Dinesh Kamath's Editorials ('Remove all loopholes from our defence system' and 'Remove corruption from the armed forces') that appeared in Newsband

Remove all loopholes from our defence system As far as Indian military is concerned there are significant problems in tactical interoperability, defence planning and overall coordination
The defence reforms process has largely failed to deliver.
The government needs to focus on the need for the next generation of defence reforms.
That the services lack the capability to operate seamlessly has been proven time and again in operations. During the deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka, the army used to embed its radio detachments with naval ships and air force attack helicopters to enable communication links. Among the few instances where the army requested naval gunfire support, the navy engaged targets two kilometres away! More recently, during the Kargil war in 1999, air force jets did not have the capability to communicate with troops operating on the front. In fact, the air force did not have secure, encrypted communication capability (and still does not) in some of its planes, forcing them to fly in radio silence - a characteristic of the WW II era.
Similarly, intelligence gathering and analysis has been one of our weakest links. There are reports that in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, while the air force was prepared to carry out surgical raids, it was hampered by a lack of accurate intelligence on the location of terror facilities in Pakistan.
These weaknesses need to be eliminated at the earliest. If, somehow, the government does decide to revisit defence reforms, then it should begin by re-examining the issue of integration of armed forces headquarters with the ministry of defence. In fact, there is a need to have an agency that can deliberate over proposals emanating from service headquarters and examine them purely on its merit. However, the manning of such an agency should be expertise based.
Thus drastic steps need to be taken to make Indian military as strong as possible. All the loopholes in our defence system need to be eliminated since no progress in any field is possible unless, first and foremost, the defence system is strong enough to provide total security to the nation.

Remove corruption from the armed forces
Loyalty, honesty and integrity are the basic traits of soldiering. Till independence young men from royal and landed families joined the army as officers as services were considered the best vocation for men of honour and people used to cherish the desire to don the olive green. Up to the sixties, corruption was taboo and not heard of. Officers served not for money but for a cause and the desire to continue martial family traditions. They possessed incredible moral values and unquestionable integrity.
With the passage of time, evils from the social environment that soldiers come from started creeping in. With socio-economic development and commercialization as well as lowering the status of commissioned officers by the government, the cancer of corruption started eating into the otherwise impregnable security shield. Now one comes across scandals involving senior officers which has not only adversely affected moral in the ranks, but also shaken the confidence of the common man in the operational capability of the forces.
Officers of the rank of major general and lieutenant general are now involved in offences concerning moral turpitude, financial irregularities and other corrupt practices.
Promotions are not immune from corruption. At times these are managed through money, influence or other means. Throwing lavish parties and presenting costly gifts is common.
Wives of senior officers issue orders directly to juniors. For choice postings and promotions even security has been compromised.
Black sheep have certainly tarnished the image of military officers as a class apart. The only saving grace is the stringent military law, which takes to task officers found to be involved in corrupt practices.
Such cases take place because there are certain in-built flaws in the military system. The system need to be strengthened. The military system of dispensing justice needs to be overhauled.
The nation can ill afford to hand over security of the country's borders in the hands of corrupt officers. Such elements need to be weeded out, dealt with a firm hand, while honest officers and whistle blowers respected and rewarded to restore the trust and confidence of the public in the armed forces.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorials ("Democracy throttled' and 'When Ravan is born, we need Ram') that appeared in Newsband

Democracy throttled
Manmohan Singh government has taken a big risk by evicting Baba Ramdev from the Capital after a midnight police raid on his camp at Ramlila Maidan. This has brought together rival factions of civil society, besides exposing the Centre and Congress leadership to sharp attacks from political opponents.
Anna Hazare's camp announced that they would boycott the meeting of the joint Lokpal panel and sit on a one-day hunger strike as a mark of solidarity against the midnight strike against Baba, who has been externed from the Capital for 15 days.
The Hazare group also endorsed Ramdev's demand for an ordinance to declare Indian funds illegally stashed abroad as national asset and to provide for means to bring the money back.
This incident has given birth to contentious issues like whether PM and judiciary should be brought under the proposed Lokpal bill.
The Hazare and Ramdev camps earlier appeared to have drifted away for a number of reasons stretching from genuine differences of opinion on issues to the presence of RSS-leaning figures in the Ramdev camp. The red carpet rolled out for Baba on Thursday when four Cabinet ministers and the cabinet secretary turned up at the airport to receive him had led to apprehension that the yoga guru was being promoted as a counterweight to Hazare Campaign.
It's great to see the Hazare team coming out in open support for Baba, keeping their differences aside. Hazare accused the government of throttling democracy. There was no fault with Baba Ramdev's agitation but at midnight, beating up people -- women, children and elderly -- is a blot on democracy.
The newly-forged unity among civil society means that the government will now have to contend with a stronger opposition. There is a possibility that Baba, so far ambivalent on whether PM should be within the purview of Lokpal, may now support the Hazare group. Major political parties -- BJP, Left, Samajwadi Party, BSP and JD(U) -- all condemn the police action as reminiscent of repression during the Emergency of 1975. The sole exception was Lalu Prasad.
The footage of firing of teargas shells and panic-stricken women and elderly running for cover relentlessly playing out on TV screens pointed to the risk of government having to pay a political cost. The government is already handicapped by exposure of scams.
Congress stressed the threat from "communal forces". This justification for Ramdev's eviction can have political spinoffs. The government's motives are suspect now. The government has been trying to crush the anti-corruption movement.
The organization 'India Against Corruption' condemned the "barbaric and unprovoked" action and demanded an explanation from the PM. Hazare said that instead of "gore angrez" shooting down Indians in the Jallianwala Bagh incident, "kale angrez" had attacked people. The government's action is undoubtedly a violation of "fundamental rights of citizens".


When Ravan is born, we need RamBy its brutal police action against Ramdev's so-called yoga camp in New Delhi the central government has proved that it doesn't care for the legal rights of an individual. The Centre's strong-arm tactics against a gathering that had remained peaceful is another proof about the fact that it doesn't care for law. Before these actions were taken, the senior members of the government did try to reach a compromise with Ramdev regarding his main demand of immediately bringing back into the country the huge amounts of black money reportedly stashed abroad by tax evaders and scamsters. That shows the government is guilty.
As expected, the opposition, mainly the sangh parivar, has come out in full-throated support of Ramdev, comparing the police raid on the yoga camp with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The use of brute force was compared with the imposition of the Emergency by Indira Gandhi in 1075. At that time, Jayaprakash Narayan's anti-government movement played a part in provoking the imposition of the Emergency.
No government has the right to deny fundamental rights to any citizen of the country. It was a brave act on the part of Anna Hazare to have initiated the movement to control the corrupt government. The more flamboyant Ramdev liked the idea of Anna and he too tried somewhat the same thing. These two people will remind you of Jayaprakash Narayan who too had set himself up as a public representative who without the mandate of ever having been elected to public office tried to change the laws on which the Indian republic is founded. Neither Jayaprakash Narayan nor Anna nor Baba took law in their hands. They did what was their right. When the corruption in the country rises much beyond the limit and takes an ugly form it becomes necessary for someone like the above three to take the initiative and end corruption which can otherwise finish the country.
It is such type of leaders who are found necessary by common people of our country when legal channels are seen to be incapable or unwilling to provide even a semblance of justice. If you read the history books you'll find that such type of noble personalities repeatedly had to step in to rectify the many failures of the Law. When the law is seen to fail, a vigilant leader like the above three emerges. When Ravan is born, we find the need of Ram who never fails to come to our rescue.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorials ('India and English' and 'Tony Greg vs. BCCI') that appeared in Newsband

