தேசியத் தொழில்நுட்பத்தால் மேம்படுத்தப்பட்ட கல்வித் திட்டம்

அறிமுகம்:

NPTEL முத்திரை

தேசியத் தொழில்நுட்பத்தால் மேம்படுத்தப்பட்ட கல்வித் திட்டம் (The National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning - NPTEL) இந்திய மத்திய மனிதவள மேம்பாட்டு அமைச்சகத்தால் செயல்படுத்தப்படும் ஒரு திட்டமாகும். இத்திட்டம் இணையத்தின் மூலம் அறிவியல், தொழில்நுட்பம், பொறியியல், மேலாண்மை மற்றும் வாழ்வியல் போன்ற பல்வேறு துறைகள் சார்ந்த பாடங்களை காணொளி மற்றும் மின்-கல்வி வழியாக வழங்கிவருகிறது. இது ஏழு இந்தியத் தொழில்நுட்பக் கழகங்கள் (IITs) மற்றும் இந்திய அறிவியல்க் கழகங்களால் (IIScs) முன்னெடுக்கப்படுகிறது. மேலும் பல முன்னணி கல்வி நிறுவனங்கள் இதில் பங்குபெறுகின்றன. இதில் அகில இந்திய தொழில்நுட்பக் கல்விக் குழுவின் (AICTE) கல்வித்திட்டம் மற்றும் பல முன்னணி பல்கலைக்கழகங்களின் பாடத்திட்டங்கள்  பின்பற்றப்படுகின்றன.

நோக்கம்:

இத்திட்டத்தின் முதன்மை நோக்கம், பொறியியல் கற்கும் மாணாக்கர்களுக்கு எளிய பாடங்கள் மற்றும் காணொளிகள் மூலம் உதவுவதே ஆகும். பொதுவில், இந்திய இளைஞர்களிடம் அறிவியல் மற்றும் பொறியியல் சார்ந்த அறிவுத்திறனைப் பெருக்குவதன் மூலம் உலக அளவில் அவர்களின் தரத்தை உயர்த்தவும் இத்திட்டம் முனைகிறது.

வரலாறு:

பெங்களூரு இந்திய அறிவியல் கழகத்தில் 1999ஆம் ஆண்டு "தொழில்நுட்பத்தால் மேம்படுத்தப்பட்ட கல்வி" குறித்த பட்டறை (Workshop) ஒன்று அமெரிக்காவின் கார்னிகி மெல்லன் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தோடு (Carnegie Mellon University) இணைந்து நடத்தப்பட்டது. அதன் முடிவில், இந்தியாவிலும் இதுபோன்ற ஒரு தொழில்நுட்பத்தால் மேம்படுத்தப்பட்ட கல்விக்கான திட்டத்தின் அவசியம் பரிசீலிக்கப்பட்டு, அதற்கான உட்கட்டமைப்பு வசதிகள் தொடங்கப்பட்டன. ஜூன், 2017 நிலவரப்படி, இதில் 1200க்கும் மேற்பட்ட காணொளிகள் மின்-கல்விப் பாடங்கள் சேர்க்கப்பட்டுள்ளன.

பாடங்கள் பற்றி:

ஒவ்வொரு பாடத்திட்டத்தில் தோராயமாக 40 ஒரு மணி நேரக் காணொளிகள் உள்ளன. இரு மற்றும் முப்பரிமாண அனிமேஷன்கள், பவர் பாய்ண்டு ஸ்லைடுகள், கரும்பலகை மற்றும் இதர கற்பிக்கும் முறைகள் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன.

துறைகள்:

வான்வெளிப் பொறியியல், விவசாயம், கட்டடக்கலை, வளிமண்டல அறிவியல், அடிப்படைப் பாடங்கள், கட்டுமானப் பொறியியல், கணினி, மின்னியல், மின்னணு மற்றும் தகவல்தொழில்நுட்பவியல், பொறியியல் வடிவமைத்தல், சுற்றுச்சூழல், பொது, வாழ்வியல் மற்றும் சமூகம், உயிர்த்தொழில்நுட்பம், மேலாண்மை, வேதிப் பொறியியல், வேதியியல் மற்றும் உயிர்-வேதியல், கணிதம், இயந்திரப் பொறியியல், உலோகவியல், சுரங்கப் பொறியியல், கடல் பொறியியல், இயற்பியல் மற்றும் துணிப் பொறியியல் போன்ற பல்வேறு துறைகள் இதில் அடங்கும்.

எழுத்து வடிவில்:

இத்திட்டத்தில் உள்ள எல்லாக் காணொளிகளின் பேச்சுக்களும் எழுத்துவடிவிலும் கிடைக்கிறது. பி.டி.எப்., காணொளி அடியெழுத்துக்கள் மற்றும் காணொளியாற்ற வெறும் பேச்சுக்களாக எம்.பி.3 கோப்புகளாகவும் பதிவிறக்கம் செய்யலாம். இவை அனைத்தும் NPTEL இணையத்தளத்திலேயே உள்ளன. வரும் நாட்களில், காணொளிகளுக்குள் தேடுவது மற்றும் வட்டார மொழிகளில் மொழிபெயர்ப்பு போன்ற வசதிகள் செய்யப்படவுள்ளன.

குறிப்பிடத்தக்க வலைத்தளங்கள்:

1. http://nptel.ac.in  - அதிகாரப்பூர்வ இணையதளம்
2. http://www.youtube.com/iit
3. இணைய இணைப்பு இல்லாதவர்கள் NPTEL.BODHBRIDGE@gmail.com என்ற மின்னஞ்சல் முகவரியைத் தொடர்புகொண்டு இப்படங்களை குறுந்தகடுகளாகவும் குறைந்த கட்டணத்தில் பெறலாம்.

தடுப்பூசிகள் தேவையே!

தடுப்பூசிகள் தேவையே! அரசு இலவசமாக வழங்கும் எம்.ஆர். தடுப்பூசி மிகவும் பாதுகாப்பானது மற்றும் பயனுள்ளது. MR (Measles  Rubella) தடுப்பூசி இரு கொடிய நோய்களில் இருந்து உங்கள் குழந்தைகளை பாதுகாக்கும். பணக்காரர்கள் மட்டுமே பெற்று வந்த MMR ஊசி போன்ற இந்த தடுப்பூசியை இன்று நம் அரசு அனைவருக்கும் இலவசமாக்கியுள்ளது. இதற்க்கு நாம் அரசுக்கும், இதை முன்னெடுத்த எல்லோருக்கும் நன்றி சொல்ல வேண்டும். ஆனால் நடப்பது என்ன?

இன்று கையில் செல்போன் மற்றும் ஜியோ தரும் இலவச இணைய இணைப்பை வைத்துக்கொண்டு ஒரு கூட்டம் தடுப்பூசிகளுக்கு எதிராக எழுதி வருகிறது. இவர்களில் யாரும் (முறையாக மருத்துவம் பயின்ற) மருத்துவர்கள் இல்லை. இவர்களில் பெரும்பாலானோர் போலி அறிவியல் துணையோடு பிழைப்பு நடத்தும் அற்ப ஜந்துக்கள். சிலர் மத/ஆன்மீக வியாபாரிகள். இவர்கள் அனைவரும் நம் நாட்டு அரசையும் அறிவியல் மற்றும் மருத்துவ சமுதாயத்தையும் கேள்விக்குள்ளாக்குகின்றனர். யாரும் கேள்விகளுக்கு அப்பாற்பட்டவர் கிடையாது. ஆனால் கேள்வி கேட்க ஒரு தகுதியும் நியாமமும் இருக்க வேண்டும். சந்தேகம் வேறு, அவதூறு வேறு. நேற்று நான் ஒரு கடைக்குச் சென்றேன். அருகில் இருக்கும் குழந்தைகள் மருத்துவமனையில் ஒரே கூட்டம். கடைக்காரரிடம் கேட்டேன். அவன் கூறிய பதில் என்னை அதிர வைத்தது. எம். ஆர் தடுப்பூசி அறிவிப்பு வந்த நாள் முதல் இங்கு கூட்டம் அலைமோதுவதாகக் கூறினார். மக்கள் அரசை விட, மருத்துவர்களை விட, அறிவியலாளர்களை விட வாட்சாப்பையும் பேஸ்புக்கையும் நம்பும் காலத்தில் நாம் வாழ்கிறோம் என்ற சிந்தனை என்னை இப்போதும் நெருடுகிறது.

அலுவலகத்தில் அருகில் இருந்த நண்பரிடம் பேசினேன். அவர் சொல்கிறார் "எல்லா வைரஸும் நிலவேம்புக்கு சாகும். எனவே தடுப்பூசி போடா வேண்டாம்" என்று. நான் கேட்டேன், "போலயோ, பெரியம்மை போன்ற நோய்களை நிலவேம்பு அல்லது இயற்க்கை மருத்துவம் மூலம் முற்றிலும் அளித்திருக்க முடியுமா?" என்று. அவர் "கண்டிப்பாக!" என்றார். எனக்குத் தூக்கிவாரிப்போட்டது! பொறியியல் படித்து, 3ஜி, 4ஜி என்று சுத்தும் மேதைகளின் பேதைமை இப்படி! முயற்சியை விடாத நான், "வெறி நாயிடம் கடிபட்டாலும் ஊசி போடா மாடீர்களா?" என்றேன். சுதாரித்த நண்பர் "உங்கள் விதண்டாவாதம் தவறு" என்று முடித்துக்கொண்டார்.

என்ன நடக்கிறது இங்கே? இதை எழுதும் நான் கிறிஸ்தவ மிஷனரி என்றோ (என் பெயரை வைத்து), ப.ஜ.க. கட்சிக்காரர் என்றோ (மத்திய அரசு திட்டத்தை ஆதரிப்பதால்), மருந்துக் கம்பெனிகளின் ஏஜென்ட் என்றோ, ஏன், இல்லுமினாட்டி என்றோகூட முத்திரை குத்தப்படலாம். இவர்களைப் பொறுத்தவரையில் உலகத்தில் நடப்பது எல்லாம் சாதி. எல்லாம் பெரிய சூழ்ச்சியின் பகுதி. கேட்டல் "தனி ஒருவன்", "பூலோகம்" என்று ஜெயம் ரவி படங்களை மேற்கோள் காட்டுவார்கள். ஜல்லிக்கட்டு விஷயத்தில்கூட தமிழர்களின் கலாச்சார உரிமை என்ற நேரடி வாதத்தைவிட ஏ1, ஏ2 புரளிவே போராட்டம் வெடிக்க உதவியது. மீத்தேன் திட்டம், கூடங்குளம் அணுஉலை, நியூட்ரினோ ஆராய்ச்சி, ஹைட்ரோகார்பன் திட்டம் என எதை எடுத்தாலும் ஒரு அறிவியல் புறம்பான நிலைப்பாட்டை நாம் எடுப்பது சரியா? தக்க பாதுகாப்பு அம்சங்களும், நியாயமான நிபந்தனைகளுடன்கூடிய ஒப்பந்தங்களும் வேண்டும் என்று கேட்டால் பரவாயில்லை. நம்மாழ்வார் சொன்னார், செந்தமிழன் சொன்னார், ஹீலர் பாஸ்கர் சொன்னார் என்று ஏதாவது ஒன்றைப் பிடித்துக்கொண்டு நாட்டின் வளர்ச்சியை முடக்குவது சரியா?

