CAREER WATCH: CAREER IN PRINT MEDIA
FROM EMPLOYMENT NEWS
BY DR. PRADEEP NAIR
If you dream of making a qualitative change in the people’s life, bringing into light the dark side of the society, have the patience to get along with politicians, bureaucrats, criminals and a myriad of persons desperate to get some ready to rush to work at odd hours, do night shifts; Journalism is one of the best careers to pursue.
Journalism as such is more than a career, it’s a mission. A mission that generates your creativity helps you socialize, earn name along with your livelihood, bring to the forefront problems facing the society and help implement the possible solutions. These inherent advantages of journalism attract a lot of young graduates.
Scope and Areas of Work in Print Media
Print Media is the oldest form of media. But even today it is growing from strength to strength. Around 4000 small, medium and large newspapers and magazines across the county are registered with the Registrar of Newspapers every year. This indicates that it is a growing sector where employment opportunities are increasing with each passing day.
Most of the young aspirants who want to enter the print media prefer reporting, but newspapers and magazines also seek young talent as photographers, artists, editors, computer experts, librarians, and cartoonists. Students who have writing ability, graphics or photo skills, curiosity and determination and who are well prepared by education and training have less difficulty in finding a good opening in the print media. The well known areas to work are:
Editing? Editing means to plan the contents of the publication and to supervise its preparation. Newspapers have Editors who should have sound knowledge of newspaper laws. They need to put forward innovative ideas and establish the style of the publication. Editors must be able to coordinate the efforts of a team. They must possess a sound knowledge of their market, and take the initiative in looking for new authors and new subjects. In very large newspapers, there are associate or assistant editors who are responsible for particular topics, such as sports, international news, local news, supplements, special pullouts, etc. Administrative duties of editors include hiring writers, planning budgets and negotiating contracts with freelance writers.
Newspapers also have a large number of sub-editors whose job is to give a final shape to the story submitted by a reporter. Sub-editors acts almost like a gate keeper ? editing, reformatting, objectively presenting each report, keeping in mind the general policy of the newspaper. They must be able to identify potential doubts, complications and mistakes in the text, inconsistencies or lack of adherence to the style of newspaper.
Reporting? Reporting in Newspapers and Magazines means to file stories about local, state, national and international events; to present different view points on current issues and to monitor the actions of public officials and others who exercise power. Newspapers frequently station reporters known as correspondents in large cities and in other countries to prepare stories on major news events occurring in these locations.
Freelancing? One can also work as a freelance journalist for newspapers and magazines. Freelancers are not the regular employees of the organization. They are paid according to each piece or article they write.
Writing Columns? A newspaper appoints specialists for regular columns. Columnists, being assigned a column, have to keep contributing to the column on a regular basis.
Writing Comments? Well known people, who are authorities in their respective fields, are invited to write on topical issues in magazines or newspapers.
Drawing Cartoons? A comical or satirical sketch on political, cultural events is the job of a cartoonist. While established cartoonists work for some big groups, others are generally free lancers.
Working as an Artist – Illustrators and cartographers who specialize in maps and charts to illustrate data work in this medium.
Photojournalism ? Photojournalism is an art to tell a story with pictures. People having an interest in photography with an ability to link it with a news story can work for newspapers and magazines as a photojournalist.
Nature of the Job
A journalist can work in various capacities in print media. The print has several sub categories like newspaper, magazines and news agencies, and also internet based news portals like Tehelka.com, Indiatimes.com, Rediff.com, etc.
In a newspaper house, fresh journalism graduates usually join as trainees at the news desk or the editing desk. After a couple of years, they get transferred to reporting. However, exceptions to this rule are common and some people join straightaway as trainee reporter also.
The hierarchy for reporters in most of the newspaper houses is roughly as follows – trainee, staff reporter correspondent, principal reporter/ senior reporter/ correspondent, chief reporter and special representative/ correspondent.
Working for a news agency is slightly different because of the tougher deadlines – not at the end of the day but right now. The ABC of news agency reporting seeks accuracy, brevity and clarity. The format of writing is very straight forward and to the point and does not allow any scope for speculation or analysis within the news story. Agencies like Press Trust of India (PTI) and United News of India (UNI) are 24 hours open and their offices are not closed even on Republic or Independence Day or on big festivals, which are holidays for the newspapers.
Reporting for magazines involves less leg work than newspapers. But it requires closer co-operation with the sources of news. Here, the distinction between reporting, editing and desk work many a time gets blurred and the reporter does all the work.
Where to Study and the Eligibility
To pursue a career in the print media one may attain a bachelor’s degree or a post-graduate degree or diploma in journalism or mass communication. Courses in journalism are offered in English, Hindi and regional languages. Specialized courses in selected fields like page composition, layout designing and photo journalism are also offered. Apart from the professional degrees, other skills required are a good command over the language, good general knowledge and the ability to collect information and report events quickly.
Now a day?s most of the Indian universities offer both under-graduate and post-graduate programs in journalism. Graduates of any stream are eligible to opt for a post-graduate degree or diploma program in journalism.
Some of the well known institutes offering journalism courses are Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, AJK ? Mass Communication Research Centre (MCRC) of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan units at Mumbai, Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram, Manipal Institute of Communication, Manipal, Times of India School of Journalism, Mumbai, Pioneer Media School, New Delhi, The Manorama School of Communication, Kottayam, St. Xavier?s Institute of Communication, Mumbai, Simbiosis International University, Pune etc.
Beside this, there are certain traits which a budding journalism graduate needs to know while opting journalism as a career. A good journalist should have ? a keen interest in people related issues, an inquisitive nature, ability to meet deadlines and outstanding communication skills. Basically if you are not interested in what people have to say, their emotions and their achievements, you simply cannot function as a journalist.
Remuneration
The minimum salary as per government directive has to be Rs. 5500 to Rs. 9000 for reporters and senior reporters, Rs. 5000 to Rs. 10,500 for the chief reporters and sub-editors, and Rs. 7500 to 12000 for editors. Private sector even offers higher remuneration including lucrative various fringe benefits. However salaries offered depend on the publication house one is working with. Field journalists are given travel and stay expenses as well as allowances are additional with all pay packets. Freelancers are paid for each piece of work they submit. Self-employed also have good earning depending upon the nature and extension of their business.
Further, the bigger publishing houses pay far higher salaries than the prescribed grades of the Government of India. Entry level salaries range between Rs. 8000 to 12000, experienced Journalists get from Rs. 20000 to 25000 and Senior Journalists earn over a Lac per month. Editors of several publications draw salaries in Lacs as they are given globally competitive salaries.
Excelling your Skills
Journalism is one of the most important vocations. Journalists not only report news but are also responsible for searching out for new stories that might impact the larger society. Journalists are also responsible for shaping opinions and perceptions about key issues that are prevailing in a society. From the local to the national level, journalists play a key role in shaping public opinions and perceptions. Journalists therefore perform a special function and one that no other vocation does.
Journalism as a vocation has also been one of the fields that have seen a radical change over the years. Both print and the visual medium have grown exponentially over the years and there is always a demand for skilled professionals. Increasing competitiveness has also led journalism becoming a very high stress job where deadlines must be met at all cost.
There is also an intense competition for more readers and viewers in both the print and the visual media. Both print and media journalists have to battle the daily stresses of work and life in order to produce relevant results. The job is stressful and may involve very high workloads in order to meet tight deadlines. It is not a profession for the weak willed or the timeservers. The vocation requires passion and complete dedication from an individual if he wants to excel.
Good writing skills itself is not enough to excel in journalism. In addition to it, one requires an attention to details, because it is in these details that a story finds both clarity and meaning. Journalism also requires boundless energy and the relentlessness to pursue a good lead.
Journalism can be an ideal career for those who love to read books and write. The vocation offers them an opportunity to extend their natural talents and utilize them to the best of their abilities. There are also various streams within journalism that a journalist can specialize in. These specializations include sports, investigative, science and film journalism.
For people who are looking forward to a journalism career, there are so many things that they can do to move an inch higher to their dream. For young people who were already to determine in themselves that a journalism career is really the profession that they would want to pursue, they can start gaining all they need to be qualified for the job.
Young ones should be arming themselves with the necessary skills in becoming a journalist such as writing. To do this, they should practice writing articles more often and monitor their improvement. To be more knowledgeable about the craft, they should also enroll in various writing workshops where the resource person are the ones who have been in the industry long enough to share their first-hand experiences. Aside from meeting famous writers and journalists, attending writing workshops can also help you improve your craft and will introduce you more into the technicalities of writing such as styles, structures and the like.
To widen your vocabulary, it is also a must that you read the newspaper regularly. Aside from current events and news, reading feature articles in magazines and even novels can help you be familiar with certain writing styles that can help you in creating your own in the future.
When you get to college, it is best to take up a journalism degree giving importance to the practical assignments. Generally in a good institute, you will be trained in all aspects of the field. Aside from training your writing skills, the school will open you up to other possibilities of the field such as the business side and other fields that may help you decide which field you are really suited to. Here, you will also have the opportunity to meet the “masters” in the field and you will also be able to use the school publication as the training ground for your future journalism career.
Getting the First Career Break
Graduates can go in for an internship with a newspaper for supervised training. The latest trend in this regard is that big groups of newspapers advertise the posts of trainees in any of the above categories. After conducting the entrance examination, suitable graduate trainees, with a flair for writing, are selected and employed.
Almost all newspapers hire journalism graduates fresh out of college, though most of the larger papers (and many of the medium-sized ones) ask for prior experience. Therefore, the smaller the newspaper, the better your chances of landing that first job. It is advantageous to apply to newspapers that you know something about, newspapers where you have had an internship, and papers that are located in areas that are familiar to you.
Print Media organizations where aspirants can find jobs are:
Newspaper groups
News agencies and news bureaus like the Press Trust of India, Reuters, United News of India and Associated Press
Magazines and journals in English and vernacular languages
Indian Information Service (Group A) of the government, Directorates of publicity
In-house publications of large corporate houses
Websites
It is best to create your own opportunity by learning how to market one’s self, coming up with a strong portfolio, and to know when the best time to break into the field is. Here two things are quite important. The first one is to sell one’s self. This is a very important aspect because employers and editors would not believe you if you just say that you are good. During an interview for a position, try to mention some of your good qualities that can be assets to the publication such as resourcefulness, creativity, and productivity. The second one is the willingness to start small. If you are a fresh journalism graduate, don’t expect that you will get the position you want right away. Since the journalism field is competitive, it is best if you will have mindset of starting small. Those who are enjoying their journalism career nowadays are the ones who underwent through the ladder of success.
About the Author
Dr. Pradeep Nair is presently working as a Research Scientist and Course Coordinator of PG Program in Development Communication with Anwar Jamal Kidwai Mass Communication Research Centre (MCRC) of Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), Jamia Nagar, New Delhi.
courtsey: Shri Barun Roy
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Coffee Day to reach set up to 2000 retail chain
Coffee Day to double outlets, buy chains in China, Europe
BY BAIJU KALESH & SATISH JOHN
Coffee Day Resorts Pvt. Ltd, which operates the Cafe Coffee Day retail chain, will use a recent investment of Rs960 crore in the firm to at least double its coffee shops to 2,000 and increase the network of its Way2Wealth venture.
“We will also use some of the money to buy coffee retail chains in China, the Middle East and eastern Europe, and 10-15% of our sales will accrue from international markets,“ chairman V.G. Siddhartha said in a phone interview from Ban- galore.
Three private equity inves- tors--Kohlberg Kravis Roberts India Advisors Pvt. Ltd (KKR India), Standard Chartered Private Equity Ltd and New Silk Route--on Wednesday agreed to invest Rs960 crore to buy a nearly 25% stake in the compa- ny, which also owns a private equity fund Global Technology Ventures, three resorts in southern India under the Serai brand and Terra Firma Pvt.
Ltd, a waste management busi- ness.
Siddhartha said manage- ment control of the firm would remain with him.
“We are excited to partner with a company that has achieved significant domestic scale and is ready to enter a new phase of growth,“ said Sanjay Nayar, chief executive officer of KKR India, which in- vested Rs360 crore of the Rs960 crore in Coffee Day after almost a year of negotiations.
Coffee Day's strategy for growth involves eliminating middlemen, not just in buying beans but also in the running of the outlets; the 1,000-strong chain is entirely owned and managed by the company.
The firm's closest competi- tor, Barista Coffee Co., which was acquired by Italy's Luigi Lavazza SpA in 2007, operates around 200 outlets in India.
Coffee Day already owns 20 coffee shops overseas. Sid- dhartha said he plans to dou- ble the number in about four years.
The coffee shop business in India has lately seen consider- able foreign participation, with brands such as Costa Coffee, Gloria Jean's Coffee and Lavazza, among others, setting up cafes in India. Competition is expected to intensify when Starbucks Corp., the Seattle-based chain of coffee shops and the world's largest in this business, de- cides on a local partner to en- ter the Indian market.
The founder of Cafe Coffee Day is unfazed. “If I beat them here, I can beat them any- where,“ he said.
Siddhartha's move from the very beginning was to take ad- vantage of the coffee planta- tions he inherited to add value to and vertically integrate the business. He gradually built up the 350 acres his father owned by acquiring coffee plantations that came under the hammer due to global swings in coffee bean prices. This has helped him scale up faster than the competition as well as keep a tight leash on costs.
“We control our costs as we own 10,000 acres of coffee plantations that provide us 25,000 tonnes of coffee,“ Sid- dhartha said. The firm buys an additional 25,000 tonnes a year from the market to stock its ca- fes.
The coffee plantations owned by Siddhartha grow close to $12 billion (Rs54,120 crore) worth of coffee beans a year, while the global trade is as much as $120 billion, he said.
“We have invested in a com- pany that has established its presence in the consumption business and has a couple of ideas. We are at an early stage of evaluating them,“ said Jacob Kurien, a partner at New Silk Route, which manages a $1.4 billion fund and has invest- ments in 12 Indian companies.
New Silk Route is betting on the potential upside of these new ideas that will have a sub- stantial scale in the future, Ku- rien said.
BY BAIJU KALESH & SATISH JOHN
Coffee Day Resorts Pvt. Ltd, which operates the Cafe Coffee Day retail chain, will use a recent investment of Rs960 crore in the firm to at least double its coffee shops to 2,000 and increase the network of its Way2Wealth venture.
“We will also use some of the money to buy coffee retail chains in China, the Middle East and eastern Europe, and 10-15% of our sales will accrue from international markets,“ chairman V.G. Siddhartha said in a phone interview from Ban- galore.
Three private equity inves- tors--Kohlberg Kravis Roberts India Advisors Pvt. Ltd (KKR India), Standard Chartered Private Equity Ltd and New Silk Route--on Wednesday agreed to invest Rs960 crore to buy a nearly 25% stake in the compa- ny, which also owns a private equity fund Global Technology Ventures, three resorts in southern India under the Serai brand and Terra Firma Pvt.
Ltd, a waste management busi- ness.
Siddhartha said manage- ment control of the firm would remain with him.
“We are excited to partner with a company that has achieved significant domestic scale and is ready to enter a new phase of growth,“ said Sanjay Nayar, chief executive officer of KKR India, which in- vested Rs360 crore of the Rs960 crore in Coffee Day after almost a year of negotiations.
Coffee Day's strategy for growth involves eliminating middlemen, not just in buying beans but also in the running of the outlets; the 1,000-strong chain is entirely owned and managed by the company.
The firm's closest competi- tor, Barista Coffee Co., which was acquired by Italy's Luigi Lavazza SpA in 2007, operates around 200 outlets in India.
Coffee Day already owns 20 coffee shops overseas. Sid- dhartha said he plans to dou- ble the number in about four years.
The coffee shop business in India has lately seen consider- able foreign participation, with brands such as Costa Coffee, Gloria Jean's Coffee and Lavazza, among others, setting up cafes in India. Competition is expected to intensify when Starbucks Corp., the Seattle-based chain of coffee shops and the world's largest in this business, de- cides on a local partner to en- ter the Indian market.
The founder of Cafe Coffee Day is unfazed. “If I beat them here, I can beat them any- where,“ he said.
Siddhartha's move from the very beginning was to take ad- vantage of the coffee planta- tions he inherited to add value to and vertically integrate the business. He gradually built up the 350 acres his father owned by acquiring coffee plantations that came under the hammer due to global swings in coffee bean prices. This has helped him scale up faster than the competition as well as keep a tight leash on costs.
“We control our costs as we own 10,000 acres of coffee plantations that provide us 25,000 tonnes of coffee,“ Sid- dhartha said. The firm buys an additional 25,000 tonnes a year from the market to stock its ca- fes.
The coffee plantations owned by Siddhartha grow close to $12 billion (Rs54,120 crore) worth of coffee beans a year, while the global trade is as much as $120 billion, he said.