India and EnglishOfficially English has a status of assistant language, but in fact it is the most important language of India. After Hindi it is the most commonly spoken language in India and probably the most read and written language in India. Indians who know English will always try to show that they know English. English symbolizes in Indians minds better education, better culture and higher intellect. Indians who know English often mingle it with Indian languages in their conversations.
English is very important in some systems legal, financial, educational, business in India. Until the beginning of 1990s, foreign movies in India weren't translated or dubbed in Indian languages, but were broadcast in English and were meant for English speakers only. The reason Indians give such importance to English is related to the fact that India was a British colony.
When the British started ruling India, they searched for Indian mediators who could help them to administer India. The British turned to high caste Indians to work for them. Many high caste Indians, especially the Brahmans worked for them.
The English Christian missionaries came to India from 1813 and they also built schools at primary level for Indians in which the language of instruction was local language. Later on the missionaries built high schools with English as the language of instruction which obliged the Indians who wanted to study to have a good knowledge of English. The British rulers began building their universities in India from 1857. English became the first language in Indian education. The 'modern' leaders of that era in India also supported English language and claimed it to be the main key towards success.
Even after India's independence, English remained the main language of India. It still remains the important language of India.
Just like the Americans, Australians or even the British who have their unique English words and phrases, the Indians also have their own unique English. The Indians and the Indian English language press uses many words derived from Indian languages, especially from Hindi. Other than that, the Indian accent is sometimes difficult for non-Indians to understand. There are some Indian pronunciations that don't exist in non Indian languages. The British also had problems with that and they caused some changes in Indian words so that they could pronounce them. This gave birth to Indian English which is called Inglish.
Anchor

Tony Greig versus BCCI
Former England skipper Tony Greig has created a controversy. He has shown his opposition to 'Indian domination' in the International Cricket Council (ICC). The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) enjoys a prominent position in the ICC. This has happened over a period of time and due to massive viewership in India, where the sport is often compared to a religion. The BCCI represents the aspirations of a vast section of global cricket fans. Indian Cricket Board is accused of possessing monopolizing tendencies. In earlier days, the English and Australian cricket boards, who were the heavyweights in the ICC, were doing the same thing. At that time, few saw this as a problem. So, why single out BCCI?
BCCI has done excellent contribution to the game of cricket. If successful new cricket formats such as the IPL have turned out to be huge money-spinners attracting international talent, the credit goes to the BCCI for thinking out of the box. The cricket fans all over the world appreciate this move by BCCI. BCCI has indeed done an excellent job in promoting the game of cricket.
But yet there are people who support Tony Greig for condemning BCCI's hegemonic attitude. They say that Greig's frank comment echoes the feelings of many cricket fans and nations that feel that the BCCI has been unnecessarily arm-twisting the ICC and other boards into toeing its line. According to them the BCCI has formed unilateral arrangements to allow more series between a few select nations like Australia and England. Such arrangements, they say, work against the mandate of the ICC, which must focus on expansion of cricket across the world. They further say that the BCCI's behaviour has merely damaged its reputation. India had fought for democratising the ICC's decision-making process. India's critics say that this spirit is missing in BCCI's own dealings with the ICC and its treatment of other boards. They don't want Cricket's future to be reduced to one country's or region's sporting dominance. They are against the idea of the BCCI flexing its financial muscle.
But the general feeling in India is that BCCI is doing its very best to make Cricket a truly global sport.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorials ('What's the difference between Congress and Modi?' and other editorials) ) that appeared in Newsband

What's the difference between Congress and Modi?
Narendra Modi's acts of commission and omission during the 2002 riots deserve the strongest of condemnations. Those crimes need to be impartially investigated and the guilty punished. Just as we are proud that our democratic system ensured a fair trial even for a publicly identified ISI-associated terrorist like Kasab, so also we should let the courts take the Gujarat trials to their logical conclusions.
Those who ask for Modi's head would do well to remember that hordes of Congressmen in Gujarat gleefully joined the BJP and RSS goons who went around massacring innocent people.
The overall track record of the Congress in this matter is no better, if not much worse, than that of the BJP. In addition to the 1984 massacre of Sikhs in north India, it masterminded numerous other riots through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. None of the killers of politically engineered riots in Meerut, Malliana, Bhiwandi, Bhagalpur, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat and scores of others were ever punished. The Congress also injected terrorism into Punjab by its covert support of Bhindranwale's Khalistani brigades. It did incalculable harm to the Sri Lankan Tamils by creating a Frankenstein's monster like the LTTE. The secessionist movement in Kashmir owes its origins and draws sustenance from the Congress party's penchant for rigging elections to install puppet chief ministers.
Congress is highly praised for its positive roles in spite of its negative contributions. So also Modi should deserve credit for his positive role in Gujarat leading the country in many vital areas such as assured power supply to all villages, measures for bringing down the maternal mortality rate by providing financial and other support for safe deliveries to poor women, and a 9.8% growth rate in agriculture while the rest of the country remains stuck at 2-3% growth. It is one of the few states where farmers at large are not at war with industry, where delivery mechanisms for government services have improved dramatically.
The man they condemn as the 'maut ka saudagar' seems to have recognised the folly of promoting communal polarisation. He has not let another riot take place in Gujarat, a state which witnessed numerous caste and communal riots under Congress rule.
The task of cleansing our polity of crime and corruption cannot be done by those who harbour blind prejudice, and partisan agendas. It is best done by people of compassion, and humility; people who remain fair and non-partisan even when dealing with those they hate.

Cannes Festival and Indian Cinema
If the Oscars are about mass appeal and popular entertainment, the Cannes Film Festival is the acme of thoughtful filmmaking. It's a celebration of creativity rather than box-office numbers. And so when our stars go there year after year, it has little to do with their profession. They are there to walk the red carpet to give a boost to the brands with which they have tie-ups. The last time an Indian film featured in the competition was two decades ago when the likes of Mrinal Sen were still active and regularly featured - a sad comedown for a country that won the best film award with Chetan Anand's Neecha Nagar at the festival's first edition in 1946.
Located in a seafront town in southern France, the annual Cannes Film Festival's attracts numerous Bollywood personalities. From Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to Shekhar Kapur, Saif Ali Khan and Mallika Sherawat, Cannes is proving a magnet for a rainbow of Bollywood talent. Their presence there gives Hindi cinema a powerful boost.
Cannes is about frocks, photographers and glamour, but that's just part of its fun. It brings together the world's most serious and intense cinematic talent. In addition, it's also one of the world's largest film hubs, a great cinema bazaar where filmmakers come into direct contact with buyers from around the globe. At Cannes, Hindi filmmakers get access to distributors and exhibitors from remote places. A platform like Cannes helps the producers to make contact with exhibitors around the world. After Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Sanjay Leela Bhansali screened Devdas at Cannes, world audiences could see the heady melodrama of an Indian man caught between changing times and two beautiful women. For the world's largest producer of films, this is a unique - and vital - event.
It isn't just big-budget blockbusters though those grab attention at Cannes. In recent years, smaller independent movies, such as Udaan, have generated enthusiastic support from an audience accustomed to polished cinema. For those who insist Cannes favours the old song-and-dance stereotypes of Indian cinema, it's worth remembering that Satyajit Ray won the Grand Prix for Pather Panchali right here in 1956. Critics may question Bollywood personalities stepping onto that historic red carpet today but the fact is their doing so makes a difference.

