Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Improve laws relating to guardianship rights) that was published in Newsband

Improve laws relating to guardianship rights
A Planning Commission working group has recommended that a mother should be listed as the first official guardian in all official documents. This, according to the group, will help redress the official bias against the mother. The panel has proposed sweeping changes in existing laws thereby giving mothers equal guardianship rights over their children. The panel's objective is to rectify the legislative as well as larger gender imbalances in society.
At present fathers are mentioned as first guardians in all relevant official documents - birth certificates, school admission forms and passports. Mothers, on the other hand, have to run from pillar to post, overcoming a host of bureaucratic hurdles to be accepted as legitimate guardians of their children. They have to either get the father's signature or take recourse to legal measures.
If the mother is listed as the first official guardian and if it becomes law then it will be difficult for conservative authorities, whether at government or school level, to deny mothers their guardianship rights.
If this law is implemented, the government panel's proposed amendments will surely go a long way in ensuring that mothers have an equal say, not only as caregivers in families, but also in significant decision-making processes that impact their children's lives.
The government panel's efforts to replace the father as the first guardian of a child with the mother in all legal documents is a good example of well-meant but pointless change. It's a hopelessly muddled approach. Having the mother as first guardian is tantamount to disempowering men. This is hardly conducive to equality. Replacing one parent by another would only shift the problems and perpetuate the gender bias in the law.
Secondly, the panel argues that since it is the mother who looks after the children it should be her natural right to be listed as the first guardian. This argument only reinforces the patriarchal view that a woman's role should be confined to her household and rearing children.
Deciding custody of children in divorce cases is skewed in favour of the mother since it is believed that the mother plays a greater role in rearing children than the father does. It is not necessary that the mother will rear the child better than the father will in all cases - this has to be decided on a case-by-case basis. Guardianship rights and other laws affecting children should be in fact completely rewritten with the child's right at the core and not looked at merely in terms of the rights of the mother or the father.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Learn from mistakes) that was published in Newsband

Learn from mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes. But an ideal person is one who learns from his mistakes or rectifies the mistakes. Many a time mistakes prove to be blessing in disguise. Many people managed to reach the peak of their careers only due to some mistake or the other they had committed and rectified or learnt from while pursuing their profession.
Children are prone to make many mistakes while learning to read, write or paint. But we don't give it a second thought because we know that through their mistakes they will learn and eventually master what they're trying to do. Adults should learn from such children. They should not be so hard on themselves. They should forgive themselves when they make mistakes and look forward to gaining from those mistakes.
If we wouldn't make mistakes we would never learn anything, and we wouldn't grow any smarter nor wiser. Mistakes can hurt, but if we don't learn from the mistake we've made, the pain we've suffered from it has been for nothing. There are some people who make the same mistake over and over again until the consequences hurt so much that they finally learn from it. It's the very reason why mistakes hurt, so that we do learn from them and don't make them repeatedly.
To learn from a mistake, we first have to own it, and this is where many people fail, because they often blame someone else for their mistake.
The problem with blaming other people for our mistake is that we will still suffer the pain and consequences of our mistake, but won't learn from it, and so we'll keep making the same mistake again.
Every human being errs. But human being is one entity who possesses the power of learning from mistakes. Hence you should transform the mistake into blessings. Once you've chosen a mistake to magically transform into blessings, look for the things to be grateful for. Ask yourself: What did I learn from the mistake? What are the good things that came out of the mistake?
This is how you make the best of your mistakes. So learn from every mistake that you commit.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Tackling terrorists and criminals in Navi Mumbai) that was published in Newsband

Tackling terrorists and criminals in Navi MumbaiWith an eye on the metropolis' entry and exit points, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) now has plans to expand its network in the state. The ATS wants a unit in Navi Mumbai to cover the coastal districts of Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. The need for the additional unit was realized after the ATS realized the dangers that existed along the coastline. In fact, the Thane unit of the ATS is currently policing the entire area, including the commissionerates of Thane and Navi Mumbai. The need for additional units was realized when a close analysis of the unit's workload was carried out.
The ATS wants the additional units at strategic places. This is because they realize the importance of coastal security after the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks. Rakesh Maria, additional director general of Maharashtra ATS, said that he wanted a unit in Navi Mumbai to monitor the regions of Ratnagiri, Raigad and Sindhudurg.
The ATS wants to augment its rather beleaguered force in order to effectively track and neutralise activities of terror groups. A proposal will be made for this unit.
The police issuing an arms licence and passport to a criminal booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) has raised serious questions about the security scenario here. It is clear that criminals do take advantage of the system and dodge the police by hiding in different parts of the state after committing a crime in one area. The criminals, who commit crimes in Mumbai, usually hide in Thane, Navi Mumbai or Pune.
The thing is it takes time to detect a crime committed in another state because there is a lack of co-ordination. Even after the case is detected, it takes time to find out about all the crimes the gang may have committed elsewhere. Criminals take advantage of this. The safety and security of the people is important and units of the police should co-ordinate. If there is any issue, the state director general of police should co-ordinate. The project to connect police stations across the state has been pending for 12 years.
The ambitious Mega City Policing project - aimed at connecting all police commissionerates across the state (and the centre) - was launched almost five years ago. The project will modernize the state police. A part of this project already implemented some things in some police commissionerates such as the Navi Mumbai and Pune. GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) networking project is already completed while the CCTV networking project is presently underway. However, the most crucial aspect of the project is the integration of the Crime and Criminal Tracking and Networking System (CCTNS), which is yet to be completed. Once this is implemented, it would help track the movement of criminals from any part of the country. There will be a centralized database, which will be constantly updated, and police stations across the country can use it at all times.
Thus Navi Mumbai police commissionerate is rightly getting all the attention it deserves and is being equipped with more powers and gadgets to tackle terrorists and criminals. Navi Mumbai police should take full advantage of this fact.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Innovation is the key word) that was published in Newsband

