Mobile Phones / WIFI

asr: with Mcdonalds Everybody will follow to offer Free , other fast food like , TACO Bell , Burger King , Pizzahut

next main thing is US shopping malls: they should offer free with Local shop ADs , i wonder why any company take it and signup with Malls ( or even Google )

- Once Mcdonalds and all eating palces, shopping malls takes over , Google Android phone with goolge Voice GV can take off with out $80/month fee .

McDonald’s Adds Free Wi-Fi to the Menu

Well, McDonalds is hoping to become a hang-out spot of the coffee shop variety — it also plans to start selling frappes and smoothies mid-2010. And given the fact that coffee chains like Starbucks charge customers to surf while they sip, the idea doesn’t seem all that pie-in-the-sky.

McDonald's to Offer Free Wireless Internet - WSJ.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704398304574598412551817166.html

Free wireless internet could also pose a bigger challenge to coffee houses, as McDonald's represents one of out six hot spots in the U.S., the company said, citing JiWire, a wi-fi ad delivery service.
asr: so 11,000 Mcdonalds hotspots represent 1 out of 6 US total HotSPOTS , so total is 11,000 x 6 => 66,000 at begining of 2010 JAN
- so by end of 2010 DEC we should expect total hotspots to 100,000
- most of them become free to compete with McDonalds free Wi-fi , to begin with Starbucks may say free 1 hour for each drink purchase
Mr. Grooms said the decision is part of an evolution of McDonald's into a "destination," where customers see it as more than a place to get a Big Mac and fries. "We're becoming a destination and free wi-fi just naturally fits," he said. "This is another long-term investment that we see helps McDonald's stay relevant as a brand in the marketplace."

New Ideas

4. Trends

-----------

- Google Gigabit Fiber to home : they may do it in 2010 , then more cities in US by end of 2011

- 4 G: sprint introduced in some citites , they say by end of 2010 100 million, we can assume ATT, Verizon 4G will be working by end of 2011

- main diff: 3G vs. 4G: 4G is all digital , can have many applicaitons where voice is one application . with 3G today it is Datanet work , for voice there is separate voice 2G running so today 3G is 2 separate networks.

- india charges 50 paisa/min that is 1 cent , where as US charges 6 cents ( 6 x 500 = $30/month )

3. New markets took OLD companies down

-------------------------------------------

what will happen in the fight for Cloud application between

- Microsoft vs. Google ( apps) and

- Oracle vs. Saleforce ( business applications )

not just in 2010 , but 3 years, 5 years from now that is by 2015

is there a way to look back at last 5 years and draw some conclusions into next 5 years. I will try to attempt to do this.

how many of you agree 5 years from now that is by 2015 the above 2 category fights lead to the OLD timers ( MS, Oracle ) will lose their marketcap by 20-40% to the other Young that is Google and Salesforce.

Here is my comparision what happened last 5 years 2005-2010

a )CircuitCity went bankrupt (public company)in face of Amazon take over of online electronic good sales ( due to rapid drop in prices and easy web orders). you may argue BestBuy is still competing with Amazon. There will be one main victim in the Brick and Morter that turns out circuitcity.

b) BlockBuster allmost close to filing Bankrupy in face of NetFlix ( $10/month easy subscription and internet orders )

so if you follow CircutyCity, BlockBuster (both public companies ) bankruptcies , if you follow all company events from 2005-2010 you notice the effect of Simplicity , Internet delivery etc..

By the same token I expect Microsoft, Oracle will loose above said marketCAP once the financial market realize the onslaught of these new disruptive players. see numbers to support my above view here.

- Can the OLD guards adopt to new tactics to survive, it is hard , in any Disruptive technology will 'eliminate couple of layers or reduce the complexity of each layer'. In case of Cloud Apps they

eliminate Hardware layer, Sysadmin Layers, Bugfix/deployment Layer , software integration layers.

- The OLD guards Microsoft, ORACLE very own revenue depends on continuation of these Layers, so there is conflict of interest to remove those Layers so they do not do it ( knowing it or contently ignoring )

Why Microsoft really, really, hates the cloud

http://blogs.zdnet.com/SAAS/?p=1014

1. QR codes Quick response codes:

-------------------------------------

a) QR for food: we you eat in restarent , the QR code is printed in the Bill , you scan it with Smartphone camera ( even if no internet connection , it stores and updates to a site like your Google account spreadsheet). It will have date, item Code, item name, calories ( or they can be derived)

- same thing when you visit Lucky, costco, safeway your grocery bill will have it printed , all the Manufactuer codes init as QR code , you scan with your phone

uses: 1) say you bought child car Seat, you scanned and forget it, after 10 months there was a recall on it, it will notify you automatically.