Crime does not payA Lokpal Bill will curb the incidence of highly visible scams such as the ones associated with the Commonwealth Games and 2G licences. But these instances of corruption, however repulsive they are, represent only a tiny fraction of illegal economic activities which have resulted in a gigantic parallel economy.
Some fear that if civil society activists are allowed to dictate terms, then the new institution will give unbridled powers to the Lokpal. What are the safeguards which will ensure that the Lokpal will not be corrupt? In other words, who will monitor the monitor? In environments where even former chief justices of the Supreme Court have been accused of corruption, it is extremely dangerous to create anything resembling a Leviathan.
Most other established democracies are significantly less corrupt than ours. So, there is no reason why we cannot reduce the level of corruption without sacrificing basic democratic principles. The government should reduce the scope for citizens to indulge in illegal activities or it should slash the incentive for generating incomes through such activities.
The use of PAN cards which is made mandatory for a large number of financial transactions is a good thing that has happened. Increased computerisation in the income tax department has also resulted in lower levels of income tax evasion.
But huge holes still need to be plugged. While we are all incensed when politicians and senior bureaucrats indulge in corrupt practices, we seem to meekly accept the necessity to bribe government officials for services which are due to us, be they ration cards, income tax refunds or clearances to the corporate sector to start new plants. The amounts involved in most instances may be small. But, since bribes have become more or less standard practice in virtually all interactions with government babus, the total sum involved is inordinately large.
Bribes originate as a result of mindless bureaucracy. It does not need any Lokpal to simplify bureaucratic procedures so as to reduce the scope for extraction of bribes. It also makes sense for the government to turn the direction of incentives completely. That is, instead of citizens running from pillar to post, it should be in the interest of the government babus to make sure that their performance is par for the course.
It is high time that the government realized that crime does not pay.

Raise the country's innovation quotient
India's IITs and IIMs produce quality graduates, but why do they not give rise to quality research and raise the country's innovation quotient? The research and faculty at IITs and IIMs are not world-class. Not a single Indian university figures among the top hundred in the 2010 QS World University Rankings. Neither do the IITs and IIMs make it to the top ranks in similar international surveys of research institutions.
The essential reason for this is the lack of quality research facilities and guidance even in some of our best institutes of higher learning. Apart from the skills gap that must be plugged to generate
quality jobs for our youth, this is one more reason to remove the bottlenecks in the higher education sector. The teachers should agitate to bring about the needed innovation.
The focus needs to shift from churning out degree holders to creating knowledge hubs, or clusters of universities which conduct world-class research and impart high-grade skills to students. Among neighbours, Singapore and Malaysia are creating hubs of this kind. In India the
primary problem is excessive bureaucratic control in higher education, surpassing that of authoritarian China which has dramatically improved the quantity and quality of its research output.
Our education system is such that it has diminished the incentive to innovate in Indian institutions. A centralized process of faculty recruitment combined with fixed salaries has entrenched complacency. That there is a strong demand for quality universities is evident from the massive annual outflow of foreign exchange - to the tune of $10 billion - due to students going abroad for higher studies. This brain drain is to be reversed. This will be a step in the right direction. It is extremely important for educational institutes to cater to market needs. This doesn't mean that the government should not have any stake in education. There is no reason to see the public and private sectors in education as antithetical to each other. What is required is a tweaking of government policies to provide more autonomy to institutions, a conducive environment for private investment in education, and more synergy between aided and unaided institutions.

Talkative politician is the need of today
Experts have analyzed the results of five assembly elections. In West Bengal or Tamil Nadu, the government has fallen, and the opponent has emerged - in the former case with a resounding majority. It was the 2G scam in Tamil Nadu.
However, one trend is becoming clearer with time. That is the rise of the assertive and aggressive politician. Most of India's high-profile chief ministers - Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar, Jayalalithaa, Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee, Sheila Dikshit - who have had spectacular victories, are vocal, opinionated and seem to have the 'let's get on with it' attitude.
This is in stark contrast to the stereotypical Indian leader who keeps quiet or, when forced to talk, is diplomatic to the point of avoiding the issue altogether.
The classic example of the silent leader is P V Narasimha Rao, who was rarely heard in his five-year prime ministerial tenure. Our current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the last eight years is hardly known for his aggression or oratory. Don't talk, don't react, don't explain, don't take any opinionated stance - all this seemed to work extraordinarily well.
In Andhra Pradesh, Jagan Reddy, while not a chief minister yet, won his by-election with historic margins. He is another super talker.
Mamata called her victory Bengal's second independence. Jayalalithaa, upon winning, said that the "DMK had completely ruined Tamil Nadu".
This is India 2011, where silence is no longer equated with dignity, poise or high stature. So low is the credibility of politicians today that silence is seen as smugness, inefficiency and avoiding the issues. This is a cultural shift, brought about by the frustration people have felt with unaccountable governments. From once revered silent leaders, people have started to prefer brash assertiveness, even a bit of cocky confidence.
Indians today are more likely to give a brash politician who will speak a chance, rather than someone dignified who won't talk to the people.
What worked in the past may not work so well in the coming few years. Whoever is positioned as a leader needs to have an agenda, a point of view, drive and, most importantly, a willingness to talk to people about issues. One must be willing to talk proactively on issues that are relevant to the people.
Whether it was the 2G scam, anti-incumbency, anti-communism, developmental issues, freebies or caste/religion equations that determined the outcome of the recent elections can never be affirmed. What is clear is Indians have had enough of posturing and need aggressive leaders.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorials ('Forgivenss can create magic' and other editorials) that appeared in Newsband

Forgiveness can create magic
Here are the words of a Messiah uttered in writer's own words:
“The call to forgiveness and reconciliation is vital for the survival of the human race. Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hate. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness. The cause of many a suffering is the feeling of vengeance, jealousy and greed, yet we have a choice before us, to not succumb to these negative aspects. By forgiving those who wrong us, not only do we create the right environment for harmony and peace, we also promote physical, mental and spiritual well-being.
Miracles happen when two alienated people start all over again. An estranged father holds out his hand to his daughter; those on the brink of divorce suddenly undergo a change of heart; bitter enemies become friends as suspicions get lifted - transforming relationships happen through the melting away of bitterness and animosity.
Forgiveness is an act of love. It has the power to heal. At the heart of love is forgiveness and compassion. Forgiveness creates the possibilities of release from an unfair or unpleasant past. It takes us off the escalator of revenge providing an escape from gradual and total ruin. To forgive is to put down heavy baggage from one's back. It is setting oneself free from bonds of hatred.
Today when terrorism and hatred, suspicion and greed seek to create chaos and uncertainty all over the globe, understanding, atonement and forgiveness need to be propagated and practised more effectively if we are to improve the quality of our lives and evolve on the spiritual path. Forgiveness holds the key. Its give and take will open doors to greater brotherhood and understanding. Forgiving is the sign of civilization.”

Need for electoral reformsThe corruption in government in a big scale proves that there is a need for electoral reforms. This is exactly what social activist Anna Hazare was trying to emphasise and hence he demanded for a tougher Lokpal Bill. The committee which has been formed to draft a better Lokpal Bill should focus on electoral reforms as well.
We need to debate in great length on the drawbacks that lie in present system of election if we want to bring about electoral reforms. An educated poor person who is fit to lead the nation just cannot even dream of winning elections in India. It is the corrupt rich who buy votes with their muscle power and money who stand a chance to get elected. Many a times, due to lack of choice, the electorate is forced to compromise on the quality of election candidates.
In order to ensure integrity and increase choice for voters, it is imperative to enhance the provisions of the 'no vote' option in election rules. The present law gives voters the right to exercise their franchise and yet not vote for any of the candidates on the ballot list. However, not only is awareness regarding the provision low, no-votes do not impact the overall outcome of the election. The law which states that the voters have to declare their intention to the presiding officer of the polling station goes against the very spirit of a secret ballot.
To strengthen the provision the rules could stipulate that in the event the number of no-votes amounted to 50% or more of the total votes cast, election to that particular constituency would be cancelled and fresh elections held with the earlier slate of candidates debarred from contesting. This could make political parties accountable and force them to field candidates with clean records. Another thing is measures should be taken to curb the flow of black money into election campaigns.
Criminal cases against sitting legislators should be expedited through fast-track courts. Empowering the electorate through an option to recall elected representatives is a good idea. The electoral process is the foundation of a democracy. Strengthening it is the key to enhancing the quality of governance.

