Things I like

Without giving any reasons for my absenteeism, I am just gonna blog !!!
Things I like:
1. The feeling when I reach home after grueling semesters - Nothing can beat this
2. Watching excellent movies and TV series: although haven't watched many; will try to complete imdb top 250 while I have access to those(read while in college;)
3. Playing cricket: Haven't played much at NITC due to other extra curricular activities.
4. Reading interesting blogs/articles: Use bookmarking sites like delicious, digg, stumble upon etc.
5. Listening to music: Always loved this. When I was a kid, Dad used to play the radio and I enjoyed the exotic old Hindi songs. Have started listening to Rock pretty recently. I still enjoy listening to radio but now its the Winamp radio - Shoutcast and other free radio sites.
6. Traveling: Another of my favorite pass times. I love traveling alone with just a bag pack and a music player
and there are many other activities that I will definitely like. Probably all adventure sports will come under this ...

The Indo-US Nuclear Deal

This is a widely debated topic these days. It is almost covered daily on all news channel (though I am currently not watching any news, it is easy to guess when it comes to news channels). The topic was quite common in the group discussion rounds of the recruitment procedure. Then why am I writing about it? Well two reasons

1. No other topic 

2. My friend inos (read reverse) suggested it 

         So lets get started......

I'll first put down the benefits of the deal and then obviously comes the disadvantages

Benefits :

The main reasoning given by the governemnt is the power shortage we are facing. Yes definitely we can improve the power scenario by importing nuclear technologies from the developed countries. It is the best possible short term solution for India and it is friendly to the environment (does not emit the green house gases)

A strategic partnership with the United States will always boost trade. So we will see close to 3 billion USD of investment. The deal will also bring in nuclear technologies that were banned in India because of the existing restrictions by the NSG. I had read it in a Times of India article about how the deal would benefit all the different industrial sectors.  The article was a real eye opener. Before reading that I had assumed the deal would only help to ameliorate the starving power sector. But it shows how the deal will benefit the overall Indian economy. It states the import of nuclear technologies will greatly benefit the medical and health care sector. The modern scanning equipments require radioactive isotopes which until now were not allowed in India. The use of nuclear technologies will also enable the different manufacturing sectors to expand rapidly. Another important advantage is India can gain access to super computers(there was some reason mentioned, which i cant recall now). The deal will also give a major boost to the electronics industry. Then of course it will create umpteen empolyment opportunities. Also to use nuclear technology skilled man power is essential and so there will be newer institutes for nuclear technology which would inturn require faculties and thus creating more employment.  Well I got the article from times archives, check it out here

   Now moving on to the potential problems 

Using nuclear power to meet India's enrgy demands is a myopic solution. It does not create the problems arising from a thermal power plant but certainly the problems associated with nuclear waste must be pondered over. Nuclear waste can be hazardous and requires utmost care in disposing. Then there is the problem of a nuclear disaster something like a Chernobyl. Though the possibility of such events has gone down considerably but it is something which cannot be neglected altogether. And if such a disaster occurs it may be the worst event in history of mankind after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. This problem would be even more complicated for India because of its high population density. Then again there are military related issues which are required to be sorted out. I am not aware of what exactly will happen if India tests a nuclear weapon. But I guess it will definitely create bitter relation between India and the NSG. 

So as far as the economic perspective is kept in mind the deal will be beneficial for the Indian economy. Environmentalist will have different views(they usually have :) ). But what I feel irritating is the government's explanation- it will help in meeting our energy demands.  One needs to be far sighted when it comes to energy. We cannot develop solutions only for 3-4 decades. We need to invest in renewable sources and venture out into non conventional energy. Nuclear power is good but it comes at a cost. 

Anyways the deal is almost done......lets hope we see more good!!! 

Thats all guys if you have any more points "for" or "against" please put it up in the comments. 

inos u should atleast comment... ;)

The Independence Day Post

A very Happy Independence Day (Indian Independence Day 15th August) to one and all.
2008-1947 = 61 years of political independence for India and how much we have progressed in these years?? Let's do a quick check and enumerate the things India accomplished during these years:

• India became an independent country in 1947 and it's constitution came into force on 26th January 1950. Thus India became republic and also the BIGGEST DEMOCRACY in the world, which in fact was an audacious move.
  