2) you bought a printer and its ink catridge is exhausted , you need to buy new catrideg you do not have to look for model etc.. , you can get it from your mobile phone which looks at google account spread sheet

3) you bought weighing machine , battery are exhausted same thing to buy batteries ..

All this needs a centralised site maintaing the Bar codes for each model of HP printer, weighingg machine and all it's required PARTS ( google can do that )

is Market Ready: Look article on gigaom.com saying Smart phones will take over by 2011 DECEMBER

http://gigaom.com/2010/03/26/1-in-2-americans-will-have-a-smartphone-by-christmas-2011/

GROUPON: Goolge can offer this for FREE with linking payment for google checkout ( good way to take on paypal )

--------------

China vs India

Roads china vs. India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressways_of_China

asr: so atleast $15 billion/year they spent, compare how much it costed India vs. China for each 1000 Km express way ...

The total costs of the national expressway network will be 2 trillion yuan (some 240 billion US dollars). From 2005 to 2010, the annual investment will run from 140 billion yuan (17 billion US dollars) to 150 billion yuan (18 billion US dollars), while from 2010 to 2020, the annual investment will be around 100 billion yuan (12 billion US dollars)

China National Highways

wow see their 100 , 200, and 300 series ... great

see India's Roads

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Highway_(India)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Expressway_(India)

see this site has good comparisions

http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php

Philanthropy

eduction for poor kids

get indian experts into a forum on education at underprivilleges ares ( slums , rural poor etc.)

- show the agastya.org model and see if sombody like Nagarjuna can sponser for 1 district on trail basis to setup ( pay for ) of the science Lab by buying lab itmes from agastya

- see if some of the expert panel can offer advice how to get 50% of the price tag from State government and remaining 50% from a donar like ANR

---------

rural earning JOB training.

issues: what they can produce , they can not produce some thing for export ( see china army of factories for socks manufacturing , on price front nobody can compete with them

issue: rural poor,

what they need: a) clean water b) food, c) reasonable house d) TV

what they can offer: 8 hours of labor , but they are not skilled, even after training their skill set is too below to economically produce any thing that is real issue

solution: find out what is the % of cost split for building homes a) materials vs. Labor cost

Build a community labored house ( multi story) with govt. housing subsidy + LOAN on house + they labour.

- train and build local facilities to make Bricks, wooden windows , steel work etc...

RWH 100% compliance for top 5000 companies in india

www.cse.org

http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/happenings/water_wells.htm

asr: see Dr. Reddy labs 2009 report they said they had 100% of their water from Rain Water Harvesting RWH , study them how they did it and blog it in detail with numbers so the top 10 Phrama in india can do it( show awareness and presue for other 9 to follow). do Same for other industries with help of CSe.org

asr: this wakeupcall author can be good resource to get data on 9 other Pharma compapies and their usage of 'water' RWH and how to persue them to meet 100% like Dr. Reddy Labs.

2) same thing of RWH can be done for all TATA firms, Reliance , Godrej and document them

3) advice this wakeupcall.org gentlemen to form this kind of agastya.org broader coaltion and from like specific projects such as making top 10 pharma ( and other) indurty to compy with 100% RWH

http://agastya.org/who/management.html

- so be specific like apply RWH to all top 5000 companies in INDIA , work on required goverment legislation , incentives

some stats

http://www.wakeupcall.org/administration_in_india/world_class_governance.php

http://www.wakeupcall.org/administration_in_india/poverty_line.php

http://www.wakeupcall.org/administration_in_india/country_of_india.php

Water in the wells / check dams

Water in the wells

http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/happenings/water_wells.htm

asr: see Dr. Reddy labs 2009 report they said they had 100% of their water from Rain Water Harvesting RWH , study them how they did it and blog it in detail with numbers so the top 10 Phrama in india can do it( show awareness and presue for other 9 to follow). do Same for other industries with help of CSe.org

asr: see 8 photos on Link on original URL , gives good picture

2) The real learning of this is discuss this with experts ( with website pictures and story facts) and see what other parts of INDIA this can be applied, and contact the local villages , show them this story in IPAD with local language hand-out paper printouts (color)

- show this to Local MLA/MP , and local new papers and university professors and students of the region and mobilize.