“We have invested in a com- pany that has established its presence in the consumption business and has a couple of ideas. We are at an early stage of evaluating them,“ said Jacob Kurien, a partner at New Silk Route, which manages a $1.4 billion fund and has invest- ments in 12 Indian companies.
New Silk Route is betting on the potential upside of these new ideas that will have a sub- stantial scale in the future, Ku- rien said.
Budget will spur investment
Finance Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee with Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Mr. R. C. Bhargava releasing a book "The Maruti Story" .in the captial on Thursday.
Economy's recovery validates government's policy response, says Mukherjee
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday exuded confidence that the measures outlined in the budget for the current fiscal would spur private investment and put the economy back on track for a nine per cent growth.
“I am optimistic that the measures I have outlined in this year's budget will revive private investment and put the economy back on the growth path of nine per cent,” Mr. Mukherjee said while addressing a function here to commemorate the Small Industries Development Bank of India's (SIDBI's) 20th Foundation Day. On the back of an expected growth of 7.2 per cent in 2009-10, which itself was “impressive by global standards,” he said the GDP (gross domestic product) expansion during 2010-11 would be about 8.25-8.75 per cent. The Finance Minister's optimism is in line with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement in Mumbai on Thursday when he said “the economy can get back to 9 per cent growth by the end of the XI Plan (2007-12) and do even better thereafter.”
Mr. Mukherjee noted that although the last fiscal year (2009-10) was difficult and posed many challenges, the government's response was effective and yielded results. “There was a significant slowdown in the growth rate in the second half of 2008-09 following the financial crisis that began in the industrialised nations in 2007 and spread to the real economy across the world. The good news is that the world economy today seems to be recovering from this severe crisis. The fast-paced recovery of the Indian economy underscores the effectiveness of the policy response of the government in the wake of this financial crisis,” he said.
Lauding the micro small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector's role in the country's economic growth, Mr. Mukherjee said the government would examine the report of the Prime Minister's Task Force in a time-bound manner. Pointing to the report's emphasis on making available more credit to the small sector, he said “timely availability of credit to MSMEs is extremely important to meet their growing needs and to help them keep their business lifeline vibrant and progressive.” The MSME sector, the Finance Minister said, accounted for 8 per cent of the country's GDP, 45 per cent of its manufactured output and 40 per cent of its exports. Apart from generating the highest employment during the XI Plan, the sector helped in checking migration to urban centres.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the function later, Mr. Mukherjee disclosed that the Centre's direct tax collections had exceeded the budget estimate of Rs. 3.70 lakh crore for the 2009-10 fiscal.(The Hindu)
Finance Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee with Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Mr. R. C. Bhargava releasing a book "The Maruti Story" .in the captial on Thursday.
Economy's recovery validates government's policy response, says Mukherjee
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday exuded confidence that the measures outlined in the budget for the current fiscal would spur private investment and put the economy back on track for a nine per cent growth.
“I am optimistic that the measures I have outlined in this year's budget will revive private investment and put the economy back on the growth path of nine per cent,” Mr. Mukherjee said while addressing a function here to commemorate the Small Industries Development Bank of India's (SIDBI's) 20th Foundation Day. On the back of an expected growth of 7.2 per cent in 2009-10, which itself was “impressive by global standards,” he said the GDP (gross domestic product) expansion during 2010-11 would be about 8.25-8.75 per cent. The Finance Minister's optimism is in line with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement in Mumbai on Thursday when he said “the economy can get back to 9 per cent growth by the end of the XI Plan (2007-12) and do even better thereafter.”
Mr. Mukherjee noted that although the last fiscal year (2009-10) was difficult and posed many challenges, the government's response was effective and yielded results. “There was a significant slowdown in the growth rate in the second half of 2008-09 following the financial crisis that began in the industrialised nations in 2007 and spread to the real economy across the world. The good news is that the world economy today seems to be recovering from this severe crisis. The fast-paced recovery of the Indian economy underscores the effectiveness of the policy response of the government in the wake of this financial crisis,” he said.
Lauding the micro small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector's role in the country's economic growth, Mr. Mukherjee said the government would examine the report of the Prime Minister's Task Force in a time-bound manner. Pointing to the report's emphasis on making available more credit to the small sector, he said “timely availability of credit to MSMEs is extremely important to meet their growing needs and to help them keep their business lifeline vibrant and progressive.” The MSME sector, the Finance Minister said, accounted for 8 per cent of the country's GDP, 45 per cent of its manufactured output and 40 per cent of its exports. Apart from generating the highest employment during the XI Plan, the sector helped in checking migration to urban centres.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the function later, Mr. Mukherjee disclosed that the Centre's direct tax collections had exceeded the budget estimate of Rs. 3.70 lakh crore for the 2009-10 fiscal.(The Hindu)
Making Right to education work in India
Free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years was one of the Directive Principles of State Policy intended to be implemented within 10 years of the commencement of the Indian Constitution. Not being justiciable, this directive failed to prod the Indian state into any kind of concrete action. Large sections of two generations grew up, in independent India, with little or no formal education.
After 60 years, with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, the entitlement to education has become enforceable. Although it took a long time coming, the Act is noteworthy on several counts.
It offers a framework for ensuring quality education, for creating infrastructure, for making available a sufficient number of trained teachers, and for extending government funding to private schools. The central and State governments are to share the financial burden for implementing the Act in the ratio of 55:45, and the Finance Commission has given Rs.25,000 crore to the States. An outlay of Rs.15,000 crore was approved for 2010-11 by the central government, but if the Act is to achieve its stated objectives of ensuring a fixed student-teacher ratio, neighbourhood schools of specified quality for every child, and training for teachers to a national norm, the funding seems grossly inadequate.
The National University for Educational Planning and Administration calculates that implementation of the Act will cost Rs. 171,000 crore for five years. It will be a great shame if the governments of rising India fail to come up with what it takes to educate all children decently at the foundational level.
But it won't be enough to approach free and compulsory education up to the age of 14 as an entitlement, especially for the millions of children who are left out in the cold. Accessing this right meaningfully and in full measure will require, aside from the investment of huge resources, financial and human, a lot of work to be done on the ground.
Key to this is seeing free and compulsory education for children not just as a right — but as a duty. It is the duty of the state, parents and guardians, and the community to ensure that all children of school-going age are in school.
A substantial proportion of India's poor children are engaged in agricultural labour or petty trades, housework, and sibling care. Ending the morally and socially abhorrent practice of child labour, not ‘regulating' it, must be taken up as a non-negotiable objective.
But history teaches us that child labour will not go away, and free and compulsory education will remain a half-empty and formal right, if we do not hold governments to strict account for failing to perform their duty by the children of India.(hindu)
Free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years was one of the Directive Principles of State Policy intended to be implemented within 10 years of the commencement of the Indian Constitution. Not being justiciable, this directive failed to prod the Indian state into any kind of concrete action. Large sections of two generations grew up, in independent India, with little or no formal education.
After 60 years, with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, the entitlement to education has become enforceable. Although it took a long time coming, the Act is noteworthy on several counts.
It offers a framework for ensuring quality education, for creating infrastructure, for making available a sufficient number of trained teachers, and for extending government funding to private schools. The central and State governments are to share the financial burden for implementing the Act in the ratio of 55:45, and the Finance Commission has given Rs.25,000 crore to the States. An outlay of Rs.15,000 crore was approved for 2010-11 by the central government, but if the Act is to achieve its stated objectives of ensuring a fixed student-teacher ratio, neighbourhood schools of specified quality for every child, and training for teachers to a national norm, the funding seems grossly inadequate.
The National University for Educational Planning and Administration calculates that implementation of the Act will cost Rs. 171,000 crore for five years. It will be a great shame if the governments of rising India fail to come up with what it takes to educate all children decently at the foundational level.
But it won't be enough to approach free and compulsory education up to the age of 14 as an entitlement, especially for the millions of children who are left out in the cold. Accessing this right meaningfully and in full measure will require, aside from the investment of huge resources, financial and human, a lot of work to be done on the ground.
Key to this is seeing free and compulsory education for children not just as a right — but as a duty. It is the duty of the state, parents and guardians, and the community to ensure that all children of school-going age are in school.
A substantial proportion of India's poor children are engaged in agricultural labour or petty trades, housework, and sibling care. Ending the morally and socially abhorrent practice of child labour, not ‘regulating' it, must be taken up as a non-negotiable objective.
But history teaches us that child labour will not go away, and free and compulsory education will remain a half-empty and formal right, if we do not hold governments to strict account for failing to perform their duty by the children of India.(hindu)
Centre to give away Rs.5000 crore to States for forest conservation: Jairam Ramesh
by Mahim Pratap Singh
The Central Government will grant Rs.5000 crore over the next five years to States towards better forest conservation, Union Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said on Friday.
Speaking at the convocation of the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Mr. Ramesh said that the 13th Finance Commission, for the first time, has made a provision for a forest conservation grant worth Rs.5000 crore to States with rich forest cover.
At Rs.727 crore, Arunachal Pradesh will receive the largest share from this grant. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra will follow with Rs.490, Rs.411 and Rs.310 crore respectively.
The formula for the allocation of the grant has been designed to take into consideration three factors. The share of the total forest area in the country falling in any particular State is the first, further enhanced for those States where forested area is greater than the national average.
Interestingly, according to the 13th Finance Commission document, the enhancement serves to add a further compensation for the economic disability posed by forest cover. The entitlement of each State, so obtained, has been further weighted by the third factor, which is the quality of the forest in each State, as measured by density. The weights are progressively higher for area under moderately dense and dense forest cover.
Talking about forest conservation and tiger protection, Mr. Ramesh said that the Centre and the States have spent Rs.8,200 crore in forest areas in the last financial year i.e. 2008-09. On the question of translocation of lions from Gir wildlife sanctuary in Gujarat to the Kuno Palpur sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, he expressed inability of the Central government to make a difference.
“I have asked Mr. Shivraj Singh Chauhan to convince Mr. Narendra Modi as they both belong to the same party, but that’s all that I can do,” Mr.Ramesh told The Hindu.
He also said that research was being conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India to re-introduce the Cheetah in India, with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat as potential States where the re-introduction might take place.
He dismissed reports of the Ministry of Surface Transport calling the Ministry of environment and Forests as a blockade in the construction of national highways, saying the MoEF had a 98% approval rate for highway projects.
He however also said that “whenever and wherever national highways will pass through sensitive areas like tiger habitats or dense forests, we will raise concerns”.
Taking a dig at forest officers, he said that forest officers kept telling him that the best way to save forests was to drive away the people and the cattle out.
“A senior IFS officer from Madhya Pradesh told me that the Forest Rights Act has spelled the doom for forests but I told him that this is India, we have to save forests with the people and the cattle,” he said delivering the convocation address
by Mahim Pratap Singh
The Central Government will grant Rs.5000 crore over the next five years to States towards better forest conservation, Union Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said on Friday.
Speaking at the convocation of the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Mr. Ramesh said that the 13th Finance Commission, for the first time, has made a provision for a forest conservation grant worth Rs.5000 crore to States with rich forest cover.
At Rs.727 crore, Arunachal Pradesh will receive the largest share from this grant. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra will follow with Rs.490, Rs.411 and Rs.310 crore respectively.
The formula for the allocation of the grant has been designed to take into consideration three factors. The share of the total forest area in the country falling in any particular State is the first, further enhanced for those States where forested area is greater than the national average.
Interestingly, according to the 13th Finance Commission document, the enhancement serves to add a further compensation for the economic disability posed by forest cover. The entitlement of each State, so obtained, has been further weighted by the third factor, which is the quality of the forest in each State, as measured by density. The weights are progressively higher for area under moderately dense and dense forest cover.
Talking about forest conservation and tiger protection, Mr. Ramesh said that the Centre and the States have spent Rs.8,200 crore in forest areas in the last financial year i.e. 2008-09. On the question of translocation of lions from Gir wildlife sanctuary in Gujarat to the Kuno Palpur sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, he expressed inability of the Central government to make a difference.
“I have asked Mr. Shivraj Singh Chauhan to convince Mr. Narendra Modi as they both belong to the same party, but that’s all that I can do,” Mr.Ramesh told The Hindu.
He also said that research was being conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India to re-introduce the Cheetah in India, with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat as potential States where the re-introduction might take place.
He dismissed reports of the Ministry of Surface Transport calling the Ministry of environment and Forests as a blockade in the construction of national highways, saying the MoEF had a 98% approval rate for highway projects.
He however also said that “whenever and wherever national highways will pass through sensitive areas like tiger habitats or dense forests, we will raise concerns”.
Taking a dig at forest officers, he said that forest officers kept telling him that the best way to save forests was to drive away the people and the cattle out.
“A senior IFS officer from Madhya Pradesh told me that the Forest Rights Act has spelled the doom for forests but I told him that this is India, we have to save forests with the people and the cattle,” he said delivering the convocation address
In Russia, ‘The War Is Coming to Their Cities’
by Katie Paul
source:newsweek
Russia thought it had the North Caucasus beat. Ten years ago, then-president Vladimir Putin built his reputation by using brute force to bring Russia's most volatile region to heel. On the surface, it seemed to have worked. But in the last year, a rising tide of suicide attacks in the south hinted that Moscow's hold was more tenuous than it liked to admit. Russia's most wanted Islamist leader, Doku Umarov, vowed to bring the violence out of the conflict-prone south and straight to the country's economic and cultural centers. "Blood will no longer be limited to our cities and towns. The war is coming to their cities," he warned. Still, as long as the violence was contained in the south, those cities remained calm.
That confidence was shattered this morning, when two female suicide bombers killed at least 38 people on packed Moscow subway trains during rush hour. They strapped the bombs to their belts; the first exploded inside a train, just as the doors were closing, the second on a platform in a different station. Now, back at the forefront of Russian memories are the specters Putin had supposedly put to rest: 1999, when explosions in Moscow apartment blocks killed more than 200 people; 2002, when Chechen men and women took hostage some 800 theatergoers in Moscow; and 2004, when explosions on a metro train in Moscow took the lives of 40 people. As promised, the war has now come back to the city. But as Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev have promised in return, its impact will be felt far from the subways and theaters of Moscow.
by Katie Paul
source:newsweek
Russia thought it had the North Caucasus beat. Ten years ago, then-president Vladimir Putin built his reputation by using brute force to bring Russia's most volatile region to heel. On the surface, it seemed to have worked. But in the last year, a rising tide of suicide attacks in the south hinted that Moscow's hold was more tenuous than it liked to admit. Russia's most wanted Islamist leader, Doku Umarov, vowed to bring the violence out of the conflict-prone south and straight to the country's economic and cultural centers. "Blood will no longer be limited to our cities and towns. The war is coming to their cities," he warned. Still, as long as the violence was contained in the south, those cities remained calm.
That confidence was shattered this morning, when two female suicide bombers killed at least 38 people on packed Moscow subway trains during rush hour. They strapped the bombs to their belts; the first exploded inside a train, just as the doors were closing, the second on a platform in a different station. Now, back at the forefront of Russian memories are the specters Putin had supposedly put to rest: 1999, when explosions in Moscow apartment blocks killed more than 200 people; 2002, when Chechen men and women took hostage some 800 theatergoers in Moscow; and 2004, when explosions on a metro train in Moscow took the lives of 40 people. As promised, the war has now come back to the city. But as Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev have promised in return, its impact will be felt far from the subways and theaters of Moscow.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Joining hands in the interest of children
by Kapil Sibal
Today, we have reached a historic milestone in our country's struggle for children's right to education. The Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002, making elementary education a Fundamental Right, and its consequential legislation, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, comes into force today. The enforcement of this right represents a momentous step forward in our 100-year struggle for universalising elementary education.
Over the years, the demand for children's education has grown by leaps and bounds — everybody, from the poorest of the poor to the well off, acknowledges the value of education in the overall development of children. For many years now, the discourse on elementary education has been conducted at many levels. Administrators focus on enrolment, availability of schools within walking distance, provisioning for infrastructure, and deployment of teachers. Educationists are concerned about whether and how children learn, and the burden of the syllabi, which is passed on to tuition centres or parents. Development professionals discuss the impact of the number of years of schooling, for example, on the age of marriage and family size. Economists talk about the economic returns on investment in education. Parents too have expectations from the education system — that it should equip their children for gainful employment and economic well-being. The enforcement of the Fundamental Right to Education provides us a unique opportunity to mount a mission encompassing all the above discourses, to fulfil our goal of universal elementary education.
