Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Unimpeachable and impeccable integrity needed for higher posts - N Vittal

PodUniversal Edition 121
On 23rd November, 2010, while handling a petition against the appointment of Mr P J Thomas, the present Central Vigilance Commissioner of India,  Hon'ble Judges of the Supreme Court observed that persons holding higher offices should possess impeccable integrity. The Supreme Court observed  that Mr P J Thomas was facing criminal charge sheet in a court in Kerala.  Immediately the Attorney General, representing Government of India  responded by saying, “If impeccable integrity is a criterion, then every judicial appointment will be subjected to scrutiny and every constitutional appointment will come under challenge,” attorney-general G.E. Vahanvati told the court. This statement was flashed immediately in all the TV Channels and it triggerred a great debate.
N. Vittal
Under this background, I recorded an exclusive interview with Mr N Vittal, Former Central Vigilance Commissioner of India.  Under the directions from Supreme Court, Mr N Vittal was the first CVC to be appointed jointly by the Prime Minister, Home Minister and the Leader of the Opposition through consensus in ealry 2000.  Mr Vittal is known for his impeccable integrity.  During his tenure as CVC, he introduced lo of measures to eradicate corruption and to bring in more transparency.
Please listen to his interview by clicking 'play' button.  (14 minutes).  Audio streaming will be smooth in broadband connections.  If you find any difficulty, you may download the audio in mp3 format, by right clicking this link.and saving to your desktop. 
The audio may also be listened from

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Lord Rama gives 7 rules for 'effective communication' in Valmiki Ramayana, citing Hanuman

B S Raghavan IAS (Retd)
PodUniversal Edition 120
A very interesting incident about the components of 'effective communication' is narrated in Valmiki Ramayana, the great Indian epic.
In the Ramayana, Hanuman meets Lord Rama and Lakshmana for the first time in the forests and introduces himself and his master Sugriva.   This is the first meeting of Hanuman with Lord Rama. 
Impressed with the way  Hanuman, communicated  Lord Rama admires the communication capabilities of Hanuman.
In the 7 or 8 slokas, Lord Rama explains the important aspects of communication skills of Hanuman, that impressed him most.  They are:
1.  Hanuman spoke very briefly.  Not too long or too short.  He spoke only for the required level;
2.  He also spoke with clarity and without ambiguity;
3.  He spoke without any grammatical errors;
4.  He used only appropriate words, that cannot be replaced with any other word;
5.  He spoke in a medium voice that is audible to the other person.  Not too loud or too feeble;
6. His pronunciation of words was correct.  The way he was pronouncing the words was like a music and it was pleasant;
7. All the words spoken by him, went to the heart straight. 

While addressing the Business Communication course students of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai, Mr B S Raghavan IAS (Retd) explained the seven aspects of communication skill of Hanuman, that impressed Lord Rama.  Mr B S Raghavan is one of the senior retired bureaucrats of India and he has served as the first Secretary of National Integration Council, when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the Chairman.  Mr Raghavan is a well known columnist in Hindu Businessline.
The seven aspects explained earlier, summarises the components of effective communication, that are described in millions of pages in various text books.
Please listen to Mr B S Raghavan by clicking the 'play' button.  (5 minutes).
The video may also be watched from the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKPRqWsG-50

Thursday, November 11, 2010

"Innovation is the key for national and individual growth" - Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

