Is India Shining?

Is India shining?

I am writing this not against any religion. It is purely looked into from economic point of view.

We had a funny situation in our country during this week. From12^thApril2008 to 20^thApril 2008 consisting 9 days, major institutions like Banks, Government offices, many public sector units including Stock exchanges worked only for three days.

This is because 12^th and 13^th being Saturday and Sunday, 14^th Monday was Dr. Ambedkar’s birthday and hence it was a holiday. We worked only 15^th, 16^th ,17^th and 18^th was declared holiday due to Mahavir Jayanthi and 19^th and 20^th are again Saturday and Sunday.. Those experts in our Governments who talk about man days, have ever calculated how many man days we are losing on account of these liberal holidays?

I visited at random about 10 bank branches, which may have average 10 employees and wanted to find out how many Muslims working in those branches. To my surprise there were none. (It may be a sweet news for persons like Mr. Sahabuddin, who are fighting that Muslims should be provided reservations in all institutions)

According to Indian Government the total percentage of Muslim in India is in between 11% to 12%. There are many who claim that it is 13 to 14% Out of these, what will be the percentage of Muslims working in the public Institutions? According to a recently published report to government, called the Sachar Report, Muslims are heavily under-represented in different government and social areas. Among other facts, it found that in the state of West Bengal, where Muslims make up 27% of the population, their employment in the government sector was below 3%.

The total number of Christians in India as per Census in 2001 is 24,080,016 or 2.34% of the population. The Jain population in India according to 2001 census is 4,225,053 out of the total population of India 1,028,610,328.

Imagine! Giving the margin of increase in their population even as high as10%, you can easily arrive at their population as on date. Is that worth declaring holidays on the basis of religion?

I am not telling that these minorities in our country should not celebrate their festival. Considering their strength in each office, they can be given paid holidays. Why 85% of Hindus should be asked to sit before their idiot boxes or go to cinema theaters or sleep at home on those days on which they have nothing to do?

It is high time we started raising our voices in this man hour loosing issue. Even holidays like Krishna Jayanthi or Sivarathri which is not being celebrated by all Hindus are declared holidays. What are the Hindus doing on these days, that they cannot work?

Most of the holidays declared as holidays are being celebrated only for few hours of the day. Who is going to bell the cat? This problem of excessive holidays should be looked into as loss of man days/power, than religious sentiments.

Is not India shining

IITians no longer prefer U.S. as job destination, says study Sandeep Joshi

Instead they prefer India due to booming employment prospects

NEW DELHI: India, with its booming economy and opportunities galore, is now becoming a preferred job destination among graduates from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), who now no longer prefer to go to the U.S. or other developed countries searching for jobs or higher studies.
“It is well known that graduates from IIT, popularly known as IITians, have historically preferred to move to the U.S. or other countries to pursue higher studies and explore more attractive career opportunities. However, preferences have changed during the last few years,” says a recent study conducted by a leading global research and analytics’ firm, Evalueserve.
Prepared after a survey of 677 IITians, the study points out that among IITians, who graduated between 1964 and 2001, 35 per cent moved to countries other than India, while 65 per cent preferred to stay back. However, among IITians who graduated in 2002 and later, only 16 per cent went abroad, while 84 per cent remained in India. “Recent graduates also believe India will be the most promising geography for IIT graduates in 10 years,” it says.
According to the study, among IITians, who graduated during 1964 and 2001, 60 per cent believed that when they were graduating, the U.S. and other developed countries provided better opportunities, while the remaining said it was India which provided job prospects. However, among those who passed out of the IITs between 2002 and 2008, this number dropped to 51 per cent who believed that developed countries would provide them better opportunities.
Interestingly, the point of “inflexion” arrives with the graduating class of 2002, where these changing trends became more pronounced. This correlates with the growth of India’s economy, the study points out. It also notes that better academic opportunity was the primary reason among IITians for choosing the U.S. over India.
However, there were other reasons too that resulted in IITians not going to the U.S. — stringent visa norms after the 9/11 terrorist incident, high cost of living, limited scholarships, high tuition fees, and the perception of reduced employment opportunities and a poorer life in the U.S.—, the study says.
While the reasons behind IITians preferring to stay back included their desire to be closer to their homes, culture, and family; limited number of “significantly attractive” job offers overseas; and substantial increase in job opportunities and improved standard of living in India; and significant entrepreneurial opportunities in India.
Interestingly, when asked “10 years down the line, which geography do you think will hold the most promise for success?”, 72 per cent IITians chose India, with only 17 per cent opting for the US, 5 per cent for Europe and 2 per cent for China, the study adds.
The Evalueserve study also points out that IITians are also expanding their career choices beyond the traditional engineering and technology opportunities.
“There has been a noticeable shift towards consulting and financial services as well as continued interest in entrepreneurial aspirations. This shift is related to the buoyant Indian economy, a surging Indian stock market, and the increased earnings potential in these areas,” it adds.
Hindu dated 19th April 2008