My Journey to the IIM !!

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Land and water are primary factors of agricultural production. The present market driven approaches of land and water resource utilization are creating stiff competition between their agricultural and non-agricultural usages. The present socio - techno environment due to multi-directional mounting biotic pressure on natural resources, such as land, is finding it difficult to offer sufficient livelihood opportunities particularly to the economically weaker and vulnerable farming groups such as landless, marginal and small landholders. All these factors necessitate formulation of proper land policy and land use planning. Besides, restrictions on land leasing and lack of appropriate legal and institutional arrangements for contract farming stand in the way of diversified rural growth and poverty reduction.



This seminar aims to deliberate upon the issues related to proper management of land resources for diversified and sustainable agricultural development and poverty reduction with special reference to Uttar Pradesh. This seminar is also expected to provide inputs for designing an appropriate land policy and land use system to accelerate the pace of agricultural development and poverty reduction in the next five year plan.





Sub-themes of the Seminar

Land Resource Management: Trends, Issues and Opportunities

Dynamics of Land Market and Conversion of Agricultural Land

Land Leasing, Contract Farming and Agricultural Diversification

Access to homestead land and poverty reduction

Future Issues for Sustainable and Diversified Agricultural Development.

Important Information:

Deadline for Full Paper: March 20, 2007

Notification of paper acceptance: March 30, 2007

Seminar Dates: April 27-28, 2007

Venue: MDP Centre, IIM, Lucknow



There is no registration fee for attending the seminar. One author of selected paper will be reimbursed to & fro 2nd AC train fair by the shortest route with free lodging and boarding in our air-conditioned guesthouse.

For any query related to the seminar and submission of your paper, please address them to the seminar coordinators:
 
International Conference
on
Agribusiness and Food Industry in Developing Countries :
Opportunities and Challenges

(August 10-12, 2007)



Background and Objectives

The concept of agribusiness started gaining academic and professional acceptability ever since Goldberg and Davis first defined the term in 1957. They viewed it as ‘the sum total of all operations involved in the manufacture and distribution of farm supplies; production operations on the farm; and the storage, processing and distribution of farm commodities and the items made from them.’ This definition established agriculture as an industry that goes far beyond simply growing crops and raising animals. Agriculture-based activities remain the mainstay of developing economies in spite of their constant industrialization and tertiarisation over past four decades. Role of agriculture and agriculture-based enterprises gains further importance in view of the fact that large portion of population in these countries is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Moreover, such economies have comparative advantage in agriculture-based industrialization. Thus, agribusiness-led growth has good potential to contribute in sustained economic development of these countries. Recent trends in globalization and integration of international consumer market offer further opportunities for development of agribusiness and food industry across the World which would also benefit developing countries, provided they could suitably manage their resources to tap the emerging opportunities. However, the prospective opportunities are also likely to be accompanied by several challenges which will need to be addressed.

The conference aims to explore and map various opportunities for agribusiness and food industry in developing countries in the internationally-integrated and globalized economic environment and identify challenges likely to be faced. The conference will attempt to explore promising institutional mechanisms and innovative business models for strengthening of agribusiness and food industry in developing countries. Case studies and empirical research outcomes will be the key tools of the conference deliberations.

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Conference Sub-Themes

Researchers, academicians and agribusiness managers and policymakers are invited to submit case studies and well-researched articles on following themes


Agribusiness-Management Education
Innovative Agribusiness Models
Agri-food Supply Chain Management
Healthy Food and Food Quality Management
Institutional Arrangements for Farmer-Market Linkages
Agri-input Businesses
Agriculture Services: Finance, Insurance, Extension
Commodity Trading

The case studies on different conference themes should spotlight successful examples, as to how initiatives were taken, potential was tapped, and how success was achieved. Research articles should add to existing knowledge in sub-theme areas.

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Submission of Papers

Authors should electronically (through e-mail) submit up to 1000-word abstract of their case studies/papers briefly describing objectives, methodology and findings to the address given at the end. Authors should also submit a 200-word (per author) biography and scanned passport-size photograph along with the abstract. Decision on acceptance of case studies/papers will be communicated electronically to the respective authors within three weeks. Subsequently, authors will be required to submit full case study/paper (5000 to 6000 words) within 4 weeks from the date of communication. Full case studies/papers are required to be submitted in both hard and soft copies.

Text format for abstract and full paper:
Paper size: A4 (8.27 x 11.69 Inches)
Font type & size: Times New Roman, 12
Spacing between lines: 1.5
Margin on page edges: 1 Inch on all sides
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Registration Procedure and Fee

Willing participants should fill the enclosed Registration Form and submit to the Organizers latest by July 31, 2007 along with requisite fee. Filled-in registration form can be sent electronically or by post. In case of electronic submission of registration form, requisite fee should reach organizers by July 31, 2007. Registration fee should be remitted through Demand Draft/Bankers Cheque favouring Indian Institute of Management Lucknow payable at Lucknow (India). Registration fee will be waived off for those participants whose case studies/papers will be accepted for the conference.

Category of delegate Before July 31, 2007 After July 31, 2007
Indian Delegates Rs. 2000/- Rs. 2500/-
Foreign Delegates US$ 75 US$ 100
Students Rs. 500/- Rs. 500/-
Download registration form (PDF)
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Important Dates

Submission of Abstracts: April 30, 2007
Communication of decision on acceptance: May 21, 2007
Electronic submission of Full case studies/papers: June 25, 2007
Submission of Hard copies of full case studies/papers: July 9, 2007
Submission of Registration Fee and Form: July 31, 2007
 
have often driven into the dry and dusty interiors of Maharashtra, not too far away from the blighted districts where farmer suicides have reached alarming proportions. This region is a far cry from the urban glitz of Mumbai and Pune, or even the obvious wealth of the sugar districts of western Maharashtra.
A study done by the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) in early 2006 shows that the suicide mortality rate for male farmers (or the number of suicides per one lakh male farmers) more than tripled in Maharashtra between 1995 and 2004—from 17 to 53. It’s even worse in the cotton belt, where the suicide mortality rate has occasionally touched 140. That is around 10 times the national average.
The state and national governments have tried to respond with a tired policy—throw money at the problem. A lot has been made of the fact that bank credit to farmers has doubled in three short years, thus implying that the movement to root out “evil” moneylenders from rural India has begun. But, is bank credit the answer to rural distress?
A recent newspaper report based on data tabled in Parliament this month shows that there is a very weak link between farmer indebtedness and suicides. Maharashtra has one of the lowest percentages of indebted farmer households, but has the highest number of farmer suicides. The inability to pay back loans is often the last step in the morbid journey towards suicide, and hence indebtedness is more a symptom than the problem itself.
The root cause is that farming incomes are very low, and farmers do not have the financial power to meet the various risks they face—be it the vagaries of the weather, price fluctuations, technological change or credit access. In a research paper published in January 2007, Srijit Mishra of the IGIDR mentions the case study of a farmer owning eight acres of unirrigated land in the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra. Five of these acres were used for cotton cultivation. The farmer’s net annual income was Rs12,500, keeping him below the poverty line. In most parts of India, the returns on cultivation are similarly abysmal. This is why I seriously doubt whether forcing banks to lend to farmers will actually have a sizeable impact on rural distress.
My point is that the problem in Indian farming is too acute to depend on any one strategy to solve it. There is no magic wand (like the doubling of farm credit) to do the trick in one swift stroke. The bouquet of potential solutions includes crop insurance, rural roads, organized retailing, micro-finance, futures markets in commodities and, perhaps most importantly, rural enterprises that will offer non-farm job opportunities.
This is why one commercial experiment in Yavatmal district is worth emulating. A company called Jayant Oil and Derivatives is working with farmers there to move them out of cotton cultivation and into castor oil cultivation. Castor oil is used for a range of products, from automobile lubricants to chocolate. “The climatic conditions in Yavatmal are ideal for castor oil. It is a wild crop that does not need much rain. We began contract farming there two years ago, working with farmers who were in distress because of the cotton crisis,” says Rajesh Kapadia, the managing director of the company.
This is how the deal works. The Jayant Oil and Derivatives helped the farmers procure hybrid seeds and organized finance for them through the State Bank of India. While there is no fixed price contract, the company also agreed to buy the castor crop grown by the farmers who signed on. The costs of castor farming are far lower than those for cotton farming. The castor is then moved to the company’s oil mills in Gujarat. In effect, a lot of the farmer’s business risks are minimized.
“The response has been overwhelming,” says Kapadia, a claim that is confirmed by a senior state government official. Some 30,000 acres were under castor crop in the very first year; the acreage has now more than doubled and Kapadia says he plans to eventually take it up to three lakh acres. He is also working on a sericulture project, since there is a variety of silk-producing insects which live off castor leaves. The diversification will help farmers earn a second stream of income. And as castor production increases, Kapadia says he could set up an oil-extraction unit in Yavatmal.
What Jayant Oil and Derivatives is doing in Yavatmal is a localized solution, which works because of the climate there. There are undoubtedly other such local projects in other parts of rural India. Not all will be driven by the profit principle. The point is that the core issue in our villages is stagnant productivity and lack of adequate incomes. The mere act of increasing bank credit addresses neither of these problems.
 
