Procedures to attend conferences abroad with travel grants - Indian students

When to start?

If you are planning to attend a conference, it must be planned at least 4 months ahead i.e. if you are planning to attend in July start now. Since most of us never went outside the country, it requires lot of coordination also. (I started late and faced lot of problems)

What you need?

1. Lot of patience and perseverance.
2. Passport - I advice all to take a passport right away (tatkal is better) than to rush at the last minute. (I did the same mistake – it leads to unnecessary tension and pressure)
3. Money is important but not more than will power and patience

Who will fund my trip?

This is the most crucial part of the trip. There are lot of agencies that are offering travel funds. Some of them are listed below. Each of these has different forms.

Agency a) Webpage, b) What it covers (Max limit), c) Eligibility, d) How and when they pay?

1. Department of Science and Tech, New Delhi
a) http://www.serc-dst.org/application_for_travel_support.htm

b) Airfare + Visa + Registration fee, No Limit

c) At least two papers in international journals,

d) DD will be sent to Accounts Officer of your centre(6-12 months)

2. CCSTDS, Chennai

a) http://www.ccstds.tn.nic.in/html/download_forms.html

b) Anything like food, lodging, etc. with bills Max. Rs.20,000/-
c) Requires proof of funding from other agencies like DST

d) DD will be sent to student (1-2 months)

3. CSIR, New Delhi

a) http://csirhrdg.res.in/tg_form.htm

b) 50 % of airfare Max. Rs.50,000/-
c) Same as DST
d) Same as DST

4. Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Mumbai
a) http://www.srtt.org/individual_grants/education_grants.htm
b) Partial airfare

• As one can see, DST gives the most. The best combination will be DST+CCSTDS because DST pays for Airfare+Visa+Registration fee and one can claim Food/Lodging from CCSTDS

• Also the funds from DST and CSIR are mutually explicit i.e. since both give airfare, only one can be used at a time
• DST travel grant can be used once in three years up to 35 years. Many of us are eligible for at least two times from now
• In many agencies, two applications from same institute are not entertained during same month. If then, only younger will get travel grant. Check the prospectus carefully
• All agencies encourage getting funding from other agencies – if you get only one agency’s support and cant make the trip, you are also blocking the trip of another candidate
• All have to be applied at least 3 months ahead. Don’t apply to CSIR/DST much before three months, they will surely lose/misplace the application
• Keep in touch with the agency’s office through phone. Emails are not yet available with them

Procedure to apply and get the money

1. Download the form and send it after attested by Guide/ Div Head/ IGCAR Director along with necessary attachments

2. The agency sends you a official communication that you can attend the symposia and they will provide the funds in future (The time taken for sending this communication varies – DST, CSIR, CCSTDS take nearly 4-6 weeks from the date of application) Check DST website for results

3. You attend the conference and upon returning, apply with the claim sheet and necessary attachments like bills

4. They will send you the DD according to your claim. While CCSTDS sends DD to you, DST sends DD directly to Accounts officer, IGCAR along with a communication to you

5. Always scan all your documents starting from passport front-page, visa, ticket, bills and have a soft copy with you.

Going abroad

1. Always carry passport and cash along with you. Do not leave in hotel room.

2. Never hand your passport to any unauthorised person except immigration officers at Airport

3. If you are changing two or more flights from different airlines, then always make sure at the airline counter that your baggage is checked in. In many chances they may miss your baggage in transit airport and you’ll have to struggle for a day or two.

4. Do not exchange foreign currency from airport or nearby places or Thomas Cook. Always take it before hand from SBI or other banks or else you will lose lot of money in exchange. (I got IGCAR advance money just few minutes before departure and exchanged at Chennai airport resulting in loss of nearly Rs.2000)

5. Better to carry map of the city/locality and also routes. Language dictionary necessary if you are going to a non-English country]

6. You can avail international roaming facility in your mobile (Airtel, Vodafone) if you are staying there for longer time. Incoming will be free to you and it will be local call tariff to the caller (See the respective website)

7. Keep all original bills of expenses met during the travel

Visa and Immigration

1. Check the website and enquire with the Visa issuing authority like Embassy or VFS on which Visa you require – student or tourist, etc.