Replace rote learning by scientific methodOne of the main reasons why our agricultural sector is dwindling is the lack of emphasis or adequate knowledge into the subject. We can bring in innovation in this field and at the same time work towards self-sufficiency. A village boy may understand better about plants and animals, and hence avenues must be provided for him to explore and improve in areas that he can excel in. Converting a whole nation into engineers and doctors won't solve our basic needs, but will only compound the problem.
We have to change our learning system. It is something like developing inquisitiveness.
The progress in our children's comprehensive ability and the subtle and variegated creativity they show in their everyday lives go unappreciated and even under valued. Our children, from very young age, are encouraged by parents and secondarily by teachers, to achieve 'high marks' and to get 'first rank' in their class. No other achievement is valued with higher regard by their elders. Thus getting higher marks than their peers becomes the only valued goal in our kids' lives. Unfortunately the various 'competitive' entrance tests which determine the future of children are also based on achieving higher marks over others. Numerous schools and tutorials help kids achieve this goal, by tutoring them in tricks to achieve higher marks. Thus the whole system is geared to do this. Experimentation, as a method to learn truth, has become outright secondary in this system. Higher value (read marks again) is given to just repeating the facts detected through experiment originally done by some one else (usually outside the country). The general impression is that it is a waste of time and money to realize a known fact through an experiment. Thus rote learning of facts has substituted the role of experimentation. It is our own making that the process of experimentation has failed to become a habit in our children's lives.
Responsibility lies with parents, teachers and the education ministry in changing the basic incentives in education. The education ministry may exploit the bait of high marks to promote original thinking and learning through experimentation.
The text books should encourage the Scientific Method rather than the rote learning. Each student should be expected to carry out an investigation using the scientific processes. The teachers should be not only adept in the content but also be an inspiration for the students for the scientific inquiry. India needs a lot more colleges of Science Education and Mathematics.



Improve the education systemThe perception of the subject called 'Science' should be changed among Indian students. Science should be made “cool and fun.” A fresh approach should be adopted. The best methods of teaching science should be worked out. The rote learning system adopted by most schools in India, even classroom study combined with some laboratory work with pre-defined outcomes, does very little to stimulate curiosity and interest in science.
Scientists from India's space and atomic energy departments and in some other places where serious science is done can lead the way in engaging with school pupils and getting them to do real science. India needs to establish more science and research centers besides good teachers to take the lead. Even after six decades of education Science and Technology education has not reached the students properly. This speaks volumes of our standard of education. It has come down considerably. But for one University, none of the Indian universities have found place in the list of top 200 universities in the world. Standard of science education needs to be made more innovative and practical oriented.
Novel scientific questions should be raised and answered in a scientific way. India should also create creativity among school children. Our education should send some meaning in the minds of the students. In the present education system, marks alone have become a criterion for a job. This trend should change. Education must be made to tap the real talent of the students. Education must be made to create more inventions among the students. The entire education should be changed completely so that education becomes a torch bearer of Science and Technology to the lives of the students.
Teaching community should find ways of imparting the contents in a simpler way. The kind of pressure exerted on the students at the +2 level by school teachers is mind boggling. Students are made to believe that the only way to lead a successful life is through scoring high marks.
The current academic curriculum is job-centric. This style is counter productive to creativity and development in all fields scientifically. Unless an effort is taken to completely overhaul the current education system, in a phased manner, development will be more concentrated in getting white collar jobs.

US attack has embarrassed PakistanOsama bin Laden's killing is an important event in the global struggle against violent extremism propagated by al-Qaida and its ilk. Pakistan warned of catastrophic consequences if any country - read India - were to try to carry out a US-style operation. New Delhi's done well not to respond. Abbottabad indicates that at least a segment of Pakistan's military-ISI combine has been supporting extremists. Abbottabad might be an embarrassment, but it's also an opportunity for course correction. The world is now convinced that the terrorists have found shelter in Pakistan.
Army chief General V K Singh's made a statement that Indian forces can carry out Abbottabad-type operations. Pakistan pounced upon this remark about India's capability to undertake surgical covert operations like the one Americans pulled off in Abbottabad.
Islamabad warned a similar move by India will trigger military retaliation. The generals took serious note of assertions made by the Indian military leadership about conducting similar operations.
"Any misadventure of this kind will be responded to very strongly. There should be no doubt about it," Pakistan warned.
"Any other country that would ever act (similarly) on the assumption that it has the might ... will find it has made a basic miscalculation," Pakistan further warned
"Any such misadventure will result in a major catastrophe. We see a lot of bravado in our region... from the military, air force, which state that this can be repeated," added Pakistan
Abbottabad is leveraged to both persuade Pakistan behind the scenes to clean house as well as to support it in any efforts to do so. That the Americans could enter Abbottabad, home to the Pakistan Military Academy and two regiments, has come as a huge embarrassment to the military-ISI complex which prides itself as the mainstay of Pakistan.
The pressure that Pakistan's military and political leadership has come under, to clarify why it hadn't explained the US action, is too much. Not only has the raid embarrassed the military establishment, it has triggered street protests by Muslim groups that the government fears could further sour the public mood against it.
The best thing is New Delhi had the guts to threaten to hit terrorists holed up in Pakistan cities.

Dinesh Kamath's editorials ('Law triumphs over terror', 'India should learn from Obama' and 'Only America can solve Indo-Pak problem') that appeared in Newsband

Law triumphs over Terror
Osama bin Laden, the face of global terrorism and architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was killed in a firefight with elite American forces
``Justice has been done,'' US President Barack Obama said in a dramatic announcement at the White House while a crowd cheered outside and hundreds more gathered at ground zero in Manhattan to celebrate the news.
The military operation took mere minutes. US helicopters ferrying elite counter-terrorism troops into the compound identified by the CIA as bin Laden's hideout _ and back out again in less than 40 minutes. Bin Laden was shot in the head after he and his bodyguards resisted the assault.
The 54-year-old bin Laden's death marks a psychological triumph in a long struggle that began with the Sept. 11 attacks, and seems certain to give Obama a political lift. But its ultimate impact on al-Qaida is less clear.The greatest terrorist threat to the U.S. is now considered to be the al-Qaida franchise in Yemen, far from al-Qaida's core in Pakistan. The Yemen branch almost took down a US-bound airliner on Christmas 2009 and nearly detonated explosives aboard two U.S. cargo planes last fall.
Four years ago, the United States learned the man's identity, which officials did not disclose, and then about two years later, they identified areas of Pakistan where he operated. Last August, the man's residence was found, officials said.
This compound was custom built in 2005 to hide someone of significance, with walls as high as 18 feet (5 1/2 meters) and topped by barbed wire. Despite the compound's estimated $1 million cost and two security gates, it had no phone or Internet running into the house.
By mid-February, intelligence from multiple sources was clear enough that Obama wanted to pursue an aggressive course of action. Over the next two and a half months, Obama led five meetings of the National Security Council focused solely on whether bin Laden was in that compound and, if so, how to get him.
Two hours later, Obama was told that bin Laden had been tentatively identified. CIA director Leon Panetta was directly in charge of the military team during the operation, according to one official, and when he and his aides received word at agency headquarters that bin Laden had been killed, cheers broke out around the conference room table.
Thus World Law has triumphed over World Terror. This is the beginning of victory for International Law against the World Terrorists.