Asian economies including South Korea and Singapore are likely to expand at a slower pace in the first quarter as easing export orders curb production and consumer confidence ebbs, according to Capital Economics Ltd.
The slowdown in growth may give Asian central banks room to reduce interest rates, wrote London-based economist Keith Gyles in an e-mailed report.
In India, “the recent weakening of the manufacturing PMI suggests growth is set to slow sharply over the next month or two,” Gyles wrote. Singapore’s “electronics Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) has also dropped sharply since the end of last year, perhaps signaling a downturn in the global electronics cycle. Exports are already suffering.”
Declines in the PMIs in India and Singapore may portend a slide in growth in the months ahead, the report said. Output in both economies has slowed as orders for goods for domestic and overseas markets dropped.
Production has also eased in Malaysia and manufacturing activity in the Philippines is “soft,” according to Capital Economics. Malaysia will see “a sharper deceleration in gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of this year,” Gyles wrote.
“Across Southeast Asia, the prospect is for further rate cuts over the next few months, driven by slowing growth, fading inflation concerns, and local currency strength against a globally weak dollar,” Gyles said. “We expect rates to be falling in Korea by the end of the year as well, as the economy slows and concerns about the booming housing market ease.”
South Korea’s economy last quarter grew at the slowest annual pace in 18 months as exports dropped and spending remained sluggish, the central bank said today.
South Korea’s $887 billion (Rs38,77,041 crore) economy grew a revised 0.9% in the fourth quarter, after gaining 1.2% in the previous three months, the central bank said. The economy expanded 4% from a year ago.
South Korea’s export outlook is “not as bright” as expected amid signs of cooling US growth and a rout in global stock markets, Commerce Minister Kim Young Ju said last week. The nation’s overseas shipments increased at the slowest pace in four months in February on fewer sales of computer parts and home appliances.
Lower Rates
A global equity sell-off erased $3.3 trillion in market value between 27 February and 5 March, triggered by a decline in Chinese shares and on concern over the extent of the slowdown in the US economy, threatened by a mortgage crisis.
Bank of Korea Governor Lee Seong Tae may cut the overnight call rate to as low as 3.5% by the end of the year, from 4.5% now, Gyles predicts.
“The slowdown in the domestic economy has helped keep inflation under control,” he wrote. “With tentative signs that the housing market is now starting to cool, we still think the next move in official rates will be down.”
The central bank in recent months has focused on slowing lending growth and a surge in house prices. The property market is stabilizing on measures to rein in borrowing and help cool price gains, Finance Minister Kwon Okyu said on 15 March.
‘Soft’ Activity
Growth in the Philippines may pick up after a slowdown this quarter as lower interest rates and higher wages spur domestic consumption, the report said. Gains in the peso have pushed inflation to the lowest in four years.
“The central bank has a good case to start cutting interest rates soon,” Gyles said. “This might provide some support to the stock market, which has been hit by the turmoil in global financial markets.”
Philippine central bank Governor Amando Tetangco last week said borrowing costs are not likely to be lowered because record amounts of cash sent home from Filipinos abroad risk fanning inflation. The last rate cut was in July 2003.
Floods in Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta and earthquakes in the Sumatra province dented confidence among consumers who were expecting the natural disasters to push up food prices. The index has declined every month since November, suggesting growth in the $351 billion economy may slip in the first three months of 2007, Gyles said.
A lack of investment will restrain economic growth this year, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said yesterday, forecasting an expansion of 6% from an earlier target of 6.3%.
In Thailand, terrorist attacks, investment curbs and political discord have also led to a deterioration in consumer and business sentiment. An index measuring confidence for the future dropped in February to the lowest in more than five years.
“This offers little hope that there will be a pick-up in consumer spending over the near term,” Gyles said.
More Rate Cuts
Policy makers in Southeast Asia’s two largest economies are not done cutting rates yet, Capital Economics said. Bank Indonesia lowered borrowing costs this month for the 10th time since May, while policy makers at the Bank of Thailand have cut rates twice this year.
Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Aslim Tadjuddin on 16 March said he sees “big” room for the central bank to reduce its key rate as inflation slows. Rates have already been lowered by 3.75 percentage points to 9%.
Thailand’s benchmark rate may end the year at 3.5% from 4.5% now, Gyles predicts.
 
bonddonraj said:
Asian economies including South Korea and Singapore are likely to expand at a slower pace in the first quarter as easing export orders curb production and consumer confidence ebbs, according to Capital Economics Ltd.
The slowdown in growth may give Asian central banks room to reduce interest rates, wrote London-based economist Keith Gyles in an e-mailed report.
In India, “the recent weakening of the manufacturing PMI suggests growth is set to slow sharply over the next month or two,” Gyles wrote. Singapore’s “electronics Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) has also dropped sharply since the end of last year, perhaps signaling a downturn in the global electronics cycle. Exports are already suffering.”
Declines in the PMIs in India and Singapore may portend a slide in growth in the months ahead, the report said. Output in both economies has slowed as orders for goods for domestic and overseas markets dropped.
Production has also eased in Malaysia and manufacturing activity in the Philippines is “soft,” according to Capital Economics. Malaysia will see “a sharper deceleration in gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of this year,” Gyles wrote.
“Across Southeast Asia, the prospect is for further rate cuts over the next few months, driven by slowing growth, fading inflation concerns, and local currency strength against a globally weak dollar,” Gyles said. “We expect rates to be falling in Korea by the end of the year as well, as the economy slows and concerns about the booming housing market ease.”
South Korea’s economy last quarter grew at the slowest annual pace in 18 months as exports dropped and spending remained sluggish, the central bank said today.
South Korea’s $887 billion (Rs38,77,041 crore) economy grew a revised 0.9% in the fourth quarter, after gaining 1.2% in the previous three months, the central bank said. The economy expanded 4% from a year ago.
South Korea’s export outlook is “not as bright” as expected amid signs of cooling US growth and a rout in global stock markets, Commerce Minister Kim Young Ju said last week. The nation’s overseas shipments increased at the slowest pace in four months in February on fewer sales of computer parts and home appliances.
Lower Rates
A global equity sell-off erased $3.3 trillion in market value between 27 February and 5 March, triggered by a decline in Chinese shares and on concern over the extent of the slowdown in the US economy, threatened by a mortgage crisis.
Bank of Korea Governor Lee Seong Tae may cut the overnight call rate to as low as 3.5% by the end of the year, from 4.5% now, Gyles predicts.
“The slowdown in the domestic economy has helped keep inflation under control,” he wrote. “With tentative signs that the housing market is now starting to cool, we still think the next move in official rates will be down.”
The central bank in recent months has focused on slowing lending growth and a surge in house prices. The property market is stabilizing on measures to rein in borrowing and help cool price gains, Finance Minister Kwon Okyu said on 15 March.
‘Soft’ Activity
Growth in the Philippines may pick up after a slowdown this quarter as lower interest rates and higher wages spur domestic consumption, the report said. Gains in the peso have pushed inflation to the lowest in four years.
“The central bank has a good case to start cutting interest rates soon,” Gyles said. “This might provide some support to the stock market, which has been hit by the turmoil in global financial markets.”
Philippine central bank Governor Amando Tetangco last week said borrowing costs are not likely to be lowered because record amounts of cash sent home from Filipinos abroad risk fanning inflation. The last rate cut was in July 2003.
Floods in Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta and earthquakes in the Sumatra province dented confidence among consumers who were expecting the natural disasters to push up food prices. The index has declined every month since November, suggesting growth in the $351 billion economy may slip in the first three months of 2007, Gyles said.
A lack of investment will restrain economic growth this year, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said yesterday, forecasting an expansion of 6% from an earlier target of 6.3%.
In Thailand, terrorist attacks, investment curbs and political discord have also led to a deterioration in consumer and business sentiment. An index measuring confidence for the future dropped in February to the lowest in more than five years.
“This offers little hope that there will be a pick-up in consumer spending over the near term,” Gyles said.
More Rate Cuts
Policy makers in Southeast Asia’s two largest economies are not done cutting rates yet, Capital Economics said. Bank Indonesia lowered borrowing costs this month for the 10th time since May, while policy makers at the Bank of Thailand have cut rates twice this year.
Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Aslim Tadjuddin on 16 March said he sees “big” room for the central bank to reduce its key rate as inflation slows. Rates have already been lowered by 3.75 percentage points to 9%.
Thailand’s benchmark rate may end the year at 3.5% from 4.5% now, Gyles predicts.
Click to expand...

Good informative post..keep sending it ..... hey,can u possibily goota know me from where u got this thingy?
 
thanx blank mind....................

i am back frm punjab it was indeed a nice experience ...one point ..........who is need of whome....corporate or rural area or vise versa......think and tell.....
 
hi friends...............long time............i am back from IIM-K and IIM-b conferences............it was an experience i never had before....gave me new experiences ...new channels to think.....................................it was an exceelent experince.........soon i am going to share all with you and all resources i have brought for MP.............................

and ya NOT TO MENTION I HAVE NOW 5 PAPERS PUBLISHED ON MY NAME. IN INTERNATIONAL JOURNALS...............
 
The term "getting everyone on the same page" is bantered around quite a bit these days. But what does it really mean, and how can a company use the concept to unite and focus employees?

The commonly understood meaning of getting everyone on the same page is making sure that everyone involved in a specific task or project has a full understanding of what they personally need to do. Usually, this involves assignments given out at group meetings or by managers speaking individually with employees.

When projects are carried out by a small number of people, verbal instructions may be enough to get everyone on the same page. Even so, managers should carefully plan the initial instructions for these individuals to make sure that every detail is nailed down. Keeping everyone on the same page throughout the duration of a project can be assured only by establishing intra-project benchmarks and intermediary goals and having ongoing meetings between managers and team members.

For larger projects or when addressing goals of the entire company, detailed written assignments defining each employee's responsibility are key. Too many small companies float along led not by an inner compass but by exterior events. To avoid this, managers need to structure employee activities to conform to the company's business plan (and the financial projections therein). Every activity should have a purpose and contribute to overall company goals.

Corporate vision
One of the prime attributes of a successful manager is the ability to get everyone on the same page in regards to the overall "vision" a company has of its future. This task is more abstract than the nuts-and-bolts, day-to-day aspects of a company's operations previously discussed.