• India is the second most culturally, linguistically and genetically diverse geographical entity after the African continent and sustaining 61 years of such diversity itself is a monumental achievement.
  
• Although being a young country India was the co-founder of Non-Alignment Movement and maintained friendly relations with both USA and USSR during the cold war.
  
• During this period India has fought four wars against Pakistan (feel very sorry for that) and one against China.
• Indira Gandhi became the prime minister in 1960s and 1970s the first female to do so in India and USA is still hopeful for their Mrs. President.
• India demonstrated it's scientific and technological might by conducting Nuclear tests in 1974 and also around this time Green revolution and operation flood made India self reliant in food and grains.
• Also India was one of the very few countries to possess satellites and plan for space programs.
  
• Then came in the era(1990-91) of economic reforms the benefits of which we are still reaping. India was benefited by the emergence of IT and Software based industries.
• The 21st century saw the emergence of India as an economic giant with GDP growing at around 8%.

This seems a long enough list for the day. There are many more events that make every Indian proud. But we must not be complacent with 61 happy years, we have newer challenges cropping up.

"Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living?" Mohandas Gandhi.

My next post will be "My vision for India...." an assignment we have for economics.

UMPPs..... a chimera

The net is back in our hostels and its awesome. So beginning this August I plan to write atleast 1 post every day (just joking guys ;) maybe every week
Ok now moving on to the title UMPP is Ultra Mega Power Projects. People who are not aware what this means click here. If you are lazy to redirect, UMPPs are power plants with capacity greater than 4000 MW (MegaWatts of electricity). The honorable Government of India plans to ameliorate the starving power scenario in India by starting up such humongous projects. Now if I look at this from a perspective of a common man I am very happy. Atleast the ever lasting problem of load shedding will be over. We will have access to electricity continuous without any disturbances (except in some cases like rains and floods) But wait a minute...... being an engineer esp. electrical :) I cannot just look at the jolly side of the scene.
These projects would be coal fired and will be located throughout India to provide power to all states. But what about Global Warming? I find it hard to understand why go for thermal when the entire world is venturing out into Non-Conventional energy resources. An official document (found here) says the UMPP will attract investment to the tune of Rs. 15,000 Cr each. That means people (the industries) will be investing 15k * 9 cr for puffing out more CO2 That amount will be equivalent to something China invests in Wind and Solar Power.....great going Indians!!!!
What I feel is we are wasting capital on something which is not at all worth investing. With due to respect to the policy makers, I feel this amount could have been used for development of non-conventional resources (wind, solar, fuel cells, tidal, geothermal). This kind of short term planning (in sense that it will provide power for the current population without any regard to the environment) is seriously anti-engineering and is deterimental to the future population.
Being an electrical engineer (a quarter of engineering days are still left!!!) I understand developing such high scale projects is good considering the "Economics of Scale". But people it's high time we give a serious thought to the problem of global warming and climate change.
Instead of focussing on UMPP we could have tried for solar and wind (more info on solar here)
People all over the world are going for micro grids and distributed generation and we are scaling up!!!
Anyways the bidding has started and around 3 projects have already been awarded (1-Tata Power, 2-Reliance Power) This post was meant not to criticize any of the policy makers but just to make people realize there are other options available and more importantly these are under-utilised in India. May be I' ll talk about micro grids and distributed generation in my upcoming posts.

People from non-engineering background I am sorry for the engineering verbiage. But you must remember electric power is indispensible from any one and we all have a part to play in our endeavour of mitigating the climate changes. My post on that can be found here

And now about final year in NITC: may be some other time and some other post......(".....time and space are related..." did Einstein say this?)

Topping the google!!!!