India should learn from Obama
In the wake of the dramatic US operation at Abbottabad, which ended in Osama bin Laden's death, one wonders whether India has the 'capabilities' to carry out such strikes.
Given the experience of 26/11 in Mumbai and the quality of responses witnessed there, as well as in a host of earlier operations, and knowledge of 'capacity building' thereafter, it should be abundantly clear that India does not have the necessary capabilities to carry out such operations even on its own soil, leave alone deep inside hostile territory.
This is as a result of a systematic neglect and weakening of India's security apparatus, and the dismantling of covert capabilities by successive administrations over decades. Such capabilities can be restored. It requires a measure of strategic acuity, resilience and determination on the part of our political leaders, which at present they give no evidence of possessing.
Our leaders should learn a thing or two from President Barack Obama. Obama sat with national security advisers to evaluate intelligence and then signed, on record, an executive order authorizing an operation to execute a terrorist leader on foreign soil. This is called genuine leadership.
Billions of dollars, tremendous diplomatic arm-twisting, and a relentless commitment to their policy goals have enabled the Americans to secure this limited victory, even as Obama concedes, "His death does not mark the end of our effort."
There is, however, a residual and great danger. Osama's death creates an imminent threat worldwide and certainly in India as well. Tremendous vigilance will be needed from overstretched intelligence and security forces in the coming weeks and months to ensure that such risks are not realised.
More significantly, however, it is a long-term imperative for democracies to develop systems and capacities to protect themselves against ruthless enemies who recognize no limits to their violence and to contest the ideologies of hate that are, today, vigorously propagated even within liberal cultures.


Only America can solve Indo-Pak problem
The American Sea-Air-Land (SEAL) forces rubbed out Osama bin Laden. If only India could send its commandos to do a sequel to the Osama episode, that would be one blockbuster.
India knows the locations of Dawood and Hafiz Saeed. So why can't India finish them the way Obama ended Osama?
The Kashmir problem will not be resolved by capturing or killing some unbelievably evil people in Pakistan. Terrorists have a way of breeding rapidly if they receive political patronage. To resolve Kashmir, or terrorism in the subcontinent, there is no alternative but a state-to-state dialogue.
For years the British did to Irish Republicans what some want us to do to Pakistani jihadists. They killed, captured and maimed hundreds, but that did not bring them closer to peace. Eventually it was the resolve of the governments of Ireland and Britain that did the trick.
Even if India can pull off a forced entry into Lahore, Karachi, or wherever, this will not keep the jihadis from breeding. Terrorists will spawn like worms. Ireland teaches us that peace happens only when governments want peace.
In India we run a risk. Whenever Pakistan postures aggressively, we have to reciprocate. Where is the alternative? This has had disastrous consequences for Indo-Pak relations and there is really no end in sight. For some time, there is a deceptive peace in the Valley and then suddenly a single stone starts an avalanche. Such incidents bring out the worst in both Pakistan and India. Religious bigots, whether Hindu or Muslim, are able to raise the ante and scare the rest from calling their bluff. It is this that keeps miracles from happening.
India and Pakistan need to do something that is grand and magnanimous. For example, when a car bomb killed a rookie Catholic policeman in Northern Ireland, activists from both sides condemned the attack. Catholics and Protestants went in large numbers to the funeral. This proves that for peace to happen both sides should want peace.
The Abbottabad incident shows that Pakistan is unwavering in its support to jihadis. Now that it has been shamed in the open, Pakistan must quickly make up its mind: will it hit back or think about peace?
As far as Indo-Pak problem is concerned, perhaps a push from big brother might help. If Bill Clinton could do it for Ireland, President Obama should do it for us. Only then will the war on terror, in Kashmir and elsewhere, end.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorials ('Gun-toting terrorists and financial terrorists', 'We are all corrupt' and 'An ideal mind') that appeared in Newsband

Gun-toting terrorists and financial terrorists
Pakistan is widely acknowledged to be the world's biggest and most efficient exporter of terrorism, a fact known only too well by India which constitutes one of the largest captive markets for Islamabad's main product line. Pakistan has turned a dangerous liability into a lucrative asset which helps to keep an otherwise bankrupt economy afloat. By supposedly being America's chief frontline ally in Washington's `war on terror' Islamabad annually extracts billions of dollars from the US. This money, which is meant to be earmarked for anti-terrorist operations is in fact diverted into acquiring more arms for use against India and in setting up more terrorist training camps in Pakistan.
Pakistan's terrorist consignments seem to be boomeranging right back where they came from. Among the notable victims of such `export-reject' terror coming home to roost have been Benazir Bhutto, Punjab governor Salman Taseer and Pakistan's minorities minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, the latter two having been targeted for their vocal opposition to the country's anti-blasphemy laws by which those who renounce Islam can be awarded the death penalty.
If Pakistan is an expert in gun-toting terrorism India specialises in another kind of terrorism: - financial terrorism. Except that we don't call it that. We call it scams.
Is there any country in the world which produces scams - hawala, fodder, stamp paper, CWG, Adarsh, 2G, Isro - at the rate India seems to? As a nation, we should demand inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records as the country with the highest scam count in the world. You name it, we'll scam it, seems to be our motto. There appears to be no end to our ingenuity for scamming. Why, then, haven't we done what Pakistan has done with terror? Why haven't we exported our scams - and our scamsters - to foreign countries?
Further, like Islamabad which extracts protection money from Washington using the threat of terror, New Delhi could extract similar hafta from the international community using the threat of exported scams. How is the idea?

We are all corrupt
The recent Lokpal Bill agitation saw people slamming politicians, some publicly booed away. Some politicians have voiced apprehensions about a 'climate of disdain' growing around politicians. The supporters of Indian politicians are of the opinion that India does have 'upright politicians' generating 'confidence for the future'. They say that it is wrong to generalize. Politicians are elected to ensure good governance and high public standards like transparency, diligence and empathy. Indians usually look upon politicians with amusement. After building a huge empire of bribery and black money, Indian politicians seem to thrive on corruption. Parliament as a whole avoids tackling corruption. The proof lies in the fact that Lokpal Bill itself kept hanging for 42 years.
Politicians repeatedly get away with malpractices. It's become a habit for those who are in government service to take bribes, and demand favours as 'perks' of their post. It is the politicians who are responsible for making criminals out of public servants and victims out of the public. They may now try avoiding blame by spreading it around, stating corruption is a 'social problem'. But it is precisely their job to tackle such problems and improve systems by denying power to the corrupt, besides leading through example. They haven't done that.
It needs two persons to give birth to corruption. Each time you or I pay a bribe we are being corrupt. Money is found to be the quickest way to avoid hassles, ensure services and escape questioning. Each time we pay a bribe, we break our system a little more.
Politicians are simply a reflection of our own tendencies. They too emerge from everyday India. Their ideals are stripped away at early stages of the electoral process. They act the way they do because of us. We don't hesitate to vote back the same tainted representatives. At times, we vote for cash, TVs or freebies. And sometimes, we don't vote at all.
It is our fault that corruption has become the monster it is today. To cleanse the system we should fix our tendencies to slip cash and use 'contacts' for licences, degrees and connections. That's the only way to get rid of corruption.