- and form Local group and get goverement FUNDS

View the slideshow

1. The scourge of water scarcity in Saurashtra
Saurashtra was not always a water-scarce area. People say that water was easily available in the region 10-15 years ago. Ashvin A Shah, a US -based engineering consultant who conducted a survey in 1998 on water availability in the region, says, “The presence of 700,000 dugwells in Saurashtra region indicates the presence of extensive groundwater aquifers throughout the region. This means there is one well for less than 20 people or one well every 300 metres"1.

Shamjibhai Antala of Saurashtra Lok Manch, who has single-handedly worked to recharge over 300,000 wells and tubewells in Saurashtra, says that the groundwater table in most areas of Saurashtra and Kachchh was about 12-15 metres below the surface till the 1960s. However, due to overexploitation of groundwater for irrigation, groundwater has been declining by an average of 2.5 m every year leading to steady intrusion of saline water2. According to G F Joshi, a government official in Rajkot, the groundwater table in these areas has fallen below even 300 metres in some parts of Saurashtra1. As a solution to the water scarcity, people have been digging deeper and deeper, going even up to 600m at which depth it is extremely difficult to recharge as these are confined aquifers2.

While cities get the attention of politicians and thus Rajkot city is now being provided Narmada water, the rural areas continue to face acute water shortages. The entire Saurashtra region had been severely drought-hit since 1985.

2 Worst drought of the century

The drought at the turn of the century in 2000-01 was one of the worst droughts of the century for Gujarat and Saurashtra was even more affected. According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the Saurashtra and Kutch regions received 42% below normal rainfall.

In September 2000, water storage in different reservoirs of the state had come down to 2 to 12 per cent, the dead storage level or the minimum storage that needs to be maintained. Reservoirs, rivers, and streams of Gujarat had all dried up and in the Saurashtra region, 113 minor and major dams had dried and only 20 per cent had dead storage level. Big cities and towns like Rajkot and Bhavnagar received water every 20 days, and Dhoraji and Upleta, twice a month. When the state finance minister was in Upleta town near Rajkot to hold a public meeting, he was driven away by angry mobs1.

3 The hydrogeology and topography of Saurashtra

The Saurashtra region is made up of a central elevated region of about 75 m to 300 m above sea level that steeply slopes down to valleys. There is no perennial river but there are a number of rivulets, which flow away from the central elevations. The region is underlain by hard basaltic rock and has very limited storage potential. The soil is also clayey in nature, adding to constraints in natural storage of water. The annual potential evapotranspiration (PET) is highest at Rajkot, with a value of 214.5 centimetres (cm), which means that the little water the region gets quickly evaporates3. The average annual rainfall for Rajkot district is 592 millimetre (mm) with only 27 days of rainy days4, which is subject to a great deal of variability. All these factors contribute to high surface run-off and little recharge. Thus, the entire region is arid to semi-arid and prone to drought.

The region suffered from severe drought between 1985 and1988 and this catalysed a movement to harvest rainwater using diverse technologies. Recharging groundwater in this region, with high surface runoff and very little secondary porosity to hold the water is a difficult task.

4 The work of Vruksh Prem Seva Sanstha Trust in Gondal and Jamkondarna talukas

Vruksh Prem Seva Sanstha Trust had been encouraging farmers to build check dams by getting them funds for the cost of the cement from various government projects for drought alleviation since 1987. After the severe droughts of 1999 and 2000, it decided to involve the people in constructing check dams to harvest and recharge groundwater. The water level had receded to more than 150 m and there was no assurance of taking even 1 crop in a year.

In 1998, the VPSST applied for and received the first grant of Rs.10-12 lakh (US $ 20000) to undertake work in 9 villages. In the beginning, the farmers were not willing to contribute funds as they did not believe in participating in government projects. Also, the villagers were unsure and not confident in their engineering and construction skills. In order to create confidence among the villagers to participate in this task of building check dams, VPSST announced that he would begin constructing check dams using funds from the government and if the villagers find it beneficial, they could then contribute their share of the money for the projects. By the year 2000, farmers began to see the effect of the check dams – water table had increased and there was water available in the wells. This was the beginning of the participatory water harvesting movement in Rajkot district.