Sitting L to R: K. Srinivasan, Dr Abdul Kalam and Arvind Thiagarajan
PodUniveral Edition 119
I had the great opportunity of meeting and interacting with our Former President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam on 10th November 2010.  Mr Arvind Thiagarajan, serial inventor also accompanied me to show his latest device invented by him, to check the heart murmur within 10 seconds.  
Though, I have met  personally Dr Abdul Kalam and spoken to him over phone several times, every time, I meet him, I really feel excited to interact with him. I always feel that is generating a positive vibration like great Sages of this nation.  In a child like enthusiasm, Dr Kalam was using the device to check how it was working.  He also gave few important technical suggestions to Arvind for further  improving the use of this device.
At the end of our conversation, I requested him a brief message to our Indian youth exclusively for PodUniversal and India Vision members.  I requested him to give his views on the importance of innovation in the nation development.  He sat in silence for 10 seconds and started his message.  Within one minute and three seconds, he conveyed a wonderful message for the youth with all clarity.  That is his power of communication.  Please watch his message by clicking 'play' button in the player below.
The video may also be viewed from the following link:
Please see the photo-show of our meeting.

Friday, November 05, 2010

How to invent and patent? - Success story of serial inventor Arvind Thiagarajan

PodUniversal Edition 118
Arvind Thiagarajan
Former Indian President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam always says that for sustained economic growth, only innovation and technology can help.  Though, India has been doing an excellent job in the software domain, the Indian professionals are being used only as 'workers' by the Multinational companies.  Unless, Indian professionals come out with hardware and software products, economic growth of India cannot be sustained.
Inspired by Dr Abdul Kalam's words, Arvind Thiagarajan (30), started working on inventions right from his Engineering College days.  When he was studying in Anna University, he was fortunate to meet and interact with Dr Kalam, who was working as a Professor with Anna University  in early 2000, before he became the President of India.  Dr Kalam advised him to innovate and also patent all his inventions.
Today Arvind has got more than 40 patents in his name covering various important domains like bio technology, imaging, etc. .  Recently, he also introduced one device HDfonoDoc, which can detect the murmur in the heart within 10 seconds and give a print out of the sound waves.  This is the first of its kind in the world and will revolutionalise the health care industry in the diagnosis of cardiac problems. He has also obtained approvals from FDA and CE. He is also planning to add and more hardware and software products and dedicate to India.  For him the hobby is 'innovation'. 
This week, we met him and recorded his podcast interview for PodUniversal.  In this podcast, he has explained the interesting success story.  He has also assured to help young inventors with the guidance for patenting.  He can be reached at arvind.thiagy@gmail.com  for any guidance on innovation and patenting.
Please listen to his interview by clicking 'play' button.  (9 m 50 sec).  In this podcast, we have also added a 40 seconds audio clip of Dr Abdul Kalam, giving his views on innovation.
This podcast may also be listened from

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Word's first device to detect heart murmur invented by an Indian Scientist

HDFonoDoc
Mr Arvind Thiagarajan (30), a serial inventor and a scientist has invented and introduced a new handy device HDFonoDoc, which can detect murmur in the heart within 10 seconds. Arvind Thiagarajan holds more than 40 patents in his name.
Auscultation is an ancient method, through which experts were able to detect the defects in our body system through 'sound'.  Stethoscope, used by the doctors is based on this method.
How cardiac problems can happen?
Cardiac problems can occur due to (a) electrical and (b) mechanical defects in the heart.  Electrical problems are now detected through the device known as ECG.  ECG cannnot provide mechanical defects.
To find out mechanical problems, the patients have to go to Echo Cardiographs, which is costly and available in select centres.  The analysis of the data needs to be done by a specialist doctor.  Even if a patient wants to rule out the possibility of heart problems, he has to go to Echo Cardiography.  That adds pressure on the experts also.
Murmur in the heart
Murmur in the heart can happen due to (a) blockage in the heart valve, (b) leakage in the heart valve and (c) hole in the heart.  If the murmur is not detected and corrected in time, it may cost the life.
Using the method of 'Auscultation', Arvind Thiagarajan has invented a new device 'HDfonoDoc', which can detect the murmur in the heart within 10 seconds.  This device has received FDA approval from US and CE approval from Europe.  Indian Government has also certified this device.
In an exclusive interview for PodUniversal, he has demonstrated the use of this device.  Please watch this 7 minute interesting video.
This interview may also be watched from

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...