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Children aren’t for
burning Teachers’
betrayal |
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Celebrating diversity UN report explores its impact on growth The UNDP-commissioned Human Development Report 2004, released in Delhi on July 15, has a special significance for India. It closely examines the relationship between cultural diversity and development. The conclusion drawn is: diversity need not hinder development. Many wealthy countries — the US, Britain, Canada and Belgium — are multi-ethnic.
A growth-oriented
budget
Fear is the key
Document Reform
customary laws
People
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Children aren’t for burning The
fire at Kumbakonam’s Lord Krishna Higher Secondary School in which at
least 90 children perished is a horrifying tragedy that was entirely
avoidable but for the criminal negligence of the school and education
authorities. The ghastly incident has not only shocked the nation but
also triggered widespread fear and anxiety about the safety of
children in schools. The inferno has revived memories of the gruesome
fire in December 1995 which killed over 440 people, mostly children,
at the Dabwali DAV School’s annual function in Haryana. While this
calls for a nation-wide alert for tightening rules and stricter
enforcement of safety regulations in every school, the cruel
extermination of so many schoolchildren highlights the appalling
absence of fire-safety in Tamil Nadu. Earlier this year, in January,
59 people died in a fire that engulfed a marriage hall in Srirangam,
near Tiruchi. Some two years ago nearly 30 inmates of a mental
hospital in Erawadi were scorched to death. These apart, the match
factories and fire-cracker units in the state are potential pyres
which periodically consume lives. However, none of these tragedies
stirred the state government to ensure the adoption of requisite
fire-safety measures. In the event, while the school principal and
management are directly responsible and the education department
indirectly, the state government itself is guilty of supreme
indifference. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has rightly held the school
guilty of criminal negligence, closed it and cancelled its licence.
But there is urgent need for her government to go further and take a
close look at every school to ensure that they are equipped for
fighting fire. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has acted promptly in
treating it as a national tragedy and deputing Union Minister
Dayanidhi Maran to coordinate relief. Given his concern, it would be
fitting if he directed every state to ensure compliance with safety
measures in educational institutions. This needs to be done on a
war-footing and schools that fail to make the necessary provisions
should be shut down forthwith. |
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Teachers’ betrayal The
Kumbakonam school tragedy is all
the more heart-wrenching for the undeniable fact that the teachers
simply fled the scene, leaving the children to roast. While a thorough
probe may throw more light on the role of the teachers, there is no
dearth of reports to show that as the conflagration began spreading,
almost all 23 teachers abandoned the scene, leaving the trapped children
to perish or find their own way out. The teachers of Class III and IV
functioning under a thatched roof failed to clear the students even
after seeing the fire in the kitchen. One of the teachers who has been
detained for interrogation — the rest having gone into hiding — has
revealed that when the fire was noticed, the teachers on the ground
floor fled without informing the others. All the children who died
belonged to the primary section. These tender lives could hardly have
been expected to save themselves when the teachers in whom children put
their faith were not on the scene to lend them a guiding hand. The
teachers' unfeeling abdication of their responsibility raises a number
of questions that have deeper legal, social and ethical implications. A
judicial ruling has held that when a child is admitted, the school
acknowledges responsibility for the safety of the student. This implies
that every member of the teaching and non-teaching staff is singly and
collectively responsible for the student's safety. The social and
ethical aspects require not only that teachers fulfil the call of duty
but also go beyond it when there is an emergency. In this incident, the
teachers repudiated the call of duty and deserted those who were in
their legal, social and moral care. The teachers of Lord Krishna School
are guilty of gross and wilful negligence of duty and should be held to
account for desertion of their charge. This underscores the need for the
authorities — and the teaching community — to evolve a binding ethical
code for such emergencies. |
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Celebrating diversity The
UNDP-commissioned Human Development
Report 2004, released in Delhi on July 15, has a special significance
for India. It closely examines the relationship between cultural
diversity and development. The conclusion drawn is: diversity need not
hinder development. Many wealthy countries — the US, Britain, Canada and
Belgium — are multi-ethnic. At the same time, the 35 countries ranked at
the bottom of the Human Development Index are also multi-cultural.
Development is missing where unscrupulous politicians take advantage of
cultural differences. In India politicians are known to inflame passions
over religious, linguistic and other concerns of minorities. The UN
report also focusses on the impact of globalisation on local cultures.
The free flow of Western ideas, goods, films and music excites some, but
many feel threatened. India has been a recipient of Western values and
lifestyle symbols. There have been protests against the cultural
invasion through TV as also against the patenting of Indian Basmati and
neem by foreigners. Westerners too are worried about immigrants taking
away their jobs. The solution the UN report suggests to avoid ethnic
confrontation is: celebrate diversity, protect cultural liberty and
expand people’s choices because sticking to tradition can hold back
development. “In no society are lifestyles or values static”, it
observes. The role of language in development is also discussed in
detail. Limitations on people’s ability to use their mother tongue can
exclude them from “education, political life and access to justice”.