2. Some countries require travel insurance, health certificates, etc.

3. Also take note of things not to be carried out into the country

On the flight and airport

1. Most agencies require you to travel only by Air-India flights. If the destination is not connected by Air India then you have to take an Air-India flight to the nearest place and take some other airline to the conference city or nearest airport

2. Keep the toll free phone number of your airline for emergency

3. You can block your ticket with the travel agency without giving money. Only if you confirm it, then you have to pay. (you may not get the tickets by the time you get permission from DAE and travel grants from other agencies)

4. Always keep one set of dress in your hand baggage – it will be highly useful if your baggage is delayed

5. By chance, if your baggage is delayed/missed write a complaint along with hotel address at the airline counter in airport and demand for compensation. They will give some cash and later they will also deliver the baggage at your hotel (My baggage was delayed during transit and I spent my pocket money to buy dress in Australia – I did not know about compensation then)

6. Do not carry any liquids in hand baggage – water, perfume, etc. during flight travel.

7. Carry light and good baggage. If your bag/handle tears in handling or it is very heavy it leads to fines

8. You can ask for second time food/drinks in flights – they won’t mind (??)

Conference/symposium

1. First, one can request the conference organizers for waiver in registration fee, possible funding for air travel and lodging. Mostly they’ll give one of these since they want student participation and it is one way of encouraging. (They gave me registration fee waiver – it is a advantage while applying for funding to DST/DAE)

2. Carry a laptop if you have one. Most conference venues and airports have wireless internet facility or internet ports. Also you can make a short presentation, if you are explaining your work to a someone

3. Better to carry your CV, published papers and visiting card

4. YOU ARE THE OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF YOUR UNIVERSITY/CENTRE AND OUR COUNTRY AT THE CONFERENCE – ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT

Why did the American Economy collapse? Part 1: Belated post mortem report

It has been more than 18 months since the financial meltdown started. Several arguments have been made from both capitalists and the anti-capitalists , both communists and non-communists and others. One side claims it as the total failure of capitalism while the other defend it is not so.

American economy was widely considered as very strong and although there have been glitches here and there, it is still considered superior and robust. However, the economic downturn in 2008/09 has challenged this status quo.

Is the American economy still stronger ? Will it come out of the worst economic crisis it has faced since the Great Depression of 1930's ?

The answer is not necessarily.

The savings rate of Americans is among the lowest in the world. Consumerism is the mantra for the companies and the US government also follows the same. The govt. feels bad if the consumers don't buy things as they are expected to - spend and more spend. Also American business executives and government are always obsessed with such data - unemployment, consumer index, market sales, etc., etc. . Nowhere is the world, media chews more data than in US. Every first week of the month or new quarter, millions of graphs/data is sliced, diced and sold to the viewers.

These all means the market is more spending-driven thus resulting is almost zero savings. To add more fuel to the fire, the American family system collapsed during the same time resulting in more individualistic thought and lifestyle than ever.

A man saves for two reasons - one, fear about future requiring a margin of safety either for the person or the family, and two, when people take a holistic view of money and avert consumerism to follow a simple and minimum lifestyle. An American doesn't worry about his future nor he raised a family to worry about them. Nor he can live a holistic lifestyle because he never heard of it.

Since a typical American doesn't have a family to run, he never cared about his parents or older generation. Who else will care? Ans: The US government. Health care became a burden to the US government whereas the family system should have born it. To make things worse, health care was not available to all Americans also.

Unemployment is a problem to any country as its wastes human resources, productivity and also offshoots crime, fraud, etc. But there exists a different perspective in the US - if more unemployed are there in the country, they will buy/consume less and market will be down. A truly enterprising idea of a enterprising country.

Also constant wars costing trillions (http://costofwar.com/) has only made things worse.

Nett Result: The American federal government, has borrowed large amounts from external sources since the 1980's. This has accumulated to over 13 trillion dollars of external debt by 2009.

Inspiration:
India's well-known economic expert - S. Gurumoorthy's talk at the 30th annual reader meeting of Tughlaq weekly on 14 Jan 2010 in Chennai, India

Sources:

1.https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2079rank.html
2.http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/FRA501A.html
3.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States

Satyam, Raju and Indian business

It has been three weeks since Satyam's ex-chairman, Ramalinga Raju, through his confession to the public, shattered the corporate responsibility and accountablity. There are several rumours over the very existance of the Co. and the takeover attempts on the way. But the event that still leaves several questions and debates, which do not seem to end for sometime..

#1. All business houses perform malpractises - Audit all of them
In business world, like the today's real world, competition rules the roost and people do commit mistakes and frauds once in a while. There are more than 4000 company listed in Bombay Stock Exchange and each company will have atleast 100's of pages of accounts. Can govt. verify and ? What about the thousands of other companies which are unlisted?