An ideal mind
Why do you need mind? You need it to bring a sense of purpose and better quality into your lives. You must understand the working of your mind if you want to make best use of it. The mind is meant to absorb information, transform it into knowledge and lead it into action. Action and speech determine the quality of your life and these come from the mind itself.
Most people's minds are as hard as a rock. Just as a rock is impervious to water, information that falls on a hard mind bounces off without a trace. A hard mind shows resistance to information that doesn't agree with knowledge that is already stored in it even though that information is the truth and amenable to reason. You should make your mind as soft as a sponge so that you can absorb maximum knowledge. A soft mind easily absorbs information and allows free flow of knowledge into action.
What makes your mind hard or closed? It is because of your ego. If you encounter an idea or a situation that is not in line with your thinking, you immediately close your mind by putting up a block against it. Ego creates mindset. This mindset is self-destructive. For example, a simple discussion develops into an argument and leads to a verbal or physical fight.
It is not enough to use your mind just to gather information. You must transform this into knowledge and next into action.
Keep your mind pure. A pure mind will think about common welfare. A pure, soft mind is gateway to divine living. Don't just think positively. Think divinely. This way of thinking will make your mind soft and pure.
An impure mind creates words and actions that hurt people. Pure mind brings joy to people.
An object that slips out of your hand can be recovered, but an inappropriate word that slips out of your tongue cannot be erased. Hence you must do introspection and see whether your mind harbours harmful thoughts. Clean your mind of those thoughts and purify your mind. Ideas and inspiration flash freely in a pure mind to transform information to knowledge.
Remember that mind is an organ which can covert you from human to Divine.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorials (What do you prefer - goondaism or democracy?' and other editorials) that appeared in Newsband

What do you prefer - goondaism or democracy?Joseph Lelyveld is become popular thanks to Narendra Modi for proposing to ban his controversial book on M K Gandhi. Lelyveld's work is become as tempting as forbidden fruit. A media hype has been created and this is bound to covert this scholarly work into a sensational bestseller.
The book is a complex study of an extremely complex personality. The Mahatma remains a profoundly challenging moral being for all those who try to make a serious scrutiny of his principles and actions.
It is a British tabloid which gave the information that Lelyveld's book claimed that Gandhi was 'bisexual' and had a lover's relationship with a German weightlifter, Hermann Kallenbach. But the fact is there is no hint in Lelyveld's book that the relationship between the two men was anything other than platonic, though the expressions of affection used were often couched in passionate language.
Most Indians like to think of themselves as belonging to an ancient tradition of tolerance. They possess the ability to see and accept the other person's point of view, even though it might be totally opposed to one's own.
But how true is this of India in the second decade of the 21st century? From M F Husain's self-imposed exile following attacks for his allegedly sacrilegious paintings of Hindu deities to goons beating up couples for celebrating Valentine's Day, intolerance rather than tolerance seems increasingly to have become the order of the day in India.
Freedom of expression, within the boundaries of the law, is allowed The growing intolerance is proving to be the most serious threat to our democracy. The Indian liberal is becoming an increasingly endangered species.
Each new challenge to tolerance, to the spirit of liberalism, presents an opportunity for a public debate on debate itself and our freedom to engage in it. How free are we as a society? Where does one person's freedom of expression become another person's trespass of religious or social sensibility?
This is the paradox of all bans and censorship. The more you oppose someone the more attention you draw to him and the more public discourse you create around him. Silence is the victory of the ban; argument and discourse are the victories of democracy.
Now it is left to you to decide whether you prefer to remain silent or whether you would like to debate. In other words what would you prefer goondaism or democracy?

How to handle success and failures
You must always play to win. You must try hardest to win till the last. Never give up. Try to achieve excellence even if it means losing here and there. When you try to attain excellence your inherent talents come to the surface. Never mind if you lose. A person who has never lost has never found the joy of winning.
You do feel pleased when you win and you do feel disappointed when you lose. But when you enter a competition you should be prepared to both win and lose. Only then can you give your best.
A winner has four qualities: Self-confidence, mental toughness, winning-oriented thinking and the ability to innovate. Self-confidence stands on three important pillars: feeling good, taking responsibility and developing skills. One has to learn the art of feeling good even in moments of pressure.
You must have tremendous control over your emotion both when you have won and also when you have lost.
In cricket, when wickets are falling, new players are under great pressure. In such situations, the cricketer should avoid looking back at their past failures and they should look forward to achieve more and more success. This is how they can ease the pressure they are in. That is the responsibility and discipline one should have.
Learn from your past failures. This will help you to score more and more victories in the future. Remember your idol who had achieved success even after being under tremendous pressure. This will encourage you to emulate him.
One has to train one's body, emotions and spirit to be in a peak state. In such a peak state, a different quality of energy emerges and will influence one's action.
Mind has to be tough for doing so. See that your mind is not in a disturbed state.
At last one also has to understand that failures are fertilizers to success. In fact, failures are always followed by success provided you learn from the failures. Failures should not make you worry and fear. Instead, you should remain unaffected by failure. You should not get discouraged by failures nor should you get elated by success. This attitude will boost your self-esteem and you will be in a position to score victory after victory in the future. Cultivate you talent, believe in innovation, practice a lot, derive inspiration from the greats and be sure you are on your way to success. Remember that every successful man has tasted failures and every failed person stands a chance to succeed in the future.

Has ICC made the right decision?The International Cricket Council's (ICC) has decided that the 2015 and 2019 editions of the World Cup will have 10 teams which means non-Test playing associate nations such as Ireland and the Netherlands cannot compete in this tournament. This regressive step punishes even those countries that have made significant strides in improving their cricketing infrastructure in recent years.
Currently, Ireland's performance in the recent World Cup was highly encouraging. Yet they find themselves short-changed. Similarly, exciting talents such as Ryan ten Doeschate of the Netherlands and Hiral Patel of Canada will have to wait for at least eight years before they can again represent their country at the World Cup. Without the coveted tournament to aim for, government support and corporate sponsorship for the game in the associate nations are bound to dry up. Compensating the latter with T20 cricket is not enough. Talented cricketers will migrate to greener pastures in Test-playing nations and deprive youth back home of role models.
The argument that including minnow teams lengthens the World Cup format and leads to fatigue cuts no ice. There was no loss of intensity in the 2011 World Cup despite it being played over 43 days. There's no denying that the minnows bring colour to the World Cup. The ICC would do well to stop thinking about financial gains alone and focus on expanding the sport around the globe.
But there are many who welcome the ICC's decision to trim the 2015 and 2019 World Cups to just 10 countries since it will ensure that the 2015 event will revert to the ideal system of showcasing 10 Test-playing nations. They say that the move should be seen in the correct perspective. While cricket is a game of uncertainties, there is little doubt about the results of matches involving minnows. Also, matches involving the associate nations hardly generate public interest. These critics say that big-ticket events like the World Cup should be more about upholding the competitive spirit of the game. According to them the passport to participating in such events must be earned with consistent performance. So they feel that the ICC has adopted the right approach by introducing a qualification process for the last two berths in the 2019 edition. They believe that compensation in the form of Twenty20 World Cup given to the left out teams should be adequate.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorials (Victory in cricket and emergence of Anna Hazare) that appeared in Newsband

Victory in cricket and emergence of Anna Hazare
For many Indians today, winning is becoming something of a habit: rising GDP, falling poverty, international recognition - and Dhoni's 11 men in blue.
As the match progressed last Saturday one initially felt that India would offer some flashes of brilliance and genuine class, and would then fade into the dark background. The old psychological ghosts would revive. With Sehwag out, Tendulkar gone, one felt that the entire team would collapse. They did so many times. But this time all were wrong. It's true that Sri Lankan bowling was lousy, but it was the Indian assurance that felt dramatically new. This Indian team genuinely felt that there was a job to be done - and that's what they did rather than flinging themselves into a run chase, going out in cameo blazes of glory as they once might have.
The true lesson of our World Cup victory is not that we won, but that we won through playing by the rules. Last Saturday, we had the swashbuckling cool of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Three days later, we had the cantankerous determination of Anna Hazare, who began his hunger strike. Anna Hazare's fast against high corruption was a welcome sight after India's victory! In fact, his protest against corruption helps illuminate a schizophrenic dissonance in how we think about success. The fact is that most of those who are considered victors in our society are those who ignore or subvert rules - in fact, who think rules are for idiots and losers. Whether it is leaders pushing through their favoured policies, developers racing to put up buildings, corporate leaders cornering natural resources, media stars cultivating celebrity access, or judges convening fast-track courts - we're all in a hurry. And so restraints in the form of laws, rules, procedures - all are irritating impedances, something to swerve around like a sluggish tempo on the road. Within this culture of success, victory depends on defying the rules. And it's a defiance we can justify to ourselves because we tell ourselves we're smarter, more discerning and deserving - better, plain superior - to the stupidities of rules and the rule enforcers.
There are, then, two quite dissonant conceptions of winning that we are living with. The cricket-pitch victory we all celebrated last weekend was a victory of and by the rules. It was a victory of talent, and it is an index of talent to be able to play and win by the rules. But in other domains of our life, the sense that rules matter is absent. When it comes to making money, pursuing power, advancing one's professional career, rules are viewed as an intrusive obstruction to aspiration. Corruption is more efficient. The emergence of Anna Hazare in such a situation should give all of us tremendous relief.