Many people wonder whether lack of education in one’s mothertongue
stalls their growth. The report asserts that “children learn best when
they are taught in their mother tongue, particularly in their earliest
years.” Giving examples from the US, Canada and the Philippines, the
report says children learning in their mother tongue outperformed those
receiving education in English or French. It recommends the teaching of
one international language, one local link language and the mother
tongue. Published every year since 1990, the Human Development Report
does raise issues of global concern, even if governments tend to be cool
towards them. |
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Life levels all men: death reveals
the eminent. — George Bernard Shaw |
A growth-oriented budget MR P. Chidambaram deserves to be
complemented for presenting a progressive and growth-oriented budget
for 2004-05. Comfortably placed with impressive performance in the
preceding year, achieving a growth rate of 8.2 per cent, inflation
running low and the balance of payments in good health, the Finance
Minister structured his proposals with skill and finesse. Laying the
deserving emphasis on agriculture and rural economy and on the
alleviation of poverty, he opened up more avenues for employment, made
liberal allocations for basic infrastructure, and offered incentives
for foreign investment while conforming, at the same time, to the
guidelines of the Common Minimum Programme adopted by the UPA. In
dealing with the implementation of these deserving proposals, however,
the Finance Minister was clearly hesitant and non-committal. With the
reconstitution of the Planning Commission, he decided to leave it to
this institution and the respective ministries “to redefine their
priorities and redraw their programmes in accordance with the NCMP”.
Until such review and reorientation are completed, including the
adoption of new schemes and restructuring of the old ones, he decided
to continue with the ongoing programmes. Similarly, in respect of
the fiscal consolidation, tax reforms and expenditure management,
instead of acting upon the recommendations which were acceptable to
the government, the Finance Minister chose to wait until the revised
recommendations of the Kelkar Committee Task Force are submitted and
processed by the respective ministries. In substance, therefore, the
budget for 2004-05 turns out to be another interim budget after the
one presented by Mr Jaswant Singh before the elections. And the entire
process of economic reforms and fiscal consolidation has been deferred
until the next budged. By delaying this process he has missed a
valuable opportunity and failed to take advantage and appropriate the
economic climate prevailing at present. The fiscal management of the
country is indeed in a very bad shape. With revenue deficits reaching
over 4 per cent for the last four years continuously and unproductive
expenses rising fast — of which interest payment alone takes away 47
per cent of the total revenue receipts and major subsidies another 17
per cent — the government has been forced to borrow heavily even to
meet its rising revenue expenditure. The total debt of the Central
government within five years from 1998-99 to 2003-04 has increased
from 51.2 per cent to as high as 64.4 per cent of the GDP. While the
resources have been spent wastefully development has suffered.
Today, therefore, the most important element of economic management,
as also stated in the Economic Survey of 2003-04, is “effecting fiscal
consolidation and eliminating the revenue deficit through revenue
enhancement and expenditure management”. And to eliminate the revenue
deficit, which is a major drag on the country’s resources, the Fiscal
Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act was enacted in 2003.
It was notified on July giving the mandate to the Central Government
to take appropriate measures to eliminate revenue deficit by 2007-08
and thereafter to build adequate revenue surplus. The Central
Government seeks to move an amendment for extending the deadline by
one more year till 2008-09. To ask for such extension will be a step
in the wrong direction. Enforcement of this Act in its present form
will, in fact, enable the government to resist political pressures and
adopt suitable measures for achieving the accomplished results by
2007-08. The Central Government spends around Rs 55,000 crore every
year towards salaries, pensions and other expenses on its 34.48
million employees. The Pay Commission made some useful recommendations
for downsizing the army of employees by imposing moratorium on new
appointments and gradual reduction of 3 per cent every year for 10
years. Such a recommendation needs to be accepted and implemented
immediately. There are other areas where reforms could have been
started immediately without waiting for any revised recommendations.
Considerable resources are spent on wasteful subsidies of which hardly
20 per cent reach the real beneficiaries. Constant financing of the
non-performing assets of sick public sector undertakings is another
major drag on the government’s resources. The inability of the state
agencies to recover even the minimum user charges is a matter of great
concern. Fiscal consolidation demands that in all such areas wasteful
expenses are immediately controlled and gradually eliminated.
Similarly, in respect of tax reforms useful recommendations have
been made for simplifying procedures and widening the base, which will
result in a significant increase in the collection of tax revenue.