But the biggest debacle with Raju is that he cheated his OWN COMPANY. He founded the Co, built brick by brick, but later inflated the profits and balance sheets, sold out the sky-rocketed shares he then owned, and bought "real" estates. There are cases in the past that employees cheated a company, but an founder-chairman betraying his own Cos and shareholders is path-breaking. Heartbreaking too. 54,000 employees and lakhs of shareholders are left on the streets, fearing and wondering about their jobs and future and investments..

#2. Business is bad and businessmen are evil
This appears to be the first word I hear with many of the people.

Yes. Not just business, life itself in many forms is evil. We all came from the animal world, not heaven. Jeans may come and go, but not the survival instinct in our Genes. Everyone wants money in this world, but earning money is thought to be sin. That is the case not only in India but also in several Asian countries. Being an employee is OK, atleast with people coming from non-business backgrounds. If one builts factories and employees lakhs of people, earning them a livelihood and contributing to the nation, he is a devil. If one peeps into files, moves them up and down for his earnings, he is noble. The latter generates nothing - than dust involving petty politics. But the former brings from hairoil to shoes, nail polish to railway lines, but always hailed as underdog and fraudster.

Almost everyone does malpractises. Size varies, that's all. For eg. we were all taught in school - 'Honesty is the best policy' but "how many lies did you tell today?" That just explains that the world is not a noble men's court. Business world is run by people from this world - not aliens and we cant expect them to be surreal. Many of us lie, cheat, betray, dont we? ? Only in public life we expect people to be noble and also able - but the more things one is ashamed of, the great he becomes (Bernard Shaw).

So do not expect the world to be different from what we are and what we were.

So how to conclude?

It leaves us to one point - world just exists on individual integrity and mutual trust. One can cheat in relationship, till one confesses or the other discovers the truth. If both of these do not happen, the person still lives and roams, free on earth, with no regret at all. But most of us in this world do not commit such immoral thing only because of personal integrity. That is the way world has been. One can succumb to pessimism seeing such heartless incidents, there are 6.4 billion souls on earth and how many of them are criminals, may be 1/100 or 1/1000, thats all. But whatever happens life moves on, with higher hopes and wider compromises.

Never ending conflicts

From the day#1 of our life, there are some never ending conflicts.. man Vs Women, worldly ambitions vs. holistic ideas, profession vs personal things, etc. Lets take one after another here..
Here we go.

Mumbai attacks and India's response

Post Mumbai attacks, it is widely thought and discussed that India should do what US did post 9/11. It assumes that India should assume 11/26 is ' India's 9/11". Do we have to act like US?

US, post 9/11, which had previously declared Iran, Iraq, Afghan, N Korea as terror states, found a reason in the name of 9/11, to attack two of these 'evil states', one after another. That led to the infamous Bushism - ' you are with us or against us'. After 6 years in Afghan and more than 4 years in Iraq, US neither has found a way or made one. Soldeirs die everyday and local support is so poor that the US soldeir feels more vulnerable than the local people. The predicament compels the country neither to call back or hold the forces deployed. This issue was a hot topic in recent US presidency election. After Bush leaves Oval office as one of the worst presidents ever.

If India attacks Pakistan or POK, that lead to what US acheived post Afghan or Iran seige - a stalemate which slowly becomes a checkmate. We cant offered to do that. It might have been possible in the past, may be in a situation like 1971 War. But today with Pakistan having nuclear weapons and 1/4 size of the Army we have, it is easy. With international pressure on terrorism and economic pressure from inside, Pakistan is angry and hungry - one can expect a ferocious reponse if it is cornered. Both targetted and collatral damages will be huge. We cannot buy a war at the cost of peace and economic prosperity. So WAR is not a right option.

I assume what Indian government is trying to do is OK except that we run time and again to UN and US as if they are the saviours. Entry Candolizza Rice. Even if Indian Home ministry or defence ministry does not give press release, Rice and her office releases almost everyday some kind of press release. Business as usual for the only country that keeps different designated officials for monitoring different continents. Rice speaks one thing in Washington, another one on board a flight to New Delhi, another one in New Delhi, again one more in Islamabad, and finally back to Washington, it is time for another release. Although it appears as if she keepssaying the same stuff, but they are quite different. Yeah, think global, but act and speak local.