The ultimate vision a company has of itself may occupy no more than a paragraph in its business plan or annual report. However, this vision is the underlying structure that helps create what is often termed the unique "corporate culture" of a business. It is the glue that holds everything together.

To create this glue--to get everyone on the same page in terms of what the company is and where it is going--the vision must be put into words. The goal of a company certainly is to maintain profitability, but that is not a vision. What a company really does is provide a service to individuals and the community. No company can exist and grow over the decades without becoming an integral part of its customers' lives. How this is done, and what the company means to customers, is the company's vision. Defining this may sound simple--but volumes have been written on the subject.

What has not often been written is how this vision can be shared by all employees in a company. Fortunately, the solution is not overly difficult. Sharing a company's vision and thereby getting everyone on the same page can result only by establishing the understanding that every employee is ultimately responsible for the overall success of the company. Each employee must be led to an understanding that everything he or she does is vital not only for his or her own job security but also for the company and its customers.

There are numerous ways to instill this understanding: employee recognition programs, commitment to promoting from within, instructing managers to emphasize this point during employee reviews and group meetings, etc.

Getting everyone of the same page in this sense is an ongoing process that can make a tremendous difference to a company over time. It can keep a company on track through all the ups and downs of business
 
How to Keep Key Employees From Going Out on Their Own
03/ 14/ 2002

Companies both large and small, and in virtually every type of business, have gone through the unfortunate experience of having a key employee leave and start his or her own company. This is often painful to owners and management of the original company -- both because the former employee may have been trusted and liked, and because the new business often becomes an immediate and direct competitor. Sometimes the employee takes information about customers, suppliers and even operational procedures that carbon-copy yours.

Is there any way to completely prevent employees from leaving and starting their own companies? Not really. In fact, it's the American way that someone works in a business until knowing enough to start their own. But there are definite steps and even legal procedures that a company can take to encourage key employees to stay. In today's Workshop, Jeffrey Moses explains how to retain your employees.

Trusted, long-term employees often know almost as much about the industry as the owners of the company. A high percentage of these employees will have little interest in taking the trouble to leave and start their own business, but there will always be a certain percentage who have an entrepreneurial spirit and want to become their own boss.

To help prevent these employees from leaving, you have to pour cement over your relationship with them. By that I mean you need to make their financial situation with your company so attractive that they will be reluctant to take the risk (and it's always a risk to start a new company) of leaving and going out on their own. This financial "cement" can be in the form of stock options, retirement plans with matching employee funds, long-term and performance bonus incentives, pay raises, added perks and benefits and in some cases even partial ownership.

The worst thing an owner of a successful business can do is to maintain total control in the areas of both finances and responsibility. The area of finances was spoken of in the previous point, but employees who are highly competent also usually need to feel that they are progressing to a point in their careers where adequate responsibility is being assigned to them. Key employees need some degree of autonomy, and they need to feel that they are working up to their full potentials. Without this, your most valuable employees may feel justified in leaving and starting their own companies.

A legal remedy to avoid this situation is a non-competition agreement, in which employees sign a statement declaring that they will not start another company within a stated amount of time after leaving their employment with your company. The amount of time can vary from two to five years, with two years being the most common. Such agreements have proven to hold up well in the courts. Along the same line, employees have been found liable for use of proprietary customer and supplier lists of former employees, even after the non-competitive time period has expired. Some courts have also ruled against individuals who have set up operations similar to those of former employees, when the operations are based on proprietary systems. Enforcing non-competitive agreements often involves litigation, with the associated expense and aggravation -- but such agreements are a practical way to discourage employees from leaving and entering into direct competition with you.

Another aspect to consider, although much rarer, is a hostile takeover from within your own company. This can be accomplished only when stock is involved, either publicly traded or privately held by you, board members and employees. If you own less than 51 percent of all outstanding stock, you could be at risk for a hostile internal takeover. To avoid this extremely painful occurrence, maintain ownership or control of the majority of stock at all times
 

AMAN went to a doctor for relief from wheezing. The doctor asked him to have a cold water shower for an hour, sit in front of an air conditioner for another hour and come back to him for treatment.
The patient got frightened and said that if he did that his wheezing will be full blown into asthma. The doctor said,”that is exactly what I want. I know how to treat asthma, but not wheezing!”
When healing turns into a business proposition, it can lead to great danger, both to the healer and the healed!
All religions and all Masters have shown that they have healing powers. Healing is not any miracle; it is simply playing with Energy. With any religion or Master, the first sign that one looks for is healing.
In fact, no Master is accepted as a Master if he cannot heal people and restore health in his followers in some form or the other. Spirituality itself is only a ‘pickle’ for most people. They take a bit of it when they feel like it. It is never a main meal!
Buddha says: Healing is expression of your compassion and care you extend towards someone to help them. Healing is restoring physical, mental and emotional well being. Healing can happen at any of these levels. Healing of the spirit takes care of the well being of all these three levels: physical, mental and emotional. Healing energy for the spirit comes from the Cosmic energy.
We are all part of the Cosmic energy. This Cosmic energy created us; it nourishes us; it energises us and keeps us healthy. Unlike other forms of elemental energy such as earth, water, fire and air which are tangible and are available to us for direct absorption, cosmic energy is intangible. In order to absorb this energy of which we are part, the only route is meditation.
Within our body system, energy of the Cosmos is reflected through energy centres or chakra. When these energy centres are blocked by our negative emotions, we tend to become ill. Meditation can energise these energy centres by dissolving our negativities. Our health, physical, mental and emotional, is restored. Meditation heals!
Healing makes the body at ease. Healing the mind leads to happiness and well being. Healing the spirit liberates you into bliss. This is the path of meditation.
 
AMAN went to a doctor for relief from wheezing. The doctor asked him to have a cold water shower for an hour, sit in front of an air conditioner for another hour and come back to him for treatment.
The patient got frightened and said that if he did that his wheezing will be full blown into asthma. The doctor said,”that is exactly what I want. I know how to treat asthma, but not wheezing!”
When healing turns into a business proposition, it can lead to great danger, both to the healer and the healed!
All religions and all Masters have shown that they have healing powers. Healing is not any miracle; it is simply playing with Energy. With any religion or Master, the first sign that one looks for is healing.
In fact, no Master is accepted as a Master if he cannot heal people and restore health in his followers in some form or the other. Spirituality itself is only a ‘pickle’ for most people. They take a bit of it when they feel like it. It is never a main meal!
Buddha says: Healing is expression of your compassion and care you extend towards someone to help them. Healing is restoring physical, mental and emotional well being. Healing can happen at any of these levels. Healing of the spirit takes care of the well being of all these three levels: physical, mental and emotional. Healing energy for the spirit comes from the Cosmic energy.
We are all part of the Cosmic energy. This Cosmic energy created us; it nourishes us; it energises us and keeps us healthy. Unlike other forms of elemental energy such as earth, water, fire and air which are tangible and are available to us for direct absorption, cosmic energy is intangible. In order to absorb this energy of which we are part, the only route is meditation.
Within our body system, energy of the Cosmos is reflected through energy centres or chakra. When these energy centres are blocked by our negative emotions, we tend to become ill. Meditation can energise these energy centres by dissolving our negativities. Our health, physical, mental and emotional, is restored. Meditation heals!
Healing makes the body at ease. Healing the mind leads to happiness and well being. Healing the spirit liberates you into bliss. This is the path of meditation.
 
THE PAPER I PRESENTED IN IIM-L


LAND INFORMATION SYSTEM
AUTHOR: RAHUL GOSWAMI

ABSTRACT

An information system may be formally defined as a combination of human and technical resources, together with a set of organizing procedures that produces information in support of some managerial requirement. Data are raw collection of facts. Data relating to land may be acquired and held in alphanumeric form (for example books), or graphically (for example, as maps or aerial photographs), or digitally (for example, using electronic methods). To become information, the raw data must be processed so that it can be understood by a decision maker. A land information system gives support to land management by providing information about the land, the resources upon it and the improvements made to it. Through the ages, land played a pivotal role in shaping the fortunes of human beings. In the pre-Industrial Revolution era, when agriculture was the principal source of revenue, land served as a symbol of status and wealth. However, the dawn of the industrial age saw a paradigm shift in man's relationship with land. Land and land supported resources were increasingly viewed as a commodity for meeting the needs of industry and industrial inputs. This, coupled with the heavy pressure on land, by the ever increasing population, led to over exploitation of land resources, leading to irreparable damage to the eco-systems and depletion of life supporting natural resources. This paper deals with all the aspects of land records information maintenance system and technologies which have been used presently for record keeping along with the latest technology which may be used by the country and implemented in the state like Uttar Pradesh for effective use of the IT in land management.