Between 2001 and 2007, the Trust helped to construct a series of 1605 check dams in 27 villages of Gondal and Jamkondarna talukas. In addition, the Trust also constructed underground tanks to store harvested rainwater, farm ponds and soak-pits. Since 2001, the farmers of these talukas have been able to change their crop patterns for the better and have seen a vast improvement in their socio-economic life. The community-based rainwater harvesting undertaken through check dams completely changed the lives of the villagers in these talukas. Lush green grass, brimming rivers and wells depict the success story of 27 villages in Gondal and Jamkandorna talukas of Rajkot district.

Premji bhai Patel and Vruksh Prem Seva Sanstha Trust Premjibhai Patel was born in a small village of Bhavyavadar in Upleta Taluka, Rajkot District. Although he was from a farming family, he took to trading in textiles as a profession and moved to Mumbai in the 1970s. However, he did not get a sense of satisfaction and wanted to contribute to the community. Inspired by a character in a play written by Manubhai Pancholi (a well-known educationist in Gujarat, who created employment through tree plantation), Premji Bhai, decided to devote his life to planting trees. He came back to his native village Upleta, in 1987, after retirement from his job and started working in Rajkot district by distributing seeds to people for plantation. He started Vruksha Prem with the idea of popularising tree plantation. When he saw the people of his village deepening their wells every year to meet their water demands, he became interested in the idea of harvesting rainwater. The drought of 1987 further spurred his interest and in the late 1990s, he got involved in activities of building check dams as a measure of harvesting and recharging groundwater. He used funds from the drought alleviation programmes to catalyse a movement for water harvesting and recharging in Jamkandorna and Gondal talukas of Rajkot district. He has received a number of awards for the watershed movement, including the Santbal Award (2003), Jalsanchay Gaurav Puraskar (2003) and the Jaldhara Award (2004)5.

5. Construction of check dams

Premjibhai followed Bhanjibhai of Visavadar, Junagadh in designing the check dams in this region. He developed the designs of the semi circular check dam by using iron bars in construction. In the initial phase stones were placed in the flowing water keeping a little distance between two stones. Later on this gap was filled up using river sand, stones and cement. The work started with the villagers digging out the foundation with the help of trikam – instrument for hand digging. Then they made holes in stones of 2-3ft depth and inserted 20cm dia iron bars in it, which will provide sufficient strength to the dam. The slope of the body wall of the dam should be making angle of 60° with the top of the dam. The width of this top wall is kept around 1m, so that the height can be increased in future. According to the experience of Premjibhai, these circular dams are more economical than the straight ones. This is because the thin walls of the dams make it cost effective. During construction phase, various other aspects were looked into, like mixing river sand and cement and using it within short period for more strength.

6.2 Other ecological impacts
Villages, which once looked like a desert, have now turned into green areas. An integrated approach has been made to the watershed development including wasteland development, plantation of forest species and checking of soil erosion. The construction of dams helped to increase the water level in the wells from 152.4 m to 6 m below ground level. The sarpanch of another village, Mespar, said that water is now available for 24 hours.

Phases of check dam building	Total Area (Hectare)	Area brought under irrigation (Hectare)
1st batch (9 villages)	8191.72	1425.88
2nd batch (1 village)	800.38	133
3rd batch (7 villages)	9116.25	1673.3
4th batch (1 village)	764.49	63.44
5th batch (5 villages)	6798.08	909.75
6th batch (4 villages)	3591.05	900.34
Total	29261.97	5105.71
Source: VPSST

Because of the increased availability of irrigation water, the land that was lying fallow came under cultivation and the total area under farming increased from 890 hectare (ha) in 1995-96 to 22275 ha in 2006-07. More than 5000 hectares of land was brought under irrigation. Farmers began to raise three crops per year and there is no shortage of drinking water. The average yield of cotton, groundnut, wheat and chilly increased substantially. The villagers reaped a profit of 15 crore (approximately US $ 3 million) at the end 2004 from agricultural products.

6.3 Socio-economic impacts

The ecological regeneration arising from increased availability of water has led to socio-economic and lifestyle improvements. Newly constructed houses can be seen in almost all the villages under this watershed project. Villagers have purchased tractors and constructed pucca (cement construction) houses. More than 150 families have purchased motorcycles and increase in percentage of admission in schools increased from 50 to 90 %.