The RTE Act is clear: it provides for children's right to free and compulsory admission, attendance and completion of elementary education. Undoubtedly, much progress has occurred over the last six decades since our Independence, and many more children from very diverse backgrounds are accessing school. Our gross enrolment data reveal that over 100 per cent children are in school; 98 per cent of our habitations have a primary school within one kilometre, and 92 per cent have an upper primary school within three kilometres. Transition rates from primary to upper primary levels have improved substantially. Yet there are “invisible” children — children bonded to work with an employer, young boys grazing cattle or working in dhabas, girls working in the fields or as domestic help, or caring for younger siblings, and children being subjected to early marriage. Many of these children are formally enrolled in a school, but have either dropped out or have never been there. Many others, such as migrant and street children, live in extremely vulnerable conditions; denying them education is against the universal nature of human rights.
It is no longer enough for us to talk about providing for universal access. Making available schooling facilities is an essential pre-requisite, but is insufficient to ensure that all children attend school and participate in the learning process. The school may be there, but children may not attend or they may drop out after a few months. Through school and social mapping, we must address the entire gamut of social, economic, cultural, and indeed linguistic and pedagogic issues, factors that prevent children from weaker sections and disadvantaged groups, as also girls, from regularly attending and completing elementary education. The focus must be on the poorest and most vulnerable since these groups are the most disempowered and at the greatest risk of violation or denial of their right to education.
The right to education goes beyond free and compulsory education to include quality education for all. Quality is an integral part of the right to education. If the education process lacks quality, children are being denied their right. The Act lays down that the curriculum should provide for learning through activities, exploration and discovery. This places an obligation on us to change our perception of children as passive receivers of knowledge, and to move beyond the convention of using textbooks as the basis of examinations. The teaching-learning process must become stress-free, and a massive programme for curricular reform be initiated to provide for a child friendly learning system, that is at once relevant and empowering. Teacher accountability systems and processes must ensure that children are learning, and that their right to learn in a child friendly environment is not violated. Testing and assessment systems must be re-examined and redesigned to ensure that these do not force children to struggle between school and tuition centres, and bypass childhood.
We must view the Act from the perspective of children. It mandates children's right to an education that is free from fear, stress and anxiety. There are several provisions in the Act, including provisions prohibiting corporal punishment, detention and expulsion, which require us to revisit conventional notions of discipline and control, and explore alternative approaches to classroom management, including peer behaviour, teacher-child and teacher-parent relationships.
The direct responsibility to provide schools, infrastructure, trained teachers, curriculum and teaching-learning material, and mid-day meal undoubtedly lies with the Education Departments of the Central and State governments. But the factors that contribute to the achievement of the overall goal of universalising elementary education as a fundamental right requires action on the part of the whole government. A well coordinated mechanism is needed for inter-sectoral collaboration and convergence. The Finance Departments must provide adequate and appropriate financial allocations and timely releases of funds at all levels. The Public Works Departments need to re-conceptualise and re-design school spaces from the pedagogic perspective, and address issues of inclusion for children with disabilities through barrier free access. The Departments of Science and Technology should provide geo-spatial technologies for school mapping and location to supplement social mapping exercises at the grassroots level. Programmes for water and sanitation must ensure access to adequate and safe drinking water, and accessible and adequate sanitation facilities especially for girls in schools. The RTE Act mandates that every child must be in school; this pre-supposes that child labour will be eliminated. The Labour Departments must align their policies with the RTE Act so that all children participate in the schooling process regularly.
The immense relevance of inclusive education, particularly of disadvantaged groups, demands vibrant partnerships with the departments and organisations concerned with children of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and educationally backward minorities. We will need to set up systems for equal opportunity for children with special needs. The Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Departments would need to accelerate poverty reduction programmes, so that children are freed from domestic chores and wage-earning responsibilities. State governments must simultaneously ensure that the Panchayati Raj institutions get appropriately involved so that “local authorities” can discharge their functions under the RTE Act. There is need for close cooperation with the NCPCR/SCPCR and the Departments of Women and Child Development to ensure that children get their rights under the RTE Act.
Programmes under the National Rural Health Mission must take up school health programmes, including de-worming and micro-nutrient supplementation, with special attention to vulnerable groups, especially girls approaching adolescence. The Sports Departments would need to build in physical education for the overall physical, social, emotional and mental development of the child.
Above all, people's groups, civil society organisations and voluntary agencies will play a crucial role in the implementation of RTE. This will help build a new perspective on inclusiveness, encompassing gender and social inclusion, and ensure that these become integral and cross-cutting concerns informing different aspects like training, curriculum and classroom transaction. A vibrant civil society movement can ensure that the rights of the child are not violated; it can amplify the voice of the disadvantaged and weaker sections of society. It can also improve programme outcomes by contributing local knowledge and technical expertise, and bringing innovative ideas and solutions to the challenges ahead.
The 86th Constitution Amendment and the RTE Act have provided us the tools to provide quality education to all our children. It is now imperative that we, the people of India, join hands to ensure the implementation of this law in its true spirit. The government is committed to this task though real change will happen only through collective action.
(The author is the Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India.)
by Kapil Sibal
Today, we have reached a historic milestone in our country's struggle for children's right to education. The Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002, making elementary education a Fundamental Right, and its consequential legislation, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, comes into force today. The enforcement of this right represents a momentous step forward in our 100-year struggle for universalising elementary education.
Over the years, the demand for children's education has grown by leaps and bounds — everybody, from the poorest of the poor to the well off, acknowledges the value of education in the overall development of children. For many years now, the discourse on elementary education has been conducted at many levels. Administrators focus on enrolment, availability of schools within walking distance, provisioning for infrastructure, and deployment of teachers. Educationists are concerned about whether and how children learn, and the burden of the syllabi, which is passed on to tuition centres or parents. Development professionals discuss the impact of the number of years of schooling, for example, on the age of marriage and family size. Economists talk about the economic returns on investment in education. Parents too have expectations from the education system — that it should equip their children for gainful employment and economic well-being. The enforcement of the Fundamental Right to Education provides us a unique opportunity to mount a mission encompassing all the above discourses, to fulfil our goal of universal elementary education.
The RTE Act is clear: it provides for children's right to free and compulsory admission, attendance and completion of elementary education. Undoubtedly, much progress has occurred over the last six decades since our Independence, and many more children from very diverse backgrounds are accessing school. Our gross enrolment data reveal that over 100 per cent children are in school; 98 per cent of our habitations have a primary school within one kilometre, and 92 per cent have an upper primary school within three kilometres. Transition rates from primary to upper primary levels have improved substantially. Yet there are “invisible” children — children bonded to work with an employer, young boys grazing cattle or working in dhabas, girls working in the fields or as domestic help, or caring for younger siblings, and children being subjected to early marriage. Many of these children are formally enrolled in a school, but have either dropped out or have never been there. Many others, such as migrant and street children, live in extremely vulnerable conditions; denying them education is against the universal nature of human rights.
It is no longer enough for us to talk about providing for universal access. Making available schooling facilities is an essential pre-requisite, but is insufficient to ensure that all children attend school and participate in the learning process. The school may be there, but children may not attend or they may drop out after a few months. Through school and social mapping, we must address the entire gamut of social, economic, cultural, and indeed linguistic and pedagogic issues, factors that prevent children from weaker sections and disadvantaged groups, as also girls, from regularly attending and completing elementary education. The focus must be on the poorest and most vulnerable since these groups are the most disempowered and at the greatest risk of violation or denial of their right to education.
The right to education goes beyond free and compulsory education to include quality education for all. Quality is an integral part of the right to education. If the education process lacks quality, children are being denied their right. The Act lays down that the curriculum should provide for learning through activities, exploration and discovery. This places an obligation on us to change our perception of children as passive receivers of knowledge, and to move beyond the convention of using textbooks as the basis of examinations. The teaching-learning process must become stress-free, and a massive programme for curricular reform be initiated to provide for a child friendly learning system, that is at once relevant and empowering. Teacher accountability systems and processes must ensure that children are learning, and that their right to learn in a child friendly environment is not violated. Testing and assessment systems must be re-examined and redesigned to ensure that these do not force children to struggle between school and tuition centres, and bypass childhood.
We must view the Act from the perspective of children. It mandates children's right to an education that is free from fear, stress and anxiety. There are several provisions in the Act, including provisions prohibiting corporal punishment, detention and expulsion, which require us to revisit conventional notions of discipline and control, and explore alternative approaches to classroom management, including peer behaviour, teacher-child and teacher-parent relationships.
The direct responsibility to provide schools, infrastructure, trained teachers, curriculum and teaching-learning material, and mid-day meal undoubtedly lies with the Education Departments of the Central and State governments. But the factors that contribute to the achievement of the overall goal of universalising elementary education as a fundamental right requires action on the part of the whole government. A well coordinated mechanism is needed for inter-sectoral collaboration and convergence. The Finance Departments must provide adequate and appropriate financial allocations and timely releases of funds at all levels. The Public Works Departments need to re-conceptualise and re-design school spaces from the pedagogic perspective, and address issues of inclusion for children with disabilities through barrier free access. The Departments of Science and Technology should provide geo-spatial technologies for school mapping and location to supplement social mapping exercises at the grassroots level. Programmes for water and sanitation must ensure access to adequate and safe drinking water, and accessible and adequate sanitation facilities especially for girls in schools. The RTE Act mandates that every child must be in school; this pre-supposes that child labour will be eliminated. The Labour Departments must align their policies with the RTE Act so that all children participate in the schooling process regularly.
The immense relevance of inclusive education, particularly of disadvantaged groups, demands vibrant partnerships with the departments and organisations concerned with children of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and educationally backward minorities. We will need to set up systems for equal opportunity for children with special needs. The Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Departments would need to accelerate poverty reduction programmes, so that children are freed from domestic chores and wage-earning responsibilities. State governments must simultaneously ensure that the Panchayati Raj institutions get appropriately involved so that “local authorities” can discharge their functions under the RTE Act. There is need for close cooperation with the NCPCR/SCPCR and the Departments of Women and Child Development to ensure that children get their rights under the RTE Act.
Programmes under the National Rural Health Mission must take up school health programmes, including de-worming and micro-nutrient supplementation, with special attention to vulnerable groups, especially girls approaching adolescence. The Sports Departments would need to build in physical education for the overall physical, social, emotional and mental development of the child.
Above all, people's groups, civil society organisations and voluntary agencies will play a crucial role in the implementation of RTE. This will help build a new perspective on inclusiveness, encompassing gender and social inclusion, and ensure that these become integral and cross-cutting concerns informing different aspects like training, curriculum and classroom transaction. A vibrant civil society movement can ensure that the rights of the child are not violated; it can amplify the voice of the disadvantaged and weaker sections of society. It can also improve programme outcomes by contributing local knowledge and technical expertise, and bringing innovative ideas and solutions to the challenges ahead.
The 86th Constitution Amendment and the RTE Act have provided us the tools to provide quality education to all our children. It is now imperative that we, the people of India, join hands to ensure the implementation of this law in its true spirit. The government is committed to this task though real change will happen only through collective action.
(The author is the Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India.)
Smt Karuna Singh, Wife of His Excellency-Sikkim passes away.
02 April, Gangtok: It is with a deep sense of bereavement we inform you the passing away of Sikkim’s First Lady, Smt. Karuna Singh, wife of His Excellency, the Governor of Sikkim, Shri B.P. Singh, in New Delhi at 9.15 pm on 1st April 2010. Smt. Karuna Singh was undergoing medical treatment at Apollo Hospitals in New Delhi when she breathed her last.
Her last rites are being performed at Nigambodh Ghat, Delhi at 4.30 pm on Friday, 2nd April.
Smt. Karuna Singh was born on August 11, 1943 at Bodhgaya. She was brought up at Patna and educated in Bankipur Girls High School and later at Patna Women’s College,
Smt. Karuna Singh got married at an early age to Shri Balmiki Prasad Singh who was then a lecturer at Post Graduate Department of Political Science in Patna University.
On appointment of Mr. B.P. Singh to the IAS in 1964 they moved to Assam. Smt. Karuna Singh engaged herself in cultural and social events of tribal and plains people in Assam.
Smt. Karuna Singh was extremely passionate about gardening and found immense delight in overseeing the beautification of gardens in Raj Bhavan, Gangtok. The Raj Bhavan staff shall always remember her as somebody genuinely interested in their welfare and that of their children.
.
02 April, Gangtok: It is with a deep sense of bereavement we inform you the passing away of Sikkim’s First Lady, Smt. Karuna Singh, wife of His Excellency, the Governor of Sikkim, Shri B.P. Singh, in New Delhi at 9.15 pm on 1st April 2010. Smt. Karuna Singh was undergoing medical treatment at Apollo Hospitals in New Delhi when she breathed her last.
Her last rites are being performed at Nigambodh Ghat, Delhi at 4.30 pm on Friday, 2nd April.
Smt. Karuna Singh was born on August 11, 1943 at Bodhgaya. She was brought up at Patna and educated in Bankipur Girls High School and later at Patna Women’s College,
Smt. Karuna Singh got married at an early age to Shri Balmiki Prasad Singh who was then a lecturer at Post Graduate Department of Political Science in Patna University.
On appointment of Mr. B.P. Singh to the IAS in 1964 they moved to Assam. Smt. Karuna Singh engaged herself in cultural and social events of tribal and plains people in Assam.
Smt. Karuna Singh was extremely passionate about gardening and found immense delight in overseeing the beautification of gardens in Raj Bhavan, Gangtok. The Raj Bhavan staff shall always remember her as somebody genuinely interested in their welfare and that of their children.
.
When will the mistrust end?
by Sreemati Chakrabarti
Sixty years after the two countries established diplomatic relations, Indians and Chinese need to break the mental barrier and begin to trust one another. Here's how the trust deficit can be overcome.
On April 1, 2010 India and China observed 60 years of their diplomatic relations. On this day in 1950 India took the world by surprise when it decided to recognise the government of the People's Republic of China headed by Mao Zedong and led by the Communist Party of China, which had brought the Chinese mainland under its control after defeating Chiang Kai-shek's army. This was a bold decision by the Indian government – the government of a newly independent country. It obviously displeased the western powers who went along with Chiang Kai-shek's view that mainland China had been occupied only temporarily by ‘communist bandits' who would soon be overthrown. Indian foreign-policy makers, led by the brilliant and far-sighted K.P.S. Menon, gave sensible advice to Prime Minister Nehru. This led to the recognition of the new government established in Beijing on October 1 1949.
The first decade of the relationship saw some very important developments like the signing of the Panchsheel (the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, which later became the official basis of Chinese foreign policy) in 1954, and the Bandung Conference a year later, where both Nehru and Zhou Enlai were elevated to the status of icons for the nations of Asia and Africa struggling for liberation and independence. Cultural and educational exchanges between India and China took place at more than a modest level.
This congenial relationship was upset by the Tibetan Rebellion with the Dalai Lama fleeing to India and eventually setting up a ‘government-in-exile.' The Chinese strongly resented Nehru's trip to Darjeeling to formally welcome the Tibetan leader. The border issue then came to the forefront and disagreement on it further embittered relations, leading to the unfortunate border war between the two young nations. Nehru called it “Chinese aggression” and “betrayal by the Chinese”: these two expressions have been repeated a million times in India mainly through the media despite the fact that all the facts behind the border war have not yet come out in the open. Similarly in China, India was labelled as “expansionist” – desperate to grab the territories of its neighbours. The Indian government was accused of being a “stooge of western imperialism.”
Nearly half a century has lapsed since the 1962 war but some kind of an inbuilt mistrust between the two persists. It often comes out in the open as has been seen recently in the media of the two countries indulging in meaningless mutual accusations. Those in India who feel the border dispute must be resolved before China can be trusted fail to understand the complexities of the issue. Two civilisations have co-existed without any evidence of confrontation for several centuries, when they had no border – a line separating two countries was then an alien idea. It was only after colonialism arrived that the civilisations developed the nation-state mentality and mindset where a single line was to divide the two civilisations. If such a line never existed, it has not been easy to invent one.
Yet another fact of history not known to many Indians who love to demonise China is that the Chinese people and state have been subjected to humiliation and exploitation for more than a century by the western imperialist powers. The Chinese people have always held the government's weakness as the primary cause of its subjugation. Revolutionaries from Sun Yat-sen to Mao Zedong succeeded in mobilising people on the grounds that a government that is completely weak vis-Ã -vis the foreign powers must go. Up to this day, therefore, the Chinese government is determined not to be seen as weak by its own people. It is this image of a strong government that gives the Communist Party of China legitimacy to rule.
Misperceptions among the Chinese about India are equally unrealistic. They need to understand that India does not covet the land of others nor is it waiting to ‘play the Tibet Card' at an opportune moment. Accepting Tibet as part of China is convenient for India or else an independent ‘Greater Tibet' brings to dispute the status of Sikkim, which has in the past, for centuries, been a vassal-state of Tibet. During my trips to China, both during formal and informal discussions, I have found that the Chinese are far more concerned about India's unpredictability in its Tibet policy than anything else. The Chinese must understand, notwithstanding what some pro-Tibetan independence groups do in India, that this country has nothing to gain by splitting Tibet from China.