நீங்கள் செய்யாவேண்டியது ஒன்றே! துறைசார்ந்த வல்லுநர்கள் கருத்தைக் கேளுங்கள். அதுவும் ஒருவர் இருவர் கூறுவதை மட்டும் அல்ல, பெரும்பான்மை வல்லுநர்கள் என்ன சொல்கிறார்கள் என்று பாருங்கள். அதை உங்கள் அடிப்படை அறிவைக்கொண்டு அலசி ஆராய்ந்து பாருங்கள். பின் ஒரு முடிவுக்கு வாருங்கள். தடுப்பூசி என்றால் மருத்துவர், அணுஉலை என்றால் அணு விஞ்ஞானிகள் என்று எல்லாவற்றிற்கும் படித்த வல்லுநர்கள் நிறைந்த நாடு நம் நாடு. அவர்களை விட்டு விட்டு தெருவில் போகும் குடுகுடுப்பைக்காரன் அளவுக்கே அறிவு உள்ள, பயத்தையும் பொய்களையும் மட்டுமே விற்று பிழைப்பு நடத்தும் ஆட்களை நம்பினால் நாம் எப்படி வல்லரசு ஆவோம்?

பல லட்சம் குழந்தைகளுக்குப் போடும் ஊசியில் சதி செய்யும் கேவலமான அரசும் மருத்துவர்களும் உள்ள நாடா இந்தியா? இன்னும் உங்களுக்கு இந்த நாட்டின் மீதும் இங்குள்ள அறிவியல் ஆய்வாளர்கள்மீதும் நம்பிக்கை வரவில்லையா? வர வேண்டாம்... குறைந்தபட்சம் உங்கள் குழந்தை விஷயமான தடுப்பூசியை உங்கள் பேஸ்புக்/வாட்சாப் புளுகு மூட்டைகளை ஓரம் கட்டி வைத்துவிட்டு அருகில் உள்ள மருத்துவரையோ அல்லது துறை சார்ந்த நிபினரையோ கேளுங்கள். அவர்கள் தங்கள் பிள்ளைகளுக்கும், தங்களுக்கும் இந்த ஊசியை போடுகிறார்களா என்று கேளுங்கள். அப்போதாவது உங்களுக்கு புரிந்தால் சரி. எக்காரணம் கொண்டும் உங்கள் மூட நம்பிக்கை ஒரு குழந்தையின் ஆரோக்கியத்தில் விளையாட அனுமதிக்காதீர்கள்.

Time Machine - More Politics Than Science

H. G. Wells' Time Machine was the first novel to talk about a time "machine". Time travel already appeared in various mythologies, stories and fantasies. But a machine that can travel through time first appears in this novel. We have to give H. G. Wells the due credit for his idea and materialistic approach towards an imagination which stayed in the realms of mysticism, fantasy and spirituality. But on a closer look, except for few narratives here and there about the appearance of sky when the time travels faster, evolution of humans in to two different races and fate of solar system in distant future, the novel is almost about the social and moral aspects of human race.

At the first sight of the future world in 802,701 CE, the Time Traveler remarks "Communism". This is because he sees no individual houses but collective shelters that resemble apartments. Second, he observes that there is no competition for food, no health problems, reduced growth of population (almost constant) and so on, which he again relates to product of an ideal Socialist state. On seeing the frailty and meekness of the Eloi (surface living fruit-eating people), he reckons that they are like this because of lack of struggle as there is no necessity to struggle for anything at all. He also assumes that struggle against nature and necessity are the driving forces for development, culture, language, science and so on. He sees the future Eloi species as a dormant socially self-controlled species that has nothing else to do than to eat, live and reproduce.

Image Credit: Wikimedia

After the shocking discovery of the subterranean cannibalistic species, he concludes that it is due to the extraordinary class segregation of rich and the working class. He briefly relates the condition of late 19th century workers with the Morlocks (underground living carnivorous species that consumes Eloi for food). How the ever widening gap between classes might drive the evolution of mankind in to a predator prey speciation is beautifully(?) captured in the Eloi - Morlock relationship. Even after becoming the predator, the Morlocks "serve" their Eloi "masters" (read prey) with fine clothing and the likes. Today the capitalistic system may find pleasure in subjugating the working class. Today the roles may be reversed. But in the future, the prey is the one that is fattened for the predator. And we all know who is getting fattened.

Wells, like Orwell and Einstein was a non-Maxist Socialist. It seems almost all remarkable minds of the 20th century were discontent with both the imperialistic capitalism and the totalitarian communism. They wanted people themselves to realize that cut-throat capitalism will not work and embrace a form of democratic socialism. In India too, many leaders like Nehru, Kamraj, Periyar and Annadurai wanted both democracy and socialism to co-exist. They can co-exist given there is no pressure from outside (on either way). But with growing economic pressure, lobby and black-ops by capitalist nations, soon this democratic-socialism fell out of favor. Currently the most happiest and least problematic societies are those that have, in some or other form, democratic-socialist governments.

It is not too late now. If we want our future generation neither to become prey nor to be predators of our own species, we have to act. So instead of traveling faster through time and just observe the future, it is up to us to engineer the future itself! The power is ours!

Why Patenting Genes Is Wrong?

When we talk about "gene patents" there are two broad categories. 1. Patents granted for naturally occurring genes. For example, patents can be obtained for gene sequence of virus, bacteria, certain gene mutation in human or other genes. Once patented, anyone who does research or uses the gene sequence containing organism in their product have to pay royalties to the patent holder. 2. Patents granted for artificially modified genes. Here it can be genetically modified cattle, crops or any other organism or even human genome. It is usually done to tone down unfavorable traits and to enhance or introduce favorable traits. Again, once patented, the company is granted an intellectual monopoly over the gene. Let us see how both cases are absurd and stupid. Only ruthless cut-throat capitalists can favor such unethical and immoral system at the cost of millions of lives.

First let me clear my opinion on genetic engineering. We need genetic engineering to survive as a species in this world.  Let me list out few of the critically important advancements in this field.

1. Human population is growing. To meet the growing demand for food, we cannot go on increasing land usage for agriculture. Land usage for agriculture is the major cause of deforestation and species extinction. Agriculture destroys entire ecosystems for growing food or other crops for us humans alone! So it is high time that we reduce and reverse land utilization. How can we do that? Genetically modified crops with better yield can help us. We can feed the growing population with lesser land if we rightly hit the genes that result in high yields.

2. Water is also a very scarce resource today. With GMO, we can have drought resistant crops which consume less water and hence better usage of water.

3. Reduction of pesticide is also a benefit of GMO crops. Crops designed to resist insects or infections need lesser pesticides and chemicals to grow and hence more eco-friendly.

4. Drug resistance of existing bacterial diseases and new infectious disease like Ebola, Zika are causing lot of deaths and disabilities around the world. Genetic Engineering can provide us with new anti-biotics and vaccines that can cure or prevent these diseases.

5. Diseases like diabetes, obesity, cancer, birth defects and lot more can be caused due to gene mutations. By identifying the specific genetic causes and working on a cure can save lot of lives.

These are few uses I can think now. But the list can be never ending. Organic farming or herbal remedies are no match to these advancements of science and hence we should support scientific advancements instead of pseudoscience mumbo-jumbos. Now let us see how patent system spoils this field with its unrealistic powers!

1. Patents on Naturally Occurring Genes

Did Isaac Newton invent gravity? Did Galileo invent heliocentricity? Did Robert Hooke invent cells? What about Vasco da Gama? Did he invent India? No! They all discovered. Discovery is finding or observing something already in existence. And nobody can claim a patent for a discovery. Genes of naturally occurring virus, bacteria and mutation that cause cancer or other diseases are not invented in any sense. They are just observed, may be for the first time. But how can people claim patents for things like SARS virus genome or mutation that causes breast cancer? Capitalist bots just repeat the same old blabber that "the company has invested money and effort to "find" the gene and anyone else who "uses" should pay them. Else without monetary benefits the system won't work!". Even Newton spent lot of time, effort and money to discover theory of gravity. Can he own a patent? Without any monetary benefit protected by patent system how people like Einstein worked further on Newtonian equations to arrive at more complicated theories like relativity? Things like getting soil from moon or catching a species from deep ocean require lot of money too. If none of them can be patented how can a naturally existing gene can be patented? We can't patent the pattern of seeds in a fruit. We can't patent the sequence of event in embryo development. Similarly no one should be allowed to patent a sequence of genetic material just because they have observed it first or filed for a patent first!

These type of patents cripple research and invention of drugs or solutions to common problems like eradication of mosquito, conservation of endangered species etc. A rich person can setup an R&D lab and mine for genomes of disease causing microbes and mutation, file for patents and act like a patent troll suing everyone who attempts to research on any of them. It is already happening today. We should not let this stay this way until a major epidemic like Ebola becomes pandemic and a corporate holding patent for the gene keeps the entire humanity for ransom!

2. Patents on Modified Genes

Genes are just sequence of organic molecules arranged in a particular pattern, just like an essay is a sequence of letter and a piece of music is a sequence of notes. So even if anyone "creates" a gene, it should not be allowed to be patented but it may be copyrighted (still it is wrong, I will come to that shortly). So if somebody claims that they have "created" a gene "from the scratch" then they can ONLY claim copyright not patent.

Now let us see why copyrighting is also not valid in case of GMOs. All the GMOs in the market today are not original works but derivative works. So, the existing genes are just like songs or literature in public domain. Anyone can create a derivative work over it. But cannot restrict others from doing a similar derivative work. When Monsanto say that they created a particular type of corn, they have worked on existing corn. The corn which Native Americans already genetically modified through selective breeding. Without Native Americans shaping the genes of corn with the chisel of selective breeding, corn, in its current form, will not be here! The wild corn would be of no use for us. Not only corn. All food crops and cattle are product of genetic engineering through selective breeding and co-evolution. Lot of money, time and effort of people for generations are involved in genetically modifying these organisms. Monsanto or any other company cannot just take these organisms and edit a gene here and there to claim that it is their own "intellectual property". What percentage of original genes have been modified, how original is the modification? Is the work is mere compilation of two existing genes? Does it involve only a trivial change like removing a bad mutation? These are some of the questions need to be answered. Also if someone can build on the collective work of people for centuries, then why not others can do the same?