6.4 Community mobilisation

The VPSST acknowledges that local communities have an excellent knowledge of the geology, topography of the land and are thus best placed to decide on the design, height, location etc of the check dam. The role of VPSST was to secure and manage the finances and to provide training to the villages on construction technologies.

VPSST also encouraged villagers to involve themselves in the construction work. This would reduce the costs and also ensure quality of construction. Village communities, led by the sarpanch, would decide on the cost of the project, based on detailed calculations for stone, sand, cement etc. Villagers were then convinced of the genuineness of the cost estimates and contributed their share more willingly.

6.5 Institutional framework

To ensure sustainability of this movement, it was necessary to set up participatory systems to manage, sustain and expand this effort. The VPSST helped to form village management committees called “Watershed Vikas Samiti” (Watershed Development Committee). The committee consisted of eleven members, headed by the sarpanch of the village. Villagers from the agrarian class united together to form this user group. The main work of this Samiti was the proper management and planning of check dams.

The beneficiaries decided the location for construction of check dam so that maximum water can be stored and maximum amount of water can flow in their well.

7 Funding

The interesting feature of the work on water harvesting structures in these villages of Gondal and Jamkandorna is that the villagers constructed the dams at a lesser cost as the farmers themselves were involved in the construction and they did not hire other labour. The involvement of the farmers also ensured that there was no wastage in the use of materials. Thus, while the government funding was as per standard guidelines, the Trust was able to use the funds meant for one dam to construct two more dams. Some of the funds saved from the money provided for check dam construction were also used for the construction of underground rainwater harvesting tanks in the villages. Some 206 such tanks were constructed.

8 Conclusion

The study reveals that water scarcity was the major constraints to agriculturalproductivity in the villages of Gondal and Jamkandorna talukas. Perceptible changes were observed in the villages of this region after the water harvesting movement began in 2000. There was a big improvement in the areas under irrigation, cropping pattern and The sarpanch is the head of the village panchayat, which is official decentralized governance forum in each district.

Intensity along with diversification of crops from traditional to commercial or cash crops. The average yield of cotton, groundnut, wheat and chilly increased substantially over a period of time water storage capacity of the aquifers increased significantly, covering more area under irrigation. The water level in the wells increased from 150 m to 6 m below ground level. Water is available in the Fofal river throughout the year.

What is clear from this case study is that, this movement is more than just a water recharging activity. It has catalysed the involvement of the entire village and has resulted in many innovations and improvements. It has transformed this entire activity into a social movement, where the entire village is involved in improving their economic status by managing their natural resource base wisely. Rainwater harvesting has been shown to play an effective and a key role in improving food and livelihood security.

What should be the role of the government: It is clear from this and many other experiences that natural resource management can best be undertaken by communities who have a stake in its integrity. But is it realistic or sustainable that communities can be left to do this themselves? Many other experiences such as Ralegan Siddhi, Hiware Bazar, have shown that the government has an important role to play – but that of an enabler and not a doer. In all these cases, including this case study, the communities have taken advantage of the financial support provided by the government in order to begin the water harvesting activity and then go on to undertake wider watershed activities.

The government, while providing catalytic financial support, must ensure that the villagers participate in this activity at every step – from planning to design to funding. Only then will such projects be sustainable, as the villagers will have a sense of ownership over the project. Such a sense of ownership is crucial for the villagers to take responsibility to maintain the structures.

Drinking Water

asr: 10% of total Gloabal unsafe water in india, 1/3 or 33% of global do open defecate , what a sad story

These stats are as of March/2003 as reported in this URL

http://www.waterforum.jp/worldwaterforum3/themeWwf/en/sessionDetail.do{0id=59{9.html

1. Globally,1099 millions people lack access to safe water. In India, 125 million people lack access to safe water.
2. Globally,
   2403 million people defecate in the open. In India, 700 million people lack access to sanitation facilities & resort to defecate in the open.
3. Diarrhoea claims the lives of 2 million children around the world every year. In India, 1 million lose their lives to diarrhoea every year.

India is one among the developing countries facing serious drinking water problems. It was reported that a major freshwater crisis is gradually unfolding in India as a result of inadequate water management and environmental degradation by human action. Further nearly one million children in India die of diarrhoeal diseases each year directly as a result of drinking unsafe water and living in unhygienic conditions.