Innovation is the key wordInnovation is an important word. If any country wants to advance it should be innovative. We find scholars all over the world today discussing their innovative approaches to connecting real world problems to real world profits. And it's not just well-meaning and ambitious professionals who are into the 'I' word. Whether its car manufacturers advertising their newest model, politicians in search of a new mantra to sway their avid, hapless electorates, or governments wishing to project themselves as visionaries bustling into the future, innovation is the new holy grail.
In India too we have seen an innovation revolution - we are now something of an innovation society. We've seen the creation, in breathless sequence, of the National Innovation Foundation, the National Innovation Council, the launch of a National Innovation Initiative, an Innovation Grid, Innovation Awards, and of course the National Innovation Act - designed to oversee the creation of special innovation parks, zones, and presumably minds.
But is innovation-speak anything more than the latest verbal tic of business school babble? No! In fact, the foreigners are mighty impressed by our achievements in India - and want to know policy recipes, if any, that they could adopt.
And it is true that the Indian experience does have some striking zones of achievement. The dense networks of pharma research and labs in Hyderabad, information technology in Bangalore, as well as the space and nuclear sectors are all striking examples of Indian innovation.
As far as innovation is concerned, there is no better example of this than the success of Bangalore. It is usually but too simply ascribed to the ingenuity and innovation of technically skilled private entrepreneurs, who suddenly came into their own in the late 1980s. Of course it has in part been that. But what enabled that city to become the engine of so much of India's recent innovation was actually investments in research institutions, precision industries, and pure science that goes back at least to the 1950s - and to institutions, like the National Institute of Science. It was that which bestowed on the city a critical mass of fine minds - able to respond to an opportunity when they sensed it in the air. On reconstructing this history one realizes that innovation is much more about the slow build-up of pure research, than about the creation of task forces looking for quick fixes. For innovation to bloom, you need many branches, and roots that stretch deep.
One wonders if we are following the right path in building innovations into the worlds of our intellect and production. For that to happen, better than dotting the country with numerous mediocre universities, we might be better advised to invest in the construction of a few large and expensive classical research universities - with their autonomy guaranteed through the creation of endowments that cut them free from the government and the state.
Innovation requires long-term venture capital - and the autonomous research university remains the best example of the success of such a strategy. That's what the universities of Europe did in the 19th century, the universities of America in the 20th. Can India do the same in the 21st century?

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Our traffic culture) that was published in Newsband

Our traffic culture
How does traffic chaos and fatalities take place? Police officials express helplessness and offer to deploy more traffic police.
The culture of a society determines the kind of road traffic it must endure, and the traffic in our cities is a living and dying example of our history, social processes and cultural mores. The ways in which we drive, deal with other vehicles and their drivers, and with pedestrians determine our character.
Owing to egoistic vehicle drivers we find that ambulances are kept waiting, schoolchildren delayed for their class and office workers for their tasks and so on. We never give way to an ambulance but invariably move aside for a car with a flashing red beacon and a blaring siren. We breed a fundamental lack of compassion for strangers, unless we understand them to possess the power to punish us. Our cities are increasingly organised around consideration for only those we know, and complete indifference towards those we don't.
Cities require a culture of compassion that addresses strangers inhabiting them. But what we have is a culture of extreme indifference and violence towards our unfamiliar fellow inhabitants. Everyday thousands of migrants arrive in cities from rural areas, in search of a better livelihood. But cities don't have a compassionate culture of dealing with this socio-economic reality. Instead, we have an urban consciousness that only responds with sympathy to acquaintances and those travelling in vehicles exuding power and authority.
A large number of drivers in our cities drive other people's cars, without the faintest hope of ever being car-owners themselves. That is to say, they can almost never hope to experience the sense of prestige and comfort that car-ownership in a poor country symbolises. The rich don't follow traffic rules - unless forced to by the threat of penalty and fine.
The culture of masculinity defines our traffic norms. Our traffic behaviour is fundamentally defined by masculine aggressive behaviour that translates into traffic chaos. We are unable to ever 'give way', lest this be seen as a weakness. The ability to move aside, make way, and show consideration are regarded as 'feminine' virtues. Which, given our gender norms, are to be strictly avoided.
Our public spaces are key sites for displaying masculine behaviour, and the road is one of the most gendered of all spaces. Besides driving like 'real' men, macho road warriors just as frequently alight and relieve themselves in full view of passersby. The culture of public spaces is so deeply masculine that no amount of police presence can solve these everyday irritants.
We should consider the legacy of the licence-permit raj in the making of contemporary traffic cultures. Car drivers are forever trying to get the best position in a queue by breaking the queue at toll gates, traffic lights, and many other places.
Our public culture is marked by the fear of the queue. Constructing tollways, installing traffic lights and having greater police presence provide no solutions to a problem that we imagine is technical. It is changes in the cultural and social fabric that hold the key to smoother passages among friends as well as strangers.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Should landlords maintain records of their tenants?) that was published in Newsband