These type of patents prevent high yielding, drought resistant, pest resistant and more nutritious variants of crops from reaching everyone. Even if someone tries to arrive at organisms with similar traits they are threatened with lawsuits. This also applies to researches on new anti-biotics, gene therapies and vaccines.

Not Only Genes!

As we have seen, there is no logic in granting patent to genes. The US government refused to offer patents on gene for a long time. But due to corporate lobbies and coercion, US government surrendered to their demands. But later, US Supreme Court declared that naturally occurring genes cannot be patented. But Europe allows patenting naturally occurring genes, provided they are isolated! All capitalist-run governments accept patent on modified genes (irrespective of the size, nature, triviality of the modification). Now the same is forced on smaller nations through treaties and agreements and in some cases, even through war!

Patents are awarded even for chemicals and molecules. Patent as a system itself favors monopoly. Monopoly always result in accumulation of wealth in the hands of few at the cost of hardship of many. It is high time that governments stop helping these cut-throat corporates and stop appeasing them with unethical patent laws. Instead governments can fund universities, state sponsored labs and organizations to take up the research. Just by spending less on war and weapons, each nation can contribute towards a collective research fund and required technologies can be prioritized based on impact and outcome. By this we can also have some sanity in prioritizing researches. For example, in a capitalistic free market economy, a gel used in cosmetic surgery will be "voted up with wallet" than a search for new anti-biotic. So some level of state planning and state regulation is needed. We cannot allow blind and uncontrolled competition to decide things for us. Let us stand against patent and pseudoscience as both result in crippling of intellectual progress!

A Story of Innovations

Image Credit: WikiMedia

FloraPiss is a large corporate that manufactures and sells fruit juice in United Fates of Antarctica(UFA). One day while researching a method to preserve juices, one of their employer finds a way to carbonate water. Now from here let us see how our FloraPiss becomes the number one innovator using the fair and just patent system. As the great patent system is designed to provide incentive to innovator, to protect their financial interests and to encourage competition to innovate more, we can see how deep the altruistic and progressive system goes to save humanity!

FloraPiss files patent for "dissolving carbon-dioxide in water". So for next 20 years no other company can manufacture soda. FloraPiss starts to sell plain soda water (no sugar or flavor). A soda bottle costs 20 paise to produce but is sold for 20 rupees. It is completely legal and as there is no competition, FloraPiss gets its fair share of profit for the innovation.

There was a problem with packaging as the new drink blew up the existing cans and tetra packs, FloraPiss team innovated a tightly sealed bottle. Though they are already in use in paints and solvent industry, FloraPiss' unique innovation lies in the application of packaging soda. So another patent has been files for "using an air tight bottle with sealable caps to package edible items". WOW! Now nobody can use this innovation for another 20 years.

The employment agreement clearly says that "all inventions, improvements, innovations, discoveries etc during the tenure with the company, during or after office hours, inside or outside the office premises, belongs to the company". So in no way FloraPiss is supposed to give anything to the employee who accidentally carbonated water. But he was given a promotion, a bonus of one years salary and an appreciation mail from the VP and CEO with everyone in CC.

As the packaging patent was a team work, everyone in the team was given a salary increment and an appreciation mail from VP(that's all!).

The company demonstrated its love for the employees by this and there is no need to do anything further. Because it is the company that actually funded their recruitment, training, chairs they sat while inventing, table they placed the carbon-dioxide cylinder, the water, electricity etc. Without all these they would be beggars in the street or pizza delivery boys. So as the rightful owner of the "research" and investor of the "project" FloraPiss has no guilt attached to it like robbing them of their "inventions".

After 3 years, RedSquirt, a middle sized ketchup company uses air tight bottles to package their ketchup! How dare they are to infringe FloraPiss' patent? FloraPiss sues RedSquirt and the case drags for 4 years. RedSquirt goes bankrupt and FloraPiss gives it life by acquisition. A merger, "RedPiss" is born! FloraPiss acquires a new patent in this merger, "Twist to open". This innovation by an employee who worked for RedSquirt allowed sealable caps to be reused. FloraPiss forces him to sign an NDA and fires him after merger! They are the rightful owner of the IP now. How can a third-class employee claim ownership for it?

After 15 years, FloraPiss research team stumbles upon a way to add sugar to the soda. "Lot of R&D efforts and investments" were involved in the process as addition of sugar sometimes made the soda solution unstable and blew away the caps of the bottles. So FloraPiss also invest a lot in designing a good bottle design. They find a lighter, cheaper and more stronger alternate for the glass bottles. They use the plastic bottles which are already used in chemical industries with their acquired "twist to open" cap design. With this new innovative design, FloraPiss stars producing larger bottles. the cap can be reused and customers can pour some sweet soda, seal back the bottle air tight and keep it in their fridge! What an innovation. FloraPiss files a patent for "adding sweetener to soda water".

5 more years later, patent for soda water expires. DewyDrool, a competition adds aspartame to the soda water and starts to sell. As it infringes "adding sweetener to soda water" patent, FloraPiss sues them. But DewyDrool is also a large player like FloraPiss. They settle the case outside the court by cross-licensing. Now, FloraPiss can also produce "diet" soda and market them as "healthy" alternate to the sugary drinks. While DewyDrool can sell sugary soda as "energy drink". What a great leap!

FloraPiss and DewyDrool setup a non-profit independent body in to which other companies can join and get licenses. But there is a catch. They have to give some money to FloraPiss and DewyDrool, or give some of their patents to them in exchange. The patent will be evaluated for its worthiness by the "independent" body and any extra payment is settled. By this way, FloraPiss and DewyDrool has opened up their technology to fasten the progress in cool drink revolution!


Due to all the licensing fee, increase in shares due to near monopoly, law suits and greater profit margin, FloraPiss becomes a market leader and buys lot of companies. It even sets up some small proxy companies which hold patents acquired in due course and sue competitions without backlash. It is perfectly legal and within the limits of law! MBA students are inspired by FloraPiss CEO's BED-Talks and biography. FloraPiss becomes a ready-made theme for lot of inspirational stories and self-help books.

Meanwhile FloraPiss sues Floor-a-Piss, a chain of paid urinals where people pee directly on the floor, for trademark violation. Floor-a-Piss changes its name and settles the case outside the court.

Freemanistan is a nearby third world country where there are no patent laws to protect the "intellectual property rights". So FloraPiss is reluctant to start its business there! But new government in Freemanistan tries to establish trade contact with UFA. The problem is, there is already a market of soda water, sugary soda water, colored soda water, flavored soda water etc in Freemanistan. Actually soda water was in use in Freemanistan for last 200 years! So FloraPiss is afraid that once the trade opens, cheap import from Freemanistan will spoil its market share.

So FloraPiss and other such companies in UFA lobby their government to press Freemanistan government to sign trade treaties which enforces IP laws so that none of the UFA's corporates suffer due to the inhuman stone age laws of Freemanistan. UFA tries to do that but Freemanistan government refuses. So UFA enforces economic sanctions and trade embargo towards Freemanistan, which forces the Freemanistan government to involve in black market. Soon UFA backed "liberation army" start a "pro-democratic" revolution in Freemanistan and the government falls. The new "pro-democracy government" signs all treaties and agreements which opens room for patent laws in Freemanistan. FloraPiss buys most of the existing companies in Freemanistan and automates production, resulting in lot of job cuts. FloraPiss also acquires patents for sparkling wine, fizzy fruit juices etc in the process.

Later in Freemanistan, a new breed of companies headed by natives surface. Their tactics are no different than FloraPiss, yet the people worship them as their own innovators and an answer to UFA's aggression. Facebook posts and Tweets supporting domestic businesses and exposing foreign conspiracies are setup. Freemanistan companies also amass lot of wealth and goes exactly the same way as UFA companies from buying out smaller companies to lobbying the government to amend labor laws. Those who oppose Freemanistan businessmen are labeled anti-nationals.

There is really no way to tell the difference between the following:

• Pages by FloraPiss like companies that claim their products and activities are safe and legal
• Pages by NGOs like BlueCheese that claim soda causes cancer and autism and their factories caused tsunamis. (Soon FloraPiss will be certified as non-polluter by BlueCheese, while locals are labeled harmful)
• Pages by very few university professors, claiming FloraPiss factories discharge untreated water to rivers and their economic model resulted in unemployment and stagnation in cool-drinks industry.
• Pages by Freemanistan nationalists claiming that FloraPiss is backed by religious groups of UFA and they in turn fund conversion activities in Freemanistan. They also claim that soda causes fertility problems.
• Pages advocating the cholesterol-free organic soda, produced as per ancient sacred texts and that has unicorn amniotic fluid. They claim that it can cure all known diseases.

FloraPiss' production methods vary a lot in Freemanistan compared to UFA and causes lot of environmental problems. Some "pro-science accounts" in Facebook and Twitter expose the "stupidity" behind opposition to FloraPiss practices. They sacrifice some straw-men like BlueCheese and ultra organic soda movement on the altar of rationalism to silence these anti-science retards.

Whenever FloraPiss' tactics of forcing countries to sign trade treaties and deals using bribes, coercion and lobby is exposed, "notable economists" and "concerned citizens" bash anti-patent and anti-corporate voices, accusing them of copying and violation of intellectual property rights! How stupid and greedy these bastards trying to steal ideas and hard work of years!

People from UFA and Freemanistan like and share every post they "feel" true through their "personal experience" while enjoying a can of FloraPiss or PolarPee (Freemanistan's National Soda!). FloraPiss announces that Chandra Bai, Freemanistan woman (but UFA citizen!) as their new CEO. Freemanistan Social media celebrates it with posts narrating the greatness of Freemanistani people.

Meanwhile FloraPiss and PolarPee patent "organic soda" formulas and sue each other. Share prices fluctuate for both companies during every trail and judgement after which it will be taken to the next level of courts. Wolves of Ceiling Street make lot of money by speculating the market. Patent lawyers buy private islands.

A leak from Banana (a small nation in Indian ocean) reveals that many of the UFA and Freemanistan businessmen have hidden money in tax havens. Yet the governments come for their rescue saying that taking action against them will result in economic crash. As everything from savings to pension fund are linked to market, people "forget" the incident and move ahead with new movies and football matches.

Innovation continues not only in cool-drinks industry but also in every other industry from medicine to agriculture.

