Climate 'Change'?

It's a Saturday night and I happen to be slightly tipsy and I hope that would assist my thoughts to flow freely,  without the adulteration of diplomacy.

Our life on Earth is similar to that of a bubble that bursts within seconds, when compared to the total lifetime of the universe. The Earth has been revolving around the sun for the past 4.56 billion years. Human kind evolved rather recently and before we came, there were a multitude of organisms that came, flourished and disappeared. The Earth's climate has never been static, as we popularly believe. The four ice ages in the Pleistocene age and the inter glacial warming ages stand as testimony to this fact. Yet there is such a great hue and cry against the supposed 'climate change' (as if climate was ever static). At the most, the human race has altered the pace of the Earth's climatic changes a little. Thinking that the present forms of plant and animal life are meant to stay forever and thinking that its human kind's duty to 'save the earth' in itself is flawed. Whether the human race and flora and fauna as we see it to today exist or don't exist, the Earth will go on, just as it did after the extinction of dinosaurs, dodos, mammoths and the innumerable plants and animals. What we are trying to do today is save ourselves, and not the Earth.

Many a time we forget that human kind is also a product of the nature of Earth and evolved according to the laws of nature. The actions of human kind can thus be easily understood as indirectly the work of nature, and not 'artificial' and separate from nature. After all, it is nature that decided that man will evolve this way and think of different ways to exploit the surroundings to better his life. In effect, the 'climate change' as we talk about it today is also a product of nature.

We are being greedy when we believe that human kind would thrive forever if it weren't for the anthropogenic pollution and other activities.
This doesn't mean that I am against environment friendly initiatives like switching to eco friendly technology, pollution mitigation and so on. I'm totally for them. They will definitely improve the quality of life of us and generations to come. What I am trying to highlight through this article is that the climatic patterns of the Earth are ever changing despite human intervention.

No, I'm not a climate change sceptic. Climate is changing. But it always has been.

PROSPECTS OF CIVIL SERVICE IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA

The Indian Civil Services today, as always, is one of most prestigious and sought after career options available in India. The power, charm and respect an IAS officer holds makes it nothing less than a dream job. The emergence of multinational companies offering plump salaries and perks after the dawn of liberalization, privatization and globalization in India has not affected the demand for this career, as is proven from the sheer number of aspirants appearing for the preliminary exam every year. On the contrary it is seen that more and more bright young minds from streams like engineering, medicine and management are getting attracted to this field.

The civil services offer a right mix of challenging opportunities and the best work conditions and perks. As a member of the Indian Civil Services, one will be in close contact with people and the decisions taken by a civil servant directly or indirectly impact the common man in a significant way. There is a general belief that there is a lot of political interference and control over the civil servants. The fact is that any position with a lot of authority and responsibilities is bound to have controls along with it. This is true with private sector jobs as well.

As a civil servant, one will receive the opportunity to interact with distinguished individuals and institutions from around the world. Being able to participate in policy formulation and high level decision making brings a great deal of satisfaction and pride. Apart from being one of the most stable employers, the Government of India provides other benefits to civil servants including health, housing, transportation and sufficient leave. The Indian Government also encourages higher studies among civil servants by fully funding education of officers at the best universities in India and abroad.

The possibilities of reaching the highest echelons of administration at the state and national level- including positions like cabinet secretary, home secretary, chief secretary (state), CAG and CEC, add to the lure of the civil services. The civil services offer the bright young minds of India the best opportunity to utilize their potential and excel. A member of the Indian civil services will get the rare and invaluable opportunity to contribute to the transformation of our country into a global superpower.