Should landlords maintain records of their tenants?
The police in Navi Mumbai should compel landlords to furnish the name, photograph, phone number, occupation and other details of their tenants. It is likely that terrorist/anti-social elements may seek hideouts in the guise of tenants. Hence the Navi Mumbai police should seek particulars of tenants in the city. Landlords who fail to comply should be threatened with stringent punishment. The context for this drive is the rise in cases of looting, chain-snatching, house break-ins and so on in Navi Mumbai.
Some landlords do not like this idea of maintaining detailed records about their tenants since according to them this move raises disturbing questions relating to civil rights, public safety and privacy. They call it a bad idea. Singling out tenants for scrutiny seems to betray an age-old bias against migrants and those without property, they say. True, the details of property owners are available with the land registration department, but the police have, so far, not shown any intention of accessing them for integration with their centrally collated data on tenants.
There are indeed laws which compel landlords to provide information about their tenants but these laws are being challenged by many. They say that if the police are allowed to possess such sweeping powers then there will be no limit to the kind of information they may seek in future. Citizens could be told to maintain a register of family and friends visiting them from other parts of India, for example.
In 2001, public outcry forced the erstwhile NDA government at the Centre to scrap the Foreigners (Report To Police) Order, 1971, under which citizens were threatened with imprisonment if they didn't inform the police about the presence of foreigners in their homes.
This is the argument of a landlord in the matter of furnishing details about the tenants. He says, “If the authorities want to gather information on landlords and tenants as a means of streamlining the rental process in cities, let them do so through a specific statute. Using emergency powers is overkill. The police should also not labour under the illusion that tenant verification will help fight crime. Terrorists and anti-social elements have the means to prepare fake identity papers. Crime prevention requires better policing methods and intelligent deployment of manpower. This is where law enforcement priorities should lie, not in turning landlords into spies.”

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Improve bus services in Navi Mumbai) that was published in Newsband

Improve bus services in Navi Mumbai
One can't deny the fact that Navi Mumbai is facing a mobility crisis. Public transport in this city needs to be improved still further. The city is getting more and more populated day by day. Very soon the city will reel under chronic congestion. Hence the bus services in Navi Mumbai needs to be expanded.
There are in this city vested-interest groups, which are aggressively promoting debates that question the usefulness of bus transport, and they denounce the virtues of the proposal relating to expanding of bus services in the city. They criticize the move to dedicate lanes in certain parts of the city exclusively for bus services because this would reduce the space used by private vehicles. Navi Mumbai does have a developed road networks but the low-capacity transport modes such as cars occupy a substantial part of the road. Most of the road networks cannot be expanded much more and private vehicles are rapidly growing. As a result, the roads carry traffic volumes exceeding their capacity, leading to congestion. This has reduced journey speeds and helped ruin the environment. The recent air quality data proves this point.
Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) must radically rethink their transportation plans. City managers need to realize that the only way to ensure urban mobility in the long run is if more and more people make trips using public transportation. Hence, in any future proposal, buses have to remain as the major mode of transport. Introduction of more bus services will play a critical role in shifting modal behaviour because it would offer the best door-to-door connectivity, and at relatively low cost. NMMC should invest a large amount of money for adding considerably to bus services to augment bus transport in the next five years.
Plying well-designed buses and opening dedicated lanes alone will not deliver. Integrating other modes of travel, installing an efficient signal system, improving travel information and running a reliable and safe service are imperative. There should be introduction of intelligent transport systems and smart electronic ticketing and payment. Equally important is the need to improve pedestrian paths that bring people to the buses. Only such moves can perfect Navi Mumbai transport system.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (What's wrong with public education system?) that was published in Newsband

What's wrong with public education system?
What India needs is a good public education system which can produce citizens who think freely, show initiative and possess a questioning mind. If you consider all the riots that took place in the past, most or almost all of the participants of these riots were students from government schools. It's the kind of education that they get that makes them take to violence.
Someone said that government-funded education only succeed in giving birth to average citizen, while private sector institutions give birth to elites. One should indeed appreciate the government's efforts to make tax-funded elementary education free and accessible to all children as a right. The national goal is to rapidly expand quality education on an unprecedented scale and reach out to the remotest parts. But yet the government educational institution just can't match the private schools.
It is necessary for government to make its schools have a sound education system. There is an urgent need to improve the skills of teachers in public schools who are described as untrained as compared to their counterparts in private schools.
The public education system is undoubtedly below standard. The way public schools function gives one the idea that government works less efficiently as compared to private entities and even non-governmental organisations.
There is an urgent need to bolster the education infrastructure of government schools and this demands the active participation of local communities. It is obvious that the beneficiaries of public education system work harder to overcome their social disadvantages, compared with well-to-do counterparts in private institutions. The elite education is oriented more towards preserving the status quo, and emphasizes the following of orders, control and discipline. This is antithetical to the concepts of freedom of thought, challenge and inquiry that are the core goals of education. India's public education lacks adequate human resources and infrastructure, and it evidently needs supportive policies to achieve its potential. What it does not need is a sermon on things that it is not.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Modern Indian's concept of an ideal politician) that was published in Newsband