INTRODUCTION

LAND surface water, energy, and carbon conditions have profound influences on the overall behavior of the Earth’s climate system. A better understanding of these conditions enables improved use of natural resources, mitigation of environmental hazards, and knowledge of climate change scenarios. To this end, much research has been devoted to the integration of land surface simulation, observation, and analysis methods to accurately determine land surface energy and moisture states. Computational limitations in hardware and software have impeded the development and application of such systems at higher spatial resolutions. The Land Information System (LIS) is a software system that takes advantage of the technological improvements in computing and environmental monitoring tools to enable a global high resolution land modeling. LIS is also designed to directly ingest the vast array of high resolution observations such as those available from the next generation NASA earth science instruments. The ability to operate at the same fine spatial scales of the atmospheric boundary layer and cloud models also helps in improving water and energy cycle prediction capabilities. In addition to providing a land surface modeling infrastructure, the portable, interoperable design of LIS enables it to be a valuable research tool for land surface researchers and other interdisciplinary scientists. The LIS infrastructure consists of several land surface models (LSMs), forced with a combination of observationally based precipitation and radiation with downscaled model based meteorological inputs. LIS makes use of the state-of the- art scalable high performance computing technologies to achieve ever-higher spatial resolutions and temporal durations. To provide efficient management, storage, and high throughput data access in simulations, LIS also employs a number of generic tools that manage this data. LIS also provides intuitive web-based interfaces to enable access for a wide variety of users. Many existing earth science applications lack the ability to interoperate with other earth system applications. As a result, the cost of adding new functionalities and adapting the existing systems to function with other applications may be prohibitively high. LIS attempts to achieve the desired interoperability by applying advanced software engineering concepts. The system is designed as an object oriented framework that can be shared and reused by scientists and practitioners. The use of object oriented principles help in designing LIS to be flexible and extensible, enabling rapid prototyping of new applications. In addition to providing an infrastructure to support land surface research and applications activities, LIS has also adopted other earth system modeling standards and conventions, such as the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF) and Assistance for Land Modeling Activities (ALMA). The following sections describe the land observation, modeling and assimilation tools in LIS, the design of the LIS system, and some demonstrations of LIS in simulating land surface processes.
II. BACKGROUND
A. Land Surface Observations
The use of observation-driven land models and data assimilation is a fundamental principle of the LIS framework. As such, we have identified the current and future observational systems that may guide the development of improved parameters, forcing, validation, and data assimilation constraints for LIS. A huge volume of land surface observations may be operationally sensed from space, including surface temperatures, vegetation conditions, snow, albedo, longwave and solar radiation, precipitation, surface moisture, freeze/thaw state, runoff, total water storage, and elevation, among others. LIS must be able to compile and assimilate those highly dynamic remotely-sensed observations of the land surface that previous research suggests will provide information critical for land surface research synthesis.
B. Land Surface Observations
Recent advances in understanding of soil-water dynamics, plant physiology, micrometeorology, and the hydrology that control biosphere-atmosphere interactions have spurred the development of Land Surface Models (LSMs), whose aim is to represent simply, yet realistically, the transfer of mass, energy, and momentum between a vegetated surface and the atmosphere. LSM predictions are regular in time and space, but these predictions are influenced by errors in
model structure, input variables, parameters, and inadequate treatment of sub-grid scale spatial variability. Consequently, LSM predictions are significantly improved through observation constraints. LIS has adopted an “ensemble physics” land surface modeling philosophy to enable straightforward collaboration with operational weather, climate, and decision support partners. It should be noted that LIS uses model independent software frameworks (e.g., ESMF, ALMA, etc.) and data assimilation algorithms to enable its application in a
wide range of end-uses.
DO WE NEED SUCH SYSTEM
The present day land records have hardly undergone any change during the last 7 to 8 decades. Consequently, they are unable to serve the contemporary requirements due to their inherent limitations, a few of which are readily identifiable.
a. The present cadastral system was evolved by the British for purposes of governance and revenue collection and till 1905 the responsibility for revenue surveys was with Survey of India. They were mostly conceived by the Maharajahs and the British Crown. Though the British tempered them scientifically, these land records are still out of tune with the aspirations of our times and the planning and developmental imperatives of our economy.
b. They wholly emphasize on the fiscal concerns of the State and not on the proprietary clarity.
c. They are mostly outdated and do not reflect the ground realities, viz; correct title, correct boundary and correct extent.
d. They consist of only rudimentary agricultural/crop statistics and do not provide accurate inputs for micro-level and macro-level developmental activities.
e. Both their generation and maintenance are so cumbersome that the State Governments have been finding it very difficult to conduct timely maintenance and updation.
f. A direct consequence of the lack of maintenance of the records is the apathy of landholders towards the correct delimitation of their plot boundaries and recording of correct title in land registers, often resulting in vexatious land-based litigation from the lowest to the highest Court in the Country.
g. There is an ever-growing mismatch between our agricultural and industrial advancements on one side and jurisprudence of land records on the other. This has been resulting in societal strains and conflicts.
h. Agrarian reforms like consolidation of landholdings etc., initiated by the Central and State Governments, failed to fulfill their objectives, because an equally radical culture of updated title referencing system had not been evolved.
i. The inherent deficiencies in the field procedures to create graphical land records, in not conforming to a common reference system for the entire country, has now resulted in glaring mis-matches in the small scale maps of districts and States, produced by aggregation of the village level land records.
To get rid of the above mentioned deficiencies and to fully cater to the present as well as future requirements of the landholders on one side and government departments and other organizations involved in land matters on the other, the substitution of the existing and outmoded records with a modern and dynamic system is essential.






ELEMENTS OF EVERY INFORMATION SYSTEM
Before going into geographical aspects, we must first review the basics of every information system (IS).
• Systems analysis always begins at the end. Designing an IS starts by defining what resulting information is to be extracted. The analyst needs to know what questions are being asked, what the final reports should look like, how often reports are to be created and how detailed they must be.
• Based on the end product which is expected from the IS, tables of input data and queries are designed. This stage must cover frequency of data input, level of detail, and how to aggregate the raw data into relevant, understandable information.
• Now a suitable computer software application is chosen to handle the data entry, storage and queries. The family of software which serves this purpose is known as a database management system (DBMS). A DBMS is used to create the tables of data, to construct a user interface, to design queries and to print out the required summary reports.
• Data must of course be collected and transferred to the computer in a timely fashion, matching the frequency of updates in the initial design requirements. The systems analysis should lay out explicit channels of communications and data flow such that everyone involved in collecting and entering data knows who sends what to whom, in what format, and how often.
• Finally, the crucial but all too often overlooked issue of data backup must be addressed. A backup strategy needs to be decided upon and tested from the start. This includes choosing a backup medium, laying down a rigid routine for running backups, and performing test runs periodically to ensure that backup data will be available when they are needed. Not if, but when! Computer systems crash, data can be ‘accidentally’ deleted; thus backups must be an integral part of every Information System.
 
LAND INFORMATION SYSTEM
AUTHOR: RAHUL GOSWAMI

ABSTRACT

An information system may be formally defined as a combination of human and technical resources, together with a set of organizing procedures that produces information in support of some managerial requirement. Data are raw collection of facts. Data relating to land may be acquired and held in alphanumeric form (for example books), or graphically (for example, as maps or aerial photographs), or digitally (for example, using electronic methods). To become information, the raw data must be processed so that it can be understood by a decision maker. A land information system gives support to land management by providing information about the land, the resources upon it and the improvements made to it. Through the ages, land played a pivotal role in shaping the fortunes of human beings. In the pre-Industrial Revolution era, when agriculture was the principal source of revenue, land served as a symbol of status and wealth. However, the dawn of the industrial age saw a paradigm shift in man's relationship with land. Land and land supported resources were increasingly viewed as a commodity for meeting the needs of industry and industrial inputs. This, coupled with the heavy pressure on land, by the ever increasing population, led to over exploitation of land resources, leading to irreparable damage to the eco-systems and depletion of life supporting natural resources. This paper deals with all the aspects of land records information maintenance system and technologies which have been used presently for record keeping along with the latest technology which may be used by the country and implemented in the state like Uttar Pradesh for effective use of the IT in land management.

