why I think my passion is a passion, I’m not very sure if what I mentioned is technically supposed to be called ‘passion’. But the way I see the term, it totally fits the bill. It drives me.
On a heavier dose of introspection, I realize that I am passionate about this because it is extremely important to me. Why it is important is because I know that it would help me in my overall growth. That, in turn, is directly related to success – the underlying passion of each and every individual.
Everyone has success as a common inborn passion. They might choose to call anything their passion. But the passion to succeed is omnipresent.
Some people might even interpret the term passion to mean their favourite hobby or something they absolutely love doing. Even that’s a driving factor that gives you inner joy.
Whatever your passion may be, it is something that is yours. It is something that you have to fulfill come what may. And if you come to think of it, that shouldn’t be too difficult because it’s not a task. It’s something you are crazy about.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Sad but true; Sati still plagues the country
I came across this story in Deccan Herald :
Woman’s attempt to become ‘sati’ aborted
Police on Sunday aborted the attempt of a woman to become ‘sati’ by burning herself along with the body of her husband in Uttar Pradesh, reports PTI from Lucknow.
Vidya Devi 59, had made all preparations to consign herself to the flames of husband’s pyre when the police stopped her from doing so. Deen Dayal Lodhi 60,(her husband) had died due to a prolonged illness on Saturday.
What pinches me is that on one hand we have the Metro, the malls, the airconditioned buses and on the other hand : nothing. We are continuously working towards the betterment of our urban areas, giving all that we can to come at par with the facilities in foreign countries.
But we seem to be inching closer to development but at the same time, farther from overall development.
The villages in India are still plagued by social evils, superstitious beliefs and malpractices in the name of faith and religion. If something like Sati, which has been the society's enemy for centuries, still persists, we must set our priorities right.
Equal weightage must be given to urban and rural development. Fighting the ills in the rural areas should not be neglected even by mistake. Only this way will our country have a strong foundation and then have innumerable storeys - thus, achieving greater heights.
Woman’s attempt to become ‘sati’ aborted
Police on Sunday aborted the attempt of a woman to become ‘sati’ by burning herself along with the body of her husband in Uttar Pradesh, reports PTI from Lucknow.
Vidya Devi 59, had made all preparations to consign herself to the flames of husband’s pyre when the police stopped her from doing so. Deen Dayal Lodhi 60,(her husband) had died due to a prolonged illness on Saturday.
What pinches me is that on one hand we have the Metro, the malls, the airconditioned buses and on the other hand : nothing. We are continuously working towards the betterment of our urban areas, giving all that we can to come at par with the facilities in foreign countries.
But we seem to be inching closer to development but at the same time, farther from overall development.
The villages in India are still plagued by social evils, superstitious beliefs and malpractices in the name of faith and religion. If something like Sati, which has been the society's enemy for centuries, still persists, we must set our priorities right.
Equal weightage must be given to urban and rural development. Fighting the ills in the rural areas should not be neglected even by mistake. Only this way will our country have a strong foundation and then have innumerable storeys - thus, achieving greater heights.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
15th August 2008
According to me, Independence Day has lost its significance over the years. From being a day which celebrates the freedom of our nation it has been conveniently transformed into a holiday stuffed with lazying around.
And I am a 15th August holiday-maker.
Simply put, for me it's a day to laze around and unwind. Yes, the feeling of patriotism does surface. But that's about it.
If I were to be the Prime Minister,I would make an effort to change this. Everybody likes a holiday and with it comes the laidback attitude. But it is necessary to celebrate the historical day with enthusiasm since it is one of the only two days in a year when we celebrate our 'Indianness.' Like I said, on this day, patriotism comes naturally to most of us. But there have to be interesting ways to demonstrate this feeling. Holding 'national walks' could be one option. In this,people in different states can come together to walk towards one of the monuments associated with the freedom struggle situated in that state. If managing the large number of people on the road becomes difficult and since it can also cause traffic woes, maybe the walks could happen early morning or in smaller groups.
There could be poster-making competitions, creative writing competitions and prizes could be given out by me.
Adopting such ways will help to ensure that we celebrate 15th August with the same zeal as we celebrate a festival.
And I am a 15th August holiday-maker.
Simply put, for me it's a day to laze around and unwind. Yes, the feeling of patriotism does surface. But that's about it.
If I were to be the Prime Minister,I would make an effort to change this. Everybody likes a holiday and with it comes the laidback attitude. But it is necessary to celebrate the historical day with enthusiasm since it is one of the only two days in a year when we celebrate our 'Indianness.' Like I said, on this day, patriotism comes naturally to most of us. But there have to be interesting ways to demonstrate this feeling. Holding 'national walks' could be one option. In this,people in different states can come together to walk towards one of the monuments associated with the freedom struggle situated in that state. If managing the large number of people on the road becomes difficult and since it can also cause traffic woes, maybe the walks could happen early morning or in smaller groups.
There could be poster-making competitions, creative writing competitions and prizes could be given out by me.
Adopting such ways will help to ensure that we celebrate 15th August with the same zeal as we celebrate a festival.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Untouched by comfort
I recently read about a school called the 'Shanti Bhavan'located near Bangalore. It imparts education to underprivileged children.