அறிவுசார் சொத்துரிமையின் அறிவிலித்தனம்

பதிப்புரிமை, வர்த்தகக்குறியுரிமை மற்றும் காப்புரிமை எனும் மூன்று வெவ்வேறு பொருள்படும் சொற்களை "அறிவுசார் சொத்துரிமை" (Intellectual Property) என்று பொதுமைப்படுத்தி இன்று பலர் தாங்களும் குழம்பி, பிறரையும் குழப்பிக்கொண்டுள்ளனர். இந்த குழப்பம் எப்படி வந்தது என்று தெரியவில்லை. ஆனால் இதனால் ஆதாயம் அடையும் பெருநிறுவனங்கள் இதைப் பரப்புவதில் குறியாக உள்ளன. முதலில் இவை மூன்றும் என்ன என்று பார்ப்போம். அதோடு, இவை எந்த நோக்கத்தில் எப்படிப் பயன்படுகின்றன என்றும், எப்படி இருந்தால் இது பெரிதும் நன்மை பயக்கும் என்றும் சேர்த்தே பார்ப்போம்.

பதிப்புரிமை (Copyrights)

ஒரு கதையோ, கவிதையோ, ஓவியமோ, பாடலோ மற்றும் இதுபோன்ற கலைவடிவங்கள் அனைத்தும் பதிபுரிமைக்கு உட்பட்டவையே. ஒருவர் எழுதிய அதே வரிகளை நீங்களும் எழுதிவிட்டு, "இது என் பாடல்!" என்று சொந்தம் கொண்டாடினால் நீங்கள் பதிப்புரிமையை மீறுகிறீர்கள். ஆனால், அதில் வரும் இரண்டு மூன்று வரிகளை நீங்கள் மேற்கோள் காட்டினாலோ, அல்லது அந்தப் பாடலை தழுவி வேறு வார்த்தைகளோடு ஒரு பாடலை எழுதினாலோ, அது பதிப்புரிமை மீறல் ஆகாது. அதே போல ஒரு புத்தகத்தை இரவல் கொடுப்பதும், மறு விற்பனை செய்வதும் பதிப்புரிமை மீறல் ஆகாது. ஆனால், நீங்களே அந்தப்  புத்தகத்தை அச்சிட்டு விற்றால் அது பதிப்புரிமை மீறல் ஆகும். இது நாடுளுக்கு ஏற்ப வெவ்வேறு கால அளவுகளுக்கு செல்லுபடியாகும்.

இது தோன்றியபோது உண்மையான படைப்பாளிக்கு உரிய அங்கீகாரமும், புகழும், ஊதியமும் கிடக்கவே உருவாக்கப்பட்டது எனக் கொள்ளலாம். ஆனால் இன்றோ இது படைப்பாளிகளையும் மக்களையும் பெருமுதலாளிகள் சுரண்டவே பயன்படுகின்றன. ஒரு புத்தகமோ, பாடலோ, ஓவியமோ ஒரே ஒரு தனிமனிதனின் உழைப்பால் உருவாவதில்லை. மாறாக பலரின் கூட்டு முயற்சியே அது. ஒரு பாடலை எடுத்துக்கொள்வோம். ஒருவர் வரிகளை எழுதுகிறார். ஒருவர் இசை அமைக்கிறார். பலர் வாத்தியங்களை வாசிக்கின்றனர். வேறு பலர் அதை ஒளிப்பதிவு செய்கின்றனர். வேறு ஒருவர் பாடுகிறார். அனால் இந்த பாடலை இசைத்தட்டாக வெளியிடும் நிறுவனம் இதற்குப் பதிப்புரிமையைப் பெறுகிறது. இனி இதை ஒவ்வொரு முறை நீங்கள் வாங்கும்  போதும், ரேடியோவில் கேட்கும்போதும், அந்த நிறுவனத்திற்கு வருமானம் கிடைக்கும். ஆனால் அந்தப் பாட்டை உருவாக்க உழைத்த இதர அனைவருக்கும் கொடுக்கப்பட்ட சம்பளத்தோடு சரி. இந்த கொள்ளை லாபத்தில் 10 பைசாகூடப் பங்கு கிடையாது! இது நியாயமா?

பார்பதற்கு நன்மை செய்யும் சட்டம் போலத் தெரிந்தாலும், இது உண்மையில் இன்று பெருமுதலாளிகளால் வளைக்கப்பட்டு படைப்பாளிகளுக்கு விரோதமாகவே திருப்பப்படுகின்றன. நீங்கள் ஒரு புத்தகம் எழுதினால், அதை அச்சிடும் நிறுவனம் அதன் பதிப்புரிமையை உங்களிடம் இருந்து பெற்றபின் தான் விரும்பும் மாற்றங்களைச் செய்யலாம், நினைத்த விலைக்கு விற்கலாம். மொழிபெயர்க்கலாம். அனால், உங்கள் மகனால் கூட அந்த புத்தகத்தைத் தழுவி ஒரு நாடகமோ, பாடலோ எழுத முடியாது. இதுவே இன்றைய பதிப்புரிமைச் சட்டத்தின் நிலை!

அமெரிக்காவில் இந்தச் சட்டத்தின் கால அளவு அதிகரிக்கப்பட்டுக்கொண்டே உள்ளது. இதற்கு மிக்கி மௌஸும் ஒரு காரணம் என்றால் நீங்கள் நம்புவீர்களா? மிக்கி மௌஸின் பதிப்புரிமையைத் தக்கவைத்துக்கொள்ள டிஸ்னீ குழுமம் அரசியல்வாதிகளிடம் பேரம் பேசி, பதிப்புரிமைச் சட்டத்தை தனக்கேற்றார்போல மாற்றிகொண்டிருக்கிறது. இதனால் இன்று பல லட்சக்கணக்கான புத்தகங்கள், பாடல்கள், திரைப்படங்கள் என்று பல்வேறு படைப்பாளிகளின் உழைப்பு பொதுமக்களுக்குப் பயன்படாமல், மூலையில் முடங்கியுள்ளன!

இதுபோல படைப்புகளும், படைப்பாளிகளும் வீணாவதைத் தடுக்க என்ன செய்யலாம்? நேரடியாகப் படைப்பில் தொடர்பில்லாத நபர்களோ, நிறுவனங்களோ எந்த ஒரு படைப்பு வடிவத்திற்கும் பதிப்புரிமை கோர முடியாதவாறு சட்டங்கள் மாற்றப்படவேண்டும். படைப்பாளியின் உழைப்புக்கு உரிய கூலியும், அதே சமயம் அந்த படைப்பை ஆக்கப்பூர்வமாக (ஆதயமற்ற வகையில்) பயன்படுத்தவோ, தழுவி புதிய படைப்புகளை உருவாக்கவோ எந்தத் தடையும் இருக்கக்கூடாது. இந்த விஷயத்தில் க்ரியேடிவ் காமன்ஸ் (Creative Commons) பல நல்ல முயற்சிகளை முன்னெடுக்கிறது. நாமும் அவர்களுக்கு உதவலாம்.

வர்த்தகக்குறியுரிமை (Trademark)

கடைக்குப் போகும் நாம், அங்கு எந்த சோப்பு அல்லது எண்ணெய் வேண்டும் என்று எப்படிக் கேட்கிறோம்? அந்தப பொருளின் தயாரிப்பு நிறுவனத்தின் பெயரைச்சொல்லித்தானே? போலிகளைத் தடுக்கவும், மக்கள் மத்தியில் தங்களுக்கென்று ஒரு அங்கீகாரம் கிடைக்கவும், பெயர்கள், லோகோக்கள் மற்றும் சில அடையாளக்குறிகளையும் நிறுவனங்கள் பயன்படுத்துகின்றன. இதுவே வர்த்தகக்குறியுரிமையாகும்.

இன்றும்கூட இது முக்கியமான ஒரு உரிமை என்றே கருதிகிறேன். சந்தையில் விற்பனை செய்யப்படும் தனியார் தயாரிப்புகள் உள்ள வரை இந்த உரிமை தேவையான ஒன்றே. போலிகளையும், தரமற்ற மாற்றுகளையும் அடையாளம் காணவும், தரமான பொருட்களுக்கு முன்னுரிமை அளிக்கவும் இவை அவசியமே.

அனால், இது இங்கேயே நின்றுவிடுவதில்லை. "பிராண்ட் வேல்யூ" (Brand Value) என்று மேல்தட்டு மற்றும் நடுத்தட்டு மக்களால் ஊதிப்பெரிதாக்கப்பட்ட மாயை இந்த வர்த்தகக்குறியுரிமையைத் தனக்குச் சாதகமாகப் பயன்படுத்துகிறது. ஒரே பொருளை வேறு வேறு நிறுவனங்கள் வேறு வேறு விலைக்கு விற்பது நாம் அறிந்த ஒன்றே. வெவேறு உற்பத்தி முறை அல்லது தரம் என்று மட்டும் இல்லாமல், அந்த நிறுவனத்தின் மீது இருக்கும் ஒரு மூடத்தனமான மரியாதைக்காகவே மக்கள் கூடிய விலை கொடுக்கத் தயங்குவதில்லை. ஒரே தொழிற்சாலையில் தயாராகும்  ரொட்டி,சர்க்கரை, கைபேசி என்று பல விதமான பொருட்களும், சந்தைப்படுத்தும் நிறுவங்களின் பிராண்ட் வேல்யூ காரணமாக வெவ்வேறு விலைக்கு விற்பது அவலம்.

அரசாங்கம் ஒரே மாதிரிப் பொருட்களுக்கு விலை உச்ச வரம்பினை விதிக்க வேண்டும். லாபத்திற்கும் சதவிகித உச்ச வரம்பினை நிர்ணயிக்க வேண்டும். இதை அரசாங்கம் சட்டம் போட்டு மட்டும் தடுக்க முடியாது. மக்களும் குருட்டுத்தனமாக ஒரு நிறுவனத்தின் பொருளே உயர்ந்தது என்று மொய்க்காமல் அறிவைக்கொண்டு ஆராய்ந்து வாங்க வேண்டும். ஆப்பிள் நிறுவனத்தின் ஆட்டுமந்தை வாடிக்கையாளர்கள் இதற்கு ஒரு எடுத்துக்காட்டு. ஒரு கைபேசியை 40,000 ரூபாய் கொடுத்து வாங்குவதற்கு முக்கியக் காரணம் அது "ஆப்பிள்" நிறுவனத் தயாரிப்பு என்பதே! இந்த வகைக் குருட்டுத்தனமான போக்கை மக்கள் கைவிடுவது நல்லது.

காப்புரிமை (Patents)

இது இருப்பதிலேயே அபாயமான, அபத்தமான ஒரு சட்டம். ஒருவர் ஒரு கருத்தை(idea) சிந்தித்து, அதை மேலோட்டமாக விவரித்து எழுதி, அதற்க்கு காப்புரிமை வாங்கிவிட்டால்,வேறு யாரும் அந்த ஐடியாவையோ அதை ஒத்த ஐடியாவையோ பயன்படுத்த முடியாது. ஒருவர் தூண்டில் முள்ளையோ, தைக்கும் ஊசியையோ காப்புரிமை பெற்றுவிட்டால், வேறு யாரும் அதே போல ஒரு தூண்டில் முள்ளையோ, ஊசியையோ தயாரித்தால் அவருக்கு நஷ்டஈடு கொடுக்கவேண்டும் அல்லது கம்பி எண்ண வேண்டும்! இது இங்கேயே நின்றுவிடாமல், மருந்து, கல்வித்திட்டம், அறுவை சிகிச்சை முறை, தயாரிப்பு உக்தி, மனித மரபணு என்று எதில் வேண்டுமானாலும் காப்புரிமை பெற வழிசெய்கிறது.