Modern Indian's concept of an ideal politicianYou rarely see morality in Indian politics. Only a politician who is moral will be able to govern and master the art of politics.
Why do we find poor governance in most part of India? That is because our politicians are crafty, always trying to fool people and possess lust for power. They are self-serving, unethical and manipulative. Many people in India believe that in order to succeed you need to possess all the above-mentioned negative qualities.
But with emergence of Anna Hazare, the Indian public's views about how an ideal leader ought to behave have changed. Now we find that those leaders, who are manipulative, can no more get people's support. Self-centred politicians, who are anti-development, are no more preferred by Indians.
All this is a good sign for India. There could be a day when Indian politics will run on the vision, ideologies, policies and execution capabilities of the leader alone. This could take 10 to 20 years, depending on how lucky we are in seeing such leaders emerge and how fast the number of gullible voters decline.
The Indian politicians today need to learn the rules of the new game fast. Old methods are bound to fail and might at the most give short-term successes. Indians have now developed a taste for the new type of politics, thanks to Anna. The old school politicians will soon become obsolete.
India's new generation has developed a new concept of an ideal politician. They consider things like the moral stance, governance abilities and the art of politics while judging the politicians. They expect our politicians today to be ethical, honest and principled. True long-term success stories will come to people who excel in all these areas. Voters today appreciate a politician who says that his country comes above his personal power.
Indian voters today no more have fancy for politicians who lack moral stance, indulge in scams and do very little to root out corruption. They are determined to end the moral crisis that exists in Indian politics today. They are yearning for a honest leader who will make bold decisions to end corruption.
The current generation has the urge to become rich and hence they expect the government to care for development, open up our economy, encourage private innovation and integrate with the world. Infrastructure projects often are among the biggest expectations from politicians.
If you want to succeed as a politician today you have to make India move ahead. You have to understand India and win people's trust. You have to develop the above skills, work and eventually succeed. Those who fail at all this eventually lose elections.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (India scores over China) that was published in Newsband

India scores over China
Some say that China's political model is superior to the western liberal democratic one. No democratic minded person will agree. America and China are two giants that have fundamentally different political outlooks. America sees democratic governance as "an end in itself", while China sees its current model "as a means to achieving larger national ends".
India and China are two competitors which are striving for prosperity and eradication of poverty - using two very different models of governance. China's model today resembles not socialism with Chinese characteristics but an immense pyramid of state-corporate capitalism.
Today's China is not yesterday's Soviet Union. Its economy is intricately meshed in the world's economy. Its exports flood world markets like the Soviet Union's never did. Its three trillion dollars-plus stockpile of foreign exchange reserves makes it way more influential in real terms than the Soviet Union's huge but effectively idle pile of nuclear weapons ever could.
India's democratic model of governance, on the other hand, is far less impressive at first sight. It is messy, it is corrupt, its coalitional politics impels its political managers to be indecisive and its poverty is out there for the world to see.
Many from India's rapidly expanding and impatient middle class are frustrated with bureaucratic inefficiencies in the delivery of public goods and services. But if you look closely, Indian model reveals economic growth over the past decade at an average annual rate of around 7%. This is second only to China's among major economies. Democratic governance, however deficient, hasn't crippled that performance. Poverty remains agonisingly visible but the number of millions lifted above 'absolute poverty' in the past two decades is, again, second only to China's record. Democracy is a bit slow, but it works.
Citizens of India are irritated with the present governance. But they are lucky because they still have powers that the Chinese don't. They can, and do, throw out any ruling management through regular elections while freely airing frustrations through the media. They did it once again in recent state elections. They might fret that all they can do is replace a bunch of thieves with a gang of thugs. But the fact is their electoral power is extraordinary. It generates, on the whole, a decent degree of accountability in the system.
Free, fair and regular elections form the fundament of democracy. Nations that choose their rulers freely have more overall freedom and a higher quality of life than those that don't.
Nations fail when it is ruled by elite who uses his power to loot national wealth. An ideal government is the one which has come to power through electoral democracy, can protect individual rights, encourage investment and reward effort to allow prosperity to follow.
What we witness today is China's state-corporate model and the western liberal democratic one adopted by India. There is obviously a rivalry over governance models between the world's two largest nations. Ultimately, it is a contest over values and human rights and there India scores over China.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Our cricketers are best diplomats) that was published in Newsband