Since Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's deadlock-breaking visit in 1988-89, there have been many positive developments in bilateral relations. Trade has gone up at an exceedingly fast rate to the extent that today China has become India's largest trading partner. Tourism is on the rise, and with the opening of more consulates and the beginning of direct flights between different cities of India and China, this is likely to increase further.
Educational and cultural exchanges are taking place at an impressive level. According to unconfirmed but reliable reports, 4000 Indian students are studying in China today. The numbers coming from China are far less, thanks to our Home Ministry's visa policy. Even Chinese academics who are invited by our universities to teach the Chinese language to Indian students (due to a huge demand for it) find it very difficult to obtain visas. Both Delhi University's East Asian Studies Department and Santiniketan's Cheena Bhawan have suffered on account of this rigidity, which is the result of mistrust.
I do not subscribe to the view that two rising powers cannot peacefully co-exist. Indeed, some major path-breaking steps have to be taken by both sides to make sure that Cold War II or as some call it, an Asian Cold War does not happen. A resurgent Asia surely does not deserve it. However, Indians and Chinese need to break the mental barrier and begin to trust one another.
How can this trust deficit be overcome?
First, forget the border issue. Not solving it is not hurting either India or China in any way – economically, socially, culturally, or politically. It is too complicated.
Secondly, China is quite sensitive to the ‘Tibet Issue.' With the Dalai Lama and over 100,000 followers living in India, New Delhi needs constantly to renew its commitment on curbing Tibetan separatist actions on its soil so as to mitigate suspicion that it might intend to ‘play the Tibet Card.'
Thirdly, both sides must open up border trade at many points – the border people have been the worst victims of Sino-Indian hostilities, and develop province-to-province economic relations. The recent K2K (Kolkata to Kunming) Initiative is an encouraging development.
Finally, only large-scale people-to-people contacts can wipe out this trust deficit. Exchanges in the fields of education, sports, culture, science, and technology need to be greatly enhanced. Despite being neighbours, we know and understand very little of each other. On the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, cannot India and China make a new beginning?
(The author is Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi and Professor of Chinese Studies at the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Delhi.)
by Sreemati Chakrabarti
Sixty years after the two countries established diplomatic relations, Indians and Chinese need to break the mental barrier and begin to trust one another. Here's how the trust deficit can be overcome.
On April 1, 2010 India and China observed 60 years of their diplomatic relations. On this day in 1950 India took the world by surprise when it decided to recognise the government of the People's Republic of China headed by Mao Zedong and led by the Communist Party of China, which had brought the Chinese mainland under its control after defeating Chiang Kai-shek's army. This was a bold decision by the Indian government – the government of a newly independent country. It obviously displeased the western powers who went along with Chiang Kai-shek's view that mainland China had been occupied only temporarily by ‘communist bandits' who would soon be overthrown. Indian foreign-policy makers, led by the brilliant and far-sighted K.P.S. Menon, gave sensible advice to Prime Minister Nehru. This led to the recognition of the new government established in Beijing on October 1 1949.
The first decade of the relationship saw some very important developments like the signing of the Panchsheel (the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, which later became the official basis of Chinese foreign policy) in 1954, and the Bandung Conference a year later, where both Nehru and Zhou Enlai were elevated to the status of icons for the nations of Asia and Africa struggling for liberation and independence. Cultural and educational exchanges between India and China took place at more than a modest level.
This congenial relationship was upset by the Tibetan Rebellion with the Dalai Lama fleeing to India and eventually setting up a ‘government-in-exile.' The Chinese strongly resented Nehru's trip to Darjeeling to formally welcome the Tibetan leader. The border issue then came to the forefront and disagreement on it further embittered relations, leading to the unfortunate border war between the two young nations. Nehru called it “Chinese aggression” and “betrayal by the Chinese”: these two expressions have been repeated a million times in India mainly through the media despite the fact that all the facts behind the border war have not yet come out in the open. Similarly in China, India was labelled as “expansionist” – desperate to grab the territories of its neighbours. The Indian government was accused of being a “stooge of western imperialism.”
Nearly half a century has lapsed since the 1962 war but some kind of an inbuilt mistrust between the two persists. It often comes out in the open as has been seen recently in the media of the two countries indulging in meaningless mutual accusations. Those in India who feel the border dispute must be resolved before China can be trusted fail to understand the complexities of the issue. Two civilisations have co-existed without any evidence of confrontation for several centuries, when they had no border – a line separating two countries was then an alien idea. It was only after colonialism arrived that the civilisations developed the nation-state mentality and mindset where a single line was to divide the two civilisations. If such a line never existed, it has not been easy to invent one.
Yet another fact of history not known to many Indians who love to demonise China is that the Chinese people and state have been subjected to humiliation and exploitation for more than a century by the western imperialist powers. The Chinese people have always held the government's weakness as the primary cause of its subjugation. Revolutionaries from Sun Yat-sen to Mao Zedong succeeded in mobilising people on the grounds that a government that is completely weak vis-Ã -vis the foreign powers must go. Up to this day, therefore, the Chinese government is determined not to be seen as weak by its own people. It is this image of a strong government that gives the Communist Party of China legitimacy to rule.
Misperceptions among the Chinese about India are equally unrealistic. They need to understand that India does not covet the land of others nor is it waiting to ‘play the Tibet Card' at an opportune moment. Accepting Tibet as part of China is convenient for India or else an independent ‘Greater Tibet' brings to dispute the status of Sikkim, which has in the past, for centuries, been a vassal-state of Tibet. During my trips to China, both during formal and informal discussions, I have found that the Chinese are far more concerned about India's unpredictability in its Tibet policy than anything else. The Chinese must understand, notwithstanding what some pro-Tibetan independence groups do in India, that this country has nothing to gain by splitting Tibet from China.
Since Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's deadlock-breaking visit in 1988-89, there have been many positive developments in bilateral relations. Trade has gone up at an exceedingly fast rate to the extent that today China has become India's largest trading partner. Tourism is on the rise, and with the opening of more consulates and the beginning of direct flights between different cities of India and China, this is likely to increase further.
Educational and cultural exchanges are taking place at an impressive level. According to unconfirmed but reliable reports, 4000 Indian students are studying in China today. The numbers coming from China are far less, thanks to our Home Ministry's visa policy. Even Chinese academics who are invited by our universities to teach the Chinese language to Indian students (due to a huge demand for it) find it very difficult to obtain visas. Both Delhi University's East Asian Studies Department and Santiniketan's Cheena Bhawan have suffered on account of this rigidity, which is the result of mistrust.
I do not subscribe to the view that two rising powers cannot peacefully co-exist. Indeed, some major path-breaking steps have to be taken by both sides to make sure that Cold War II or as some call it, an Asian Cold War does not happen. A resurgent Asia surely does not deserve it. However, Indians and Chinese need to break the mental barrier and begin to trust one another.
How can this trust deficit be overcome?
First, forget the border issue. Not solving it is not hurting either India or China in any way – economically, socially, culturally, or politically. It is too complicated.
Secondly, China is quite sensitive to the ‘Tibet Issue.' With the Dalai Lama and over 100,000 followers living in India, New Delhi needs constantly to renew its commitment on curbing Tibetan separatist actions on its soil so as to mitigate suspicion that it might intend to ‘play the Tibet Card.'
Thirdly, both sides must open up border trade at many points – the border people have been the worst victims of Sino-Indian hostilities, and develop province-to-province economic relations. The recent K2K (Kolkata to Kunming) Initiative is an encouraging development.
Finally, only large-scale people-to-people contacts can wipe out this trust deficit. Exchanges in the fields of education, sports, culture, science, and technology need to be greatly enhanced. Despite being neighbours, we know and understand very little of each other. On the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, cannot India and China make a new beginning?
(The author is Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi and Professor of Chinese Studies at the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Delhi.)
INDIA: Right of children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 comes into force from April 1, 2010
14:35 IST
The Right of children to Free and Compulsory Education Act has come into force from today, April 1, 2010. This is a historic day for the people of India as from this day the right to education will be accorded the same legal status as the right to life as provided by Article 21A of the Indian Constitution. Every child in the age group of 6-14 years will be provided 8 years of elementary education in an age appropriate classroom in the vicinity of his/her neighbourhood. Any cost that prevents a child from accessing school will be borne by the State which shall have the responsibility of enrolling the child as well as ensuring attendance and completion of 8 years of schooling. No child shall be denied admission for want of documents; no child shall be turned away if the admission cycle in the school is over and no child shall be asked to take an admission test. Children with disabilities will also be educated in the mainstream schools. The Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh has emphasized that it is important for the country that if we nurture our children and young people with the right education, India’s future as a strong and prosperous country is secure.
Further, all private schools shall be required to enroll children from weaker sections and disadvantaged communities in their incoming class to the extent of 25% of their enrolment, by simple random selection. No seats in this quota can be left vacant. These children will be treated on par with all the other children in the school and subsidized by the State at the rate of average per learner costs in the government schools (unless the per learner costs in the private school are lower).
All schools will have to prescribe to norms and standards laid out in the Act and no school that does not fulfill these standards within 3 years will be allowed to function. All private schools will have to apply for recognition, failing which they will be penalized to the tune of Rs 1 lakh and if they still continue to function will be liable to pay Rs 10,000 per day as fine.
Norms and standards of teacher qualification and training are also being laid down by an Academic Authority. Teachers in all schools will have to subscribe to these norms within 5 years. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has been mandated to monitor the implementation of this historic Right. A special Division within NCPCR will undertake this huge and important task in the coming months and years. A special toll free helpline to register complaints will be set up by NCPCR for this purpose.
NCPCR welcomes the formal notification of this Act and looks forward to playing an active role in ensuring its successful implementation. NCPCR also invites all civil society groups, students, teachers, administrators, artists, writers, government personnel, legislators, members of the judiciary and all other stakeholders to join hands and work together to build a movement to ensure that every child of this country is in school and enabled to get at least 8 years of quality education.
YSK:PM
14:35 IST
The Right of children to Free and Compulsory Education Act has come into force from today, April 1, 2010. This is a historic day for the people of India as from this day the right to education will be accorded the same legal status as the right to life as provided by Article 21A of the Indian Constitution. Every child in the age group of 6-14 years will be provided 8 years of elementary education in an age appropriate classroom in the vicinity of his/her neighbourhood. Any cost that prevents a child from accessing school will be borne by the State which shall have the responsibility of enrolling the child as well as ensuring attendance and completion of 8 years of schooling. No child shall be denied admission for want of documents; no child shall be turned away if the admission cycle in the school is over and no child shall be asked to take an admission test. Children with disabilities will also be educated in the mainstream schools. The Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh has emphasized that it is important for the country that if we nurture our children and young people with the right education, India’s future as a strong and prosperous country is secure.
Further, all private schools shall be required to enroll children from weaker sections and disadvantaged communities in their incoming class to the extent of 25% of their enrolment, by simple random selection. No seats in this quota can be left vacant. These children will be treated on par with all the other children in the school and subsidized by the State at the rate of average per learner costs in the government schools (unless the per learner costs in the private school are lower).
All schools will have to prescribe to norms and standards laid out in the Act and no school that does not fulfill these standards within 3 years will be allowed to function. All private schools will have to apply for recognition, failing which they will be penalized to the tune of Rs 1 lakh and if they still continue to function will be liable to pay Rs 10,000 per day as fine.
Norms and standards of teacher qualification and training are also being laid down by an Academic Authority. Teachers in all schools will have to subscribe to these norms within 5 years. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has been mandated to monitor the implementation of this historic Right. A special Division within NCPCR will undertake this huge and important task in the coming months and years. A special toll free helpline to register complaints will be set up by NCPCR for this purpose.
NCPCR welcomes the formal notification of this Act and looks forward to playing an active role in ensuring its successful implementation. NCPCR also invites all civil society groups, students, teachers, administrators, artists, writers, government personnel, legislators, members of the judiciary and all other stakeholders to join hands and work together to build a movement to ensure that every child of this country is in school and enabled to get at least 8 years of quality education.
YSK:PM
Transfer of Sikkim High Court Chief Justice
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14:49 IST
In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of article 222, of the Constitution of India read with article 222 (1A) of the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954, the President, after consultation with the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and the Chief Justice of India, is pleased to transfer Dr. Justice Aftab Hussain Saikia, Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court, as Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court and to direct him to assume charge of his office in the Jammu & Kashmir High Court on or before 13th April,2010.
VLK/ska
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14:49 IST
In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of article 222, of the Constitution of India read with article 222 (1A) of the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954, the President, after consultation with the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and the Chief Justice of India, is pleased to transfer Dr. Justice Aftab Hussain Saikia, Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court, as Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court and to direct him to assume charge of his office in the Jammu & Kashmir High Court on or before 13th April,2010.
VLK/ska
PM’s address at the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the National Chemical Laboratory
PM lays the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, addressed the gathering at the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the National Chemical Laboratory in Pune today. He also laid the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research. Following are the text of the Prime Minister’s address on the occasion:
“I am indeed very happy to be here today to participate in the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the pioneering National Chemical Laboratory. Let me begin by extending my greetings and best wishes to the scientists, students and other members of staff of the Laboratory and to all others who have been associated with this premier institution of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
Ladies & Gentlemen The National Chemical Laboratory is one of the first research laboratories conceived by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. It was born of a dream of a nascent nation, awakening to freedom and aspiring to harness the immense potential of science and technology for the benefit of its people. This institution owes its existence to the vision of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who believed that India would need advanced centres of research where the best Indian minds could pursue their passion for science and contribute to building our nation.
Sixty years is a significant milestone in the lifespan of any institution. The National Chemical Laboratory has had a lineage of distinguished leaders who have guided its destiny with great distinction. With this tradition of excellence in scientific research, this laboratory has nurtured some of the best minds in India. Several scientists of this institution have been elected to distinguished academies of sciences, both in India and overseas. The Laboratory made a seminal contribution to the emergence of Indian pesticides industry which was critical to the success of the Green Revolution in our country. Post-1970, the research conducted at the National Chemical Laboratory gave birth to the Indian generic drug industry, a forerunner to the vibrant Indian pharmaceutical industry of today. More recently, this Laboratory has contributed to the growth of the petrochemicals, polymers and fine chemicals industry. With its world class facilities, it is my hope that the National Chemical Laboratory will sustain this culture of excellence and continue to explore the boundaries of frontier science.
Our country looks up to its premier scientific institutions like the National Chemical Laboratory for finding pragmatic solutions to some of the most vexing problems that confront our society and our development efforts. Our scientific laboratories have to align their priorities even more closely to the national needs. They must contribute to the creation of wealth in our society. They must seek and deliver appropriate solutions which would change the lives of the most vulnerable sections of our people. It is our scientific capabilities that will determine our ability to overcome challenges which lie ahead in areas such as climate change, clean energy, environment friendly technologies, sound water management, affordable healthcare, food security, and biotechnology.
Our Government has declared 2010-2020 as the “Decade of Innovations”. We need to instill the spirit of innovation in our young minds so that they can find solutions in a variety of areas to achieve the goal of inclusive and sustainable development. Innovators must be challenged to produce solutions our society needs. The solutions must be found in a timely manner, and must then move out of the laboratory quickly and gain wider acceptance. I am happy to learn that an ambitious proposal to establish a CSIR Innovation Complex in this historic campus in a public-private partnership mode is under active consideration.
I am also delighted to participate in the Foundation Stone laying ceremony of the new campus of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune. The charter of this Institute is to create world class institutions for undergraduate as well as postgraduate education in science with an intellectually alive atmosphere for research. In these institutions, education will be totally integrated with the state-of-the art research. The project is also a reflection of the good coordination between Education and Science & Technology Ministries.
I understand that the IISER Pune has already progressed well in the above dimensions since its inception in the year 2006, with more than 300 undergraduate and Ph.D. students and a young and enthusiastic faculty.
I share the concerns that our bright young men and young women are not taking up science in sufficient numbers after the 10+2 stage. It is important to bring them into the fold of exciting and stimulating research environment of colleges and universities devoted to science education. Our government has undertaken significant expansion of the education system, including science education, at various levels. But, we need to do more. We need to improve the quality of teaching of science in our schools, focus on faculty development, increase our expenditure on science and technology from the current low level of about 1 % of our GDP, and further strengthen academia-industry interface. Our competitive advantage in the R & D sector maybe lost unless we ensure that the country produces, on a continuing basis an adequate number of competent and motivated young people who could lead our national laboratories, science agencies and knowledge based industries.
I urge the Indian scientific community to come forward and make the Indian Institute of Science Education Research system a unique brand of academic excellence and help in realizing our dream of making our beloved country the knowledge hub of the world.