கல கலமாக நாம் தாழ்பாளை பக்கவாட்டில் தள்ளித்தானே திறக்கிறோம்? இதை "Slide to  unlock " என்ற பெயரில் ஆப்பிள் காப்புரிமை பெற்றுள்ளது. இதேபோல விதைகளுக்கும் மொசாண்டோ நிறுவனம் காப்புரிமை பெற்றுள்ளது. இங்கே சொல்லவேண்டும் என்றால், இந்த வலைப்பூ போதாது! அவ்வளவு முட்டாள்த்தனமான காப்புரிமைகள் வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளன. ஒரு கண்டுபிடிப்பைக் கண்டுபிடித்தவனுக்கு அதன் பலனாக வருமானம் ஈட்டித்தரும் திட்டம் போலச் சொல்லப்பட்டாலும், இது உண்மையில் அப்படி வேலை  செய்வதில்லை.

பல பெருநிறுவனங்கள் பணியில் அமர்த்தும் முன் போடும் ஒப்பந்தங்களில் அந்தப் பணியாளர் என்ன கண்டுபிடித்தாலும் அந்த நிறுவனத்துக்கே சொந்தம் என்று கையொப்பம் இட வைக்கின்றன. மேலும் பணிஉயர்வு வேண்டும் என்றால் இத்தனை காப்புரிமைகளை பெற்றுத்தர வேண்டும் என்றும் நிர்பந்திக்கின்றன. அதனால்த்தான் இன்று பல கண்டுபிடிப்புகள் யாருடையது என்று தெரியாமல் ஒரு நிறுவனத்தின் கண்டுபிடிப்பாக அறியப்படுகின்றன. மாத ஊதியம் தவிர அந்த கண்டுபிடிப்பை நிகழ்த்திய நபருக்கு எந்தப் பயனும் இல்லை. அதே நேரம், இந்த காப்புரிமையை வைத்துக்கொண்டு எதிர் நிறுவனங்கள் மற்றும் அரசாங்கங்கள் மீதும்கூட வழக்குகள் தொடுத்து பணம் சம்பாரிக்க முடியும்.

இந்தியா போன்ற நாடுகளை அமெரிக்கா, உலக வங்கி, இந்தியப் பெருமுதலாளிகள் என்று பலதரப்பிலும் அழுத்தம் கொடுத்து இதுபோன்ற லாபவெறிக்கென்றே உருவாக்கப்பட்ட சட்டங்களையும் ஒப்பந்தங்களையும் ஏற்க வைக்கின்றனர். இதனால் தொழிலில் தரம் மற்றும் விலை ரீதியிலான போட்டி இல்லாமல் சட்ட ரீதியான சிக்கல்களும், மிரட்டல்கலுமே அதிகரிகின்றன. இதில் குறிப்பிட்ட தொழில்நுட்பம் தொடர்பான பல காப்புரிமைகளை வாங்கி வைத்துக்கொண்டு அதைப் பயன்படுத்தும் இதர நிறுவனங்களையும் அரசுகளையும் மிரட்டியே சம்பாரிக்கும் காப்புரிமை ஒட்டுண்ணிகளும் (patent  trolls) உண்டு.

ஒரு சிறு எடுத்துக்காட்டைப் பார்ப்போம். ஒரு தோல் புற்றுநோய் செல்லை எடுத்து அதில் சில மாறுதல்கள் செய்து அந்நோயைக் குணப்படுத்த ஒரு முறையை ஒருவர் சுய முயற்சியில் உருவாகுகிறார் என்று வைத்துக்கொள்வோம். அனால் அவர் வேலை செய்யும் மென்பொருள் நிறுவனத்திடம் அவர் கையெழுத்திட்டுள்ள ஒப்பந்தப்படி, அந்தக் கண்டுபிடிப்புக்கு அந்த நிறுவனமே காப்புரிமையாளர்! அந்த நிறுவனமோ மென்பொருள் நிறுவனம். அகவே அது இந்தக் காப்புரிமையை வேறு ஒரு மருத்துவ நிறுவனத்திற்கு விற்றுக் காசு பார்த்துவிடும். வாங்கிய நிறுவனமோ, இதே முறையில் வேறு பல புற்றுநோய்களுக்கும் மருந்து தயாரிக்க முடியும் என்று அறிந்துகொள்ளும். பிறகு ஒரு மருந்தை தயாரித்து அதை நினைத்த விலைக்குச் சந்தைப் படுத்தும். காப்புரிமை உள்ளதால், வேறு யாரும் அந்த மருந்தைத் தயாரிக்க முடியாது. இப்போதே கண்ணைக்கட்டுகிறதா? கவனியுங்கள்.இப்போது வேறு ஒரு மருத்துவ நிறுவனம், தைராய்டு புற்றுநோய்க்கு ஒரு மருந்தை உருவாகுகிறது என்று வைத்துக்கொள்வோம். முதல் நிறுவனம் இரண்டாம் நிறுவனம் பயன்படுத்திய முறையையே கேள்விக்குள்ளாக்கலாம். அவர்கள் ஒரு புற்றுநோய் செல்லை எடுத்து அதில் மாறுதல் செய்தது அந்த மருந்தை உருவாக்கொயிருந்தால் (இப்படிப் பொத்தம்பொதுவாகவே காப்புரிமை வழங்கப்படுகிறது) அதுவே போதும்! முதல் மருந்து நிறுவனம் இரண்டாம் மருந்து நிறுவனம் மேல் வழக்குப் போடும். அந்த வழக்கில் எவன் கை ஓங்குகிறதோ அவனுக்கு மற்றவன் கப்பம் கட்ட வேண்டும்! மீண்டும் இந்த வழக்குக்கு ஆனா செலவு முதல் இவர்கள் லாப வெறிவரை அனைத்தும் நோயாளிகளின் மேல் சுமத்தப்படும்! முடிவாக, அந்த தோல் புற்றுநோய் மருந்தை முதலில் கண்டுபிடித்தவருக்கே அந்த நோய் வந்தாலும் அவரும் அதை அவர்கள் விற்கும் விலைக்கே வாங்க வேண்டும்! இது சரியா?

முடிவாக...

இனி யாராவது உங்களிடம் வந்து "அறிவுசார் சொத்துரிமை" என்று சொன்னால் அவர்களிடம் "பதிப்புரிமை, வர்த்தகக்குறியுரிமை மற்றும் காப்புரிமை. இதில் நீங்கள் எதைக் குறிப்பிடுகிறீர்கள்?" என்று கேளுங்கள். இப்படி முட்டாள்தனமான வார்த்தைகளை வைத்துக்கொண்டு மக்களைச் சுரண்ட ஒரு கூட்டமே அலைகிறது. ஒவ்வொரு படைப்பும் அதற்க்கு முன்னால் இருந்த படைப்புகளை உள்வாங்கியே உருவாகிறது. ஒவ்வொரு மனிதனும் தனியாக எதையும் படைப்பதில்லை. அதுபோலவே கண்டுபிடிப்புகளும். யாரும் பிறந்ததுமுதல் தானாகவே எல்லாம் கற்றுத் தேர்ந்து பெரிய கண்டுபிடிப்புகளை நிகழ்த்துவதில்லை. நம் முன்னோர்கள் நெருப்புக்கும் கிணறுக்கும் துணிக்கும் மொழிக்கும் காப்புரிமை பெற்றிருந்தால் இன்றும் நாம் அம்மணமாக குரங்குகளோடு குரங்காகவே வாழவேண்டும். பிறர் அறிவை கூசாமல் "திருடும்" நாம், நம் அறிவை பிறருடன் பகிர்வதே மனிதம்! ஆம். விலங்குகள் தலைமுறைதோறும் அறிவை சேர்த்து அடுத்த தலைமுறைக்கு வழங்குவதில்லை. அவற்றிடம் அறிவைப் பரிமார மொழியும் இல்லை. இந்த ஒரு வேறுபாடே மனிதனை மனிதனாக மாற்றியது. அறிவைப் பகிர்ந்தும், பரப்பியும், இருக்கும் கருத்துகளை சேர்த்தும், மேன்படுத்தியும் நாம் முன்னேறியுள்ளோம். இப்படி வந்த அறிவும், கலையும் இன்று ஒருசிலரின் லாபவெறிக்காக பூட்டிவைக்கப்படுகிறது. இருக்கும் அறிவை மேம்படுத்தவும் வேறு அறிவுடன் சேர்த்து புதிய ஒன்றை உருவாக்கவும் முடியாமல் தேக்கநிலை ஏற்படுகிறது. இவை எல்லாம் பல்லாயிரம் கொடிகளை சிலர் மட்டும் சேர்த்துக்கொள்ள செய்யப்படும் திட்டமிட்ட சதி என்றால் மிகை ஆகாது.

இதுபோன்ற முட்டாள்தனமான சட்டங்களை எதிர்ப்போம். பொதுவில் இருந்து எடுக்கப்பட்ட அறிவும் கலையும் பொதுவிலேயே வைக்கப் பாடுபடுவோம்!

The Dog Question

You may be working late. After you reached your area by the sub-urban train or city bus, you have to walk the last mile to your home. You start walking... Suddenly, a dog runs towards you barking!

Has this happened to you?

You are a law abiding citizen who wears helmet while riding your motorcycle. But the street dogs of the locality don't like it. They give a good chase now and then. One day you hit a pothole or a stone, throwing you over the handle bar.

Has this happened to you?

Every day around 100 people are bitten by dogs in Chennai alone (as of 2013). From people going for a walk/jog for their health to street vendors who carry their bags and baskets on head for a living, dogs are making everyone's life miserable. Yet for few "animal lovers", everyone needs to tolerate these ugly and demonic creatures.

If you raise a complaint with the city officials, they will say that they will only do a "family planning operation" (this is the exact way they mention sterilization!) and capture only rabid dogs. Also, they claim that almost all dogs are vaccinated and there is no risk of rabies! But again, every year around 10 people are dying in Chennai alone due to dog bites (as of 2013). Chennai Corporation has a habit of appending "ALL DOGS ARE NOT RABID DOGS" in all complaints related to dogs. But there are still lots of questions unanswered! Read on...

What Are The Problems With Dogs?