Our cricketers are best diplomats
Our Indian test cricketers believe in the policy 'Love thy neighbour'. They love their neighbours so much that they allow the neighbours to win in International matches whether it is a test match or ODI. That generous and big-hearted are our test cricketers. They are able to please any foreign country by this attitude. They are able to do what our professional diplomats are not able to do. They can win the heart of any foreign country. Now where can you find better diplomats then our Indian test cricketers? Our cricketers believe that international sports are not played to win. According to them these matches are played to spread goodwill and nobody spreads it as generously around the world as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men.
Just recently we allowed Australian cricketers to dominate over us even when Australian cricket was in the dumps before we landed in Australia. They had just lost to arch rivals New Zealand and the public standing of the Aussie team was very low. But our cricketers were so kind and generous that they went out of the way to please both Australian cricketers and public by losing to Australia. One should really appreciate the diplomatic tactics that our cricketers adopted. They helped the Australian batsmen who were out of form to regain their peak form and they helped their bowlers to rediscover their rhythm. Our professional Indian diplomats should learn a thing or two from our cricketers
In Bangladesh, we were even more magnanimous. Here was a country represented by third rate cricketers. The Indian team took it upon themselves to bring about a transformation in them by providing them an opportunity to beat the world champions; thus we made a nation of 160 million feel good about itself. It was like a scholar winning the endearing popularity of the backbenchers and letting them share the limelight by personally bringing himself down and letting the backbenchers score over him. This is called diplomacy and our cricketers just displayed their terrific diplomatic skills.
We all know of ambitious young executives who get ignominiously defeated by their ageing bosses on the badminton court, and soon after get plum postings and out of turn promotions. What works for individuals works even better for nations. Our ministry of external affairs should sit with members of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and exploit our cricketers' diplomatic skills by applying them to countries with whom we have outstanding issues. This method will certainly prove more productive than the mainstream efforts of our envoys because it appeals directly to the masses. Our Indian cricketers who are supposed to be superstars have that knack of converting the local boys of other countries into heroes overnight. This is the kind of diplomatic tactics that our ministry of external affairs should adopt. Our country won't have a single enemy after that.

Dinesh Kamath's editorial (Government should lay emphasis on health and education) that was published in Newsband

Government should lay emphasis on Health and EducationOnly if Indian government lays total emphasis on education and healthcare can India become a developed country in the near future. But our system remains deeply unjust. Access to excellence is open only to those who can afford it, while the less-affluent majority has been left behind without even full schooling. In matter of imparting education, India is worse than China and Brazil.
Tragically, political parties, which see education as too distant an issue to produce electoral victories, have shown little anxiety to improve the country's standing. It is time to change this sorry legacy.
It is high time the government gave importance to education and health while making its next plan. More funds should be spent on these two aspects. These funds should be spent in a manner that produces tangible, measurable outcomes.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act empowers all children to demand eight years of schooling, and everything must be done to encourage people to exercise this fundamental right.
In the matter of both education and health new infrastructures are required. The lack of human resources is something that causes most worry. There is half a million teacher-vacancies existing in India. There is the need to have another half a million teachers with requisite qualifications to meet the RTE Act's pupil-teacher ratio. Priority must therefore be accorded to start as many accredited teacher training institutions as necessary. Such a measure can improve learning outcomes, which are far below desirable levels now.
Raising the gross enrolment ratio at the secondary school level from 60 per cent should be the other priority. Expansion of both primary and secondary schooling should remain the responsibility of the state.
But Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the main vehicle for universalisation of elementary education, can tap non-profit initiatives for speedy infrastructure building. Strong commitment towards rising outlays for education alone can determine India's long-term development.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (A tribute to Rahul Dravid) that was published in Newsband

A tribute to Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid's arrival in mid-1996 did a lot of good to Indian cricket. He was another middle-class Indian all set to control and steer Indian cricket forward. He was deter-mined and passionate, committed and hard-working. He was a typical modern Indian who belonged to middle-class ethos and with a global outlook. The away pitches of Australia, South Africa and England did not scare him for he represented a different India, hardly ever insecure. Dravid epitomised virtues that a turn of the century India would need; reliability, reliability and further reliability.
Even when things did not necessarily go his way, his commitment never wavered. How do we define Rahul Dravid in a sentence? The answer is fairly simple. Had Sachin Tendulkar not played his cricket at the same time, Dravid would surely be the best batsman to have ever played the game for India. At a time when we are ruing our sudden dip in form in overseas conditions, Dravid's achievements overseas, more than anything else, appear staggering.
Most if not all of India's famous away wins between 2002-08 have one common factor, Dravid. Not always associated with his style of batsmanship, Dravid has been the catalyst for all of India's famous overseas Test wins in the course of the last decade, a record incredible enough to catapult him to the echelons of the game's greatest of all time.
Rediscovering himself against Steve Waugh's Australians at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2001 with a peerless 180, Dravid fashioned the Headingley (2002), Adelaide (2003-04), Rawalpindi (2004), Kingston (2006) and Perth (2008) away wins for his team. His scores in these matches, 148, 232 and 72, 270, 81 and 68 in a low-scoring contest in Jamaica and 93 are Bradman-esque figures, which put the debate over who is the best ever number three of all time after the Don himself.
No tribute to Rahul Dravid can be complete without mentioning his off-field persona. Even when the going was tough, he exuded a sense of calm at press conferences, just like the way he batted. Dravid is recognized as a true ambassador of the game. He never gesticulated to the crowd nor hurled abuses at the opposition nor misbehaved with scribes nor acted in a high-handed manner. Not without reason does Tendulkar say, "There was, and is, only one Rahul Dravid and there can be no other."
All his cricketing achievements are owing to his sheer determination and unflinching commitment and integrity in his approach to the game. Dravid wasn't particularly suited to the 50-over format. Yet, he ended up scoring 10,000 runs. This statistic, more than any other, defines Dravid the cricketer.
To conclude, it is fitting to leave the last words on Dravid to Tendulkar, who has spent more time with him on the field than any other player over the last 16 years. "For someone who has played 164 Test matches and scored 13,200-plus runs, no tribute can be enough.”