INTRODUCTION

LAND surface water, energy, and carbon conditions have profound influences on the overall behavior of the Earth’s climate system. A better understanding of these conditions enables improved use of natural resources, mitigation of environmental hazards, and knowledge of climate change scenarios. To this end, much research has been devoted to the integration of land surface simulation, observation, and analysis methods to accurately determine land surface energy and moisture states. Computational limitations in hardware and software have impeded the development and application of such systems at higher spatial resolutions. The Land Information System (LIS) is a software system that takes advantage of the technological improvements in computing and environmental monitoring tools to enable a global high resolution land modeling. LIS is also designed to directly ingest the vast array of high resolution observations such as those available from the next generation NASA earth science instruments. The ability to operate at the same fine spatial scales of the atmospheric boundary layer and cloud models also helps in improving water and energy cycle prediction capabilities. In addition to providing a land surface modeling infrastructure, the portable, interoperable design of LIS enables it to be a valuable research tool for land surface researchers and other interdisciplinary scientists. The LIS infrastructure consists of several land surface models (LSMs), forced with a combination of observationally based precipitation and radiation with downscaled model based meteorological inputs. LIS makes use of the state-of the- art scalable high performance computing technologies to achieve ever-higher spatial resolutions and temporal durations. To provide efficient management, storage, and high throughput data access in simulations, LIS also employs a number of generic tools that manage this data. LIS also provides intuitive web-based interfaces to enable access for a wide variety of users. Many existing earth science applications lack the ability to interoperate with other earth system applications. As a result, the cost of adding new functionalities and adapting the existing systems to function with other applications may be prohibitively high. LIS attempts to achieve the desired interoperability by applying advanced software engineering concepts. The system is designed as an object oriented framework that can be shared and reused by scientists and practitioners. The use of object oriented principles help in designing LIS to be flexible and extensible, enabling rapid prototyping of new applications. In addition to providing an infrastructure to support land surface research and applications activities, LIS has also adopted other earth system modeling standards and conventions, such as the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF) and Assistance for Land Modeling Activities (ALMA). The following sections describe the land observation, modeling and assimilation tools in LIS, the design of the LIS system, and some demonstrations of LIS in simulating land surface processes.
II. BACKGROUND
A. Land Surface Observations
The use of observation-driven land models and data assimilation is a fundamental principle of the LIS framework. As such, we have identified the current and future observational systems that may guide the development of improved parameters, forcing, validation, and data assimilation constraints for LIS. A huge volume of land surface observations may be operationally sensed from space, including surface temperatures, vegetation conditions, snow, albedo, longwave and solar radiation, precipitation, surface moisture, freeze/thaw state, runoff, total water storage, and elevation, among others. LIS must be able to compile and assimilate those highly dynamic remotely-sensed observations of the land surface that previous research suggests will provide information critical for land surface research synthesis.
B. Land Surface Observations
Recent advances in understanding of soil-water dynamics, plant physiology, micrometeorology, and the hydrology that control biosphere-atmosphere interactions have spurred the development of Land Surface Models (LSMs), whose aim is to represent simply, yet realistically, the transfer of mass, energy, and momentum between a vegetated surface and the atmosphere. LSM predictions are regular in time and space, but these predictions are influenced by errors in
model structure, input variables, parameters, and inadequate treatment of sub-grid scale spatial variability. Consequently, LSM predictions are significantly improved through observation constraints. LIS has adopted an “ensemble physics” land surface modeling philosophy to enable straightforward collaboration with operational weather, climate, and decision support partners. It should be noted that LIS uses model independent software frameworks (e.g., ESMF, ALMA, etc.) and data assimilation algorithms to enable its application in a
wide range of end-uses.
DO WE NEED SUCH SYSTEM
The present day land records have hardly undergone any change during the last 7 to 8 decades. Consequently, they are unable to serve the contemporary requirements due to their inherent limitations, a few of which are readily identifiable.
a. The present cadastral system was evolved by the British for purposes of governance and revenue collection and till 1905 the responsibility for revenue surveys was with Survey of India. They were mostly conceived by the Maharajahs and the British Crown. Though the British tempered them scientifically, these land records are still out of tune with the aspirations of our times and the planning and developmental imperatives of our economy.
b. They wholly emphasize on the fiscal concerns of the State and not on the proprietary clarity.
c. They are mostly outdated and do not reflect the ground realities, viz; correct title, correct boundary and correct extent.
d. They consist of only rudimentary agricultural/crop statistics and do not provide accurate inputs for micro-level and macro-level developmental activities.
e. Both their generation and maintenance are so cumbersome that the State Governments have been finding it very difficult to conduct timely maintenance and updation.
f. A direct consequence of the lack of maintenance of the records is the apathy of landholders towards the correct delimitation of their plot boundaries and recording of correct title in land registers, often resulting in vexatious land-based litigation from the lowest to the highest Court in the Country.
g. There is an ever-growing mismatch between our agricultural and industrial advancements on one side and jurisprudence of land records on the other. This has been resulting in societal strains and conflicts.
h. Agrarian reforms like consolidation of landholdings etc., initiated by the Central and State Governments, failed to fulfill their objectives, because an equally radical culture of updated title referencing system had not been evolved.
i. The inherent deficiencies in the field procedures to create graphical land records, in not conforming to a common reference system for the entire country, has now resulted in glaring mis-matches in the small scale maps of districts and States, produced by aggregation of the village level land records.
To get rid of the above mentioned deficiencies and to fully cater to the present as well as future requirements of the landholders on one side and government departments and other organizations involved in land matters on the other, the substitution of the existing and outmoded records with a modern and dynamic system is essential.






ELEMENTS OF EVERY INFORMATION SYSTEM
Before going into geographical aspects, we must first review the basics of every information system (IS).
• Systems analysis always begins at the end. Designing an IS starts by defining what resulting information is to be extracted. The analyst needs to know what questions are being asked, what the final reports should look like, how often reports are to be created and how detailed they must be.
• Based on the end product which is expected from the IS, tables of input data and queries are designed. This stage must cover frequency of data input, level of detail, and how to aggregate the raw data into relevant, understandable information.
• Now a suitable computer software application is chosen to handle the data entry, storage and queries. The family of software which serves this purpose is known as a database management system (DBMS). A DBMS is used to create the tables of data, to construct a user interface, to design queries and to print out the required summary reports.
• Data must of course be collected and transferred to the computer in a timely fashion, matching the frequency of updates in the initial design requirements. The systems analysis should lay out explicit channels of communications and data flow such that everyone involved in collecting and entering data knows who sends what to whom, in what format, and how often.
• Finally, the crucial but all too often overlooked issue of data backup must be addressed. A backup strategy needs to be decided upon and tested from the start. This includes choosing a backup medium, laying down a rigid routine for running backups, and performing test runs periodically to ensure that backup data will be available when they are needed. Not if, but when! Computer systems crash, data can be ‘accidentally’ deleted; thus backups must be an integral part of every Information System.





.........................


THIS IS THE PAPER I PRESENTED IN IIM-L
 
THIS WAS THE PAPER I PRESENTED IN IIM-L


LAND INFORMATION SYSTEM
AUTHOR: RAHUL GOSWAMI

ABSTRACT

An information system may be formally defined as a combination of human and technical resources, together with a set of organizing procedures that produces information in support of some managerial requirement. Data are raw collection of facts. Data relating to land may be acquired and held in alphanumeric form (for example books), or graphically (for example, as maps or aerial photographs), or digitally (for example, using electronic methods). To become information, the raw data must be processed so that it can be understood by a decision maker. A land information system gives support to land management by providing information about the land, the resources upon it and the improvements made to it. Through the ages, land played a pivotal role in shaping the fortunes of human beings. In the pre-Industrial Revolution era, when agriculture was the principal source of revenue, land served as a symbol of status and wealth. However, the dawn of the industrial age saw a paradigm shift in man's relationship with land. Land and land supported resources were increasingly viewed as a commodity for meeting the needs of industry and industrial inputs. This, coupled with the heavy pressure on land, by the ever increasing population, led to over exploitation of land resources, leading to irreparable damage to the eco-systems and depletion of life supporting natural resources. This paper deals with all the aspects of land records information maintenance system and technologies which have been used presently for record keeping along with the latest technology which may be used by the country and implemented in the state like Uttar Pradesh for effective use of the IT in land management.

INTRODUCTION

LAND surface water, energy, and carbon conditions have profound influences on the overall behavior of the Earth’s climate system. A better understanding of these conditions enables improved use of natural resources, mitigation of environmental hazards, and knowledge of climate change scenarios. To this end, much research has been devoted to the integration of land surface simulation, observation, and analysis methods to accurately determine land surface energy and moisture states. Computational limitations in hardware and software have impeded the development and application of such systems at higher spatial resolutions. The Land Information System (LIS) is a software system that takes advantage of the technological improvements in computing and environmental monitoring tools to enable a global high resolution land modeling. LIS is also designed to directly ingest the vast array of high resolution observations such as those available from the next generation NASA earth science instruments. The ability to operate at the same fine spatial scales of the atmospheric boundary layer and cloud models also helps in improving water and energy cycle prediction capabilities. In addition to providing a land surface modeling infrastructure, the portable, interoperable design of LIS enables it to be a valuable research tool for land surface researchers and other interdisciplinary scientists. The LIS infrastructure consists of several land surface models (LSMs), forced with a combination of observationally based precipitation and radiation with downscaled model based meteorological inputs. LIS makes use of the state-of the- art scalable high performance computing technologies to achieve ever-higher spatial resolutions and temporal durations. To provide efficient management, storage, and high throughput data access in simulations, LIS also employs a number of generic tools that manage this data. LIS also provides intuitive web-based interfaces to enable access for a wide variety of users. Many existing earth science applications lack the ability to interoperate with other earth system applications. As a result, the cost of adding new functionalities and adapting the existing systems to function with other applications may be prohibitively high. LIS attempts to achieve the desired interoperability by applying advanced software engineering concepts. The system is designed as an object oriented framework that can be shared and reused by scientists and practitioners. The use of object oriented principles help in designing LIS to be flexible and extensible, enabling rapid prototyping of new applications. In addition to providing an infrastructure to support land surface research and applications activities, LIS has also adopted other earth system modeling standards and conventions, such as the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF) and Assistance for Land Modeling Activities (ALMA). The following sections describe the land observation, modeling and assimilation tools in LIS, the design of the LIS system, and some demonstrations of LIS in simulating land surface processes.
II. BACKGROUND
A. Land Surface Observations
The use of observation-driven land models and data assimilation is a fundamental principle of the LIS framework. As such, we have identified the current and future observational systems that may guide the development of improved parameters, forcing, validation, and data assimilation constraints for LIS. A huge volume of land surface observations may be operationally sensed from space, including surface temperatures, vegetation conditions, snow, albedo, longwave and solar radiation, precipitation, surface moisture, freeze/thaw state, runoff, total water storage, and elevation, among others. LIS must be able to compile and assimilate those highly dynamic remotely-sensed observations of the land surface that previous research suggests will provide information critical for land surface research synthesis.
B. Land Surface Observations
Recent advances in understanding of soil-water dynamics, plant physiology, micrometeorology, and the hydrology that control biosphere-atmosphere interactions have spurred the development of Land Surface Models (LSMs), whose aim is to represent simply, yet realistically, the transfer of mass, energy, and momentum between a vegetated surface and the atmosphere. LSM predictions are regular in time and space, but these predictions are influenced by errors in
model structure, input variables, parameters, and inadequate treatment of sub-grid scale spatial variability. Consequently, LSM predictions are significantly improved through observation constraints. LIS has adopted an “ensemble physics” land surface modeling philosophy to enable straightforward collaboration with operational weather, climate, and decision support partners. It should be noted that LIS uses model independent software frameworks (e.g., ESMF, ALMA, etc.) and data assimilation algorithms to enable its application in a
wide range of end-uses.
DO WE NEED SUCH SYSTEM
The present day land records have hardly undergone any change during the last 7 to 8 decades. Consequently, they are unable to serve the contemporary requirements due to their inherent limitations, a few of which are readily identifiable.
a. The present cadastral system was evolved by the British for purposes of governance and revenue collection and till 1905 the responsibility for revenue surveys was with Survey of India. They were mostly conceived by the Maharajahs and the British Crown. Though the British tempered them scientifically, these land records are still out of tune with the aspirations of our times and the planning and developmental imperatives of our economy.
b. They wholly emphasize on the fiscal concerns of the State and not on the proprietary clarity.
c. They are mostly outdated and do not reflect the ground realities, viz; correct title, correct boundary and correct extent.
d. They consist of only rudimentary agricultural/crop statistics and do not provide accurate inputs for micro-level and macro-level developmental activities.
e. Both their generation and maintenance are so cumbersome that the State Governments have been finding it very difficult to conduct timely maintenance and updation.
f. A direct consequence of the lack of maintenance of the records is the apathy of landholders towards the correct delimitation of their plot boundaries and recording of correct title in land registers, often resulting in vexatious land-based litigation from the lowest to the highest Court in the Country.
g. There is an ever-growing mismatch between our agricultural and industrial advancements on one side and jurisprudence of land records on the other. This has been resulting in societal strains and conflicts.
h. Agrarian reforms like consolidation of landholdings etc., initiated by the Central and State Governments, failed to fulfill their objectives, because an equally radical culture of updated title referencing system had not been evolved.
i. The inherent deficiencies in the field procedures to create graphical land records, in not conforming to a common reference system for the entire country, has now resulted in glaring mis-matches in the small scale maps of districts and States, produced by aggregation of the village level land records.
To get rid of the above mentioned deficiencies and to fully cater to the present as well as future requirements of the landholders on one side and government departments and other organizations involved in land matters on the other, the substitution of the existing and outmoded records with a modern and dynamic system is essential.