---

see if these listed people have any INPUT in solving the issue

CENTRE FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH RESEARCH (CCHR)

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA (MOWR) CHAIRMAN ( GROUND WATER)
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY, NEW DELHI Dr.SAUMITRA MUKHERJEE
CENTRE FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH RESEARCH (CCHR) Mr. VIMAL MAMMEN CHERIAN
UNIVERSITY OF KERALA PROF. G. LASITHA/Dr. V. R. PRAKASM

BLOG MODEL

try to catture all in this kind of easy to ease single page setup and update it once in a month ..

http://malsup.com/jquery/form/#validation

see this url

have 5 top categories

Family Life Finance Internet Software

and each of them will have these sub cats..

for 1) imp books , health , future plans

for 2) charities , future plans etc.

for 3) gurus Kirk etc, models MCRI , Vantage point,

for 4) Vc blogs ,

for 5) Saas salesforce , google GWT , google Apps , Android, iphone apps ,

Altered landscape riles commodity boom-and-bust cycle Emerging economies, exchange-traded funds help paint the backdrop

TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The landscape for commodities trading is nothing like it used to be thanks to growth in exchange-traded funds and emerging economies -- and that has made the market's so-called boom-and-bust cycles much more difficult to predict.

"Two factors make the current commodity cycle different from previous ones" -- the growing significance of emerging economies and the emergence of commodity exchange-traded funds and notes, said Sam Subramanian, editor of AlphaProfit Sector Investors' Newsletter

Investments in commodities like oil and copper are "somewhat of a surrogate for investing in emerging markets," he said. And ETFs have "made commodity investing easier for retail investors and transformed commodities into a 'legitimate' asset class."

So while the commodities market cycle is still a "classic boom/bust in its outlines," said Chris Mayer, founder of Capital & Crisis, the "particulars may be different."

The current trading cycle has "more flavor" from the huge emerging markets impact, he said.

And "it's emerging markets that are driving the bull market in this cycle, so as that demand snaps back -- and we're seeing it now -- then the commodity boom roars on," said Mayer, who's also a contributor to The Daily Reckoning.

But Subramanian pointed out that volatility in commodity prices is likely to increase because they're linked to emerging economies.

"Growth often brings instability with it," he said. "Emerging economies due to their rapid growth ... often tend to be more volatile. This volatility is likely to ripple through commodity markets due to fluctuations in commodity demand."

Shaking things up

"Volatile" would indeed be the best way to describe the commodities market as whole, but that's been particularly true in recent years as traders track demand from emerging markets.

Many commodities managed to climb to new highs in the last year or two, only to fall back down as growth -- or the perception of it -- in emerging markets slowed.

In 2008, crude-oil futures peaked around $147 per barrel but before that year was up, they sank below $40. Copper futures topped $4 per pound in 2008, then dropped to around $1.30 by the end of that year. And while gold futures tapped an all-time nominal high above $1,200 more recently in December 2009, they haven't been able to get back there since.

"The ultimate driver of the commodities boom has been the rise of emerging markets through industrialization and urbanization, mainly in China," said Brian Hicks, co-manager of the U.S. Global Investors Global Resources Fund(PSPFX 9.25, +0.18, +1.98%).

The Chinese implemented a stimulus program for infrastructural works and eased credit, leading to a new building boom, and Chinese domestic car sales exceeded U.S. car sales in 2009 for the first time, said Gijsbert Groenewegen, a managing partner at Silver Arrow Capital Management.

All of that helped raise demand for commodities such as iron ore and copper.

'Copper is still an economic bellwether, but it's the emerging economies rather than established industrial economies that it speaks to.'

David Coffin, HRAAdvisory.com

There's been a "slackening" of copper demand in the industrialized world since about 2000, but total demand has continued to grow at a steady pace because of emerging market growth, said David Coffin, co-editor of the HRA publications at HRAAdvisory.com.

Boards For School Education In India

http://www.parentree.in/Parentree-editors/journal-183/Boards-for-school-education-in-India.html Sep 18, 2008 8:21 PM

India has a large number of boards for schools, and sometimes this can be confusing. Here is a short guide on what these different boards are.

Please give us your feedback in the comments.

ICSE

• ICSE - Indian Certificate of Secondary Education.
• The syllabus is set by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.
• CISCE Website - http://www.cisce.org.
• The examination is conducted once a year up to class X. For classes, XI and XII these schools follow ISC.
• A lot of schools throughout the country now adhere to the ICSE syllabus. After completing class X of ICSE, children can join any board - local or international.