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Hats off to Sachin Tendulkar) that was published in Newsband

Hats off to Sachin TendulkarSachin Tendulkar has at last scored his hundredth international hundred. This is an exciting climax for his glittering career. He was under tremendous pressure for a long time after he had scored the 99th century. Now that he has completed century in the matter of scoring century he must be feeling like a free man devoid of any kind of stress, tension or pressure.
The Little Master appeared to have tremendously enjoyed his career at international level. The national obsession with him has become still stronger. The 38-year-old genius would play cricket in such a way that every innings of his would affect the country's mood. Typically, Tendulkar has pursued his career with absolute dignity. He would talk little and he would always maintain that he plays not for records but because he loves the game. Yet it's his numbers that help put his greatness in perspective. A 100th hundred has solid weight. The roundness of the figure allows us to stand back and comprehend its staggering enormity.
Longevity is the gold standard of greatness. Tendulkar has survived for very long in international cricket arena. In his 23 years in international cricket, the great man has seen the game evolve both subtly and significantly. Tendulkar has been a major part of the evolution, his batsmanship and the bowlers' reaction to it has altered the game of cricket. Cricket hasn't seen a better Test and One-Day International batsman. Sir Vivian Richards was a dominant master too and he's Tendulkar's only competitor for the honour but the Indian has done it for longer and with greater consistency than the illustrious West Indian. Tendulkar holds Richards in the highest esteem.
The list of first-rate bowlers Tendulkar has faced is a long one. These bowlers include Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Sir Richard Hadlee, Craig McDermott, Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Allan Donald, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, Muttiah Muralitharan, Brett Lee, James Anderson, and Dale Steyn. A hundred hundreds against these worthies is, without a doubt, one of the finest achievements in modern-day cricket.
Thus with Tendulkar's hundred, a peak has been scaled, a long wait fulfilled and a glorious chapter added to cricketing lore. Sachin Tendulkar's love affair with international hundreds, which began with an unbeaten 119 against England at Manchester in August 1990, registered an immense statistical high. The maestro's 100th century in the global arena 51 in Tests, 49 in ODIs will remain a benchmark that will hold batsmen in awe much like Sir Don Bradman's Test average of 99.94. Congrats, Sachin!

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Put a stop to these irregularities) that was published in Newsband

Put a stop to these irregularities
There were 21 out of the 23 high-rises on Navi Mumbai's Palm Beach Road which were under a probe for violating construction norms. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) had found that 545 buildings in Navi Mumbai had been constructed using more carpet area than what is permitted. These building had several more irregularities. Their Occupancy Certificates were totally different from their marketing brochures. The builders had used space meant for parking, flower beds, etc. to extend the construction area of the buildings.
Complaints have been lodged against such builders to the NMMC Commissioner, Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner, Chief Minister and Home Minister but nothing has come of it. The complainant instead gets threatened by high-ranking officials from NMMC for lodging complaints. This indicates that officials from the corporation are complicit with the builders.
The thing is when NMMC scrutinizes the buildings they are unable to spot illegalities. How is that? It is clear that NMMC officials from the corporation are involved in these illegal constructions. Otherwise how can they not notice a difference in the Occupancy Certificates and the actual construction?
One building in Nerul, for example, has used extra and illegal 919 sq. metres. The builder was allowed to construct 3512 sq. metres for a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 1.5. He, however, has used 4431 sq. metres. The builder must have earned an additional Rs 10 crore from this irregularity and the corporation must have lost at least Rs 2.5 crore. NMMC should send legal notices to such builders and if they don't pay heed to the notice NMMC should file criminal cases against them or lodge complaints against them with the Police Commissioner of Navi Mumbai. Even the NMMC Municipal Commissioner should look into such matter with all seriousness and take action against not only the builders but also against NMMC officials who are found erring. Let CID probe into the irregularities. Take the matter to the Chief Minister of the state if necessary and get this nagging problem solved for once. Issue a stop-work notice to developers of towers where additional floors are constructed without NMMC's permission.
There are cases where CIDCO officials are allotting plots to private players at rate far below market prices. The government should appoint committees to probe into such cases. Let such matters be discussed in detail in the legislative assembly and let a perfect conclusion be arrived at.
Something urgent and drastic definitely needs to be done to stop these irregularities which if not checked in time can create worse problems in the future.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Why flout safety normas) that was published in Newsband