The power and status of a nation in the world of today is determined to a large extent by its achievements and capabilities in the field of science and technology. Our scientific laboratories and institutions must assume a leadership role, and take on the challenge to build a new and resurgent India which will be the envy of the world at large. I hope both the National Chemical Laboratory and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research will live up to the expectations the people of our country have from them and other such institutions.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me end by wishing both the institutions and all those associated with them every success in the years to come. May your path be blessed.”
PM lays the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, addressed the gathering at the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the National Chemical Laboratory in Pune today. He also laid the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research. Following are the text of the Prime Minister’s address on the occasion:
“I am indeed very happy to be here today to participate in the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the pioneering National Chemical Laboratory. Let me begin by extending my greetings and best wishes to the scientists, students and other members of staff of the Laboratory and to all others who have been associated with this premier institution of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
Ladies & Gentlemen The National Chemical Laboratory is one of the first research laboratories conceived by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. It was born of a dream of a nascent nation, awakening to freedom and aspiring to harness the immense potential of science and technology for the benefit of its people. This institution owes its existence to the vision of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who believed that India would need advanced centres of research where the best Indian minds could pursue their passion for science and contribute to building our nation.
Sixty years is a significant milestone in the lifespan of any institution. The National Chemical Laboratory has had a lineage of distinguished leaders who have guided its destiny with great distinction. With this tradition of excellence in scientific research, this laboratory has nurtured some of the best minds in India. Several scientists of this institution have been elected to distinguished academies of sciences, both in India and overseas. The Laboratory made a seminal contribution to the emergence of Indian pesticides industry which was critical to the success of the Green Revolution in our country. Post-1970, the research conducted at the National Chemical Laboratory gave birth to the Indian generic drug industry, a forerunner to the vibrant Indian pharmaceutical industry of today. More recently, this Laboratory has contributed to the growth of the petrochemicals, polymers and fine chemicals industry. With its world class facilities, it is my hope that the National Chemical Laboratory will sustain this culture of excellence and continue to explore the boundaries of frontier science.
Our country looks up to its premier scientific institutions like the National Chemical Laboratory for finding pragmatic solutions to some of the most vexing problems that confront our society and our development efforts. Our scientific laboratories have to align their priorities even more closely to the national needs. They must contribute to the creation of wealth in our society. They must seek and deliver appropriate solutions which would change the lives of the most vulnerable sections of our people. It is our scientific capabilities that will determine our ability to overcome challenges which lie ahead in areas such as climate change, clean energy, environment friendly technologies, sound water management, affordable healthcare, food security, and biotechnology.
Our Government has declared 2010-2020 as the “Decade of Innovations”. We need to instill the spirit of innovation in our young minds so that they can find solutions in a variety of areas to achieve the goal of inclusive and sustainable development. Innovators must be challenged to produce solutions our society needs. The solutions must be found in a timely manner, and must then move out of the laboratory quickly and gain wider acceptance. I am happy to learn that an ambitious proposal to establish a CSIR Innovation Complex in this historic campus in a public-private partnership mode is under active consideration.
I am also delighted to participate in the Foundation Stone laying ceremony of the new campus of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune. The charter of this Institute is to create world class institutions for undergraduate as well as postgraduate education in science with an intellectually alive atmosphere for research. In these institutions, education will be totally integrated with the state-of-the art research. The project is also a reflection of the good coordination between Education and Science & Technology Ministries.
I understand that the IISER Pune has already progressed well in the above dimensions since its inception in the year 2006, with more than 300 undergraduate and Ph.D. students and a young and enthusiastic faculty.
I share the concerns that our bright young men and young women are not taking up science in sufficient numbers after the 10+2 stage. It is important to bring them into the fold of exciting and stimulating research environment of colleges and universities devoted to science education. Our government has undertaken significant expansion of the education system, including science education, at various levels. But, we need to do more. We need to improve the quality of teaching of science in our schools, focus on faculty development, increase our expenditure on science and technology from the current low level of about 1 % of our GDP, and further strengthen academia-industry interface. Our competitive advantage in the R & D sector maybe lost unless we ensure that the country produces, on a continuing basis an adequate number of competent and motivated young people who could lead our national laboratories, science agencies and knowledge based industries.
I urge the Indian scientific community to come forward and make the Indian Institute of Science Education Research system a unique brand of academic excellence and help in realizing our dream of making our beloved country the knowledge hub of the world.
The power and status of a nation in the world of today is determined to a large extent by its achievements and capabilities in the field of science and technology. Our scientific laboratories and institutions must assume a leadership role, and take on the challenge to build a new and resurgent India which will be the envy of the world at large. I hope both the National Chemical Laboratory and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research will live up to the expectations the people of our country have from them and other such institutions.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me end by wishing both the institutions and all those associated with them every success in the years to come. May your path be blessed.”
Indian Prime Minister’s address at RBI Platinum Jubilee Celebrations
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh addressed the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Reserve Bank of India in Mumbai today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s address on the occasion:
“It is indeed a great pleasure to be here in Mumbai for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Reserve Bank of India. For me, this is also a very special moment of nostalgia. I spent some very memorable years in this institution as its Governor. My wife and I cherish the memories of many new enduring friendships that we made during those memorable days. I also recall with deep appreciation the role played by the Reserve Bank in helping the Government of India in the implementation of the agenda for economic reforms when I was the Finance Minister of India at a very difficult time in our country’s economic history. To return as Prime Minister for the Platinum Jubilee of this great institution is indeed an emotionally moving experience for me.
When I took over as Finance Minister in 1991, I was convinced that the economic liberalisation and reforms could only succeed if complemented by broad based reform in the banking and financial sectors. I turned to my old friend and former RBI Governor Shri M Narasimham to Chair a Committee to make recommendations on this very important issue. The Report of the Narasimham Committee outlined a comprehensive agenda of reform which served as a blue print of what we needed to do in subsequent years.
It would have been difficult to implement those reforms had they not received enthusiastic support, as they did, from the Governor of the day, Shri S. Venkitaramanan and Dr. Rangrajan. Subsequently as Venitramanan’s successor Dr C. Rangarajan took the financial reform agenda further forward in many critical areas, including especially the ending of automatic monetisation of the government’s deficit.
As with economic reforms in general, financial sector reforms in India were implemented at a gradual pace. We were often criticised for our incremental approach which critics often complained was far too slow. But few would deny that we have accomplished a great deal over the years and Reserve Bank has made important contribution towards this. We have successfully eliminated stifling controls on industry and investment. We have opened the economy to foreign trade, lowered tariffs and switched over to a market determined exchange rate. We have liberalised capital controls enabling the economy to absorb substantial inflows of capital in the form of both FDI and FII flows into the stock market. In recent years, foreign investment has also become a two way flow as many Indian companies have established a presence abroad through investment or acquisition.
All of this has been achieved without experiencing a serious macro economic crisis or severe inflation over an extended period. Most importantly, the real economy has clearly prospered. The rate of growth of GDP has increased steadily over the past two decades, culminating in an unprecedented 9 percent growth per year in the four year period just before the global financial crisis. Poverty too, has declined steadily, though this is an area where much more remains to be done.
The Reserve Bank of India has played a major role in this transformation. It has been a lead player in banking and financial sector reforms and has acted as a confidential adviser to the Government on many other issues relevant to the complex task of macro economic management in an increasingly open and liberalised economic environment. Indeed, it is one of our great institutions of which we can all be truly proud.
The past two years have been difficult years for governments and central banks all over the world. Excessive credit expansion and asset price inflation both fuelled by so-called “financial innovations” of dubious value, and a lax regulatory environment led to an accumulation of risk that was not adequately understood and ultimately produced a severe crisis.
India was relatively insulated from these developments because our financial system was much less integrated with the global system. However, the RBI deserves credit for having been prescient about the dangers posed by property bubbles. The action taken by Governor Reddy, who is present here, well before the crisis to tighten bank credit against real estate, limited bank exposure on this account.
When the crisis exploded in September 2008, the RBI rapidly reversed its earlier tightening of credit to meet the new and changed circumstances. The CRR and the repo and reverse repo rates were rapidly lowered in a series of quick steps. Some initiatives were also taken to enhance access to bank credit by Non Banking Finance Companies. Signs of panic withdrawals from some private sector banks in the initial weeks of the crisis were met with strong reassurances by both the Government and the RBI that our banks were sound and would be fully supported.
Ensuring that the Indian financial system remained stable in these very difficult times was a major achievement in financial and economic management. I would like to compliment Governor Subbarao and his team at the RBI for the role they played in this period.
With the crisis now nearly over, we need to reflect on the challenges that confront us in the years that lie ahead.
The industrialised countries are almost certainly entering a period of slower growth. India on the other hand is emerging stronger, with a good prospect of better performance in future. Our domestic savings rate has increased to around 35 percent and our domestic investment rates are around 37 percent of our GDP. We have a highly entrepreneurial private sector which has demonstrated that it can compete in global markets, not just in software but in areas of traditional manufacturing also. We have a critical mass of human resources with good quality higher education, which definitely places us at an advantage in today’s world. We are geographically located in a continent which is gaining in economic importance and looks like being a major driver of the world economy in the years that lie ahead.
We must build on these strengths and return as quickly as possible to a high growth path. I believe we can get back to 9 percent growth path by the end of the Eleventh Plan and do even better thereafter. I have therefore asked the Planning Commission to explore the feasibility of achieving 10 percent inclusive growth in the Twelfth Five Year Plan.
Achieving this outcome will require many policy changes. Let me comment briefly on those that concern the Reserve Bank.
As we pursue our objective of achieving rapid and inclusive growth, our monetary and financial policies must be guided by three important objectives. First, they must ensure that inflation is kept under control since it hurts the common man the most and also distorts economic signals. Second, they must ensure stability of the banking and financial system since otherwise we run the risk of experiencing financial crises which always impose high costs on the real economy as well. Third, they must meet the financial intermediation needs of rapid and inclusive growth.
Monetary and financial policies can achieve these objectives efficiently only if the macro economic environment is sound. The size of the fiscal deficit is a key parameter in this context. We allowed a large increase in the fiscal deficit in the past two years as we responded to the global economic crisis. I compliment my colleague and friend Pranab Mukherjee for this. This must now be reversed. We are therefore, firmly committed to bring the economy back to a fiscally sustainable path. This involves a reduction in the fiscal deficit from 6.8 percent of GDP in 2009-10 to 5.5 percent in 2010-11 with a further reduction in the next two years reaching 4.1 percent in 2012-13.
It will be much easier for monetary policy to control inflation if the fiscal targets are met. This is not to say that monetary policy has no role to play in the face of fiscal imbalance. However, its role in that situation is essentially defensive, of avoiding monetary expansion to accommodate the deficit since such accommodation will only stoke inflation. The problem is that monetary discipline in such a situation may help contain inflation but it will not offset the negative impact of large fiscal deficits on the availability of resources for private investment, or on the long term interest rate, both of which are critical for growth.
In fact, in an economy open to capital flows, monetary discipline in the face of fiscal imbalances can lead to a rise in interest rates triggering excessive capital inflows, which in turn put pressure on the exchange rate, making the task of macro-management that much more difficult. This is the well known problem of the impossible trinity or trilemma. In an economy with capital mobility you cannot simultaneously have exchange rate stability and an independent monetary policy. The responsibility for handling this delicate balancing act falls on the Reserve Bank of India. Its task is made easier by the fact that the capital account is not entirely open and there are restrictions on inflows of debt, especially short term debt. Caution in the pace of opening the capital account has been a conscious feature of our policy, and there are good reasons to continue with this approach.
The second objective I mentioned is the need to ensure financial stability. There are important lessons to be learnt from the recent crisis in this respect. Financial regulation must be designed to avoid excessive risk taking keeping in mind that banks must protect their balance sheets from cyclical variations. We must be particularly watchful of regulatory loopholes which can create systemic risk. Micro prudential regulation which focuses on the stability of individual institutions has to be supplemented by macro prudential considerations, which relate to the stability of the system as a whole.
All these issues are being examined in the Financial Stability Board which is the key multilateral forum for evolving an agreed architecture of financial regulation. As members of the G20, we are now full members of this Board and are represented in that body by the Reserve Bank of India. The Bank must ensure that our concerns, reflecting our constraints and special circumstances, are fully reflected in the new international consensus that emerges out of the deliberations of the Financial Stability Board.
This brings me to the third objective of ensuring that the financial system meets the intermediation requirement of rapid and inclusive growth. This is in some ways the most challenging task before us. Our financial system has proved to be stable, but that does not mean that it does not need further development and refinement. I sometimes hear it said that our insulation has served us well and we should therefore avoid experimentation and further liberalisation in this sector. This I fear would be the wrong lesson to learn from the crisis. We must not draw the conclusion that financial innovation is not important in our situation.
Our banking and financial system is still relatively small compared to the size of the economy and there are many dimensions in which it must develop to enable it to support the higher rates of economic growth we are now aiming at. These higher rates of growth will occur in an economic environment in which India will remain open to the world and Indian companies will operate globally. Management of foreign currency risk will be an increasingly important concern in future and the financial system must provide our companies with the instruments they need to manage these risks at reasonable cost.
Similarly, rapid growth requires massive investments in infrastructure and much of this will have to be funded through long term debt. Banks are not ideally suited to provide long term debt and this underscores the need to develop a domestic corporate debt market. This too requires a conscious plan of action.
Finally, for growth to be truly inclusive, banking must reach out to many more people than it reaches now. Technological changes in the form of Information Technology and mobile banking greatly expand the potential reach of the banking system. The Reserve Bank has already shown commendable flexibility in allowing the system of banking agents to develop. It must remain committed to further expansion of banking services so that banks can touch the lives of more and more of our ordinary people. Our banking system must never lose sight of credit needs of our farmers, the small and medium industry and other priority sectors. We have a long way to go before the benefits of financial inclusion reach the worthier common man.
The Reserve Bank has served our country with great distinction in its seventy five years of existence. I conclude with the prayer that the best is yet to come and that its next seventy five years will be still more productive and still be more creative for our great country. I wish the Reserve Bank of India and its staff all the very best for the future.”
* * *
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh addressed the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Reserve Bank of India in Mumbai today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s address on the occasion:
“It is indeed a great pleasure to be here in Mumbai for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Reserve Bank of India. For me, this is also a very special moment of nostalgia. I spent some very memorable years in this institution as its Governor. My wife and I cherish the memories of many new enduring friendships that we made during those memorable days. I also recall with deep appreciation the role played by the Reserve Bank in helping the Government of India in the implementation of the agenda for economic reforms when I was the Finance Minister of India at a very difficult time in our country’s economic history. To return as Prime Minister for the Platinum Jubilee of this great institution is indeed an emotionally moving experience for me.
When I took over as Finance Minister in 1991, I was convinced that the economic liberalisation and reforms could only succeed if complemented by broad based reform in the banking and financial sectors. I turned to my old friend and former RBI Governor Shri M Narasimham to Chair a Committee to make recommendations on this very important issue. The Report of the Narasimham Committee outlined a comprehensive agenda of reform which served as a blue print of what we needed to do in subsequent years.
It would have been difficult to implement those reforms had they not received enthusiastic support, as they did, from the Governor of the day, Shri S. Venkitaramanan and Dr. Rangrajan. Subsequently as Venitramanan’s successor Dr C. Rangarajan took the financial reform agenda further forward in many critical areas, including especially the ending of automatic monetisation of the government’s deficit.
As with economic reforms in general, financial sector reforms in India were implemented at a gradual pace. We were often criticised for our incremental approach which critics often complained was far too slow. But few would deny that we have accomplished a great deal over the years and Reserve Bank has made important contribution towards this. We have successfully eliminated stifling controls on industry and investment. We have opened the economy to foreign trade, lowered tariffs and switched over to a market determined exchange rate. We have liberalised capital controls enabling the economy to absorb substantial inflows of capital in the form of both FDI and FII flows into the stock market. In recent years, foreign investment has also become a two way flow as many Indian companies have established a presence abroad through investment or acquisition.
All of this has been achieved without experiencing a serious macro economic crisis or severe inflation over an extended period. Most importantly, the real economy has clearly prospered. The rate of growth of GDP has increased steadily over the past two decades, culminating in an unprecedented 9 percent growth per year in the four year period just before the global financial crisis. Poverty too, has declined steadily, though this is an area where much more remains to be done.
The Reserve Bank of India has played a major role in this transformation. It has been a lead player in banking and financial sector reforms and has acted as a confidential adviser to the Government on many other issues relevant to the complex task of macro economic management in an increasingly open and liberalised economic environment. Indeed, it is one of our great institutions of which we can all be truly proud.
The past two years have been difficult years for governments and central banks all over the world. Excessive credit expansion and asset price inflation both fuelled by so-called “financial innovations” of dubious value, and a lax regulatory environment led to an accumulation of risk that was not adequately understood and ultimately produced a severe crisis.
