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Freedom from injustice and
violations of the rule of law.
Freedom of
thought and speech and to participate in decision-making and
form associations.
Freedom of
decent work without exploitation.
Among other
contributors, Falis S. Nariman, a senior advocate of the Supreme
Court, reviews the Constitution in the context of human rights.
Virendra Dayal, a member of the National Human Rights
Commission, goes over the evolution of the commission since its
inception in 1993 and narrates how in less than 10 years the
commission has become an instrument of good governance on which
the citizens of this country rely for the defence of their
rights.
Indira Jaisingh,
another senior advocate of the Supreme Court, deals with
domestic violence, which generally is gender specific and is
committed by men against women. She picks holes in the proposed
Bill on domestic violence and calls it a complete sell-out of
the rights of women.
The violence in
Gujarat is the theme of the piece by Dipankar Gupta, another
senior advocate of the Supreme Court. He recalls how the
commission took suo motu action with regard to Godhra and
post-Godhra events. It sent a team to Gujarat led by the
Chairperson of the commission to assess the situation.
Intervention by the commission, he asserts, had helped to
improve the situation.
Other topics dealt
with in this issue are Rights of Tribals (B.D. Sharma), Rights
of Dalits (G. Hargopal) and Rights of the Disabled (Anuradha
Mohit).
With such rich
material on human rights, this inaugural issue is sure to find
place on the bookshelves of all those who are concerned with
human dignity and human rights.
How to Sell
Anything
by John
Scilly. Penguin, New Delhi. Pages 120, Rs 95.
Salesmanship is often equated
with a contest between opposing forces and the salesman who
shows any sign of weakness cannot hope to win. Like a battle the
sale process has to follow a definite plan. In this booklet,
John Scilly, a mechanical engineer who opted to take up the
challenge of salesmanship, prescribes some rules of the game
which look simple enough, but the structured approach he
preaches can get the salesman the deal that he looks for. In
laying down these simple techniques he draws upon his experience
of more than 30 years in selling different kinds of products and
services. And if some critics find his methods somewhat old
fashioned, his reply is that an approach that has worked for
years and continues to work today, might as well be left
unchanged. He is sure that the game will remain the same as long
as the buyer is a human being.
The author
describes his techniques in simple terms, avoiding technical
jargon as best as he can. The few terms he uses are such that
have almost become part of everyday use. Still he explains them
in a glossary at the end. Even this list is remarkably short.
He begins with how
to locate persons or companies that may be in need of the
product or services that you are selling. And for this he offers
no magic formula. Finding new prospects, he points out, is like
mining. The more you dig, the more you find. He tells the
salesman some simple ways, mostly commonsense ways, of locating
a customer, contacting him, conducting himself in front of a
potential client, making a presentation, other steps that
precede a deal, and the after sales service that has to be
offered to a client.
The small booklet
is a useful handbook for anyone who aspires to make a career in
salesmanship.
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