EARTH HOUR CAMPAIGN

Applying for passport in Regional Passport Office(RPO) Chennai

STEP 1 : Register for an appointment in https://passport.gov.in/pms/Information.jsp.

STEP 2: Complete the forms on personal details and save the page.

STEP3 : The next page gives the appointment dates available at the RPO. Select the date and submit. Take the printout of the pdf application. 

STEP4: Kindly ensure the following documents 

1. Proof of address( attach one of the following)

Applicant’s ration card, certificate from Employer of reputed companies on letter head, water /telephone /electricity bill/statement of running bank account/Income Tax Assessment Order /Election Commission ID card, Gas connection Bill, Spouse’s passport copy, parent’s passport copy in case of minors. (NOTE: If any applicant submits only ration card as proof of address, it should be accompanied by one more proof of address out of the above categories).

2.   Proof of Date of Birth (attach one of the following):  

Birth certificate issued by a Municipal Authority or district office of the Registrar of Births & Deaths;

Date of birth certificate from the school last attended by the applicant or any other recognized educational institution; or an Affidavit sworn before a Magistrate/Notary stating date/place of birth as per the specimen in ANNEXURE ‘A’ by illiterate or semi-illiterate applicants.  

N.B.: In the case of applicants born on or after 26.01.89, only Birth Certificate issued by the Municipal Authority or the Office of the Registrar of Births & Deaths is acceptable.

For further details check out http://passport.gov.in/cpv/checklist.htm

STEP 5: Arrangement of the application

Place the one set of  ID  photocopies between the 1st and 2nd pages of the application and another set between the 2 personal particular forms. 

STEP 6: On the day of appointment do not forget to carry the original of all the ID documents produced.  

When and which counter do i produce my application?

Please ensure you reach the RPO by 8 AM. You will find a queue in the 1st floor. Join the queue. The queue moves to the 2nd floor where all the verification is done. Once the verification is complete one need to pay the appropriate amount at a counter on the 2nd floor. After payment a slip giving details of the application number will be given. This application number can be used to track the status of the application in http://passport.tn.nic.in/status_enquiry.asp.

For applying through TATKAL, visit http://passport.gov.in/cpv/TatkalScheme.htm

Indian Stock Market - Is there a problem with it?

Yesterday's sudden crash leading to closure of market questions the stability of the Indian market. Many small time investors have incurred heavy losses. All this drama in spite of the companies in market coming out with very good quarter results and robustness of the Indian economy. The market after this crash seems to clearly indicate that it is totally controlled by the foriegn institutional investors. We are being controlled economically by foriegn powers. Our economic sovereignty seems to have been compromised. Our own investors are at the mercy of these FIIs.
Also there seems to be a centralisation of control in the performance of the market with FIIs dictating market. So how should the market be controlled? The market should never be at the mercy of a certain group like the way it is now. The market needs to be owned by more retail investors and it should not be dictated by whims of the FIIs and rather by performance of the companies that inhabit it. The predictability of the market seems to have been lost and even knowledgeable investors look insensible in such a market.
The solutions to reform our market seems to be the following
1) Encourage local investors to participate in the market. Decentralisation in control over market should be established.
2) Exercising control over foriegn investors and also encouraging them to invest. A balance should be sought.
3) Performance and capability of companies should act as the criteria for setting the price of the stocks.
4) Government's ability to maintain stable and strong economy should be a guideline to gauge the markets.
5) Rumours do have an effect on the market but they shouldnt lead to a crash. The policy makers have a responsibilty to dispel unreasonable fears in investors.

As far as the current crash is concerned, the people responsible have handled it well but it is important they learn their lessons to moderate the market. SEBI should undertake a detailed study on the market condition and should start regulating it. SEBI should realise that it should work towards creating wealth for its own people and also protect them.

Issues with Ubuntu

Although I had big expectations from Ubuntu, there are still some issues to be resolved to make it as efficient as Windows. The following issues are to be resolved
1) Hardwares do not get recognized by system.
2) Sometimes there is an abrupt crashing of programs.
3) Wine used to run Windows application on ubuntu at times malfunctions.
My use is yet to be classified extensive so this is just some problems faced at the outset.

People's attitudes are determined more by their immediate situation or surroundings than by any internal characteristic

Man is a product of evolution. The transformations that immediate situations and surroundings forced on man’s ancestors have given birth to him. So tracing this history of mankind, it is obvious that this characteristic to keep transforming based on situations has been consistently evident and will continue to influence the latest species that evolution has produced. So this attitude to transform is the intrinsic nature of people rather than attitude varying based on internal characteristic.

My system reincarnated

Having for long been looking at the WWW through the Windows I feel liberated with Ubuntu and I think all pirated Windows users should go for it because they get something better for free.
Its Gui is unmatched by any OS in vogue. Also Ubuntu softwares are apenty and with Synaptic they can be installed just like that. Goodbye Windows!

Free trade seems to be a rather recent policy. Why were Governments more protectionists in the past?

Governments in the past acted in a manner that fulfilled the demands of their supply market. Exploring the need for demands of these people who made goods which were supplied to the market, we find that they were apprehensive about competition and since there was an environment which empowered their governments to exploit the market because of their political power, they preferred using this as a means to dictate terms to the market. The British Empire for example had wide areas of the World under its control and this enabled them to fulfill the expectation of its producers which was a protectionist policy at the cost of expectations of the local market. The affordability for a protectionist policy enabled governments to take it up.
With the decline of imperialism, the control of the imperialist forces over the market declined. New governments that got created wanted the expectations of their producers to be met by the international market. These demands from various Governments lead to the evolving of the inevitable, FREE TRADE. This policy seemed likely to pander to the expectations of producers from all parts of the World.