Why flout safety norms?
Why do some people flout rules, disobey the instructions of the authorities, and put human lives in danger? Another question is why don't the authorities become stricter and force people to observe the guidelines they have chalked out?
Just recently, a 12-year-old suffered grievous injuries and four more students were hurt as bus rammed into speeding tempo; RTO officials discovered that bus lacked safety measures prescribed by the state government
This was yet another road mishap involving a school bus in Navi Mumbai. The impact of the collision was such that one of the emergency exit doors at the rear end of the bus gave away and the children were hurled out of the vehicle. The accident had once again brought the school bus safety issue into the limelight, as the bus, that belonged to Fr Agnel Multipurpose School in Vashi, had reportedly flouted safety norms prescribed by the state government. The RTO then decided to inspect every bus used by the school to ensure that all safety measures are in place.
The question is does the RTO wake up only when a major mishap occurs? Even NMMC appears to have woken up after the accident because immediately after the mishap NMMC's education officer wrote to the school administration, seeking stringent action against the principal for compromising on safety measures prescribed by the school's transport committee in December.
The above incident was one case of rules being flouted. In another case, it was discovered by NMMC that over 250 buildings in Navi Mumbai had flouted fire safety norms, and lacked adequate safety and security equipment. In most of these surveyed buildings, the basic fire-fighting mechanism, such as fire extinguishers, landing valve, fire hosepipe etc, were absent, thus jeopardizing the lives of the occupants. Navi Mumbai Fire Brigade surveyed around 400 towers that fell under Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation's (NMMC) jurisdiction and discovered that around 200 of them had failed to install basic fire-fighting mechanism. It then issued notices to these towers, asking them to install all the necessary equipment at their earliest.
Kalamboli Fire Station, in fact, initiated a crackdown on the buildings flouting safety norms. In the first phase, it surveyed 60 buildings in Kharghar and found that 45 of them had violated norms. It then sent notices to all these buildings which were neglecting fire safety norms.
Stringent action should be taken against these people who flout safety norms. Cut off their water and power supply. File a case against them.
This habit of flouting rules and waking up only when major mishaps occur is very bad. NMMC should do something very drastic to ensure that Navi Mumbaikars don't flout safety norms whether in case of school buses or buildings or any other matter.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Can Akhilesh deliver?) that was published in Newsband

Can Akhilesh deliver?
Cricket and politics are passions of Indians. In both the fields there are important events that took place. In cricket, Rahul Dravid retired from cricket to make way for a cricketer belonging to younger generation. Now that was a sporting gesture on the part of Rahul Dravid. In politics, Akhilesh Yadav has made it as UP's youngest chief minister. Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav too displayed sporting spirit by letting his son occupy CM's seat.
The thing is both Rahul and Akhilesh are somewhat of the same age. But Rahul is found to be too old for cricket while Akhilesh is too young for politics.
Akhilesh may not be the most modern politician. But he is certainly more modern than his father Mulayam who is an English-hater. Akhilesh is at least tolerant towards this international language. Another difference between father and son is that Mulayam was all against computers while Akhilesh loves computers and he has gone to the extent of promising to distribute laptops free to schoolchildren. Mulayam, during his reign, made it appear that he was bigger than the law of the land. But Akhilesh seems to have at least some respect for law.
Akhilesh Yadav's achievement is no ordinary in nature considering the fact that he beat Rahul Gandhi who is considered to be the most sophisticated and modern leader India can boast of today. There was a difference in the way the two youth icons conducted their election campaign. Rahul Gandhi's campaign was of high-pitched, polarized and negative in nature while Akhilesh came across as an affable, low-key personality who passed on positive message of development. Akhilesh, in fact, shows promise of bringing about an all-ronnd improvement in governance. He is the one who can live up to electorate's aspirations. The voters of UP had realized this fact and they turned out in big number to vote during the assembly polls.
Akhilesh is a man who appears to be in a position to deliver. In the past there were incidents such as the murder of a BSP loyalist, torching of dalit houses and thrashing of SP opponents. The people of other states of India were questioning whether there ever could be law and order in a place like UP. It is left to be seen whether this new government will punish the guilty, crack down on corruption, provide jobs to millions of youth in UP and give the necessary boost to education, infra-structure, industry and agro-procession. It is also left to be seen whether SP under Akhilesh will manage to keep the poll promises. What Akhilesh needs to do is make his party so vibrant and modern that never again in the future it should find itself getting beaten by Congress party which always claimed to be the most advanced party. Thus, Akhilesh has a tough task ahead and only time can tell as to how powerful a leader he will turn out to be.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (NMMC awakened first by mayor and then by joggers) that was published in Newsband

NMMC awakened first by mayor and then by joggers
Sagar Naik, the 25-year-old mayor of Navi Mumbai, geared up to clean an open drain in Vashi himself, after his orders to civic staff to do the same were allegedly not followed. Sporting gloves, gumboots and a mask, Naik said he wanted to send out a message to civic officers that "A city runs due to three reasons - clean drains, clean drains, clean drains". Naik said his message was aimed at the city engineer of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), Mohan Dagaonkar, for "not heeding his repeated pleas to get open drains cleaned". His political opponents called this a "publicity stunt". Naik cleaned the drain for 90 minutes till NMMC officials sent over sanitation workers. But many weren't wearing proper gloves and masks. Naik then raised this issue in NMMC general body meeting and delivered a long sermon to all the corporators and municipal officials over there.
NMMC has displayed their mismanagement in another place in Navi Mumbai. This place is CBD Belapur Sector 15. The residents of this place have been working together to save close to 1,000 trees and saplings that were in a state of neglect since last year. Joggers are using fertilizers in order to help the trees survive - it's a job that should have been done by a private contractor appointed by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC). The citizens' initiative was then brought to the notice of NMMC officials, who promised to inquire into this matter. The morning walkers united themselves and together made a valiant attempt to save the greenery and also beautify this area. They took it upon themselves to take care of these trees that were neglected. Since the monsoon was nearly four months away, they had to water them immediately. Apart from apathy towards greenery, several truck drivers illegally park their vehicles along the promenade which is actually meant for joggers.
Thus in the matter of cleaning drains, the mayor had to set an example to NMMC officials by personally cleaning the drains. In the second case, the joggers of CBD Belapur Sector 15 took it upon themselves to save the trees which were neglected by NMMC. The question is why NMMC needs someone or the other to set an example in order to wake them up and make them realize what their duties are? Can't they realize their responsibilities on their own?