India was relatively insulated from these developments because our financial system was much less integrated with the global system. However, the RBI deserves credit for having been prescient about the dangers posed by property bubbles. The action taken by Governor Reddy, who is present here, well before the crisis to tighten bank credit against real estate, limited bank exposure on this account.
When the crisis exploded in September 2008, the RBI rapidly reversed its earlier tightening of credit to meet the new and changed circumstances. The CRR and the repo and reverse repo rates were rapidly lowered in a series of quick steps. Some initiatives were also taken to enhance access to bank credit by Non Banking Finance Companies. Signs of panic withdrawals from some private sector banks in the initial weeks of the crisis were met with strong reassurances by both the Government and the RBI that our banks were sound and would be fully supported.
Ensuring that the Indian financial system remained stable in these very difficult times was a major achievement in financial and economic management. I would like to compliment Governor Subbarao and his team at the RBI for the role they played in this period.
With the crisis now nearly over, we need to reflect on the challenges that confront us in the years that lie ahead.
The industrialised countries are almost certainly entering a period of slower growth. India on the other hand is emerging stronger, with a good prospect of better performance in future. Our domestic savings rate has increased to around 35 percent and our domestic investment rates are around 37 percent of our GDP. We have a highly entrepreneurial private sector which has demonstrated that it can compete in global markets, not just in software but in areas of traditional manufacturing also. We have a critical mass of human resources with good quality higher education, which definitely places us at an advantage in today’s world. We are geographically located in a continent which is gaining in economic importance and looks like being a major driver of the world economy in the years that lie ahead.
We must build on these strengths and return as quickly as possible to a high growth path. I believe we can get back to 9 percent growth path by the end of the Eleventh Plan and do even better thereafter. I have therefore asked the Planning Commission to explore the feasibility of achieving 10 percent inclusive growth in the Twelfth Five Year Plan.
Achieving this outcome will require many policy changes. Let me comment briefly on those that concern the Reserve Bank.
As we pursue our objective of achieving rapid and inclusive growth, our monetary and financial policies must be guided by three important objectives. First, they must ensure that inflation is kept under control since it hurts the common man the most and also distorts economic signals. Second, they must ensure stability of the banking and financial system since otherwise we run the risk of experiencing financial crises which always impose high costs on the real economy as well. Third, they must meet the financial intermediation needs of rapid and inclusive growth.
Monetary and financial policies can achieve these objectives efficiently only if the macro economic environment is sound. The size of the fiscal deficit is a key parameter in this context. We allowed a large increase in the fiscal deficit in the past two years as we responded to the global economic crisis. I compliment my colleague and friend Pranab Mukherjee for this. This must now be reversed. We are therefore, firmly committed to bring the economy back to a fiscally sustainable path. This involves a reduction in the fiscal deficit from 6.8 percent of GDP in 2009-10 to 5.5 percent in 2010-11 with a further reduction in the next two years reaching 4.1 percent in 2012-13.
It will be much easier for monetary policy to control inflation if the fiscal targets are met. This is not to say that monetary policy has no role to play in the face of fiscal imbalance. However, its role in that situation is essentially defensive, of avoiding monetary expansion to accommodate the deficit since such accommodation will only stoke inflation. The problem is that monetary discipline in such a situation may help contain inflation but it will not offset the negative impact of large fiscal deficits on the availability of resources for private investment, or on the long term interest rate, both of which are critical for growth.
In fact, in an economy open to capital flows, monetary discipline in the face of fiscal imbalances can lead to a rise in interest rates triggering excessive capital inflows, which in turn put pressure on the exchange rate, making the task of macro-management that much more difficult. This is the well known problem of the impossible trinity or trilemma. In an economy with capital mobility you cannot simultaneously have exchange rate stability and an independent monetary policy. The responsibility for handling this delicate balancing act falls on the Reserve Bank of India. Its task is made easier by the fact that the capital account is not entirely open and there are restrictions on inflows of debt, especially short term debt. Caution in the pace of opening the capital account has been a conscious feature of our policy, and there are good reasons to continue with this approach.
The second objective I mentioned is the need to ensure financial stability. There are important lessons to be learnt from the recent crisis in this respect. Financial regulation must be designed to avoid excessive risk taking keeping in mind that banks must protect their balance sheets from cyclical variations. We must be particularly watchful of regulatory loopholes which can create systemic risk. Micro prudential regulation which focuses on the stability of individual institutions has to be supplemented by macro prudential considerations, which relate to the stability of the system as a whole.
All these issues are being examined in the Financial Stability Board which is the key multilateral forum for evolving an agreed architecture of financial regulation. As members of the G20, we are now full members of this Board and are represented in that body by the Reserve Bank of India. The Bank must ensure that our concerns, reflecting our constraints and special circumstances, are fully reflected in the new international consensus that emerges out of the deliberations of the Financial Stability Board.
This brings me to the third objective of ensuring that the financial system meets the intermediation requirement of rapid and inclusive growth. This is in some ways the most challenging task before us. Our financial system has proved to be stable, but that does not mean that it does not need further development and refinement. I sometimes hear it said that our insulation has served us well and we should therefore avoid experimentation and further liberalisation in this sector. This I fear would be the wrong lesson to learn from the crisis. We must not draw the conclusion that financial innovation is not important in our situation.
Our banking and financial system is still relatively small compared to the size of the economy and there are many dimensions in which it must develop to enable it to support the higher rates of economic growth we are now aiming at. These higher rates of growth will occur in an economic environment in which India will remain open to the world and Indian companies will operate globally. Management of foreign currency risk will be an increasingly important concern in future and the financial system must provide our companies with the instruments they need to manage these risks at reasonable cost.
Similarly, rapid growth requires massive investments in infrastructure and much of this will have to be funded through long term debt. Banks are not ideally suited to provide long term debt and this underscores the need to develop a domestic corporate debt market. This too requires a conscious plan of action.
Finally, for growth to be truly inclusive, banking must reach out to many more people than it reaches now. Technological changes in the form of Information Technology and mobile banking greatly expand the potential reach of the banking system. The Reserve Bank has already shown commendable flexibility in allowing the system of banking agents to develop. It must remain committed to further expansion of banking services so that banks can touch the lives of more and more of our ordinary people. Our banking system must never lose sight of credit needs of our farmers, the small and medium industry and other priority sectors. We have a long way to go before the benefits of financial inclusion reach the worthier common man.
The Reserve Bank has served our country with great distinction in its seventy five years of existence. I conclude with the prayer that the best is yet to come and that its next seventy five years will be still more productive and still be more creative for our great country. I wish the Reserve Bank of India and its staff all the very best for the future.”
* * *
China positive on relations with India
by Ananth Krishnan
External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi. The Ministers will hold discussions on the sidelines of the 'Festival of India in China' in Beijing.
Following a year that saw both countries trade bitter exchanges over the long-running border dispute, China-India ties appear set to turn the corner when External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna arrives in the Chinese capital on Monday.
Speaking ahead of the visit, Chinese officials struck an optimistic note on how they viewed the general direction of bilateral ties, saying the countries had made “remarkable” progress on expanding engagement beyond the boundary question that once held the relationship hostage, and even sparked renewed strains last year.
“We are hoping and willing to join hands with India to further enhance strategic mutual trust, to boost mutually beneficial co-operation and have closer communication and coordination in bilateral affairs to press ahead with our relationship,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang told journalists, speaking on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, which fell on Thursday.
Festival of India
Mr. Krishna arrives in Beijing on Monday evening, and will launch a six month-long “Festival of India in China” near Beijing's Forbidden City to mark the anniversary. During his four-day visit, he will also hold talks with his counterpart Yang Jiechi and meet with Premier Wen Jiabao.
Indian and Chinese officials hope to use the occasion to draw a line over the tensions between the two countries that surfaced last year.
Media reports in India pointed to increased incursions by Chinese troops along disputed border areas, while China's State-run media responded by accusing India of “arrogance” and harbouring “hegemonic” ambitions in South Asia.
The Chinese government also strongly criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Arunachal Pradesh during Assembly elections in the State, accusing India of “stirring up trouble.” China claims parts of the State, and talks over the border issue have made little progress.
Indian and Chinese officials say relations have warmed following the Copenhagen climate summit, when the two countries closely worked together and even coordinated their negotiating positions.
Mr. Krishna's visit would provide a further opportunity for India and China to “strengthen communication and dialogue,” Mr. Qin said.
by Ananth Krishnan
External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi. The Ministers will hold discussions on the sidelines of the 'Festival of India in China' in Beijing.
Following a year that saw both countries trade bitter exchanges over the long-running border dispute, China-India ties appear set to turn the corner when External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna arrives in the Chinese capital on Monday.
Speaking ahead of the visit, Chinese officials struck an optimistic note on how they viewed the general direction of bilateral ties, saying the countries had made “remarkable” progress on expanding engagement beyond the boundary question that once held the relationship hostage, and even sparked renewed strains last year.
“We are hoping and willing to join hands with India to further enhance strategic mutual trust, to boost mutually beneficial co-operation and have closer communication and coordination in bilateral affairs to press ahead with our relationship,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang told journalists, speaking on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, which fell on Thursday.
Festival of India
Mr. Krishna arrives in Beijing on Monday evening, and will launch a six month-long “Festival of India in China” near Beijing's Forbidden City to mark the anniversary. During his four-day visit, he will also hold talks with his counterpart Yang Jiechi and meet with Premier Wen Jiabao.
Indian and Chinese officials hope to use the occasion to draw a line over the tensions between the two countries that surfaced last year.
Media reports in India pointed to increased incursions by Chinese troops along disputed border areas, while China's State-run media responded by accusing India of “arrogance” and harbouring “hegemonic” ambitions in South Asia.
The Chinese government also strongly criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Arunachal Pradesh during Assembly elections in the State, accusing India of “stirring up trouble.” China claims parts of the State, and talks over the border issue have made little progress.
Indian and Chinese officials say relations have warmed following the Copenhagen climate summit, when the two countries closely worked together and even coordinated their negotiating positions.
Mr. Krishna's visit would provide a further opportunity for India and China to “strengthen communication and dialogue,” Mr. Qin said.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
A historic day that can change our future
India's potential workforce of 100 m set to join in the next decade can be the biggest reason for the economy's dominance over the US and China. The workforce is expected to be as technologically sound as the minds in the West. Equipped with much better English language skills than their Chinese counterparts. This is something even President Obama has warned the US citizens about. With 50% of her population under the age of 25, India's workforce is expected to account for 25% of the global workforce in 2020. Thus, India has a chance of becoming one of the world's most prolific talent providers.
However, the ground reality is in stark contradiction. Only one out of every eight school going children in India manage to get a college degree. Compare this with the ratio of five out of eight in the US. As per the Education Ministry, of the roughly 509 m workers currently employed in India, only 12% are skilled. Such is the paucity of skill development in our nation that all arguments of economic potential fall flat.
NASSCOM reported that a whopping 75% of the fresh engineering graduates in India are unemployable. The WEF's 2009 Global Competitiveness Index ranked India at an abysmal 101 (out of the 133 countries evaluated) for its primary education. However, a lot of this is set to change. Hopefully for the better.
From this day, April 1 2010, the Right to Education Act (RTE) is expected to ensure basic elementary education to every child in India. This can take the nation atleast closer to ensuring adequate employment to its youth. Ajit Dayal, our founder, who recently spoke at the Equitymaster Investment Summit 2010, pegs the requirement of daily job creation at 27,700 per day for the next 10 years! The task is certainly not easy. Reportedly, 1.2 m teachers are needed to implement the RTE Act to its core. Leave alone the other infrastructure. We earnestly hope that the government sticks to its promises on this one. If not, the fate of our future generation and our long term investments may be sealed.
India's potential workforce of 100 m set to join in the next decade can be the biggest reason for the economy's dominance over the US and China. The workforce is expected to be as technologically sound as the minds in the West. Equipped with much better English language skills than their Chinese counterparts. This is something even President Obama has warned the US citizens about. With 50% of her population under the age of 25, India's workforce is expected to account for 25% of the global workforce in 2020. Thus, India has a chance of becoming one of the world's most prolific talent providers.
However, the ground reality is in stark contradiction. Only one out of every eight school going children in India manage to get a college degree. Compare this with the ratio of five out of eight in the US. As per the Education Ministry, of the roughly 509 m workers currently employed in India, only 12% are skilled. Such is the paucity of skill development in our nation that all arguments of economic potential fall flat.
NASSCOM reported that a whopping 75% of the fresh engineering graduates in India are unemployable. The WEF's 2009 Global Competitiveness Index ranked India at an abysmal 101 (out of the 133 countries evaluated) for its primary education. However, a lot of this is set to change. Hopefully for the better.
From this day, April 1 2010, the Right to Education Act (RTE) is expected to ensure basic elementary education to every child in India. This can take the nation atleast closer to ensuring adequate employment to its youth. Ajit Dayal, our founder, who recently spoke at the Equitymaster Investment Summit 2010, pegs the requirement of daily job creation at 27,700 per day for the next 10 years! The task is certainly not easy. Reportedly, 1.2 m teachers are needed to implement the RTE Act to its core. Leave alone the other infrastructure. We earnestly hope that the government sticks to its promises on this one. If not, the fate of our future generation and our long term investments may be sealed.
Chocolate lowers blood pressure
Denis Campbell
Research shows regularly consuming as little as a square of chocolate a day helps to reduce your blood pressure and thus your chance of succumbing to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Scientists have found that people eating just 7.5 grams of chocolate daily were at a 39 per cent lower risk of having a heart attack or stroke compared with those who ate just 1.7 grams.
The study, published in the European Heart Journal, found that modest chocolate intake had a significant effect on people's blood pressure. The benefits were more pronounced for a reduced risk of a stroke, but also brought less chance of a heart attack too.
Researchers led by Dr Brian Buijsse, a nutritional epidemiologist at the German Institute of Human Nutrition, made the link after studying the health of 19,357 Germans aged 35-65 for at least 10 years.
They believe that flavanols, substances in cocoa that boost the body's supply of nitric oxide, contribute to the chocolate eaters' lowered blood pressure.
The research confirms an association which other studies have made. The lower likelihood of stroke may be due to cocoa increasing the flow of blood around the brain, the authors say.
Among 1,568 participants whose chocolate intake was tracked 57 per cent ate milk chocolate, 24 per cent preferred dark and 2 per cent ate white chocolate.
The dark variety contains more flavanols, and so is thought to have a greater effect.
However, these findings should not lead to chocolate gluttony, said the authors. “Given these and other promising health effects of cocoa, it is tempting to indulge more in chocolate” — but further research was needed before small amounts of chocolate could be prescribed to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Those tempted to indulge should remember that chocolate contains large amounts of calories and saturated fats, which are related to weight gain and high cholesterol — two risk factors for heart disease. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010
Denis Campbell
Research shows regularly consuming as little as a square of chocolate a day helps to reduce your blood pressure and thus your chance of succumbing to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Scientists have found that people eating just 7.5 grams of chocolate daily were at a 39 per cent lower risk of having a heart attack or stroke compared with those who ate just 1.7 grams.
The study, published in the European Heart Journal, found that modest chocolate intake had a significant effect on people's blood pressure. The benefits were more pronounced for a reduced risk of a stroke, but also brought less chance of a heart attack too.
Researchers led by Dr Brian Buijsse, a nutritional epidemiologist at the German Institute of Human Nutrition, made the link after studying the health of 19,357 Germans aged 35-65 for at least 10 years.
They believe that flavanols, substances in cocoa that boost the body's supply of nitric oxide, contribute to the chocolate eaters' lowered blood pressure.
The research confirms an association which other studies have made. The lower likelihood of stroke may be due to cocoa increasing the flow of blood around the brain, the authors say.
Among 1,568 participants whose chocolate intake was tracked 57 per cent ate milk chocolate, 24 per cent preferred dark and 2 per cent ate white chocolate.
The dark variety contains more flavanols, and so is thought to have a greater effect.
However, these findings should not lead to chocolate gluttony, said the authors. “Given these and other promising health effects of cocoa, it is tempting to indulge more in chocolate” — but further research was needed before small amounts of chocolate could be prescribed to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Those tempted to indulge should remember that chocolate contains large amounts of calories and saturated fats, which are related to weight gain and high cholesterol — two risk factors for heart disease. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010
Ramdev a cultural bridge between India, Nepal: Nepal PM
Nepal Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal welcomed by Yoga guru Swami Ramdev for the inauguration of the Patanjali Yog Peeth at Dhulikhel.
Yoga guru Ramdev is a symbol of friendship between Nepal and India because he is using Indian yoga to bridge the divide between the two nations, Nepal Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said here Wednesday.