ELEMENTS OF EVERY INFORMATION SYSTEM
Before going into geographical aspects, we must first review the basics of every information system (IS).
• Systems analysis always begins at the end. Designing an IS starts by defining what resulting information is to be extracted. The analyst needs to know what questions are being asked, what the final reports should look like, how often reports are to be created and how detailed they must be.
• Based on the end product which is expected from the IS, tables of input data and queries are designed. This stage must cover frequency of data input, level of detail, and how to aggregate the raw data into relevant, understandable information.
• Now a suitable computer software application is chosen to handle the data entry, storage and queries. The family of software which serves this purpose is known as a database management system (DBMS). A DBMS is used to create the tables of data, to construct a user interface, to design queries and to print out the required summary reports.
• Data must of course be collected and transferred to the computer in a timely fashion, matching the frequency of updates in the initial design requirements. The systems analysis should lay out explicit channels of communications and data flow such that everyone involved in collecting and entering data knows who sends what to whom, in what format, and how often.
• Finally, the crucial but all too often overlooked issue of data backup must be addressed. A backup strategy needs to be decided upon and tested from the start. This includes choosing a backup medium, laying down a rigid routine for running backups, and performing test runs periodically to ensure that backup data will be available when they are needed. Not if, but when! Computer systems crash, data can be ‘accidentally’ deleted; thus backups must be an integral part of every Information System.
 
IHRM Conference




Inaugural Conference

of the

International Human Resource Management Review

Venue: PSG Institute of Management , Coimbatore , India

Date: July 29-31, 2007

Deadline for Submission: April 30, 2007


The purpose of this conference is to inaugurate the International Human Resource Management Review. The conference and journal is sponsored by the PSG Institute of Management, in collaboration with the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at San Diego State University. Over two days:

• 20 manuscripts will be presented covering issues of strategic international human resource management as well as the functional areas of international human resource management (acquisition, development, and maintenance);
• Visits to traditional and emerging industries in the region;
• Interaction with executives from leading businesses in the region; and
• Networking with scholars of international human resource management.

The objective of the International Human Resource Management Review (IHRMR) is to provide a forum for the dissemination of theoretical and empirical research on the management of human resource in an international economy. Manuscripts from the entire range (acquisition, development, and maintenance) of the human resource management function will be considered. Of particular interest is the integrative view that international human resource management practices should be vertically and horizontally integrated. Comparative studies are highly encouraged. IHRMR embraces a multi-disciplinary theoretical paradigm and a wide range of research methodologies including literature reviews, think pieces, best practices, cases studies, paired comparisons and empirical studies (inductive and deductive). Both qualitative and quantitative studies are appropriate for IHRMR.

Manuscript Submission:

Manuscripts must be submitted on or before April 30, 2007 to Professor R.G. Priyaadarshini at [email protected].

Manuscripts must be prepared according to the style guide of the American Psychological Association (Fifth Edition).

Manuscripts must not be published previously and currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.

All manuscripts will be reviewed by the program committee. The final decision on the acceptance/rejection is made by the committee and will be communicated to the author(s) by May 15, 2007
 
IHRM Conference




Inaugural Conference

of the

International Human Resource Management Review

Venue: PSG Institute of Management , Coimbatore , India

Date: July 29-31, 2007

Deadline for Submission: April 30, 2007


The purpose of this conference is to inaugurate the International Human Resource Management Review. The conference and journal is sponsored by the PSG Institute of Management, in collaboration with the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at San Diego State University. Over two days:

• 20 manuscripts will be presented covering issues of strategic international human resource management as well as the functional areas of international human resource management (acquisition, development, and maintenance);
• Visits to traditional and emerging industries in the region;
• Interaction with executives from leading businesses in the region; and
• Networking with scholars of international human resource management.

The objective of the International Human Resource Management Review (IHRMR) is to provide a forum for the dissemination of theoretical and empirical research on the management of human resource in an international economy. Manuscripts from the entire range (acquisition, development, and maintenance) of the human resource management function will be considered. Of particular interest is the integrative view that international human resource management practices should be vertically and horizontally integrated. Comparative studies are highly encouraged. IHRMR embraces a multi-disciplinary theoretical paradigm and a wide range of research methodologies including literature reviews, think pieces, best practices, cases studies, paired comparisons and empirical studies (inductive and deductive). Both qualitative and quantitative studies are appropriate for IHRMR.

Manuscript Submission:

Manuscripts must be submitted on or before April 30, 2007 to Professor R.G. Priyaadarshini at [email protected].

Manuscripts must be prepared according to the style guide of the American Psychological Association (Fifth Edition).

Manuscripts must not be published previously and currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.

All manuscripts will be reviewed by the program committee. The final decision on the acceptance/rejection is made by the committee and will be communicated to the author(s) by May 15, 2007
 