Foremost among them is to keep the rates of taxes low and eliminate
wide-ranging but insignificant exemptions. It will improve compliance,
increase tax collection and widen the base. Another important
recommendation is to reform the judicial system to make it faster and
less expensive. The State is the biggest litigant involved in nearly
70 per cent of the disputes pending before different courts in the
country. Government departments should be directed not to go for
litigation unless it is unavoidable, and in respect of all the pending
cases a deadline should be fixed — from six months to one year — for
their final disposal. The Finance Minister may recall his own
commitment and the commitment made by the Prime Minister declaring
that “‘we are not compromising on our firm commitment to fiscal
discipline”. Hopefully, the commitment will be kept and the process of
fiscal and economic consolidation will start now without waiting for
another eight months. |
Fear is the key When
punishment does not smite, it
does not remain punishment any longer; the fear of punishment should
act as a deterrent to crime. But what happens when punishment becomes
a pleasurable experience to look forward to? Recently I had been to
an open-air jail. There are 40-odd lifers there undergoing sentence.
The building is built like a hostel. The rooms are big, spacious and
airy. There is a large kitchen and to go with it a kitchen garden.
There is no guard. The “prisoners” live here without a care in the
world and it is believed that such a free life would bring about a
change in their heart. When I reached there a few sat in a group
singing songs to the accompaniment of the harmonium and the tabla. A
few worked at the kitchen, others were just loafing about listening to
music, and waiting for the food to be served piping hot! A jail? Well.
Recently in Orissa the death sentence of a criminal found guilty of
triple murder, including that of a child, was commuted to life
sentence by the Governor. The media was busy projecting the criminal's
family and his wife's tearful pleading for mercy; but what about the
relatives of the victims? Did they get justice? They are the only ones
to pardon such a crime. However, when the law court holds him guilty
of a heinous crime who is the Governor or even the President to pardon
him, thus perpetrating another injustice on the victims' family? And
pray what is life sentence? Maximum 14 years. That too can be commuted
by a few years and one can be set free in just 10 years! All your
worldly needs taken care of by the government could be a cool deal for
many prospective criminals! Well, there are a number of arguments
against capital punishment; but it is true that what man is most
afraid of is losing his life. Therefore, when the ultimate punishment
can be death, it is a powerful deterrent to crime! I know a retired
officer who has been doing a reform of a different kind by
distributing schoolbooks to the deprived children of the prisoners. A
veteran of jail administration and reforms having spent 30-odd years
there, he believes that the reform inside jail should stop at ensuring
humane approach only. "Jail term is a punishment and that feeling
should never be diluted. You can take care of their family; you can
respect their human rights. But never do anything that would make them
look forward to jail as a free boarding house for the unemployed!"
says he. |
Document
The
following are extracts from the UNDP’s Human Development Report, 2004: Globalisation has increased
contacts between people and their values, ideas and ways of life in
unprecedented ways. People are travelling more frequently and more
widely. Television now reaches families in the deepest rural areas of
China. From Brazilian music in Tokyo to African films in Bangkok, to
Shakespeare in Croatia, to books on the history of the Arab world in
Moscow, to the CNN world news in Amman, people revel in the diversity
of the age of globalisation. For many people this new diversity is
exciting, even empowering, but for some it is disquieting and
disempowering. They fear that their country is becoming fragmented,
their values lost as growing numbers of immigrants bring new customs
and international trade and modern communications media invade every
corner of the world, displacing local culture. Some even foresee a
nightmarish scenario of cultural homogenization—with diverse national
cultures giving way to a world dominated by Western values and
symbols. The questions go deeper. Do economic growth and social
progress have to mean adoption of dominant Western values? Is there
only one model for economic policy, political institutions and social
values? The fears come to a head over investment, trade and migration
policies. Indian activists protest the patenting of the neem tree by
foreign pharmaceutical companies. Anti-globalisation movements protest
treating cultural goods the same as any other commodity in global
trade and investment agreements. Groups in Western Europe oppose the
entry of foreign workers and their families. What these protesters
have in common is the fear of losing their cultural identity, and each
contentious issue has sparked widespread political mobilisation. The
impact of globalisation on cultural liberty deserves special
attention. Previous Human Development Reports have addressed sources
of economic exclusion, such as trade barriers that keep markets closed
to poor countries’ exports, and of political exclusion, such as the
weak voice of developing countries in trade negotiations. Removing
such barriers will not itself eliminate a third type of exclusion:
cultural exclusion. That requires new approach based on multicultural
policies. Global flows of goods, ideas, people and capital can seem a
threat to national culture in many ways. They can lead to the
abandonment of traditional values and practices and the dismantling of
the economic basis on which the survival of indigenous cultures
depends. When such global flows lead to cultural exclusion,
multicultural policies are needed to manage trade, immigration and
investments in ways that recognise cultural differences and