1. They bite:

Unlike what these people say, not only rabid dogs bite. ALL DOGS BITE. It is almost arbitrary. Anything can intimidate them. For some dogs, just carrying a luggage, being tall or heavy, having a beard etc. are enough to get intimidated. Also they bite out of fear. Irrespective of what corporation or Blue Cross claims, after getting bitten by a dog, we MUST visit doctors and get the injections immediately. Else we may end up as rabies victim statistics of the year! I have seen dogs biting women, children, elderly people and disabled people with my own eyes. One of the case was heart wrenching. A visually challenged man was selling pencils boxes. A dog bit him. When some of the public (including me) tried to stone the dog, a lady (from what she said, I assume she feeds those stray dogs daily) came and defended the dog saying, it is the mistake of the blind man to show a cane. So her dog got upset and afraid of his behavior and bit him! What a logic?!!

2. They Contaminate the Surrounding

Not only stray dogs. But ALL dogs pee and defecate. How good it will be to get greeted with dog poop or dog vomit on your doorsteps? They drip their saliva everywhere they go, pee anywhere they like and defecate wherever they want. This poses a great risk for people's health. Dogs can carry many virus/bacteria apart from rabies which can cause diseases and even death in humans. Will these dog lovers come and clean every dog shit and vomit on call basis? These dogs take dip in drainage and roam freely on roads. Who knows what percentage of diseases is spread through these 100,000+ dogs in the city!

3. They Are Nuisance for Road Users

Almost everyone has a friend/family or self who got chased by a dog while riding a bike and crashed, fracturing few bones and got some stitches. But the denial of corporation authorities and animal lovers are sickening. They are hurt by a stone thrown on a dog, yet they want us to take it easy when our loved ones suffer fractures! How humane? Also we have to count the cost of servicing the vehicles too! How much public's money is wasted for the kinks of some?

4. They Bark and Howl

Dogs destroy peaceful sleep of people. What about the grandpa who recently had bypass? Or the new born baby in her cradle? Don't they deserve sleep, let alone the night shift workers, early risers and students? These dogs howl and bark suddenly and wake people during nights and days!

5. They Give a Hard Time for Pedestrians

People are encouraged to take a walk to nearby places for sake of health and environment. But these filthy creatures make it hard for people to take a walk on the road. They bark, they chase and they come and smell/lick our bags and dress. It may be OK for animal lovers to get "licked" by dogs. But not for me! I have seen people chased by dogs, falling down or getting hit by vehicles.

Who Is Behind This?

Blue Cross, People for Animals and PeTA (yes! The same group that kills thousands of animals in USA every year and the one that protested against Jallikattu) are claiming that it is cruel to kill dogs. They don't even want the dogs to be relocated or kept in shelters. They want the dogs to be free on the streets! They want the dogs to be treated humanely. But at what cost? By treating humans like dogs? If their sterilization strategy had worked, how can the dog population can be 170,000 and counting? If their vaccination programs are for real, then how can 10+ people are dying of rabies? These are deaths that happen apart from general population which takes anti-rabies shots shortly after bitten by dogs. I myself have a firsthand experience with Blue Cross. I rescued a cat from a pit. I called them, but they refused to pick the kitten up. So I took it to their office myself. They took the kitten and asked me for money! They said that I must give money to feed the animal or else I should take it back! This is their version of love for animals it seems. If they are animal lovers, why they force a person who rescued a kitten to pay money? These organizations involve in many more questionable activities and put animal interests (or what they see as animal interests) over human interests.

If They Want...

So, if they want to keep dog(s), they can. But they have to keep it in their house and when they bring them out, they should accompany them. The dogs can be free inside their home and but they should be chained and handled properly on roads. If any dog without chain or a human company is encountered, people should be allowed to kill the dog in self-defense. Even if the dog is licensed, if there is no chain AND no human supervision and the dog is not inside a private property, we should have the right to kill them.

If they want to save the stray dogs, they can take them to places like Blue Cross or PeTA, where they can give whatever royal treatment they want to give. They can "love" their dogs as they claim that they are "animal lovers" and enjoy their dogs' licking skills. They can have "family planning operations" or have planned families. They can vaccinate or they can skip it for fear of "vaccination induced autism" or for treating rabies virus humanely.

If their flawed argument is applied to other creatures like cockroaches, flies, mosquito etc., imagine where we will be heading to! Will corporation also refrain from pouring larvicide in water tanks to treat mosquito humanely? Or are we supposed not to kill rats and cockroaches in our houses? What about the tapeworm or ringworm? Are doctors wrong to kill them with Albendazole? Where these people's stupid anti-human love for "animals" will end? Will they also fight for humane treatment of polio virus by banning Polio vaccine? If it is OK to kill certain virus/bacteria/insects/animals for human welfare, why not these dogs?

Already these dog-lovers are protesting against dog meat in China yet they never fail to buy mutton or beef for their beloved dogs. Why it is OK to kill a lamb or ox to feed a dog and not OK to kill a dog for well-being of many humans living in that area? These animal welfare lobby are a bunch of rich people with followers (yes, they are a cult) from all walks of life. They just touch the emotional nerves and make people believe that they have a point. Unless we count their paraphilia for animals, there is not point to defend these dogs.

Government should take rigid steps to ensure safety of civilians and suppress this type of people with deviant and unethical views and behaviors. Life and well-being of citizens are far more important than few stray dogs. They don't have a family waiting for them. They don't have a future for themselves. But people who lost their life and health to these dogs have all these. My vote in coming election is to the party that will surely eliminate all these unworthy creatures.

Leave and Travel?

For last few days, there was much noise about the tax on EPF. Thankfully the government has reversed the same now. But there is a feeble cry in my mind for a long time. This is about the non-taxable nature of Leave and Travel Allowance (LTA). To makes things simple and not to waste time on things that are not related to this post, please read about LTA here: http://taxguru.in/income-tax/taxability-of-leave-travel-allowance-lta-and-relevant-aspects-to-keep-in-mind.html

Why traveling alone is given a privilege over other forms of recreations or entertainments?

So what is the problem with LTA? I am not against LTA tax exemptions. But I am asking why traveling alone is given a privilege over other forms of recreations or entertainments? It is correct to argue that travel encourages tourism and indirectly benefits the economy and hence the tax exemption. But this can be said to anything. For example, a good guitar costs around 7,000 to 15,000 rupees. A good set of encyclopedia costs around 5,000 to 10,000 rupees. A hobby telescope costs around 4,000 to 8,000 rupees. Can you get tax deduction on these? They also encourage trade and business. It is profitable for the business and pays the craftsmen. It also encourages the "scientific temper" among the public which in turn may result in more inventions, discoveries, creativity and overall progress of the nation. Why there is no tax exemption on these things?

Also not everyone likes to travel. For example, I like to spend days together in a locked room than visiting 10 locations in 3 days. It is neither relaxing, not informative to travel that much in the small vacations we avail now-a-days. Some people may have a working spouse or studying kid or bedridden parents and hence couldn't plan for a travel. Physically challenged people, people with chronic diseases etc. also prefer to stay home instead of taking that extra risk of travelling. Also travels result in increased number of accidents, which indirectly harm the economy through reduced productivity, insurance cost and loss of life. As we can see, LTA is skewed towards people who like to travel a lot. But why leave behind the considerable population who don't want to travel?

A group of friends can travel to Goa or Pondicherry and booze and happily claim the travel expenses under LTA while another group of friends interested in astronomy have to fund their telescope without any encouragement like tax benefits. Is this acceptable? I think it is not! I try my best to list few of the things that can be exempted from tax. This can be clubbed under one new category "Recreation and Hobby Allowance" or RHA!

a. Exercise and Fitness Equipment

As an encouragement towards a stronger and healthy India, fitness equipment with valid scientific backing can be excluded from taxation. Why I say they should have valid scientific backing? Because claiming tax benefit for a magnetic amulet that can "cure" obesity is not what we want end of the day, right? Indian Medical Association and other such Government bodies should have a transparent process to identify valid fitness equipment so that people can get tax benefits for them. Also spending on proper sport gears like balls, nets, helmets etc. for children should be non-taxable for the parents. The price tag on a 600 rupees shoe will look like 540 rupees for a salaried middleclass parent. Will it not encourage a student somewhere to become a Olympic gold medalist holding the Tricolor?

b. Musical Instruments, Drawing and Painting Tools and the Likes

Music is integral part of our culture, so are the various arts. Music, drawing, painting, dancing, sculpting and other forms of arts demand lot of money for the equipment and tools involved. We all know that it is not cheap to learn any art. And art has no age too! Art is long and life is short, right? Is it wrong to learn Tanjore painting at 35? I am not even saying that the fee amount should be non-taxable (I will be happy if it is!) At least the money spent on the articles, tools and instruments involved should be non-taxable. Again, institutions like UGC should strongly scrutinize the candidates for this exemption as pseudo-science and religion can sneak in to this category easily.

c. Books, Infotainment Media (CD/DVD/e-Books/Downloaded Contents)

Good books are indicators of a good culture and civilization!

We are reading lesser and lesser if we don't consider our WhatsApp and Facebook ASCI diarrhea as reading. Good books are indicators of a good culture and civilization. In this modern era, not only books, but interactive software, videos and audios can also play a good role in shaping us. Again, government should make sure that no religious or pseudo-scientific books or media slips in to this category.

d. Scientific Hobbies

Young children often ask their parents "Dad, can you buy me a microscope?" or "Mom, can I get a electronics kit for this birthday?". Even if the parent is willing, when they check the price of the "gift", they get upset and settle with a video game console or a cricket bat, for which the kid shows no interest. But when the kid doesn't get what it loves and forced to love what it gets, we are silently murdering a scientist in making. If the government gives a double tax benefit on scientific equipment (again no pseudos!), we can see more and more kids looking in to the night skies or testing the salinity of the nearby pond. Who knows how many Sir C. V. Ramans and Satyendra Boses are going wasting time on WWE only because they couldn't get their hand on a book or an instrument they wished for? Giving a 10 or 20% tax benefit on these items can return the nation in many ways. Even if only 1 out of thousand becomes a scientist, given the population of India, we will be world's number 1 in few decades.

Conclusion

There can be more such things which can be classified as both entertainment/hobby and beneficial to the individual and society. I am not here to list them all. This post is just to share my opinion on the skewed nature of LTA benefits. Why I am saying this is because, government cannot decide that travel alone is what everyone wants and it is not sufficient to give travel alone some tax benefits while things far better and beneficial than travel are given no encouragement at all. As we have seen in above examples, there are lot many things people like to get involved in their free time. Given the direct positive effects on trade and economy and the indirect benefits of building a stronger and brighter nation, tax exemption on these secular and scientific areas of human interests is need of the hour!