History and the Enterprise of Knowledge

by Amartya Sen
In an often-quoted remark, Henry Ford, the great captain of industry, said, “History is more or less bunk.” As a general statement about history, this is perhaps not an assessment of compelling delicacy. And yet Henry Ford would have been right to think, if that is what he meant, that history could easily become “bunk” through motivated manipulation.
This is especially so if the writing of history is manoeuvred to suit a slanted agenda in contemporary politics. There are organized attempts in India, at this time, to do just that, with arbitrary augmentation of a narrowly sectarian view of India’s past, along with undermining its magnificently multireligious and heterodox history. Among other distortions, there is also a systematic confounding here of mythology with history. An extraordinary example of this has been the interpretation of the Ramayana, not as a great epic, but as documentary history, which can be invoked to establish property rights over places and sites possessed and owned by others. We see this for example in the confusing story of a recent statement by a Director of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) announcing exact knowledge of where Rama, the avatar, was born (not surprisingly precisely where the Babri Masjid mosque stood — from which the property rights for building a temple exactly there is meant to follow!), combined with the assertion that the Masjid itself had no religious significance (followed by an embarrassed dissociation of the ICHR itself from these remarkable pronouncements), thus illustrating the confounding of myth and history. The Ramayana, which Rabindranath Tagore had seen as a wonderful legend (“the story of the Ramayana” is to be interpreted, as Tagore put it in a Vision of India’s History, not as “a matter of historical fact” but “in the plane of ideas”) and in fact as a marvellous parable of “reconciliation,” is now made into a legally authentic account that gives some members of one community an alleged entitlement to particular sites and land, amounting to a license to tear down the religious places of other communities. Thomas de Quincey has an interesting essay called “Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts.” Rewriting of history for bellicose use can also,presumably, be a very fine art.
I note the contemporary confounding of historical studies in India as the starting point of this lecture, even though I shall not be directly concerned with addressing these distortions: there are many superb historians in India to give these misconstructions their definitive due. Instead, I shall be concerned with outlining some methodological issues that relate to the subject of truth and falsehood in general history. I will also try to develop and defend a view of history as “an enterprise of knowledge.”
There will be occasional references to contemporary debates (because I shall illustrate the general points with examples from Indian history), but the overall focus will be on more general themes. There will be occasions, in this context, to take a fresh look at India’s persistent heterodoxy, which includes not only its tendency towards multireligious and multicultural coexistence (a point emphasized in Rabindranath Tagore’s “vision of India’s history”), but also its relevance for the development of science and mathematics in India. For history is not only an enterprise of knowledge in itself, it cannot but have a special involvement with the history of other enterprises of knowledge.
The view of history as an enterprise of knowledge is, of course, very old-fashioned: I am not trying to innovate anything whatsoever. However, this and related epistemic approaches to history have taken some hard knocks over the last few decades. These have come not so much from sectarian bigots (who have barely addressed issues of method), but in the hands of sophisticated methodologists who are not only sceptical of the alleged virtues of modernity and objectivity (often for understandable reasons), but have ended up being deeply suspicious also of the idea of “truth” or “falsehood” in history. They have been keen, in particular, to emphasize the relativity of perspectives and the ubiquity of different points of view.
Perspectives and points of view, I would argue, are indeed important, not just in history, but in every enterprise of knowledge. This is partly because our observations are inescapably “positional.” Distant objects, for example, cannot but look smaller, and yet it is the job of analysis and scrutiny to place the different positional views in their appropriate perspectives to arrive at an integrated and coherent picture. The elementary recognition of the “positionality” of observations and perceptions does not do away with ideas of truth and falsehood, nor with the need to exercise reasoned judgement faced with conflicting evidence and clashing perspectives. I shall not here reiterate the methodological arguments I have presented elsewhere, such as in “Positional Objectivity” in Philosophy and Public Affairs but will discuss their relevance to the interpretation of Indian history.
Indeed, describing the past is like all other reflective judgments, which have to take note of the demands of veracity and the discipline of knowledge. The discipline includes the study of knowledge formation, including the history of science (and the constructive influences that are important in the cultivation of science) and also the history of histories (where differences in perspective call for disciplined scrutiny and are of importance themselves as objects of study). I shall be concerned with each.
I should make one more motivational remark. I address this talk primarily to non-historians, like myself, who take an interest in history. I am aware that no self-respecting historian will peacefully listen to an economist trying to tell them what their discipline is like. But history is not just for historians. It affects the lives of the public at large. We non-historians do not have to establish our entitlement to talk about history.
Rather, a good point of departure is to ask: why is history so often invoked in popular discussions? Also, what can the general public get from history? Why, we must also ask, is history such a battleground?
Let me begin by discussing some distinct motivations that influence the public’s interest in history.
(I) Epistemic interest: The fact that we tend to have, for one reason or another, some interest in knowing more about what happened in the past is such a simple thought that it is somewhat embarrassing to mention this at a learned gathering. But, surely, catering to our curiosity about the past must count among the reasons for trying to learn something about historical events. An ulterior motive is not essential for taking an interest in history (even though ulterior reasons may also exist often enough).
The simplicity of the idea of historical curiosity is, however, to some extent deceptive, because the reasons for our curiosity about the past can be very diverse and sometimes quite complex. The reason can be something very practical (such as learning from a past mistake), or engagingly illuminating (such as knowing about the lives of common people in a certain period in history), or largely recreational (such as investigating the chronology and history of India’s multiplicity of calendars). Also, the historical questions asked need not be straightforward, and may even be highly speculative, such as Rabindranath Tagore’s interesting but bold conjecture that the “mythical version of King Janamejaya’s ruthless serpent sacrifice” may quite possibly stand for an actual historical event involving an “attempted extermination of the entire Naga race” by the dominant powers in ancient India. Whether or not it is easy to satisfy our curiosity (it may not always be possible to settle a debate regarding what actually happened), truth has an obvious enough role in exercises of this kind. In fact, curiosity is a demand for truth on a particular subject.
(2) Practical reason: Historical connections are often invoked in the context of contemporary politics and policies. Indeed, present-day attitudes in politics and society are often strongly influenced by the reading — or misreading — of the history of past events. For example, sectarian tensions build frequently on grievances (spontaneous or cultivated) linked to past deeds (real or imagined) of one group against another. This is well illustrated, for example, by the recent massacres in Rwanda or former Yugoslavia, where history — or imagined history — was often invoked, concerning alleged past records of hostilities between Hutus and Tutsis, or between Serbs and Albanians, respectively. Since these uses of history are aimed primarily at contemporary acts and strategies, the counteracting arguments which too invoke history, though in the opposite direction, also end up being inescapably linked to current affairs. Given the dialectical context, we may be forced to take an interest in historical disputations on battlegrounds that have been chosen by others — not ourselves.
For example, in defending the role of secularism in contemporary India, it is not in any way essential to make any claim whatsoever about how India’s Mughal rulers behaved — whether they were sectarian or assimilative, whether they were oppressive or tolerant. Yet in the political discussions that have accompanied the activist incursions of communal politics in contemporary India (well illustrated, for example, by the rhetoric that accompanied the demolition of the Babri Masjid), a heavily carpentered characterization of the Mughal rule as anti-Hindu was repeatedly invoked. Since this characterization was to a great extent spurious and based on arbitrary selection, to leave that point unaddressed would have, in the context of the on going debate, amounted to a negligence in practical reason, and not just an epistemic abstinence. Even the plausibility or otherwise of the historical argument that some of the juridical roots of Indian secularism can be traced to Mughal jurisprudence (a thesis I have tried to present in my paper, “Reach of Reason: East and West”), even though a matter of pure history, ends up inescapably as having some relevance for contemporary politics (even though that was not a claim I made).
The enterprise of knowledge links in this case with the use of that knowledge. However, this does not, in any way, reduce the relevance of truth in seeking knowledge. The fact that knowledge has its use does not, obviously, make the enterprise of acquiring knowledge in any way redundant. In fact, quite the contrary.
(3) Identity scrutiny: Underlying the political debates, there is often enough a deeper issue related to the way we construct and characterize our own identities, in which too historical knowledge — or alleged knowledge — can play an important part. Our sense of identity is strongly influenced by our understanding of our past. We do not, of course, have a personal past prior to our birth, but our self-perceptions are associated with the shared history of the members of a particular group to which we think we “belong” and with which we “identify.” Our allegiances draw on the evocation of histories of our identity groups.
A scrutiny of this use of history cannot be independent of the philosophical question as to whether our identities are primarily matters of ‘discovery’ (as many ‘communitarian’ thinkers, such as Michael Sandal, claim), or whether they are to a significant extent matters of selection and choice (of course, within given constraints — as indeed all choices inescapably are). Arguments that rely on the assumption of the unique centrality of one’s community-based identity survive by privileging — typically implicitly — that identity over other identities (which may be connected with, say, class, or gender, or language, or political commitments, or cultural influences). In consequence, they restrict the domain of one’s alleged “historical roots” in a truly dramatic way. Thus, the increasing search for a Hindu view of Indian history not only has problems with epistemic veracity (an issue I discussed earlier), but also involves the philosophical problem of categorical oversimplification.
It would, for example, have problems in coming to terms with, say, Rabindranath Tagore’s description of his own background in the Religion of Man as “a confluence of three cultures, Hindu, Mohammedan and British.” No less importantly, it cannot but be in some tension with the sense of pride that an Indian may choose to have, irrespective of his or her own religious background, at the historical achievements of, say, Ashoka or Akbar, or Kalidasa or Kabir, or Aryabhata or Bhaskara. To deny the role of reasoned choice, which can draw on the knowledge of the past, can be a very serious loss indeed. Even those who want to identify with India’s historical achievements and perhaps take some pride in them (a legitimate enough concern) must also examine critically what to take pride in, since it is easy to be misled into a narrow alley through incitements to ignore India’s capacious heterodoxy in favour of a constricted sectarian identity. While discovery and choice compete as the basis of identity, knowledge and choice are essentially complementary to each other. Engagement with issues of identity enriches the enterprise of knowledge and extends its reach.
Let me now move to a more active view of the enterprise of knowledge, and turn to the history of science, which is among the historical subjects of study. As has already been argued, history is not only an enterprise of knowledge, its subject matter includes other enterprises of knowledge. The issue of heterodoxy, to which reference was made earlier, is particularly important here. Indeed, I would argue that there is a general connection between intellectual heterodoxy and the pursuit of science, and that this connection deserves more attention than it tends to get.
Heterodoxy is important for scientific advance because new ideas and discoveries have to emerge initially as heterodox views, at variance with established understanding. One need reflect only on the history of the scientific contributions of say, Galileo or Newton or Darwin, to see the role of heterodoxy in the process. The history of science is integrally linked with heterodoxy.
If this interpretation is correct, then the roots of the flowering of Indian science and mathematics that occurred in and around the Gupta period (beginning particularly with Aryabhata and Varahamihira) can be intellectually associated with persistent expressions of heterodoxies which pre-existed these contributions. In fact, Sanskrit and Pali have a larger literature in defence of atheism, agnosticism and theological scepticism than exists in any other classical language.