“Yoga guru Ramdev is a symbol of friendship between the two South Asian countries. He is bridging the divide between Indian and Nepal and helping the historical ties scale new heights with spiritual and cultural exchange through yoga and ayurveda,” Mr. Nepal told a packed gathering at Dhulikhel, 35 km from the capital city of Kathmandu, where he arrived in the morning to inaugurate a new Patanjali Yog Peeth centre.
The centre - a sprawling retreat on the slopes of the Himalayas - will act an Indian yoga centre and ayurveda research institute in the region rich in medicinal herbs.
“He has taken yoga to remote villages in the country where people had not heard about it earlier. Traditional yoga not only improves health and lifestyle but also fosters a positive outlook towards one's own country and the world at large,” he said.
Responding to the Yoga guru’s campaign against fizzy drinks and junk food in Nepal schools - like his campaign in India, the prime minister said he would try to “regulate sale of harmful foodstuff in schools across the country and introduce yoga”.
School canteens across Nepal have already stopped sale of fizzy drinks and junk food.
Though the government has not yet issued an official diktat, it favours regulation of hazardous food stuff and carbonated beverages in school.
“I call upon the people of the country to change their dietary patterns to promote better lifestyles,” he said.
The prime minister said he will carry the science of ayurveda forward. “We have recognised ayurveda as an established alternative therapy,” he said.
Yoga guru Ramdev, who accompanied the prime minister, clarified to the local media in Nepal that “he was not interfering in bilateral issues between India and Nepal”.
“Contrary to reports in the media that I had conferred with a certain political party and taken it into confidence before visiting Nepal, this visit was not politically motivated. I have no intention of interfering in bilateral political issues between India and Nepal. This is purely a spiritual trip meant to promote peace and amity for a prosperous Nepal,” he said.
Nepal Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal welcomed by Yoga guru Swami Ramdev for the inauguration of the Patanjali Yog Peeth at Dhulikhel.
Yoga guru Ramdev is a symbol of friendship between Nepal and India because he is using Indian yoga to bridge the divide between the two nations, Nepal Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said here Wednesday.
“Yoga guru Ramdev is a symbol of friendship between the two South Asian countries. He is bridging the divide between Indian and Nepal and helping the historical ties scale new heights with spiritual and cultural exchange through yoga and ayurveda,” Mr. Nepal told a packed gathering at Dhulikhel, 35 km from the capital city of Kathmandu, where he arrived in the morning to inaugurate a new Patanjali Yog Peeth centre.
The centre - a sprawling retreat on the slopes of the Himalayas - will act an Indian yoga centre and ayurveda research institute in the region rich in medicinal herbs.
“He has taken yoga to remote villages in the country where people had not heard about it earlier. Traditional yoga not only improves health and lifestyle but also fosters a positive outlook towards one's own country and the world at large,” he said.
Responding to the Yoga guru’s campaign against fizzy drinks and junk food in Nepal schools - like his campaign in India, the prime minister said he would try to “regulate sale of harmful foodstuff in schools across the country and introduce yoga”.
School canteens across Nepal have already stopped sale of fizzy drinks and junk food.
Though the government has not yet issued an official diktat, it favours regulation of hazardous food stuff and carbonated beverages in school.
“I call upon the people of the country to change their dietary patterns to promote better lifestyles,” he said.
The prime minister said he will carry the science of ayurveda forward. “We have recognised ayurveda as an established alternative therapy,” he said.
Yoga guru Ramdev, who accompanied the prime minister, clarified to the local media in Nepal that “he was not interfering in bilateral issues between India and Nepal”.
“Contrary to reports in the media that I had conferred with a certain political party and taken it into confidence before visiting Nepal, this visit was not politically motivated. I have no intention of interfering in bilateral political issues between India and Nepal. This is purely a spiritual trip meant to promote peace and amity for a prosperous Nepal,” he said.
Biggest Census operation in history kicks off
PTI
The Hindu FIRST CITIZEN ON RECORD: President Pratibha Patil recieves a memento from C. Chandramouli, Registrar General Census Commissioner, after being enumerated for the Census 2011 and National Population Register at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The massive Census to cover India’s 1.2 billion population began today with President Pratibha Patil being the first to be enumerated in the decennial exercise.
The 15th National Census exercise, which will see over 25 lakh officials capturing the socio-economic-cultural profile of its citizens, will also seek information for the creation of the National Population Register.
“My appeal to all brothers and sisters of the country is to wholeheartedly take part in the preparation of the first ever National Population Register. It is important for the nation as well as you,” President Patil said after a delegation of the Census officials took down her information.
The delegation included Registrar General and Census Commissioner C. Chandramouli and Deputy Director General, National Population Register, S. K. Chakraborty.
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who was also present at the Rashtrapati Bhavan said this is the first time in human history that 1.2 billion people are being provided I-cards after being identified, counted and enumerated.
“This exercise must succeed and will succeed. We will leave no stone unturned to visit every village, every
habitation in the country,” he said appealing to the civil society, teachers, parents and authorities to take part in this exercise.
The Census operation would cost around Rs 2,209 crore while the approved cost of the scheme for creation of NPR is Rs 3,539.24 crore.
During the mammoth exercise, the enumerators for the first time will collect information like ownership of mobile phones, computers, internet, having treated or untreated drinking water facility.
The enumerators will also seek basic information like name, age, sex, date of birth, besides others for the creation of NPR.
The government has made it clear that no information will be collected on castes as no caste-based census has ever been conducted in independent India.
“We will fill a separate form and give each covered under the census a receipt which will have a number. Once all the information is digitized, we will hold designated camps across the country where citizens will give fingerprints of all 10 fingers and will be photographed after showing their receipt,” Mr. Chakraborty said.
Mr. Chakraborty said the fingerprints would be then passed on to the Unique Identification Authority of India, who after checking for duplication will assign a 16-digit unique number to each which will then be part of the NPR card to be issued. The first NPR cards would roll out by 2011 end.
The fingerprints and photographs will help the government formulate plans and strengthen the country's security. The NPR will bring the entire population of the country under one database.
Explaining the Census procedures, Mr. Chandramouli said it would be conducted in two phases. The first phase, called the House listing and Housing Census, will be conducted between April and July, depending on the convenience of different states and UTs.
This exercise is to be conducted over a period of 45 days in each state or UT, he said.
This second phase, called the Population Enumeration phase, will be conducted simultaneously all over the country from February 9 to 28, 2011, and the entire exercise would be completed by March 5, 2011.
The Census would cover all 640 districts, 5,767 tehsils, 7,742 towns and more than 6 lakh villages. More than 24 crore households will be visited and 1.20 billion people enumerated during this exercise
PTI
The Hindu FIRST CITIZEN ON RECORD: President Pratibha Patil recieves a memento from C. Chandramouli, Registrar General Census Commissioner, after being enumerated for the Census 2011 and National Population Register at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The massive Census to cover India’s 1.2 billion population began today with President Pratibha Patil being the first to be enumerated in the decennial exercise.
The 15th National Census exercise, which will see over 25 lakh officials capturing the socio-economic-cultural profile of its citizens, will also seek information for the creation of the National Population Register.
“My appeal to all brothers and sisters of the country is to wholeheartedly take part in the preparation of the first ever National Population Register. It is important for the nation as well as you,” President Patil said after a delegation of the Census officials took down her information.
The delegation included Registrar General and Census Commissioner C. Chandramouli and Deputy Director General, National Population Register, S. K. Chakraborty.
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who was also present at the Rashtrapati Bhavan said this is the first time in human history that 1.2 billion people are being provided I-cards after being identified, counted and enumerated.
“This exercise must succeed and will succeed. We will leave no stone unturned to visit every village, every
habitation in the country,” he said appealing to the civil society, teachers, parents and authorities to take part in this exercise.
The Census operation would cost around Rs 2,209 crore while the approved cost of the scheme for creation of NPR is Rs 3,539.24 crore.
During the mammoth exercise, the enumerators for the first time will collect information like ownership of mobile phones, computers, internet, having treated or untreated drinking water facility.
The enumerators will also seek basic information like name, age, sex, date of birth, besides others for the creation of NPR.
The government has made it clear that no information will be collected on castes as no caste-based census has ever been conducted in independent India.
“We will fill a separate form and give each covered under the census a receipt which will have a number. Once all the information is digitized, we will hold designated camps across the country where citizens will give fingerprints of all 10 fingers and will be photographed after showing their receipt,” Mr. Chakraborty said.
Mr. Chakraborty said the fingerprints would be then passed on to the Unique Identification Authority of India, who after checking for duplication will assign a 16-digit unique number to each which will then be part of the NPR card to be issued. The first NPR cards would roll out by 2011 end.
The fingerprints and photographs will help the government formulate plans and strengthen the country's security. The NPR will bring the entire population of the country under one database.
Explaining the Census procedures, Mr. Chandramouli said it would be conducted in two phases. The first phase, called the House listing and Housing Census, will be conducted between April and July, depending on the convenience of different states and UTs.
This exercise is to be conducted over a period of 45 days in each state or UT, he said.
This second phase, called the Population Enumeration phase, will be conducted simultaneously all over the country from February 9 to 28, 2011, and the entire exercise would be completed by March 5, 2011.
The Census would cover all 640 districts, 5,767 tehsils, 7,742 towns and more than 6 lakh villages. More than 24 crore households will be visited and 1.20 billion people enumerated during this exercise
WIPRO SHARES: Rs 10,000 = Rs 400,00,00,000
From JeejeeBhoy Towers
PATIENCE PAYS !!!
Patience can Conquer destiny, says an Irish saying Apt in aspects of life , this saying is more relevant to the stock market . Until a few years ago, the stock market was, in peoples mind , closely associated with gambling. That impression is now replaced with an intelligent activity involving skill,timing,monitoring and analysis.
The Share market is replete with instances of windfalls and bonazas that script genuine rags to riches sagas. The rags to riches stories , courtesy the stock market, are after all not as common as those investors ruined in what is crudely known as the satta bazaar. So, what exactly is the mystery of the stock market ?. Is it manipulations, machinations, scheming, or is there something more and beyond ??
Studies have proved, time and again , that shares or equities are one of the best long-term investments in the financial market place. tending to outperform government bonds, corporate bonds, property and many other types of asset.
Share prices fluctuate and hence buying shares is not without risk. But over the long term, they can generate good returns. The fast track route to multiplying money is to invest in shares and be patient &.Just as one of our readers did. Only to emerge as a very rich man reaping the bounty of the bourses.
He had invested in 100 shares of WIPRO company at a face value of Rs 100 in 1980.
The initial investment was Rs 10000/-
In 1981 ,The Company declared 1:1 Bonus = he had 200 shares
In 1985 ,The Company declared 1:1 Bonus = he had 400 shares
In 1986 ,The Company split the share to Rs 10 = he hence had 4000 shares
In 1987, The Company declared 1:1 Bonus = he had 8000 shares
In 1989, The Company declared 1:1 Bonus = he had 16000 shares.
In 1992 , The Company declared 1:1 Bonus = he accumulated 32000 shares
In 1995, The Company declared 1:1 Bonus = he then had 64000 shares
In 1997, The Company declared 2:1 Bonus = he held 192000 shares
In 1999, The Company split the share to Rs 2 = he acquired 960,000 shares
In 2004, The Company declared 2:1 Bonus = he now had 28,80,000 shares
In 2005 , The Company declared 1:1 Bonus = he came to have 57,60,000 shares
The CMP was Rs 694 as on 24-12-09 . The shares were valued at Rs 399.74 Crores.. And less the initial investment of Rs 10,000, the appreciation stood at Rs 399,74,30,000.
His destiny changed ..thanks to his PATIENCE.
( appeared in CORPORATE INDIA dated 15th Dec 2009)
PATIENCE PAYS !!!
Patience can Conquer destiny, says an Irish saying Apt in aspects of life , this saying is more relevant to the stock market . Until a few years ago, the stock market was, in peoples mind , closely associated with gambling. That impression is now replaced with an intelligent activity involving skill,timing,monitoring and analysis.
The Share market is replete with instances of windfalls and bonazas that script genuine rags to riches sagas. The rags to riches stories , courtesy the stock market, are after all not as common as those investors ruined in what is crudely known as the satta bazaar. So, what exactly is the mystery of the stock market ?. Is it manipulations, machinations, scheming, or is there something more and beyond ??
Studies have proved, time and again , that shares or equities are one of the best long-term investments in the financial market place. tending to outperform government bonds, corporate bonds, property and many other types of asset.
Share prices fluctuate and hence buying shares is not without risk. But over the long term, they can generate good returns. The fast track route to multiplying money is to invest in shares and be patient &.Just as one of our readers did. Only to emerge as a very rich man reaping the bounty of the bourses.
He had invested in 100 shares of WIPRO company at a face value of Rs 100 in 1980.
The initial investment was Rs 10000/-
In 1981 ,The Company declared 1:1 Bonus = he had 200 shares
In 1985 ,The Company declared 1:1 Bonus = he had 400 shares
In 1986 ,The Company split the share to Rs 10 = he hence had 4000 shares
In 1987, The Company declared 1:1 Bonus = he had 8000 shares
In 1989, The Company declared 1:1 Bonus = he had 16000 shares.
In 1992 , The Company declared 1:1 Bonus = he accumulated 32000 shares
In 1995, The Company declared 1:1 Bonus = he then had 64000 shares
In 1997, The Company declared 2:1 Bonus = he held 192000 shares
In 1999, The Company split the share to Rs 2 = he acquired 960,000 shares
In 2004, The Company declared 2:1 Bonus = he now had 28,80,000 shares
In 2005 , The Company declared 1:1 Bonus = he came to have 57,60,000 shares
The CMP was Rs 694 as on 24-12-09 . The shares were valued at Rs 399.74 Crores.. And less the initial investment of Rs 10,000, the appreciation stood at Rs 399,74,30,000.
His destiny changed ..thanks to his PATIENCE.
( appeared in CORPORATE INDIA dated 15th Dec 2009)
One of science's great mysteries unravelled
Hindu Bureau
In 1972, the late, world famous astronomer Carl Sagan and his colleague George Mullen formulated ‘The faint early sun paradox'. The paradox consisted in that the earth's climate has been fairly constant during almost four of the four and a half billion years that the planet has been in existence, and this despite the fact that radiation from the sun has increased by 25-30 per cent.
The paradoxical question that arose for scientists in this connection was why the earth's surface at its fragile beginning was not covered by ice, seeing that the sun's rays were much fainter than they are today.
Science found one probable answer in 1993, which was proffered by the American atmospheric scientist, Jim Kasting. His calculations showed that 30 per cent of the earth's atmosphere four billion years ago consisted of CO{-2}.
This in turn entailed that the large amount of greenhouse gases layered themselves as a protective greenhouse around the planet, thereby preventing the oceans from freezing over.
Professor Minik Rosing from the Natural History Museum of Denmark explains, “What prevented an ice age back then was not high CO{-2} concentration in the atmosphere, but the fact that the cloud layer was much thinner than it is today. In addition to this, the earth's surface was covered by water. This meant that the sun's rays could warm the oceans unobstructed, which in turn could layer the heat, thereby preventing the earth's watery surface from freezing into ice.”
The reason for the lack of clouds back in earth's childhood can be explained by the process by which clouds form. This process requires chemical substances that are produced by algae and plants, which did not exist at the time. These chemical processes would have been able to form a dense layer of clouds, which in turn would have reflected the sun's rays, throwing them back into the cosmos and thereby preventing the warming of earth's oceans.
“Scientists have formerly used the relationship between the radiation from the sun and earth's surface temperature to calculate that earth ought to have been in a deep freeze during three billion of its four and a half billion years of existence,” Prof Rosing said. Sagan and Mullen brought attention to the paradox between these theoretical calculations and geological reality by the fact that the oceans had not frozen. This paradox of having a faint sun and ice-free oceans has now been solved.
The team analysed samples of 3.8-billion-year-old mountain rock from the world's oldest bedrock, Isua, in western Greenland, to solve the ‘paradox.'
Important issue
But more importantly, the analyses also provided a finding for a highly important issue in today's climate research — and climate debate, not least: whether the atmosphere's CO{-2} concentration throughout earth's history has fluctuated strongly or been fairly stable over the course of billions of years.
"The analyses of the CO{-2}-content in the atmosphere, which can be deduced from the age-old Isua rock, show that the atmosphere at the time contained a maximum of one part per thousand of this greenhouse gas.
This was three to four times more than the atmosphere's CO{-2}-content today.
However, not anywhere in the range of the of the 30 per cent share in early earth history, which has hitherto been the theoretical calculation.
Hence we may conclude that the atmosphere's CO{-2}-content has not changed substantially through the billions of years of earth's geological history.
