APOGEE 2k8

The Department of Sponsorship at BITS-Pilani is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that APOGEE 2k8 doesn’t fade into oblivion for a very long time. The techfest is poised to break all previous records in terms of the amount of sponsorship received. The budget allocation is about eighteen lakhs which includes more than ten lakhs of sponsorship money. The corresponding figure for last year, about seven lakhs, turns pale in comparison to the amount this year. The phenomenal rise was the result of the untiring efforts put in by the entire department. The publicity brochure that came out this year not just marketed events but also laid special emphasis on the design and project competitions and the categorization of projects. The quantum leap in the amount of sponsorship will translate into even more attractive prize money for the various events.

APOGEE 2k8 also marks the entrance of hordes of new sponsors besides the regular ones. For the first time we will be having an official travel partner, merchandise partner as well as a fashion partner. A substantial amount of money is being pumped in by Gold and Silver sponsors such as SAIL, Netapp, Infosys, Google and Wipro. Texas Instruments is chipping in by donating kits for Digital Signal Processing. The media coverage that APOGEE is and will be getting is also unprecedented. Chip Magazine and PC Quest, the print media partners are coming out with a full page advertisement on APOGEE in their respective magazines. Leading dailies such as Hindustan Times and The Times of India and media channels such as India TV and ETV have agreed to give extensive coverage to the techfest. Online forum Pagalguy.com is helping by putting up an APOGEE advertisement banner on its website. Though we still have a long way to go in attracting more participants, the results this year are quite encouraging. If we continue to put in such efforts, the day is not far when APOGEE will truly become a quality pan-India technical festival.

Politics

There is no denying the fact that politics is a dirty word especially in a country like ours. It is a word that the common man fears and the elite maintain a safe distance from. The political system in our country has gone from bad to worse. Today, we have a dearth of quality leaders. This is in stark contrast to the 1950's when our nation was teeming with leaders who had great patriotic fervor and acumen to lead us forward. The only thing that we find that most of our leaders have in common today is their criminal history. The very thin line that existed between a politician and a criminal is fading today and the criminal-politician nexus is inescapable. Quality governance is still a dream for most of us and it seems that it will remain just that in times to come.

Today, most of the educated youth (even those from the hinterland) would not want to join politics. The reasons are not very difficult to comprehend. The primary reason for this is that for fighting an election these days, huge financial backing is required which most of the people do not have. Here is where the criminals step in. Most political parties throw their doors wide open for these goons as they bring in the right mix of muscle power and money, the prerequisite of fighting any electoral battle. Some of these criminals demand a party ticket (to become an elected representative) and others just want the backing of the party if it comes into power. Political parties generally find it difficult to say no to such "lucrative" offers. A large part of the funding of the various parties is done this way. When a government backed by such unscrupulous elements comes into power, these goons get complete political patronage in return.

Hence our system ensures that the deserving people stay away from politics. A system of public funding of elections like that of the United States would change things for the better. This will pave the way for the honest people to join the electoral fray. The Lead India Campaign is a step in the right direction. What else could be more important for a country than having the right people to lead it? It is not that the country cannot afford to spend such huge sums on public funding but it is general lack of will on the part of the politicians. Why would they scrap a system that has nurtured them?