identities. And the exclusion of traditional knowledge from global
regimes for intellectual property needs to be explicitly recognised,
as does the cultural impact of such goods as films and the cultural
identity of immigrants. The aim of multicultural policies is not to
preserve tradition, however, but to protect cultural liberty and
expand people’s choices — in the ways people live and identify
themselves — and not to penalise them for these choices. Preserving
tradition can help to keep the options open, but people should not be
bound in an immutable box called “a culture”. Unfortunately, today’s
debates about globalisation and the loss of cultural identity have
often been argued in terms of upholding national sovereignty,
preserving the ancient heritage of indigenous people and safeguarding
national culture in the face of growing inflows of foreign people,
films music and other goods. But cultural identities are heterogenous
and evolving — they are dynamic processes in which internal
inconsistencies and conflicts drive change. Four principles should
inform a strategy for multiculturalism in globalisation: «Defending
tradition can hold back human development. «Respecting difference and
diversity is essential. «Diversity thrives in a globally
interdependent world when people have multiple and complementary
identities and belong not only to a local community and a country but
also to humanity at large. «Addressing imbalances in economic and
political power helps to forestall threats to the cultures of poorer
and weaker communities. |
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The debate over personal laws often comes down to the following: Gender equality — how patriarchal customs and laws, be they Hindu or Muslim, treat men ad women differently in terms of their legal entitlements. «Cultural freedoms and minority rights — whether the state should reserve the right to intervene in matters of religious practice to assert liberty and equality while protecting the right of groups to practice their religion. Personal laws of all communities have been criticised for disadvantaging women, and there are strong arguments for reforming almost all traditional (and usually patriarchal) laws and customs in the country, bringing Hindu and Muslim personal or customary laws in line with gender equality and universal human rights. But implementing equality — an objective that is central to concern of human development — is not the same as implementing uniformity. What is
needed is internal reform of all customary laws, upholding gender
equality rather than imposing identical gender-biased, prejudicial
laws across all communities. Crucial in this is a genuine effort to
establish consensus on the code. Legislation imposing uniformity will
only widen the majority-minority divide — detrimental both for
communal harmony and for gender equality. — Human Development Report,
2004  |
|
People
His latest is a jewellery brand Damas
and Amitabh will be endorsing this brand in UAE and rest of the world.
Damas Jewellery LLC, the internationally renowned retail jewellery
chain, will be leveraging Amitabh's brand equity in the international
markets for business development. The brand has also received
endorsements from international celebrities like Claudia Schiffer and
Bollywood stars like Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Mahima Chudhary and
Celina Jaitley. Most effective fund-raiser Indian American Bobby
Jindal, who is running for the US Congress from the 1st District of
Louisiana, is the best fundraiser in the race to Washington. As
Jindal, a Republican, wrapped up his latest round to reach an
earmarked fundraising goal of $1.3 million and attended an event that
featured Vice President Dick Cheney, it is evident he is ahead of
other candidates running against him for the party's nomination
process which begins August 2, says Louisiana's leading paper
Times-Picayune. After his narrow defeat in the state's gubernatorial
race, Jindal moved to Kenner in the safer 1st District and has raised
$500,000 in the second quarter of the campaign, getting some $300,000
of that amount in just 10 days, his campaign manager Timmy Teepell
told Times-Picayune. Formerly from Punjab, he also has a virtual army
of volunteers who go out in the southern heat to convince voters about
their leader. The 1st District encompasses East Jefferson, St.
Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes, parts of West Jefferson,
Orleans and St. Charles parishes. Compared to Jindal, State Rep.
Steve Scalise, also a Republican, has raised only $200,000, the report
states. In a largely conservative district, Jindal's win appears
predestined. Tusshar was bullied With "Koi Mil Gaya", Bollywood
seems to have caught on the sci-fi bug. Tusshar starrer "Gayab" tries
to toe the same line. In fact the similarity goes a little further.
Taking a cue from 1987's "Mr India", the super-hit film starring Anil
Kapoor and Sridevi, "Gayab" is the story of a man who gets noticed
only after he learns the trick of becoming invisible. Like Hrithik
Roshan of "Koi Mil Gaya", Tusshar plays Vishnu Prasad who has always
been a loser. With a nagging mother breathing down his neck, friends
who ridicule him and a love interest who isn't even aware of his
existence, things change dramatically in one defining incident that
renders him invisible. |
What more can a man in the
street want to learn than this, that the one God and Creator and Master
of all that lives pervades the Universe? — Mahatma Gandhi Many take
the name of God after receiving blows in life. But he who can offer his
mind like a flower at the feet of the Lord right from his childhood is
indeed blessed. — Sarada Devi The company of those who cherish the
True Lord within, turns mortals into holy beings. — Guru Nanak If
you are in right earnest to learn the mysteries of God, He will send you
the Sadguru, the right teacher. You need not trouble yourself about
finding out a Guru. — Sri Ramakrishna Courage in danger is half the
battle. — Plautus |
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