Hindu Bureau
In 1972, the late, world famous astronomer Carl Sagan and his colleague George Mullen formulated ‘The faint early sun paradox'. The paradox consisted in that the earth's climate has been fairly constant during almost four of the four and a half billion years that the planet has been in existence, and this despite the fact that radiation from the sun has increased by 25-30 per cent.
The paradoxical question that arose for scientists in this connection was why the earth's surface at its fragile beginning was not covered by ice, seeing that the sun's rays were much fainter than they are today.
Science found one probable answer in 1993, which was proffered by the American atmospheric scientist, Jim Kasting. His calculations showed that 30 per cent of the earth's atmosphere four billion years ago consisted of CO{-2}.
This in turn entailed that the large amount of greenhouse gases layered themselves as a protective greenhouse around the planet, thereby preventing the oceans from freezing over.
Professor Minik Rosing from the Natural History Museum of Denmark explains, “What prevented an ice age back then was not high CO{-2} concentration in the atmosphere, but the fact that the cloud layer was much thinner than it is today. In addition to this, the earth's surface was covered by water. This meant that the sun's rays could warm the oceans unobstructed, which in turn could layer the heat, thereby preventing the earth's watery surface from freezing into ice.”
The reason for the lack of clouds back in earth's childhood can be explained by the process by which clouds form. This process requires chemical substances that are produced by algae and plants, which did not exist at the time. These chemical processes would have been able to form a dense layer of clouds, which in turn would have reflected the sun's rays, throwing them back into the cosmos and thereby preventing the warming of earth's oceans.
“Scientists have formerly used the relationship between the radiation from the sun and earth's surface temperature to calculate that earth ought to have been in a deep freeze during three billion of its four and a half billion years of existence,” Prof Rosing said. Sagan and Mullen brought attention to the paradox between these theoretical calculations and geological reality by the fact that the oceans had not frozen. This paradox of having a faint sun and ice-free oceans has now been solved.
The team analysed samples of 3.8-billion-year-old mountain rock from the world's oldest bedrock, Isua, in western Greenland, to solve the ‘paradox.'
Important issue
But more importantly, the analyses also provided a finding for a highly important issue in today's climate research — and climate debate, not least: whether the atmosphere's CO{-2} concentration throughout earth's history has fluctuated strongly or been fairly stable over the course of billions of years.
"The analyses of the CO{-2}-content in the atmosphere, which can be deduced from the age-old Isua rock, show that the atmosphere at the time contained a maximum of one part per thousand of this greenhouse gas.
This was three to four times more than the atmosphere's CO{-2}-content today.
However, not anywhere in the range of the of the 30 per cent share in early earth history, which has hitherto been the theoretical calculation.
Hence we may conclude that the atmosphere's CO{-2}-content has not changed substantially through the billions of years of earth's geological history.
BHUTAN: How to make it to the summit
FROM KUENSEL NEWSPAPER
31 March: When Trishna Jaishi represented Bhutan at the One Young World Summit in London last month, it did not just happen by chance.
The 20 something, from Samtse dzongkhag, who is pursuing a master’s in South Asian studies & international relations at the Pondicherry university, India, first had to go through a unique selection process; posting a profile on social networking sites like Youtube and Facebook and then being voted on by the Youtube community.
Those with the most votes would be invited to be delegates at the 2010 inaugural summit in London. The contest started on July 31, 2009, for all people born after 1984.
In her Facebook profile, Trishna’s theme line was “One earth one home,” with human rights and women’s education, environment preservation, upgrading the nations’ science and technology and helping Bhutan maintain its peace forever, as other issues important to her as a leader of tomorrow.
Trishna succeeded in securing the votes to become a delegate to the world’s largest summit for young leaders, but needed to fulfill on more step – raise a fee of 3,000 euros, using social networking sites as a tool and with help from the organisers. The amount would cover accommodation, travel costs, all meals and the delegate fee.
This was the hard part. “I asked my parent scholarship division, Madanjeetsingh South Asian foundation, and companies of the world to fund me, but nobody turned out,” Trishna said in an email. “Then I asked the education department and education minister to help me. Unfortunately they had no fund for such short term visit and it was a huge amount too.”
In the end, American Express sponsored her and the Bhutanese foreign and education ministries helped her get a UK visa on time.
“It was a golden opportunity to represent my country and the youth, who will be the leaders for the future,” wrote Trishna. “We had discussions on the six pertaining issues of the globe and the role and empowerment of the media too. In my address at the summit, I spoke on the importance and benefits of GNH. I was even nicknamed as ‘Happy Gal from a happy country.’
The summit took place at the Excel centre in London from February 8-10 and its inaugural featured Kofi Annan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bob Geldof and Oscar Morales.
FROM KUENSEL NEWSPAPER
31 March: When Trishna Jaishi represented Bhutan at the One Young World Summit in London last month, it did not just happen by chance.
The 20 something, from Samtse dzongkhag, who is pursuing a master’s in South Asian studies & international relations at the Pondicherry university, India, first had to go through a unique selection process; posting a profile on social networking sites like Youtube and Facebook and then being voted on by the Youtube community.
Those with the most votes would be invited to be delegates at the 2010 inaugural summit in London. The contest started on July 31, 2009, for all people born after 1984.
In her Facebook profile, Trishna’s theme line was “One earth one home,” with human rights and women’s education, environment preservation, upgrading the nations’ science and technology and helping Bhutan maintain its peace forever, as other issues important to her as a leader of tomorrow.
Trishna succeeded in securing the votes to become a delegate to the world’s largest summit for young leaders, but needed to fulfill on more step – raise a fee of 3,000 euros, using social networking sites as a tool and with help from the organisers. The amount would cover accommodation, travel costs, all meals and the delegate fee.
This was the hard part. “I asked my parent scholarship division, Madanjeetsingh South Asian foundation, and companies of the world to fund me, but nobody turned out,” Trishna said in an email. “Then I asked the education department and education minister to help me. Unfortunately they had no fund for such short term visit and it was a huge amount too.”
In the end, American Express sponsored her and the Bhutanese foreign and education ministries helped her get a UK visa on time.
“It was a golden opportunity to represent my country and the youth, who will be the leaders for the future,” wrote Trishna. “We had discussions on the six pertaining issues of the globe and the role and empowerment of the media too. In my address at the summit, I spoke on the importance and benefits of GNH. I was even nicknamed as ‘Happy Gal from a happy country.’
The summit took place at the Excel centre in London from February 8-10 and its inaugural featured Kofi Annan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bob Geldof and Oscar Morales.
NEPAL: Internet connects deepest Nepal to ‘telemedics’
FROM AFP
BY CLAIRE COZENS
Impoverished Nepal has made significant progress in health care in recent years
KATHMANDU: Patients in rural Nepal will soon be able to consult specialist doctors over the Internet as part of an innovative scheme to improve health care in remote areas of the Himalayan country.
Over the next few weeks, the government will begin connecting 25 district hospitals, most of them located in the rugged and inaccessible Himalayas, to specialist consultants in the capital Kathmandu using satellite technology.
The 30-million-rupee (400,000-dollar) project is the first of its kind in Nepal, where millions of people live in small communities with no road connections and several days’ walk from the nearest hospital.
The scheme is the brainchild of doctor Mingmar Sherpa, who for 24 years ran the main hospital in the Everest region in eastern Nepal, where he experienced at first hand the difficulties faced by health practitioners in rural areas.
“Most people in Nepal live in remote villages where harsh weather conditions and geography make access to healthcare difficult,” said Sherpa, 56, now director of logistics at the health ministry in Kathmandu.
“It’s very hard to get specialists into those districts — mostly they want to remain in the city, or even go abroad to work. Even getting skilled birthing attendants to work in such places has proved a challenge,” he told AFP.
“So the health ministry decided it was worth trying telemedecine, which is already quite advanced in other South Asian countries such as India.”
Impoverished Nepal has made significant progress in health care in recent years, reducing maternal and child mortality rates and increasing life expectancy.
In 2007 the government endorsed health care as a basic human right in the constitution, introducing a policy of free treatment for the poorest and most vulnerable.
But development agencies say nearly one in four people in Nepal still has no access to even basic health care.
Sherpa came up with the idea of introducing telemedecine five years ago, but at that time, Internet connectivity in Nepal was still too weak for the scheme to work.
Now, under his supervision, the health ministry has set up high-speed Internet connections in 25 hospitals, using satellite technology to provide sufficient bandwidth for videoconferencing.
Local doctors will log their patients’ notes online along with any x-ray or ultrasound images and lab tests, ready to be examined by specialists in Kathmandu — a system known as “store and forward”.
Doctors at the Patan Hospital on the outskirts of the capital will devote two hours a day to patients in outlying areas under the plan, which will also allow rural health workers to receive training using videoconferencing.
Sherpa says the system will allow common diseases to be diagnosed much more quickly than at present, and enable post-operative patients to receive follow-up treatment without having to travel to the capital.
Under the scheme, doctors in Kathmandu will in turn be linked up with consultants know as “super-specialists” working in 12 hospitals across India to give them access to further medical expertise when needed.
The government is also setting up a toll-free telephone line offering health advice to people living long distances from the nearest doctor.
It is a major leap forward in a country where as little as 20 years ago, most people still relied on local shamans or witch doctors if they fell ill.
“Telemedecine sounds very technical, but it is really just using technology to treat patients, whether it be mobile phones or the Internet,” said Sherpa, who hopes the scheme will eventually extend nationwide.
“Once we are on the right track, we will start adding more districts and expanding into rural health posts. This is just the beginning.”
FROM AFP
BY CLAIRE COZENS
Impoverished Nepal has made significant progress in health care in recent years
KATHMANDU: Patients in rural Nepal will soon be able to consult specialist doctors over the Internet as part of an innovative scheme to improve health care in remote areas of the Himalayan country.
Over the next few weeks, the government will begin connecting 25 district hospitals, most of them located in the rugged and inaccessible Himalayas, to specialist consultants in the capital Kathmandu using satellite technology.
The 30-million-rupee (400,000-dollar) project is the first of its kind in Nepal, where millions of people live in small communities with no road connections and several days’ walk from the nearest hospital.
The scheme is the brainchild of doctor Mingmar Sherpa, who for 24 years ran the main hospital in the Everest region in eastern Nepal, where he experienced at first hand the difficulties faced by health practitioners in rural areas.
“Most people in Nepal live in remote villages where harsh weather conditions and geography make access to healthcare difficult,” said Sherpa, 56, now director of logistics at the health ministry in Kathmandu.
“It’s very hard to get specialists into those districts — mostly they want to remain in the city, or even go abroad to work. Even getting skilled birthing attendants to work in such places has proved a challenge,” he told AFP.
“So the health ministry decided it was worth trying telemedecine, which is already quite advanced in other South Asian countries such as India.”
Impoverished Nepal has made significant progress in health care in recent years, reducing maternal and child mortality rates and increasing life expectancy.
In 2007 the government endorsed health care as a basic human right in the constitution, introducing a policy of free treatment for the poorest and most vulnerable.
But development agencies say nearly one in four people in Nepal still has no access to even basic health care.
Sherpa came up with the idea of introducing telemedecine five years ago, but at that time, Internet connectivity in Nepal was still too weak for the scheme to work.
Now, under his supervision, the health ministry has set up high-speed Internet connections in 25 hospitals, using satellite technology to provide sufficient bandwidth for videoconferencing.
Local doctors will log their patients’ notes online along with any x-ray or ultrasound images and lab tests, ready to be examined by specialists in Kathmandu — a system known as “store and forward”.
Doctors at the Patan Hospital on the outskirts of the capital will devote two hours a day to patients in outlying areas under the plan, which will also allow rural health workers to receive training using videoconferencing.
Sherpa says the system will allow common diseases to be diagnosed much more quickly than at present, and enable post-operative patients to receive follow-up treatment without having to travel to the capital.
Under the scheme, doctors in Kathmandu will in turn be linked up with consultants know as “super-specialists” working in 12 hospitals across India to give them access to further medical expertise when needed.
The government is also setting up a toll-free telephone line offering health advice to people living long distances from the nearest doctor.
It is a major leap forward in a country where as little as 20 years ago, most people still relied on local shamans or witch doctors if they fell ill.
“Telemedecine sounds very technical, but it is really just using technology to treat patients, whether it be mobile phones or the Internet,” said Sherpa, who hopes the scheme will eventually extend nationwide.
“Once we are on the right track, we will start adding more districts and expanding into rural health posts. This is just the beginning.”
Prime Minister's Address to the Nation on The Fundamental Right of Children to Elementary Education
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:31 IST
Following is the text of the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh's Address to the Nation on The Fundamental Right of Children to Elementary Education:
“About a hundred years ago a great son of India, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, urged the Imperial Legislative Assembly to confer on the Indian people the Right to Education.
About ninety years later the Constitution of India was amended to enshrine the Right to Education as a fundamental right.
Today, our Government comes before you to redeem the pledge of giving all our children the right to elementary education. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, enacted by Parliament in August 2009, has come into force today.
The Fundamental Right to Education, as incorporated in our Constitution under Article 21 A, has also become operative from today. This demonstrates our national commitment to the education of our children and to the future of India.
We are a Nation of young people. The health, education and creative abilities of our children and young people will determine the wellbeing and strength of our Nation.
Education is the key to progress. It empowers the individual. It enables a nation.
It is the belief of our government that if we nurture our children and young people with the right education, India's future as a strong and prosperous country is secure.
We are committed to ensuring that all children, irrespective of gender and social category, have access to education. An education that enables them to acquire the skills, knowledge, values and attitudes necessary to become responsible and active citizens of India.
To realise the Right to Education the government at the Centre, in the States and Union Territories, and at the district and village level must work together as part of a common national endeavour. I call upon all the State Governments to join in this national effort with full resolve and determination. Our government, in partnership with the State governments will ensure that financial constraints do not hamper the implementation of the Right to Education Act.
The success of any educational endeavour is based on the ability and motivation of teachers. The implementation of the Right to Education is no exception. I call upon all our teachers across the country to become partners in this effort. It is also incumbent upon all of us to work together to improve the working conditions of our teachers and enable them to teach with dignity, giving full expression to their talent and creativity.
Parents and guardians too have a critical role to play having been assigned school management responsibilities under the Act.
The needs of every disadvantaged section of our society, particularly girls, dalits, adivasis and minorities must be of particular focus as we implement this Act.
I was born to a family of modest means. In my childhood I had to walk a long distance to go to school. I read under the dim light of a kerosene lamp. I am what I am today because of education.
I want every Indian child, girl and boy, to be so touched by the light of education. I want every Indian to dream of a better future and live that dream.
Let us together pledge this Act to the children of India. To our young men and women. To the future of our Nation.”
***
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:31 IST
Following is the text of the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh's Address to the Nation on The Fundamental Right of Children to Elementary Education:
“About a hundred years ago a great son of India, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, urged the Imperial Legislative Assembly to confer on the Indian people the Right to Education.
About ninety years later the Constitution of India was amended to enshrine the Right to Education as a fundamental right.
Today, our Government comes before you to redeem the pledge of giving all our children the right to elementary education. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, enacted by Parliament in August 2009, has come into force today.
The Fundamental Right to Education, as incorporated in our Constitution under Article 21 A, has also become operative from today. This demonstrates our national commitment to the education of our children and to the future of India.
We are a Nation of young people. The health, education and creative abilities of our children and young people will determine the wellbeing and strength of our Nation.
Education is the key to progress. It empowers the individual. It enables a nation.
It is the belief of our government that if we nurture our children and young people with the right education, India's future as a strong and prosperous country is secure.
We are committed to ensuring that all children, irrespective of gender and social category, have access to education. An education that enables them to acquire the skills, knowledge, values and attitudes necessary to become responsible and active citizens of India.
To realise the Right to Education the government at the Centre, in the States and Union Territories, and at the district and village level must work together as part of a common national endeavour. I call upon all the State Governments to join in this national effort with full resolve and determination. Our government, in partnership with the State governments will ensure that financial constraints do not hamper the implementation of the Right to Education Act.
The success of any educational endeavour is based on the ability and motivation of teachers. The implementation of the Right to Education is no exception. I call upon all our teachers across the country to become partners in this effort. It is also incumbent upon all of us to work together to improve the working conditions of our teachers and enable them to teach with dignity, giving full expression to their talent and creativity.
Parents and guardians too have a critical role to play having been assigned school management responsibilities under the Act.
The needs of every disadvantaged section of our society, particularly girls, dalits, adivasis and minorities must be of particular focus as we implement this Act.
I was born to a family of modest means. In my childhood I had to walk a long distance to go to school. I read under the dim light of a kerosene lamp. I am what I am today because of education.
I want every Indian child, girl and boy, to be so touched by the light of education. I want every Indian to dream of a better future and live that dream.
Let us together pledge this Act to the children of India. To our young men and women. To the future of our Nation.”
***
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