We all know the might of Google. I (with many others) am extremely crazy and addictive with whatever google does be it the google docs, google pages, google reader, google desktop. Gtalk and the list continues. But lets not forget the google search engine with which it all started. The search is synonymous with google. I hope one day google could search the matter as well. Anyways I'll not move into philosophical science.
Ever since I started googling and surfing, I always wanted to top the search. And now I have been able to top the charts (try googling "Harshad Desai" to verify) Well it was possible due to 2 reasons
Naymz.com and LinkedIn.com
It is difficult to top with a search key=Harshad alone because there is one Harshad Mehta the big bull. Anyways I am more than happy to achieve this. Thanks to the above mentioned sites.

Moving on I got my first job at Areva T&D through the campus placements . The selection was done on last Sunday 6/7/08...lucky date i guess :) There were 3 rounds... the first one a written test (aptitude and electrical engg), followed by group discussion (the topic was Nuclear Energy: essential or not......one of my favourite topics) and then came the interview (was pretty easy)
Thats enough after a month long gap (ample of reasons for that) from blogging.

The Cell Phone Etiquette

The other day reading a news article, I was wondering how times have changed. I guess it was 1992-93 when we had our first BSNL Landline Telephone. Fast forward to 2008 and all four of us in my family have a cell phone plus the old landline. This link shows the astronomical figure of India's cell phone subscribers and they say every month 8 million new users are being added. This is quite a boom for the mobile communications industry and also the health care industry (the later cannot be denied completely)
*The above pic was obtained from an image search in Google.

I am getting neither into the economics nor the health problems arising out of the use of mobiles.
I am discussing the etiquettes that are found missing when we(including me) speak on our beloved cell phone.
What I'll do is type in here some of the very common and irritating things we do without paying heed to the people around us.
1. The funky ring tones: This one irritates me a lot. People play all sorts of music here. One day I was traveling through a public transport bus and I was made to believe that I was in a disco with people around me having a wide range of ring tones. Well some ring tones are great and I love to listen such ones (of course who doesn't) but there are a few which will make you go dizzy.
2. The speaking Habit: I don't know why people think the signal reception of their cell phone is always bad. People speak on their cell phones as if they are on an election campaign with all that vigor and intensity. A person may feel he is shouting at one of the passers by. A suggestion for such people please keep your conversation to yourself no one is interested in your gossip.
3. Breaking the rules habit: We, Indians follow just one rule ..... breaking the rules. So why compromise when you have a cell phone. People talk on mobiles while driving(which I think is an offence under RTO) which can be extremely dangerous. People forget (or pretend to forget for whatever reasons) to switch off their mobiles in classrooms, temples, meetings and such other places.
4. The ear piece plugged in: People you are not deaf to keep your ear phones plugged in even when not attending a call. Now with the advent of the bluetooth ear piece (or whatever technical name you have for it) some people feel they are a spy with those pieces plugged in. It can be confusing and irritating as well for the people around as to whom the person is talking to.
I think I'll stop (can't scratch my head for more ......)
The cell phone revolution has been a great boon for us but we have to remember that technology was created for man and it's not vice-versa.
Some blogs on cell phone etiquettes:
Cell Phone Etiquettes for Dummies
Cell Phone Etiquettes

What's in a name??

"What's in a name? " Shakespeare said, yet he put his name under that quote.

Well I also feel the same but there have been myriad incidences where people look extremely confused and at times ridiculous when they call out my name. Ok I know you might be baffled and not knowing where I am leading to. Well lets start from the beginning.

My name is

1. Harshad
2. Harshad Desai
3. Harshad Suresh Desai
4. Harshad S Desai
5. H S Desai
6. Desai Harshad Suresh
7. Desai Harshad S
8. Desai H S

This is not a multiple choice question. It is actually the different ways in which I am called or referred to.

My school (St. Andrews' High School) registered me in the format Desai Harshad Suresh and that’s the way schools (under State Board) in Maharashtra register all the students (no idea how some one without a surname manage). So till 10th standard all my mark-sheets had my name in the same format and so was the format followed in the SSC Mark Sheet. This format continued without any problems till I passed out 12th from Modern College.