Reliable Source

Introduction

What is a reliable source for any information? Anybody with an Internet connection can write anything they want. Even this blog is one such thing. I have no qualification to write on any subject with authority save for some "public static void main". But still I am writing. So if a thousand blogs say that something is correct and only few "unknown" sites say the opposite, democratically, is it not correct, because that is majority? Is truth is what we feel and experience or something that is proven beyond doubt? Is truth is what works for me and may not for you? Is there no ultimate truth that is objective instead of subjective "feelings" or "experiences"? Is that coffee is hot for me and cold for you? But is there not a thermometer that says the coffee is 67C? What if someone sounds like a genuine skeptic while questioning the caliberation of the thermometer itself? I have seen people questioning moon landing and vaccines like true skeptics. Does questioning something makes you a skeptic while questioning something else makes you an idiot?

People who believe Coco-Cola and Mentos can produce cyanide without a question suddenly start to ask millions of question if you say that it won't. People who don't even have a doubt that solar eclipse causes birth defects become "Doubting Thomases" when you say that mercury in shark is harmful for lactating mother and label you as a foreign agent who questions their native wisdom! The source for the Coke-Mentos story may be a blog written from Brazil and the source for mercury in shark is FDA's own website. It doesn't matter. Both are websites. And some even argue that it is better to trust the Brazillian blogger as he has no financial interest than the FDA site which is influenced by corporate lobby! So whom can we trust?

History of Writing

Back in the old days, people who were educated alone could read and write. And only a minority of the educated minority wrote books. Majority of the population never had a chance to read something or express their ideas to a wider audience. Hand written copies of books were costly to produce, hard to maintain and almost out of reach for the public. Some countries allowed only the rich elites to possess books. Even worse, in some other countries only those people who were born in to particular castes were allowed to read and write.

Then came the printing press which allowed mass production of books. Books became cheaper and were within the reach of public. At the same time, industrial revolution and political changes allowed majority to get education. As literacy rate grew along with the increase in number of books, we saw a boom in creativity, inventions, discoveries and critical thinking. But there was a problem. Even though almost anyone could read a book, not everyone was able to publish a book. You can have your own manuscripts on your desk. Else you can even print a copy for yourself. But hitting market was out of question.

Even today, to reach a good number of audiences, you need a publisher. And the publishers lay out certain rules and restrictions to the buyers as well as to the writers! Writers are asked to surrender the copyright to publishers. Readers are restricted from creating derivative works. Even reselling of books and photocopying are becoming "offences" in the eyes of corporate publishers. On one side, quality books are becoming costlier and costlier. Also on the other side, whoever has money can publish anything they want. The books cover, paper quality and print, everything will look exactly like an encyclopedia from a renowned university, yet the content will be no better than "Weekly World News". On the third side, rise of Internet provides costless (apart from what you pay for data) information. Again in Internet, most of the serious researches and information are pay-walled, and anyone with a connection can write anything (they don't even need the power of money!) the picture is becoming very complex.

Let me categorize them vaguely.

1. Really Good Books

These are books that are product of serious research or study or skill. They are genuine works and they can be verified scientifically. They are written by scientists and researchers who invest their time, money and effort on their fields. These books are meant to be consumed by public and increase the awareness, ignite discussions and pave way for improvements or rectification of existing ideas. But the sad facts about the books are as follows. They cost more. They are "dry" and uninteresting for general public and most people seldom know the titles of these books! Add to this the threats and violent opposition to such books which dare to question existing beliefs or status quo!

2. Bad Books that Resembles Good Books

Majority of books sold in railway stations or book fairs etc. are of this category. They have polished covers, colorful photographs, shiny paper, good quality print, cost you a fortune and authored by a famous writer/activist you often see on TV or in movie credits. They resemble the "good books" in every aspect from ISBN to Best Seller endorsements. But they are nothing more than self-help crap, new-age rap, astrology bullshit, biased history batshit or mumbo-jumbo on any subject. Go to any book shop. You can find at least a dozen of books on Homeopathy but you can't get a book that explains Homeopathy is fake! As the free market neutrality and voting-with-your-wallet democracy "naturally selects" the "fittest for survival", you have books that endorse Homeopathy, Crystal Therapy, Astrology etc. widely and cheaply available, while a good book on astro-physics or bio-chemistry is out of stock (never been in stock) or out of budget!

3. Good Sites

Enter the Internet! There are some sites which are actually continuation of international science journals and serious magazines with genuine journalism from the printing era. They have made their way in to the Internet. But most of them are pay-walled. Even some of them are not pay-walled but they are unpopular among masses. Again, these sites serve articles that are not so "interesting" to read. Even though serious efforts (like this) are taken to make books that are already in public domain freely available to people in digital format, relatively new and fresh information is blocked by subscriptions, pay per view etc. Also attempts like Facebook's Internet.org (FreeBasics) will add another layer in between people and these sites. If you have to pay Rs. 200 every month for a full-fledged Internet connection while FreeBasics comes for Rs. 0 (I won't say it is free of cost! It costs your privacy and freedom of choice), most people will choose to stick with the few sites provided by Facebook. As far as Whatsapp is working, who cares to do a data recharge?

4. The Other Sites

The rest of the Internet is nothing but the noise you hear in the market. Absolute democracy! Everyone has their say! From flat-earthers to neo-Nazi racists. All are given equal opportunity to write and spread their "message" to the world. Whatsapp messages, Youtube videos, Facebook updates and retweeted blog links can enlighten us on GM diet, while nobody cares to check what it is actually. Even some widely read news sites publish unethical articles (see example below) and distance themselves from questioning by a lame disclaimer that the opinion expressed is the writer's and not of the publisher's. Again the genuine idiocracy democracy of the Internet wins! abchomeopathy.com has Alexa rank of 72,613 and quackwatch.org has a rank of 193,968. You know what it means right? People at abchomeopathy.com are 267% correct than people at quackwatch.org. If 100 blogs say that vaccines contain poisonous chemicals and cause autism and 3 or 4 sites say vaccines are needed to prevent diseases like polio or mumps, then surely those 3 or 4 sites are run by corporate funded doctors who have no idea about vaccines while those blogs are run by highly concerned citizens who are rightly qualified in UFOlogy or Tarot reading.



This article from The Hindu (Tamil version) claims that a single Siddha medicine can cure diseases cold, diabetes, cancer and AIDS. How can a Newspaper like The Hindu publish an article like this without moral responsibility?

Screen grab from the The Hindu's article titled "தொற்றுநோய்களை விரட்டும் மகா சுதர்சன மாத்திரை"

What’s My Problem?

People are choosing what they want to believe and it is their choice and their life. How can you say what you believe is correct and what I believe is wrong? What is your problem? Do you know whatever you say is 100% correct? Nobody is 100% correct. Unless you experience it yourself, you won't believe.

These are the usual response people give when confronted that what they believe is pseudoscience or hoax.

An engineering graduate believes that a pulse check by a naturopath is equally valid as an ECG and a glass of coriander juice is equally good as angioplasty. He even said that former is better than later as it is fully natural, safe and without side-effects. You don't see a problem?

A person with pain due to gall stones ignores it and goes for acupuncture to treat the pain. He is rushed to ICU with severe jaundice. No problem yet?

A project manager enrolls his son in mid-brain activation class for a hefty sum of money against his son's wish to join Karate or Swimming. Still no problem?

An MBA gold-medalist spending Rs. 8,000 a month on red-mushroom powder and Spirulina capsules and genuinely believes that it can cure any sort of disease.  Not a problem at all!

Magnetic necklace, pyramid schemes, water therapy, energy treatment, de-tox diet, positive vibrations, vaasthu fish, snake oil, faith healing all are real. Thousands of people are saying it worked for them. So I am just trying it out. Nothing is wrong in trying that. If it fails, I may lose some money or time. But what if it works? And we should fight the "leftist conspiracy" to infect our children with evil ideas like evolution, germ theory of disease, astronomy, physics, chemistry, history, biology and English grammar (their r grammer Nazis r8? Dey cn’t evn tolrite ma Whatsapp msg!). Also we should fight the right wing corporates who are trying to kill the people by vaccination, anti-biotics, fertilizers, cellphone radiation, chem-trails, GM food etc. We should rely on our UFO masters, spirits of nature, kundalini energy, water memory, cosmic waves and organic foods to save us!

Absolutely no problem! Go ahead!

Solution?

What is the solution? Am I the expert to ask? Not so. But here is my opinion. Researches, studies and serious work of science, history and politics should be made cheap or free of cost for the public. Government and rational intellects should encourage people to read and share that information. Sharing, derivative works, collaboration etc. should be encouraged rather than being met with lawsuits in patent courts. On the other hand, people who knowingly circulate unscientific and unethical ideas, misinformation, rumors etc. should be banned and punished. Yes. I hear you crying that I am for censorship and against freedom of speech. But for your kind information, spreading misinformation about vaccine or endorsing a home-made cure for cancer is harmful. It is not freedom of speech. It has direct impact on people who are foolish enough to fall for it. Lives are lost. Damages done in irreversible ways. Yet these people are walking free on pretext of free speech! Scientific community with the help of volunteers should set up a universal review panel to review and rate sites based on the content. Again, these may result in censorship. But we should think a way to make it impartial and honest system rather than giving every retarded view an equal opportunity to corrupt the minds of public. If there are sources with 95% truth and 20% truth, both are logically partial truth. But practically they are not equally valid. It is our duty to ensure the 95% truth grows to 99.999% and 20% truth (80% false) obscured from the public. Long live democracy! Long live freedom of speech!

Sympahty for Homeopathy?

I am deeply saddened by the death of three students of SVS college. But what bothered me more is, the college taught Homeopathy. Homeopathy is proven to be a fake system of "beliefs" and unlike Siddha and Yoga there are no way to explain the working of Homeopathy. Traditional medicines like Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Chinese medicine etc are all having some or other active ingredients. Again Yoga as a stretching exercise has a basis for efficacy. But Homeopathy? How can a system without any explanation of its working can be approved by government to be taught in colleges? How can people who are trained in this fake system be allowed to practice as "doctors"?

First to make some points clear, I support only science based medicines i.e. medicines that are proven effective by proper studies and trails (be it garlic or statin). Also I strongly believe that there is NO divine touch on any medical system. All the traditional systems are developed by continuous observations,experiments with whatever methods available at that time, trail and error, blind luck, guess etc. That is why unless studied, tested and proven, it is safe to exclude "traditional cures" for any problem, let alone serious problems. But my problem with Homeopathy is that it is plainly false. 100% lie. 0% true. Fake! Bullshit!

Homeopathy Principle:

Like cure like - Any substance that causes a symptom in large dose will cure diseases with the same symptoms in smaller doses.