But this was not what gripped my attention. It was the fact that the children housed by this school belong to the lowest caste of what we call the 'untouchables'. Well, their lives seem to be living up to this very name. They are 'untouched' by any helping hand, or for that matter, even proper clothing, clean drinking water and other basic amenities. In such a scenario, a school like the 'Shanti Bhavan' comes as a blessing.
Quite evidently, adapting to a comfortable way of life is difficult for these children who have not had any access to the basic necessities and comforts of life like toilets, beds, etc. They have never had any kind of exposure to pre-nursery education. They have never held a pencil, nor have they been exposed to any form of educational stimuli.
The faculty has to start by socialising them.
The goal of this school, which takes in students when they are 4 years old, is to give them a world-class education so they can aspire to careers and professions that would have been totally beyond their reach, and have been so for generations. The students live on campus for a greater part of the year. Their parents visit them every three months, taking them home for short vacations twice a year.
What I found outstanding was the pre-admission procedure. Before admitting its students, Shanti Bhavan researches the families of each child over a period of five months in order to ascertain his/her socio-economic profile. The recruitment team consists of a social worker, a clinical psychologist, a paediatrician and the school principal. This way, the overall needs of the community are met in a more constructive way.
But this was not what gripped my attention. It was the fact that the children housed by this school belong to the lowest caste of what we call the 'untouchables'. Well, their lives seem to be living up to this very name. They are 'untouched' by any helping hand, or for that matter, even proper clothing, clean drinking water and other basic amenities. In such a scenario, a school like the 'Shanti Bhavan' comes as a blessing.
Quite evidently, adapting to a comfortable way of life is difficult for these children who have not had any access to the basic necessities and comforts of life like toilets, beds, etc. They have never had any kind of exposure to pre-nursery education. They have never held a pencil, nor have they been exposed to any form of educational stimuli.
The faculty has to start by socialising them.
The goal of this school, which takes in students when they are 4 years old, is to give them a world-class education so they can aspire to careers and professions that would have been totally beyond their reach, and have been so for generations. The students live on campus for a greater part of the year. Their parents visit them every three months, taking them home for short vacations twice a year.
What I found outstanding was the pre-admission procedure. Before admitting its students, Shanti Bhavan researches the families of each child over a period of five months in order to ascertain his/her socio-economic profile. The recruitment team consists of a social worker, a clinical psychologist, a paediatrician and the school principal. This way, the overall needs of the community are met in a more constructive way.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Just the beginning..
I would keep the inaugural post sans any facts or analysis or solutions.
Just a simple re-cap of the last few lectures of 'Development Communication.'
There was a discussion on what we consider to be 'the most important thing in our lives.' Happiness, money, love, family, contentment and so on were nominated and voting pronounced that happiness was the clear winner. The logic behind this was that each of the other contestants (money, love, etc.) ultimately make us happy.
Something that I had never really acknowledged earlier was the importance of luck in our lives and the discussion made me do so. We might have everything we could ever want but if we,unluckily, do not have luck on our side,things could go seriously awry.
The next class saw a discussion on 'empowerment.' This was triggered by our teacher asking each one of us 'if we are empowered' and 'if we have cell phones.' The interesting homework was to ask our parents if they would give us dowry for our marriage. In the following class we came ready with the answer. An assortment of answers were voiced. Some extremely conventional, some extremely intriguing. No points for guessing the former. The latter ranged from statements like - 'if you don't study, it would be difficult to find a guy and we would have to give dowry' to 'we want you to earn your own dowry.' Another parents' response to the question, which I personally found very interesting, was that they would give their daughter dowry in the form of 'gifts' which only she can use and would be like her personal property. For this our teacher came up with an equally interesting remark - 'yes you will tie the washing machine to yourself, right?'
Personally, I feel that I would never want to spend the rest of my life with a person who demands dowry and this view was shared by a majority of my classmates.
Overall, they were brainstorming discussions which really made us 'think' and agree or disagree with the notions or statements put forth.
Just a simple re-cap of the last few lectures of 'Development Communication.'
There was a discussion on what we consider to be 'the most important thing in our lives.' Happiness, money, love, family, contentment and so on were nominated and voting pronounced that happiness was the clear winner. The logic behind this was that each of the other contestants (money, love, etc.) ultimately make us happy.
Something that I had never really acknowledged earlier was the importance of luck in our lives and the discussion made me do so. We might have everything we could ever want but if we,unluckily, do not have luck on our side,things could go seriously awry.
The next class saw a discussion on 'empowerment.' This was triggered by our teacher asking each one of us 'if we are empowered' and 'if we have cell phones.' The interesting homework was to ask our parents if they would give us dowry for our marriage. In the following class we came ready with the answer. An assortment of answers were voiced. Some extremely conventional, some extremely intriguing. No points for guessing the former. The latter ranged from statements like - 'if you don't study, it would be difficult to find a guy and we would have to give dowry' to 'we want you to earn your own dowry.' Another parents' response to the question, which I personally found very interesting, was that they would give their daughter dowry in the form of 'gifts' which only she can use and would be like her personal property. For this our teacher came up with an equally interesting remark - 'yes you will tie the washing machine to yourself, right?'
Personally, I feel that I would never want to spend the rest of my life with a person who demands dowry and this view was shared by a majority of my classmates.
Overall, they were brainstorming discussions which really made us 'think' and agree or disagree with the notions or statements put forth.
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