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (NMMC, heliport and war against mosquitoes) that was published in Newsband

NMMC, heliport and war against mosquitoesThere was high drama in Navi Mumbai's Nerul over a proposed heliport on Wednesday. Upset at seeing a signboard of City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (Cidco) about the proposed heliport on a plot of land near Palm Beach Road, residents of Nerul (W) staged a demonstration at the spot. They also smashed the signboard to register their protest.
Sources said the signboard was put up at the spot on Tuesday night. Residents of Nerul Sector 30 saw it on Wednesday morning. Soon, word on the signboard spread and the locals who were against helicopter operations in the area headed towards the plot.
A group of people, including villagers, reportedly barged into the plot, dragged brought down the signboard and vandalized it. These people did the right thing by bringing down the signboard because there is a recreation ground (belonging to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation) next to the plot where the signboard has been put up and these people want the authorities to allow locals to use this plot, too, as it is a vital open space. That's the reason why they were opposed to the setting up of a heliport there.
The CIDCO wants to build a heliport on this spot. But the NMMC prefers to use the land as a recreation ground. Now both NMMC and CIDCO authorities should sit together, discuss on this issue and come up with a solution that will be acceptable to the residents of that particular region.
NMMC should also intensify their war against mosquitoes. NMMC officials should make it a point to visit every housing society in Navi Mumbai and inform the residents over there the ways and means to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes. NMMC should chalk out a plan to fight malaria which is caused by these mosquitoes. They should do inspection of housing societies to ensure that necessary preventive measures are complied with.
There were quite many malaria cases in 2011 and some people had died too owing to malarial attack. NMMC should take great care to see to it that there are no or minimum malarial case this year. They should aim to reduce or nullify the fatalities this year. Films on malaria should be made and screened in theatres so that the public is well informed in the matter of how exactly to tackle malaria.
NMMC additional commissioner Sanjay Pattiwar was right in suggesting that public land owning authorities should be asked to list mosquito breeding sites in their premises. He also suggested that Municipal school teachers and students be included in the drive against mosquito menace. Pattiwar's suggestions prove that NMMC is indeed serious about putting an end to havoc caused by mosquitoes in the city.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Is language evolving?) that was published in Newsband

Is English language evolving?
Today we find students in schools taking resort to sending messages by mobile phone and they devote little time to the kind of writing that people during pre-mobile phone era would do. The result is most of the youngsters today have poor vocabulary and poor linguistic skills. They use scrunched-up abbreviations in texts thus showing that they are very much pressed for time; they can't even write a little word like 'coffee' correctly. If they're so terrifically busy, how do you expect them to settle down with any good reading - Fyodor Dostoyevsky, R K Narayan, even a comic book correctly-spelt and worded - anytime soon? Obviously, their grammatical growth and literary vibrancy are being stunted.
The 'informal' text language they use has a negative effect on their language. Print medium had opened the gates to thousands of new ideas. Print brought publications full of amazing concepts, philosophy to fashion, cookery to communism, that changed the way we think and live. In comparison, what has text language done, except to corrode linguistic refinement, replacing it, in the mistaken view of being 'democratic', with gibberish?
The poorly-worded texts don't do much for the image of the persons sending them. All communication involves not just messages going back and forth but also impressions circulating. Texts that say 'hv snt rpt' instead of 'I have sent you my report' make you think of someone coming to work wearing crumpled clothes and bad attitude - sloppy, unconcerned, unbothered. Even between friends, poorly-worded texts - 'hw abt tht flm' - don't sound cool. They sound illiterate. That's rather different from someone who has vocabulary at their command and uses it with precision and finesse.
But there are people who defend those who use such poorly-worded texts. According to them language must evolve with the times. They say that fears about the impact SMS-speak - crunched language with abbreviations and shortened words - is having on our language skills are not new. This according to them show casual links between people employing such language - created because of the inconvenience of typing long messages on a phone keyboard, character limits etc - and their ability to use or learn more conventional language. They say that texting could actually improve children's language skills. Any change in the way we use language need not be bemoaned. They further say that text-speak doesn't necessarily denote laziness or poor language skills. What it does show is linguistic ingenuity and creativity, particularly among children. To come up with innovative short cuts demands a certain level of linguistic sophistication. Further, texting could help children develop reading skills, since it involves exposure to the written word in a context that they would enjoy.
They conclude by saying, “Such fears have accompanied every innovation in the way we communicate. The advent of the printing press caused a great outcry; many at the time thought that nothing good would come out of it. The invention of the telephone brought its own share of worries. But in every such instance, language has evolved, and it has thrived. Form does not necessarily dictate function and substance. That's a point missed entirely by traditionalists.”