Is internet a boon or bane?The internet is become the most necessary part of most of our lives. Besides an important research tool, it is a vital medium for interfacing with the world, connecting with friends and expressing opinion. Accessing the World Wide Web is seen as a fundamental requirement. According to a survey, Net surfing at work enhances productivity.
Allowing employees non-work related browsing freedom contributes to creating a congenial work atmosphere. A happy workplace motivates employees to maintain higher standards of quality. Enforcing a strict code of conduct can dampen morale and retard productivity. It's good to focus on motivation rather than a disciplinary approach.
New ideas can profoundly enhance company's fortunes. Hence, effort is made to foster creativity at the workplace, including through workshops and team-building exercises. There should be recreation rooms for employees since what may appear a waste of time can actually provide inspiration for path-breaking ideas. The internet being a rich source of information, idle browsing can provide the spark for innovative thinking and problem-solving. A YouTube video can be the muse for an excellent boardroom presentation.
Allowing internet browsing freedom enhances worker satisfaction and hence performance and inventiveness. The more we invest in employee happiness and creativity, the higher the returns.
But there are critics who feel that internet is a costly distraction. According to them, in today's workplace, online games, social networking and entertainment sites make for insidious distractions, diverting attention from work. They say that precious office time and professional energy are expended on social networking or net surfing. Various studies say the average employee spends close to two hours per day using office computers for non-business related activity. According to the critics such non-professionalism is a cause for concern because it means loss of performance as well as revenue. They ask that if given today's grim economic environment and stiff competition, can offices afford these additional risks? According to them, there should be a department which will monitor how employees use the internet. That's a better way to improve the latter's effectiveness on the job.

Protect the next generation of women
There is an increase in the population of girls in Indian classrooms. Today's young women have better opportunities, greater academic accomplishment and, at least in our big cities and urban milieu, greater social autonomy than ever before.
In the past decade, as India's economy has grown and as the media and marketing revolutions have transformed our society, urban women are living a different lifestyle. You can get to see this in schools and colleges every day. It is evident in the way young people eat, meet, interact, entertain and relax.
Some tend to be judgemental about these changes and see them as necessarily bad; but it is not so.
Evolution is inevitable. We should welcome it and adapt to it, rather than rail against it.
As far as health of women is concerned, lifestyle changes, the growth of a snack food culture, tobacco use, greater sexual freedoms and career women postponing pregnancy decisions: all of these have profound health implications. Are we preparing our young women for these?
There are some diseases like two cancers, that of the breast and that of the cervix - that are exclusive to women. As a society we spend much less on the care and treatment of ill women than of men. This distinction is made in the mansions of Malabar Hill as much as in the slums of Dharavi.
A lot is known about this disease today than even a decade ago. It's time to focus on cervical cancer prevention and treatment too. This is one of the rare cancers that is preventable and curable. Yet it afflicts 1,34,000 additional women in India each year (2008 figures). Some 2,75,000 women die of cervical cancer in the world every year. One of every four does so in India. One-third of women who register for cancer diagnosis in Indian hospitals suffer from cervical cancer.
The remarkable aspect of modern medical science is that we can arrest and combat the cancer (or more accurately, pre-cancer) at several points. Cervical cancer can also be prevented by using vaccines.
The next generation of women needs to know about and be protected from this disease.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorials ('Aruna Shanbaug case' and other editorials) that appeared in Newsband

Aruna Shanbaug case
Arun Shanbaug was a nurse who was molested and raped by a ward boy many years back. Since then she has been lying in a state of coma. Someone filed a case saying that she should undergo mercy killing. The learned judges of the Supreme Court said “No' and in their judgment in the Aruna Shanbaug case added: "Considering the low ethical levels prevailing in our society today and the rampant commercialization and corruption, we cannot rule out the possibility that unscrupulous persons with the help of some unscrupulous doctors may fabricate material to show that it is a terminal case with no chance of recovery."
The question is whether India is ready for a meaningful debate on euthanasia? But let us first acquaint ourselves with a few basic facts pertaining to Aruna Shanbaug and the demand that she be put to death, which set all of this in motion.
Fact number one: Aruna is, by all accounts, a happy, responsive person, though she is seriously physically incapacitated. Fact number two: Aruna has a loving group of friends and care-givers who feel strongly attached to her and would do everything to keep her alive, pain-free and happy. Fact number three: Aruna is not being kept alive through heroic measures. She is not on life support but rather on "love support" This has ensured that during all these years, and even today, she does not have a single bed sore. This in itself is close to a medical miracle. With this kind of specialized care, the urge to end life prematurely is negated. We need to ponder these facts before we ask for her death.
In which cases is euthanasia advisable? Research studies have shown that unresolved personal conflicts, the attitude of the family, the feeling of having become a burden, and an inability to find meaning in suffering together cause greater anguish to patients than just physical discomfort . This is certainly true for many in India where a majority of patients with debilitating illnesses are so dependent on family members that they begin to see themselves better dead than alive.
In many cases, the cost of keeping someone alive over a long period can be prohibitive. In this case also mercy killing is justified. It relieves pain and suffering and thereby preserves the dignity of a person right till the last.
Aruna Shanbaug case is an exceptional one and the court has given the right verdict in this case.

Everyone should be a winner
Winning and losing are a part of life. They are two sides of the same coin. Winning and losing come in cycles; neither is permanent. Today's victor is tomorrow's or yesterday's loser. And today's loser might well be the champion next year or the next. While we are fully aware of this, we continue to crave for victory and live in dread of losing, although we know in our heart of hearts that one is invariably followed, with the passage of time, by the other.
The human mind exults when it can do something better than the other person or other team. And sometimes it becomes difficult to conclude whether our win or their loss causes greater satisfaction. Just as victory brings extreme emotions, so does defeat. How often we have seen that today's heroes become tomorrow's non-heroes or villains? Today's idols are smashed tomorrow, when they fail to perform. Such is the price of celebrity status; such is the price of victory.
What about the loser? We owe a great deal to the loser, for without a loser, there cannot be a winner. Let the winner have respect for the loser, for without the loser, the winner too disappears.
When someone loses, there are enough people to ridicule, criticize and berate the losing team members. But these critics don't realize that the losers are already getting together and planning their next move, their comeback, so that they can regain their lost glory. It is only a matter of time before the tables are turned, before the tide is reversed, and the winner is on the losing side. .
Is it possible to play without having losers and winners? Because if we are going to win at someone else's cost, it is only a partial victory. For a total or absolute victory, everyone should be a winner. This is something that we should ponder about.

