‘Acting tough’ is the only way to neutralise Naxalites: Vijay Raman

“If they claim that they have waged war against the state, we should treat it as war,” says ‘super cop’ Vijay Raman, who was instrumental in hunting down dacoit Paan Singh Tomar and terror mastermind, Ghazi Baba

VIJAY Raman speaks very less, to-the-point, straight-forward -- a perfect fit for an IPS of his calibre. One of the most decorated police officers of India, Vijay Raman has a great deal to talk about. After eliminating Paan Singh Tomar in a 14-hour encounter, after tackling dacoits, terrorists and Naxals; Raman has an

exceptional ability to analyse organised crime.

“Terrorism grows with foreign support while Naxalism, to a large extent, is being run by our own people. However, threat is not acceptable in any form. We should tackle it with tough action,” Raman says. He was on a visit to city to share the experience of his first and the most talked-about counter-dacoity operation -- the elimination of dacoit Paan Singh Tomar in 1981 when Raman was barely 30 years old.

However, for the cop who was instrumental in hunting down mastermind of the 2001 Parliament attacks, Jaish-e-Mohammed Kashmir chief Shahbaz Khan alias Gazi Baba and dacoit Paan Singh Tomar, elimination is not the ultimate solution to a crime.

“Killing one or more persons cannot be the solution to terrorism. Generally, any terror attack comes as a reaction of some incident. We should think about the link and then find some intellectual solution to it,” he says, while stressing that terror cannot be associated with any particular religion.

But if killing is not his solution, why Raman has been involved in some of the most famous encounters? “Well, while policing, you have to think about many aspects and then act. If leaving a criminal alive can be life threatening for my informer or my men, I must shot him dead,” he says, as matter of fact as ever. Raman also supports a proper security system for whistle-blowers as their role is very important in combating crime.
One cannot resist but ask him about the proper workable solution for Naxal menace. “How can I give the solution? I am just one soldier of my country. But, the reality is that Naxalites refuse to acknowledge the state. They claim openly that they have waged a war against the state. Then, being a responsible state, we should also take this call as a war and act tough,” Raman gives a straight and simple answer -- in his signature way.

Life full of achievements

INDIA takes pride in Raman’s contributions to the nation. Apart from successful career with President’s Police Medal for Gallantry, the man has many other achievements to his credit.

Raman was awarded Citation in Guinness Book of World Record and Limca Book of Records for his around the world tour in an Indian Contessa car in 39 days 7 hrs 55 minutes.

“I love driving, so took the challenge. The tour was of about 26,000 miles,” Raman says while giving the credit of his world record to his wife Veena and his well-wishers.

Son of Late Major P V Raman, he was a gold medalist in Law and Physics before he opted for Police services. Raman says, “The present generation is more aware and they have ample career options available.”
“Youngsters are more focused these days. It’s good for all of us,” Raman mentions with pride.

Cutting of the same interview published in The Hitavada on April 19

Google, Microsoft and Ogale!

Adv Vidayanand Ogale has developed a comprehensive translation tool on his own. Named as ‘Nagpur’, this tool can translate any English data into eight Indian languages near-accurately. The one-of-its-kind, this fully Indian translation tool can bring revolution.

Adv Vidyanand Ogale at his in-house software lab which consists of only one PC. 

Without studying even ABCD of software development, Adv Vidayanand Ogale has developed a comprehensive translation tool on his own. Named as ‘Nagpur’, this tool can translate any English data into eight Indian languages near-accurately. This is a result of ceaseless 21 years of effort by Adv Ogale. The one-of-its-kind, this fully Indian translation tool can bring revolution in Software world. Adv Ogale, now 65, wants to transfer this technology to appropriate institution.

If you type or copy-paste this text in Google translate window or Microsoft translation tool, you can get its world-to-word translation into Hindi or some selected regional Indian languages. However, the most common experience is that real meaning is lost during translation because the software is unable to understand the clause, diction and language dialect.

Imagine a tool enriched with thesaurus, which can provide nearly perfect translation of the given data, that too instantly, with a speed of around 10,000 to 22,000 words per minute! Not only this, but the tool can also translate data from Indian languages to English. Moreover, if attached with phonetic gadget, it can instantly speak out the translated version of the data you have selected. And finally, the tool which directly reads from the paper or screen, and starts translation even without cut-copy-paste work!

Well, all this seems to be imaginary to all of us as we are mostly dependent on Google or Microsoft for translation. But, meet this 65-year-old software-passionate Vidyanand Ogale. An advocate by profession, Oagle has little academic qualification of software development field. But, his passion for the same has earned him a rare mastery over the complicated techno-art. After spending more than two decades with his computer and his master-mind, Adv Ogale has developed a comprehensive translation tool that gives the most correct translation of English text into Marathi. Notably, this is the same task on which the government-funded giants like CDAC are working with country’s best PhD holder engineers and scientists from last thirty years.

“When I approached Dr Vijay Bhatkar (then CDAC chief and maker of Super Computer) with my software in 1990s, he was astonished to see the effectiveness. We discussed several plans to make it more inclusive. However, the large scale research and production is yet a distant dream,” Adv Ogale said. Like a good lawyer, he produces papers and correspondence for his each and every claim. And when he moves towards his computer screen and starts the software, one demands no further proof.

Just copy and paste data from any website and type the command. Hardly a few seconds, gets the data converted into nearly perfect Marathi, in Devnagari text. “This is possible because I have entered the dictionary data of more than 7,000 pages for Marathi language in the database of this software. Moreover, the grammar details, diction, and other special details have also been added. With the same formula, we can develop the other wings of the tool. However, it needs the experts of that respective languages to participate in,” Ogale said. In fact, the man has already learned basics of eight Indian languages and has the basic (beta) version of his tool ready for these languages, too. Still, according to him, around 25 per cent work is yet to be done.

Now, at 65, Ogale wants some young and eligible software enthusiast to handle the further responsibility of his software. This work is the lifetime achievement for Ogale. His two sons, working as software engineers in USA are proud of their father, but they don’t have much to do for his software.

“I would like to transfer the technology to appropriate institution for appropriate price. I would like to meet Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan who is quite techno-savvy and can understand the importance of this software. Similarly, I am trying to meet Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, who is quite determined for such activities. Or finally, I would like to speak to HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, who is quite articulate in technical matters,” Ogale said. He has already started correspondence with the three dignitaries he wanted to meet.
Twenty-two years of his journey is full of different types of experiences, both good and bad. However, Ogale is still optimistic about the software that can change the way of writing Indian languages on Internet.

Ogale can be contacted on 08975467360  or 08237881032

Cutting of the same article published in The Hitavada CityLine Nagpur on    Sunday  April 21 2013