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by Rajen Kumar
No Escaping Social Media
Running a magazine concentrating on issues of small and medium enterprises and managing with limited resources is a like living life on the edge. In this rush of meeting deadlines,...
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Apr 2012EMRC, Brussels Associates with SME WORLD as its New Media Partner
EMRC has promoted business partnerships with the developing world and has organised dozens of business forums in key decision-making cities, such as Amsterdam, Rome,...
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The Last Word
How secured we are?
Rajen Kumar
Apr 2011
Apr 2011
Suddenly everyone around us is talking of danger to travellers by air. A lot of hue and cry was raised when it was discovered that a lady pilot of an airline had 'forged' documents to get the job. The authorities have 'woken up' to check, and cross check, the veracity of the training-time certificates which the pilots of multitude of airlines had submitted mandatory to commandeer an air-borne aircraft. As if the DGCA wasn't aware of the syllabus and theoretical and practical tests of trainee pilots by the flying institutes. The wide opening of its eyes in the midst of media expose is a laughable eye-wash.
A youngster seeking career as a pilot has to face turbulence twice -- first on the ground; then in the air. The former is a tedious hurdle. To what extent a young girl, aspiring to become a pilot, suffers and how much vulnerable she becomes is anybody's guess. This is perhaps a plausible reason why our aspiring pilots opt for overseas training. Mercifully, despite the fears raised on the pilots' ability, the air safety records of Indian cariers are amongst the best in the world. Yet the scandal merits a thorough enquiry by an independent body headed by a renowned jurist into the working of DGCA and the aviation institutes – private or otherwise to lay bare the truth.
Is human life in the air different from one on the road ? The media glare is understandable since the wealthy and the famous use air travel. What about life on the road ? Nearly 300 people die every day in road accidents in India. The injured remain uncounted. No TV channel has ever made an effort to highlight the system of getting a driving license in India. Ask any driver using car, auto, bus, truck or even a bike how he got his driving license? The answers may baffle you. Most of them would confess having bribed the inspector or his agent, or a downright well connected tout. Are we not playing with the lives of people? The medical certificate declaring you free of any colour or night blindness, mandatory for getting the license is stamped in less than a minute, on the visible periphery of the licensing office by a doctor for a consideration. And of course the implicit understanding is NO tests.
Move on! When you go for a new electricity connection, the feasibility report is given by 'an authorized' contractor against unaccountable money without an inspection of the site, and the feasibility. No wonder, precious human lives are lost in fires due to short circuit in India every year. The scenario is worse when it comes to authorities appointed to check food adulteration, doctored weights and measures, fake pharma products, even bottled water!
Are you aware of the doctor next door who takes care of your health and life as to how much he may have paid for getting a post graduation seat in a medical institute?
The crime is organized; the network well-crafted, and the evil fed and bred on money. A wishful thinking though, we need to invoke 'Saviour Hanuman' to smash the multi-nexus of greed and graft at work next door, and under our very nose. I have only dwelled on the issues which concern our lives. Regrettably, I foresee no relief much less response. Yes, it happens only in India!!
The Last Word -2
http://www.smeworld.org/story/last-word/a-passing-tribute.php
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The Last Word
More Learned than Educated, You were!
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