ISC

• ISC - Indian School Certificate
  
• This board is followed for classes XI and XII.
• The syllabus is set by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.
• CISCE Website - http://www.cisce.org
• The examination is conducted after a two-year course of studies beyond the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education examination (Class X) or its equivalent.
• It is recognised by all Indian colleges and universities.

CBSE

• CBSE - Central Board for Secondary Education.
• Schools following this curriculum have exams at the end of Class X and XII.
• This board was formed keeping in mind the children of parents who have transferable jobs.
• CBSE Website - http://www.cbse.nic.in.
• It is recognised by all Indian Colleges and Universities.

IGCSE

• IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) is a curriculum spread over classes IX and X.
  
• At the end of class X there is an evaluation, just like class X exams conducted by CBSE and ICSE.
• These exams are conducted by University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE).
• After completing IGCSE (class X) children are eligible to join any of the boards for classes XI & XII. It is recognised by all local as well as international schools.
• CIE IGCSE Website - http://www.cie.org.uk/qualifications/academic/middlesec/igcse/overview

Cambridge O-level

• O-levels provide a curriculum spread over classes IX and X.
• At the end of class X there is an evaluation, just like class X exams conducted by CBSE and ICSE.
• These are conducted by University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE).
• After completing O-levels (class X) children are eligible to join any of the boards for classes XI & XII. It is recognised by all local as well as international schools.
• CIE O-level Website -http://www.cie.org.uk/qualifications/academic/middlesec/olevel/overview

Cambridge A-level

• A-levels provide a curriculum for a two year course of study - classes XI and XII.
• At the end of the course there is an evaluation, just like class XII exams conducted by CBSE and ICSE.
• These exams are conducted by University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE).
• These are recognized by all Indian colleges and universities.
• CIE A-level Website -http://www.cie.org.uk/qualifications/academic/middlesec/olevel/overview

IB

• IB (International Baccalaureate) offers high quality programmes for children from ages 3 to 19.
• They offer 3 programmes Primary Years Programme (age 3-12), Middle Years Programme (age 11-16) and Diploma Programme (age 16-19). There are no exams till the Middle Years Programme.
• The IB Diploma Programme is recognised by universities all over the world. The IB programme was founded by the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) based in Geneva, Switzerland.
• This diploma is recognized by all Indian colleges and universities
• IBO Website - http://www.ibo.org

Matriculation

• Matriculation Board is typically found in in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry schools.
• The syllabus is prepared by the Members of the Board of Matriculation Schools in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry
• These schools follow the Matriculation curriculum from LKG to Class X. After Class X (for XI and XII grades) they follow Tamil Nadu State board syllabus.
• Matriculation website - http://dge.tn.gov.in/matricsyllabus

State boards

• State Board - Virtually, every state in India has its own board.
• The examination is conducted by the State Education department at the end of Class X and XII.
• These are usually recognised by all Indian Colleges and Universities.

Other non-Indian boards

In addition to the boards listed above, most Indian colleges and universities recognize a number of other boards offered in other countries.

The Association of Indian Universities sets the guidelines for which non-Indian boards are accepted.

The website listed the following boards as being equivalent to an Indian +2 qualification (when accessed on September 18 2008)

• 12 years Baccalaureate Certificate of Afghanistan, France, Iraq and Tunisia.
• 12 years General Secondary Education Certificate of the Ministry of Education – Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries.
• GCE/IGCSE/GCSE examinations of the approved British Examining Bodies in UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Mauritius with passes in 5 subjects at ‘Ordinary Level’ and 2 subjects at ‘Advanced Level’. For admission to professional courses – medical/engineering Advanced level passes in Physics, Chemistry, Biology/ Mathematics and English are essential besides 5(Five) passes at GCE 'Ordinary Level'.
• High School Diploma from accredited School of USA.
• Intermediate/Senior Secondary/Higher Secondary of the approved Boards in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
• 12 years Secondary stage qualification of National Examination Board/Council of the Ministry of Education – Kenya,Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.
• 12-years Secondary Stage Examination conducted by various Provinces in Australia and Canada
• GCE ‘Ordinary and Advanced’ level examination of the Department of Examination, Government of Sri Lanka
• 12-years STPM examination of Malaysia
• 12-years Secondary Stage qualification of Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Yemen Arab Republic,.
• Abitur of Germany
• 12-year High School Diploma awarded by the accredited American School/International Schools in other countries following American pattern of education.

Please check for any updates at the AIU website.