This is the basis of Homeopathy. There is no germ theory of diseases. It doesn't deal with nutrients and their deficiencies. There are no room for hormone imbalances etc in Homeopathy. For example, this website of Homeopathy advocates says that germ theory is wrong. Compare this with Siddha. If you look at Turmeric, it is proven anti-septic (type of disease: germ induced). Siddha has clam-shell powder to treat Calcium deficiency (type of disease: nutrients deficiency). There are drugs in traditional medicines to regulate bile secretion, acidity etc (type of disease: imbalance of secretions). But Homeopathy has no such system to address any of the above said type of diseases. It again and again claims that "Like cure like".

Also Homeopathy has no equivalent to vaccination or physical exercise or surgery, which even traditional systems have! But still there are success stories for Homeopathy as people are assuming Homeopathy cured their self-limiting diseases. Some diseases come and go by themselves and some others wax and wane over the time. People wrongly assume that Homeopathy is working! Their "anecdotal evidences" are the "proofs" Homeopathy has!

When the concentration of a drug drops below a certain limit, there is literally no chance to have even a single molecule of the supposed "cure" in the medicine. But Homeopaths claim that water has "memory" to hold the effect of the cure! If so, why water has forgotten all other impurities it came in to contact before it got distilled? And the funniest part is that, they claim, the more you dilute, the more potent the cure will become!

A Typical Homeopathy Medicine (DIY):


Here I am going to explain two Homeopathy Remedies that you can do it yourself! (Disclaimer for stupid enough people: Don't take the following remedies seriously and try them on yourselves or on others! Serious harm may happen! If you have any health problem go to a properly educated doctor!)

1. Insomnia

Ask some 5 to 10 of your friends or family members. At least two or three will complain that they have problem in sleeping. So here is a quick and easy Homeopathy remedy for them! You can prepare it in the kitchen itself. All you need is some coffee powder, distilled water, clean ink filler, clean vessels and sugar pills.

We all know that coffee in higher doses hinder with sleep. So according to Homeopathy, coffee in minute doses can cure insomnia!

Step 1: So take a pinch of instant coffee powder. (Important Note: If you are a Surya fan, use Sunrise or if you are a Karthi fan, use Bru. Else use any other brand you like!) Mix it well in 5 liter water.

Step 2: Now with a clean ink filler pick one drop of the coffee solution and mix it in another 5 liter water. Now stir well. Again

Step 3: Repeat step 2 for any number of time! The more you do, the more potent the drug will become. Now take the sugar pills and spray some "cure" on them.

Call in your friend and ask him to take 5 pills. If you have done the dilution enough, he may fall in coma immediately! Does that sound funny? But before you laugh, take a look at here. They claim the same. But people are believing what they say, while laughing at me?!

2. Indigestion

Now instead of coffee, you can grind a pizza or a scoop of briyani or a piece of chicken 65 and dilute it as explained above and spray on sugar pills. That will treat indigestion. As all these foods cause indigestion in large doses, they ought to treat the same in minute doses. Good luck with that!

Conclusion:

As you can see, a system that is based upon flawed understanding of both disease and drug will not work! Then how can government allow colleges to teach Homeopathy as a medical discipline? Is it not counter-productive to other medicinal systems bundled with Homeopathy? Won't it impact their validity negatively? In my opinion, severe action should be taken against the people who are responsible for the deaths of the students. At the same time, similar action should be taken on all Homeopathy practitioners, hospitals, colleges etc. They should be shutdown and banned immediately. Who knows how many people are being mislead by this fake system and not getting proper treatment?

Book Review: Net Force - CyberNation

Written by Tom Clancy around 2001, the book is set in early 2010s. The book is not worth a review per se, but I am writing this because it confuses free as in freedom with free as in free lunch. Even 10 years after the dissolution of USSR, the author was still afraid of Communism and Socialism. This book is nothing but a knee-jerk reaction towards the presumed threat of deprived "intellectual property rights" or "intellectual communism"!

Long, Boring Story Short: 

CyberNation is a group or a corporate, you can say, consisting of management, hackers, PROs, lobbyists, lawyers etc. Their aim is to replace all the ISPs and fill their space with their own version of Internet, where there is no "Intellectual Property" i.e. people only need to subscribe to the CyberNation to get all their music, movies, books, porn, scientific journals and whatever else that can be downloaded. CyberNation will make money by advertising. So to press the people to make the switch from their regular ISPs to CyberNation, they do all the dirty tricks from DDoS attacks to blowing up hardware using bombs! A special task force called Net Force, tries to identify and stop CyberNation. There are lots of useless diversions like too much of description about martial arts training on both sides (but no martial art fight in the climax!), virtual reality, bashing Russians and commies, New Age bullshit and incorrect futuristic predictions. At last, the "good" guys win.

A Look into CyberNation:

Have you heard about Free Basics by Facebook? CyberNation sounds more like this. It runs ads and campaigns to entice people to support them, just like what Facebook did with Internet.org/Free Basics. It has lobbyists placed in many countries to convince politicians and authorities to make changes in laws exactly like what Facebook did by asking us to send support letters to TRAI. CyberNation has all the money and means to do it exactly like Facebook. Their aim is to loop in more people so that they can earn more by advertising to their user base, again exactly like Facebook. I can feel the ennui here. But I couldn't help.

But CyberNation is against "Intellectual property", the meaningless umbrella term that clubs together various different and uncorrelated concepts like copyright, trademark, patents etc. Instead of me struggling with my half-baked knowledge to explain it, you can hear from Dr. Stallman himself (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.en.html). People who really care for freedom of knowledge and information won't accept invasion of privacy and anything that disturbs net-neutrality. That is why FSF and other like-minded people are vehemently against Facebook's Free Basics and other such schemes that can disturb the net-neutrality. But CyberNation is pro-freedom and anti-freedom at the same time. Like a typical Right-wing person who fights against abortion in public life and forces his daughter to undergo one on her teenage pregnancy to save the "family honor", Tom Clancy can envision such organization without a problem!

CyberNation is much like Mark Zuckerberg running the Pirate Bay. One thing the book got correct is the character of Jasmine Chance. What a person will become when educated in management and shaped by the corporates, a ruthless, self-worshiping person who cares the least about others in achieving their selfish goals. She is much like the so called role models of this generation namely Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates, Ambanis, Tatas etc. Bribing, killing, cheating all are fine provided you get what you want. This is what today's "business" has boiled down to. Everyone else is labelled as losers or considered running charities.

The book says that the "Intellectual Property Rights" is very important for innovation and without the motivation of monetary benefits it is impossible for new inventions and researches happening. Yeah! We have seen that in the case of Daraprim! Who invented that drug? But the novel idea of "Intellectual Property Rights" allowed a retard like Martin Shkreli to exploit people using a drug that was invented decades before he was born! Similarly the book confuses resale of used book and making unauthorized copies of a book and selling it in market. Coming back to the drugs, what type of drug will get more funds today? Is it the one that will prevent millions of deaths or the one that can amass trillions of Dollars? We all know the answer.

 The greedy, cut-throat completion of the laissez faire economy won't address the "needs" of the people more than the "wants" of the rich any day! For Tom Clancy, putting needs of the general public before wants of the rich is communism. He can call it whatever he wants, but for me this is the very definition of human nature. A monkey never feels guilty for snatching a banana from another monkey. And a group of monkey watching this won't condemn it. But we humans do. If we sit back and allow corporates to exploit labor and resources of the poor for the luxury of the rich, we will be no better than monkeys!

Conclusion:

So sad that Tom Clancy is no more. I am pretty much sure that he will use the exact same arguments like "private property", "individual freedom and rights", "free market" etc. to support whatever Facebook is doing. He will be with the people who are arguing for paid fast-lanes in Internet. All that mattered to him is the rich to win over the poor. He wants the strong to trample the weak with the help of governments holding the poor down with their laws and regulations. That is what democracy is in Clancy's view. But surely a true CyberNation will rise. It will be rule of people. It will fight for freedom of and freedom for ideas, arts, science and knowledge. It will fight for the people's privacy, freedoms and rights. It will shatter the evil monopolies built with the backing of inhuman laws. On that day, NSA or Clancy's Net Force will be silent spectators who will watch the giant force of people marching towards true equality!

Animal Farm - Book Review

Do you want to know why Russia and West are fighting over Ukraine? Do you think communism can save the world? Do you like children's fantasy? If you answer 'yes' to any of the above questions, then ”Animal Farm” by George Orwell is a good choice for you. Counting just less than 100 pages, the book tells the story of a farm in England. But wait! Are you wondering how a farm in England can explain current political mayhem surrounding Ukraine? Written in early1940s, the book is much of a prophecy that can even belittle blabbering of Nostradamus.

Most of us would have read or at least heard about ”Gulliver's Travel”. The story about Lilliput's! You got it? But many of us are not aware that Jonathan Swift wrote the story not only as children's fantasy, but also as a political and philosophical satire. Swift ridiculed the Imperial French and British as well as the struggle between fading archaism and emerging modernity in Gulliver's Travel. Orwell on the other hand encapsulates the raise, progress and fall of USSR (Soviet Russia) inside children's fantasy, with clever parodies. The wow factor is, Orwell wrote about events happening today 70 years before.

The story opens with a farm run by one Mr. Jones in England. The animals of the farm, fed up with the mistreatment at the hands of human masters, plot and execute a rebellion successfully and take over the farm after expelling Jones. Soon, they create certain rules and orders for themselves and start running the farm all by themselves. But as time passes, the power at the hands of pigs start to corrupt them. Soon the farm is attacked by neighboring humans but the attack is successfully thwarted but with great losses too. But the pigs start changing the laws to suit their desires and gradually collaborate with humans and start imitating them in everything. They go so far that even the animals can't identify pigs from humans. At last all other animals go back to the state which they were when humans ran the farm.

The story narrates how power corrupts people who rule(pigs), how religion is used to keep people under ignorance(raven), how army and police forces are used to suppress free thought and speech(dogs), how media is used to promote personality cult(Minimus and the black cockerel) and at the same time brainwash people and spread false news(Squealer), how even after all these things some people blindly support ruling class(sheep) and finally how bad the sufferings of people can go unchanged whatever way they choose(other animals, especially horses and hens)!

In the last chapter, there is a scene when the pigs fight with humans. But this time, it is not about the ownership of the farm or welfare of animals but about the card game they are playing. This is what happening now between West and Russia. As Orwell predicted 47 years before fall of USSR, they even renamed the nation! Communism in theory is good. It can be practical in short run too. But sooner or later power will corrupt the rulers and thing will end no better or even worse than before. George Orwell, came to this conclusion long back. I still admire USSR, their rational culture and their radically new political and economic structure, their raise from a poor nation of peasants to first nation to put a man in space within few decades, their books, their bold stance against capitalist West etc. But alas... It all fell apart for just one reason. It too was run by humans.

So read the book, not only as a fantasy. The power is all yours to corrupt your mind with truth :-)