Now even during IIT JEE and AIEEE, the admit cards had my name written in proper format. The real problem started after I took admission in NITC. Here I met people from all over India and the format which seemed so ubiquitous in Pune totally disappeared in Calicut. Only my friends from Maharashtra and some from State Boards were compatible with this (Surname first) format. But my other friends and more importantly teachers were confused with this format and couldn't make out what my real name was. Some called Desai (with horrible pronunciations), others called Harshad Suresh, a few even called Suresh (that's my Dad's name by the way). I had to clarify that my name was Harshad and call me just that. Well some teachers adapted and there were others who were confused for the entire semester.

It continued for 5 semesters without much problems (if I may say). But then came the biggest problem when I had to apply for passport.

Now if you have seen the passport application form it clearly has different boxes for surname and your first name (given name... that’s what they call). I filled the form with great care and the surname row had DESAI while the given name had HARSHAD. Father's name was included in another row so I thought there shouldn't be any confusions here. Feeling confident I went to the Passport Office waited there for half an hour or so till I was called in with forms and documents. So I reached the counter a bit nervous but much more satisfied.

I gave the lady at the counter my form and the other documents. She was going through all of those and I was happily waiting to get the acknowledgement. But then from nowhere she springs up this question "What is your name?" and all the previous efforts of making people understand this format came rushing. I tried to explain her and then she replied your given name (in all my mark sheets) is Desai Harshad Suresh and that is what you should write. All my attempts of convincing the people in charge were in vain and finally I had to make that change in my form. After a couple of months I got my Passport but then there was a problem!!!

The surname column in my passport is left empty and the given name shows Desai Harshad Suresh. I have no idea how many more problems will this create. I feel irritated and angry at times when people cannot understand or rather do not want to understand such everyday nuances. Now because of this misunderstanding I may face problems when I apply for a visa. Changing the name in your passport costs 1000 bucks. But more precious than those 1000 bucks is the time I will have to spend on rectifying this issue. People are requested to suggest me how should I approach this issue.

By the way I prefer being called as Harshad Desai than the other formats discussed above.

And the surname first format is the international format and is followed almost everywhere except some places in India (Calicut Passport Office to be particular).

I just want to say "What's in a format of the name?" rather than "What's in a Name?"

Apple and Google

These two are the giants of the modern era. One keeps on developing exciting technologies on the web and the other is coming up with great hardwares and the required softwares for the same. And in some cases Google Maps on iPhone ...they have worked together and produced great results....

A for Apple, /\|0|0!3
The first time I came across this company was when I was going through Guiness Book of World Records। After that the I came across the greatest invention that I have witnessed....iPod..... It has redefined music and has conquered the imagination of old and young alike. After iPod was a hit Apple came out with a "revolutionary phone" the iPhone. It was then followed by the MAC OS X Leopard. The fantastic thing about this OS was the "Time Machine". And the latest one they have is the "MacBook Air" which has caught my imagination. Except for the iPod I haven't used any of the other products. The other day I found a blog mentioning top 10 failures of Apple. It was interesting to go through the list which included products I had never heard of. But somehow I feel all the products were not failures. Some may be but I strongly feel many of those were developed earlier in time. Steve Jobs is one person who continues to influence me. I like the speech he gave at Stanford University....whenever I am in a dilemma I think of his interview and try to implement his advices. Hats off to Steve and his creative, innovative, energetic and highly talented team at Apple.....!!!!

Go for Google, 9009|3
Whenever you say search the first name that occurs to any one's mind is Google. It is so common to google anything and everything that is to be searched that I am waiting for the logical Google {or the virtual Google on the net} to tun into real world search engine.
But Google has not confined itself to search it has widened to domains that I never imagined including this one the Blogger. There is calendar, docs, videos, reader and much more. I find each of these very interesting and extremely useful. The power of internet, I feel is really unleashed by Google and its wide range of Applications.
A few days back Anand and I were discussing about the greatest Ph D thesis. He being a total tronix guy was completely in favor of Shanon, DSP related. I then thought for a moment and my reply was the best Ph D thesis must be Google. However the Google guys, Larry Page and Serge Brian have yet not received their Ph D degrees, as far as I know। So I could not argue any further. But Google is definitely the best business from any Ph D thesis that I know. Great work guys and I'll keep thanking you.....!!!!!!!!!!