The origins of mathematical and scientific developments in the Gupta period are often traced to earlier works in mathematics and science in India, and this is indeed worth investigating, despite the historical mess that has been created recently by the ill-founded championing of the so-called “Vedic mathematics” and “Vedic sciences,” based on very little evidence. What has, I would argue, more claim to attention as a precursor of scientific advances in the Gupta period is the tradition of scepticism that can be found in pre-Gupta India — going back to at least the sixth century B.C. — particularly in matters of religion and epistemic orthodoxy. Indeed, the openness of approach that allowed Indian mathematicians and scientists to learn about the state of these professions in Babylon, Greece and Rome, which are plentifully cited in early Indian astronomy (particularly in the Siddhantas), can also be seen as a part of this inclination towards heterodoxy.
Indeed, the development of Indian sciences has clear methodological connections with the general epistemological doubts expressed by sceptical schools of thought that developed at an earlier period. This included the insistence on relying only on observational evidence (with scepticism of unobserved variables), for example in the Lokayata and Charvaka writings, not to mention Gautama Buddha’s powerfully articulated agnosticism and his persistent questioning of received beliefs. The untimely death of Professor Bimal Matilal has robbed us of the chance of benefiting from his extensive programme of systematic investigation of the history of Indian epistemology, but his already published works, particularly Perceptions bring out the reach of unorthodox early writings on epistemology (by both Buddhist and Hindu writers) in the period that can be linked to the flowering of Indian science and mathematics in the Gupta era.
Similarly, the expression of hereticism and heterodoxy patiently — if somewhat grudgingly — recorded even in the Ramayana (for example, in the form of Javali’s advice to Rama to defy his father’s odd promise) presents methodological reasons to be sceptical of the orthodox position in this field. Indeed, in A Vision of India’s History, Rabindranath Tagore also notes the oddity of the central story of Rama’s pious acceptance of banishment based on “the absurd reason ....about the weak old king [Rama’s father], yielding to a favourite wife, who took advantage of a vague promise which could fit itself to any demand of hers, however preposterous.” Tagore takes it as evidence of “the later degeneracy of mind,” when “some casual words uttered in a moment of infatuation could be deemed more sacred than the truth which is based upon justice and perfect knowledge.”
In fact, Javali’s disputation goes deeply into scientific methodology and the process of acquiring of knowledge:
There is no after-world, nor any religious practice for attaining that. Follow what is within your experience and do not trouble yourself with what lies beyond the province of human experience. (Translation from Makhanlal Sen, Valmiki Ramayana)
As it happens, the insistence that we rely only on observation and experience is indeed a central issue in the departures in astronomy — initiated by Aryabhata and others — from established theological cosmology. The departures presented in his book Aryabhatiya, completed in 421 Saka or 499 A.D., which came to be discussed extensively by mathematicians and astronomers who followed Aryabhata (particularly Varahamihira, Brahmagupta and Bhaskara, and were also discussed in their Arabic translations), included, among others: (1) Aryabhata’s advocacy of the diurnal motion of the earth (rather than the apparent rotation of the sun around it), (2) a corresponding theory of gravity to explain why objects are not thrown out as the earth churns, (3) recognition of the parametric variability of the concept of “up” and “down” depending on where one is located on the globe, and (4) explanation of lunar and solar eclipses in terms respectively of the earth’s shadow on the moon and the moon’s obscuring of the sun. Observational arguments, based on what Javali calls “the province of human experience,” are central to the departures initiated by Aryabhata in these and related fields (more on this presently). In the enterprise of knowledge involving the natural sciences, the intellectual connections between scepticism, heterodoxy and observational insistence, on the one hand, and manifest scientific advances, on the other, require much further exploration and scrutiny than they seem to have received so far.
The observational issue is important also for the particular subject of history of histories, or metahistories (as we may call them). Given the importance of perspectives in historical writings, history of histories can tell us a great deal not only about the subject of those writings, but also about their authors and the traditions and perspectives they reflect. For example, James Mill’s The History of British India, published in 1817, tells us probably as much about imperial Britain as about India. This three-volume history, written by Mill without visiting India (Mill seemed to think that this non-visit made his history more objective), played a major role in introducing the British governors of India (such as the influential Macaulay) to a particular characterization of the country. There is indeed much to learn from Mill’s history — not just about India, but more, in fact, about the perspective from which this history was written. This is an illustration of the general point that the presence of positionality and observational perspective need not weaken the enterprise of knowledge, and may in fact help to extend its reach.
James Mill disputed and rejected practically every claim ever made on behalf of Indian culture and intellectual traditions, but paid particular attention to dismissing Indian scientific works. Mill rebuked early British administrators (particularly, Sir William Jones) for having taken the natives “to be a people of high civilization, while they have in reality made but a few of the earliest steps in the progress to civilization.” Indeed, since colonialism need not be especially biased against any particular colony compared with any other subjugated community, Mill had no great difficulty in coming to the conclusion that the Indian civilization was at par with other inferior ones known to Mill: “very nearly the same with that of the Chinese, the Persians, and the Arabians,” and also the other “subordinate nations, the Japanese, Cochin-chinese, Siamese, Burmans, and even Malays and Tibetans”.
Mill was particularly dismissive of the alleged scientific and mathematical works in India. He denied the generally accepted belief that the decimal system (with place values and the placed use of zero) had emerged in India, and refused to accept that Aryabhata and his followers could have had anything interesting to say on the diurnal motion of the earth and the principles of gravitation. Writing his own history of histories, Mill chastised Sir William Jones for believing in these “stories,” and concluded that it was “extremely natural that Sir William Jones, whose pundits had become acquainted with the ideas of European philosophers respecting the system of the universe, should hear from them that those ideas were contained in their own books.”
It is, in fact, interesting to compare Mill’s History with another history of India, called Ta’rikh al-hind (written in Arabic eight hundred years earlier, in the 11th century) by the Iranian mathematician Alberuni. Alberuni, who was born in Central Asia in 973 A.D., and mastered Sanskrit after coming to India, studied Indian texts on mathematics, natural sciences, literature, philosophy, and religion. Alberuni writes clearly on the invention of the decimal system in India (as do other Arab authors) and also about Aryabhata’s theories on the earth’s rotation, gravitation, and related subjects.
These writings contrast sharply with Mill’s history from a dominant colonial perspective, well established by the beginning of the nineteenth century. The interest in Mill’s dismissive history in imperial Britain (Macaulay, as quoted by John Clive in his introduction to Mill’s History, described Mill’s History of British India to be “on the whole the greatest historical work which has appeared in our language since that of Gibbon”) contrasts with extensive constructive interest in these Indian works among Islamic mathematicians and scientists in Iran and in the Arab world.
In fact, Brahmagupta’s pioneering Sanskrit treatise on astronomy had been first translated into Arabic in the 8th century by Muhammad ibn Ibrahim alFazari, and again by Alberuni three hundred years later in the eleventh century (since Alberuni had certain criticisms of the previous translation). Several Indian works on medicine, science and philosophy had Arabic rendering by the 9th century, and so on. It was through the Arabs that the Indian decimal system and numerals reached Europe, as did Indian writings in mathematics, science and literature, in general.
Indeed, history of histories, particularly about science, can tell us a great deal about the nature of political and social relations between the different countries (such as Iran and Gupta India, on the one hand, Britain and colonial India, on the other). As it happens, Alberuni’s history also provides interesting illumination on scientific discussions within India, and particularly on the constructive role of heterodoxy in this context. Even though Alberuni himself tended to reject Aryabhata’s theory regarding the diurnal motion of the earth, he describes patiently the Indian arguments in defence of the plausibility of Aryabhata’s theory, including the related theory of gravity.
It is, in this context, particularly interesting to examine Alberuni’s discussion of Brahmagupta’s conservative rejection of the exciting departures proposed by Aryabhata and his followers on the subject of lunar and solar eclipses. Alberuni quotes Brahmagupta’s criticism of Aryabhata and his followers, in defence of the orthodox religious theory, involving Rahu and the so-called “head” that is supposed to devour the sun and the moon, and finds it clearly unpersuasive and reactionary. He quotes Brahmagupta’s supplication to religious orthodoxy, in Brahmasiddhanta:
Some people think that the eclipse is not caused by the Head. This, however, is a foolish idea, for it is he in fact who eclipses, and the generality of the inhabitants of the world say that it is the Head that eclipses. The Veda, which is the word of God from the mouth of Brahman, says that the Head eclipses ....On the contrary. Varahamihira, Shrishena, Aryabhata and Vishnuchandra maintain that the eclipse is not caused by the Head, but by the moon and the shadow of the earth, in direct opposition to all (to the generality of men), and from the enmity against the just-mentioned dogma. (Alberuni’s India)
Alberuni, who is quite excited about Aryabhata’s scientific theories of eclipses, then accuses Brahmagupta (a great mathematician himself) for lacking the moral courage of Aryabhata in dissenting from the established orthodoxy. He points out that, in practice, Brahmagupta too follows Aryabhata’s methods in predicting the eclipses, but this does not prevent Brahmagupta from sharply criticising — from an essentially theological perspective — Aryabhata and his followers for being heretical and heterodox. Alberuni puts it thus:
....we shall not argue with him [Brahmagupta], but only whisper into his ear: .... Why do you, after having spoken such [harsh] words [against Aryabhata and his followers], then begin to calculate the diameter of the moon in order to explain the eclipsing of the sun, and the diameter of the shadow of the earth in order to explain its eclipsing the moon? Why do you compute both eclipses in agreement with the theory of those heretics, and not according to the views of those with whom you think it is proper to agree? (Alberuni’s India)
The connection between heterodoxy and scientific advance is indeed close, and big departures in science require methodological independence as well as analytical and constructive skill. Even though Aryabhata, Varahamihira and Brahmagupta were all dead for many hundred years before Alberuni was writing on their controversies and their implications, nevertheless Alberuni’s carefully critical scientific history helps to bring out the main issues involved, and in particular the need for heterodoxy as well as moral courage in pursuit of science.
To conclude, I have tried to illustrate the different ways in which history has relevance for non-historians — indeed the general public.
First, there are diverse grounds for the public’s involvement with history, which include (1) the apparently simple attractions of epistemic interest, (2) the contentious correlates of practical reason, and (3) the scrutiny of identity-based thinking. All of them — directly or indirectly — involve and draw on the enterprise of knowledge.
Second, history is not only itself an enterprise of knowledge, its domain of study incorporates all other enterprises of knowledge, including the history of science. In this context, it is easy to see the role of heterodoxy and methodological independence in scientific advance. The intellectual connections between heterodoxy (especially theological scepticism) and scientific pursuits (especially big scientific departures) deserve more attention in the history of sciences in India.
Third, metahistories — or histories of histories — also bring out the relevance of an appropriate climate for the enterprise of knowledge. The pursuit of knowledge not only requires an open mind (the contrast between Alberuni’s scientific interest and Mill’s colonial predispositions radically differentiate their treatments of the same subject matter), it also requires an inclination to accept heterodoxy and the courage to stand up against orthodoxy (Alberuni’s critique of Brahmagupta’s criticism of Aryabhata relates to this issue). The plurality of perspectives extends the domain of the enterprise of knowledge rather than undermining the possibility of that enterprise.
Since the rewriting of Indian history from the slanted perspective of sectarian orthodoxy not only undermines historical objectivity, but also militates against the spirit of scientific scepticism and intellectual heterodoxy, it is important to emphasize the centrality of scepticism and heterodoxy in the pursuit of scientific knowledge. The incursion of sectarian orthodoxy in Indian history involves two distinct problems, to wit, (1) narrow sectarianism, and (2) unreasoned orthodoxy. The enterprise of knowledge is threatened by both.
 
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