This blog does not intend to advertise either of the companies. It is just an act of appreciation from my side.

The 3-day 20Twenty.....

The title sounds funny....that was actually my 1st midsems for this sem. Got over in 3days...2papers per day....20 mks each..and I realized one thing this sem is not only hectic but also requires much more time for studues esp. DSA and DSP
Tonite we{S-6 EEE} will b leaving for 2 day trip to Mysore and Coorg. I was actually planning for some industrial visit but lets follow the herd...So will be off frm blogging.
The Nanotech Workshop and Saptarishi would keep Feb busy. Also the mini project needs much more devotion. I have now reserved 3 hrs/week for mini pro. Ragam and FOSS Meet would follow in March. So a completely packed sem..dont know how many times I'll say that..
I attended a talk on Characteristics of Semiconductor Technology by Shri. Shripad Karmalkar today. It was very informative. Also it kind of opened my eyes to what Scientist/Engineer/Inventor actually do. As presented in the talk
A Scientist by nature is very curious. He can relate seemingly unrelated phenomenon. He is not driven by demands of his peers. An engineer is someone who has to apply the scientific phenomenon to everyday use. An inventor is one who should study the demands of the people and provide solutions for them. It is not necessary for him to have a thorough understanding of the pricnciples he ahs to apply. But a person can be all of these....There is no second number in this. Every one is equally important, everyone has equal dignity.
That's all Folks

on the eve of new year......

Finally I have time to do some bla bla. Another year ends and with it I have to celebrate my third new year outside Pune. Most of you guys will be enjoying your holidays but I have classes tomorrow.
The past three years have passed like 3 months. I remenber my nervousness when I first came to Calicut. The only thing I knew about this place before was the great Vasco da Gama had landed here some 4 centuries back. But now the number of days left in the college are lesser than those that flew by.
Nothing more to write on the last day of the year which I would like to call "The Blogger Year".
It was in FOSS '07 that Kiruba motivated me and others in our college with his outstanding session on blogging.
I hope to continue blogging and exploring the web as I did in 2007.
Bye Bye 2007....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and a warm welcome for 2008!!!!!!!!!!!

Conversion from Web Diary to MY IdEaS

I think I have been maintaining my blog as my web diary {if you may call it so}. Well after going through different blogs I am more inclined towards writing about something different........something other than the college stuff..
Frankly speaking this is not at all time for writing about abstract ideas....... Only 1 day left for my midsems... I hope to start writing it in my future blogs.
It was great to see someone posting a comment on my blog....I never expected that.
This is my first experience with uploading photo on my blog. My friend Kiran's comment on this photo "R U alright ?U look as if U R Cing the End of the Universe. " And my reply was IPCC(Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change)
has reported just 8 more years... So Stop Global Warming!!!!!
Anyways this photo was taken during my summer trip to North India and the river in the picture is the Holy Beas.
Well as I mentioned above I am changing my blog topics it would be great to start off with Global Warming as it is the need of the hour to stop this global phenomenon.
My suggestions to people reading this blog are:

• Minimize the amount of electricity you consume. Avoid usage of heavy electrical appliances during peak hours. Use CFLs as far as possible{don't worry about the initial cost. the initial cost covers your electricity bill}
• Use public transport, I know this may be difficult with present mass transport system in India.....but do try to use it.
• Support NGOs and Research Institutes which are keen on stopping this erratic climate change.
• Industries can put off their AC and other electrical gadgets for at least an hour in a week.
• Make the masses aware about global warming and its effects.
• Maintain your vehicles and electrical appliances.

I know it is sounding very theoretical but remember

ITs TIME TO ACT AND NOT THINK

This was my first direct attempt to write something other than college life.

Hope to continue with fresh ideas next time...