India's Libya decision is wrong
Did India do the right thing in abstaining from the vote on UN Resolution 1973 on Libya? No! India should have voted for the no-fly zone and for the authorization to use all means, short of occupation, to protect the Libyan people for three main reasons.
The first is that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is busy killing defenseless people, and India should have supported what is a morally proper move to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
The second reason is that since the Arab League and Muslim opinion in many places were behind 1973, India, as a member of the UN Security Council for the next two years, would have earned the understanding, if not gratitude, of these countries by voting for the resolution.
The third reason is that India would have done well strategically. New Delhi would have been regarded as a power player, as a 'constructive' member of the global community, and would have built bridges to the US and other western powers. This would have strengthened India's case for permanent membership of the Security Council.
Voting in favour of the resolution would have been right on moral, political and strategic grounds. Clearly, Gaddafi's men are killing ordinary unarmed citizens as well as those who might be lightly armed. After putting an end to Gaddafi the opposition in Libya is bound to be democratic and respectful of human rights. The groups fighting Gaddafi are drawn from diverse clans and tribes but the common aspect about them is they all believe in democracy. Once Gaddafi is gone they will live in peace with each other. Bad as Gaddafi is, intervention would leave Libyans happier.
Intervention by largely Western forces will mean modernization of Libya after Gaddafi is gone. The Libyans who are rebelling against Gaddafi are liberal modernizers and they are pro-western simply because of their liberalism.
India should have supported intervention on humanitarian grounds and this move would prove extremely beneficial for India in the future. That India has made a wrong move will become clear in the months and years ahead.


What's wrong with the book?Joseph Lelyveld's book, Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India, has become controversial. Indian politicians are not happy about the book's purported description of Gandhi's years in South Africa during the early 20th century, particularly that part of the volume carrying letters between Gandhi and his German friend, Hermann Kallenbach. The Centre is outraged enough to consider a ban. Modi has actually banned the book in Gujarat. Maharashtra is close to following suit.
Is the outrage based on misunderstandings? The author talks about Gandhi's letter to Kallenbach which is intimate in a typically Victorian manner, mentioning bodies, lust and slavery and this can tend to give a wrong idea to an average reader. In the book, it appears as if Lelyveld is referring to Gandhi as 'bisexual'. Even the remarks about indigenous Africans attributed to Gandhi shows as if Lelyveld's is referring to Gandhi as 'racist'. The author says that he didn't mean that. But our politicians are not listening. So it is clear that Gandhi's followers are provoked by 'racism' charge and sexuality angle. The book is accused of consisting of perverse writing which has hurt the sentiments of those with capacity for sane and logical thinking.
But defenders of the book say that an average Indian readers are intelligent and mature enough to make up their own minds about what offends or doesn't. They say that there is no need to burn, bury or ban books to convince them. Such politics will fail to project our country as one with a mature democracy that upholds freedom of expression.
Gandhi himself has chronicled his trials with "truth" in detail, leaving diaries and letters for future generations to read and interpret for themselves. These writings themselves prove as to how complex a personality was Gandhi.
We have seen intolerance of views with regard to other icons as well. Evidently, the more India marches ahead, the more illiberal its politicians seem to get.

Today belongs to the corruptForget your BAs, MAs and PhDs - Bribery is the criterion of qualification. Today if you're not corrupt then you're totally uneducated and useless fellow. Today a worth of a person is decided by how much bribe he or she gets. More bribe you get, more qualified you are for the topmost job. That's how the things stand today.
In the past people used to proudly put BA or B Sc or B Com after their names to indicate that they are graduates in Arts, Sciences or Commerce. Today, the only degree that matters is the one issued not by a university of education but by the university of corruption. What counts is not whether you're a BA, or an MA, or a PhD. All that counts is whether you know the art of corruption and if you know it then how well do you know it.
In days gone by, if you sported a BA, or an MSc or a PhD, people knew that you were qualified in a particular academic discipline and evaluated your worth to society accordingly. A BA would look down on a mere Matric-pass, an MA look down on both, and a PhD look down on the whole lot. Today, it's the turn of the Masters in corruption to look down on those who are BA or M Sc or PhD. The acid test today is: are you qualified enough ever to have received a bribe? If not, you're a total failure in the school of corruption, which is another word for the school of life in 21st century India.
Receipt of a bribe - no matter how small - indicates that someone, somewhere, has deemed you to be important enough to be given a ghoos in return for a favour or service which is in your power to render to the briber. Once you've passed the bribe test you're qualified and termed as a success.
The honest people, even though they are highly educated, are considered as uneducated and useless since they just don't know how to be corrupt. They can't stoop down to the level where they can accept bribe whether big or small.
Today the qualified people are the corrupt politicians, babus, defence personnel, judges, even the cop on the beat receiving his regular hafta from truck drivers and roadside chaiwallas.
Desperate situations call for desperate remedies. Corruption is become the most serious ailment the Indian society is suffering from today and if something drastic is not done in this direction at the earliest, then God alone knows as to where our country will find itself in a few years

Dinesh Kamath's Editorials ("The past and present Hollywood' and other editorials) that appeared in Newsband

The past and present HollywoodThe world can never forget Elizabeth Taylor. She was the most glamorous person. She belonged to the topmost league of Hollywood actors. Between 1940 and 1970 Hollywood boasted of possessing extraordinary actresses and Elizabeth Taylor was one of those actresses. She could be loud. She could understate. She could be ironic, romantic or tragic. She looked great with sunglasses and pearls, parasols and cigarette holders. She had a style of her own. She was the favourite of all the film gossip columnists.
Elizabeth Taylor had terrific contemporaries. There was Katharine Hepburn whose cheekbones and intelligence became legend. There was Viven Leigh, famed for her pert beauty and a mouth that smiled sweetly while making tart remarks. Liz Taylor herself chose roles which were as gutsy as her looks. Then there was Audrey Hepburn whose charm was ethereal. There was Gracy Kelly who was another beauty. Marilyn Monroe was a blonde who broke the brunette hegemony.
All these ladies had looks as well as talents. Their careers took off with America's post-war boom. They had an extraordinary variety of roles, often based on novels, plays and legends. There was Leigh as Blanche DuBois in Tennessee William's disturbing work A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Taylor as Maggie in Williams's Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958) and Audrey Hepburn as the conflicted escort girl Holly Golightly in an adaptation of Truman Capote's novel Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). Such scripts offered strong female parts, featuring heroines simultaneously calculating and charming, selfish and sweet, unsure and confident. Their style of acting endeared them to audiences. They were in demand. There were large studios making films which stoked their public personas and kept the box office buzzing.
Things changed in 1970s. Film business became like a corporate. The film makers couldn't tolerate eccentric stars and massive budgets. Scripts changed. America entered a phase of intensive warring, action movies exploded, placing the spotlight firmly on muscular male protagonists. The above divas were replaced by a bunch of fresh-faced younger actresses who played the roles of 'everyday' women you might pass in the street, not stop to stare at. The female protagonists were no more shown as calculating creatures, sizing up men over the rim of their cocktails, often ethically shaky. The heroines were now depicted as professionals or home-makers and they were pictures of goodness.
Thus there was a great difference between Hollywood during Liz Taylor's heydays and Hollywood as it is now.


English language is not the property of Indian Catholics
English language is the property of not all but few of the Catholics in the World. English language belongs to the British and Americans only. These two countries are the genuine owners of English language. But there are many Indian Catholics who pretend or rather fool the Indians into believing that English language is their property. In fact, there is hardly any Indian Catholic family whose mother tongue is English. Almost all the Catholic families in India have some Indian language other than English as their mother tongue. But English is certainly not their mother tongue. Probably only a negligible number of Anglo-Indian families existing in India can boast of possessing English language as their mother tongue.
English language was introduced to the Indians by the British when they had colonized India. There were many members of all the communities in India, whether they were Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Parsees, Sindhis or Catholics, who picked up the English language during the reign of British in India.
After the British left the shores of India, English continued to be taught to more and more Indians by not just the Indian Catholics but also by Anglicized Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Sindhis, Parsees, etc. There were foreign missionaries who established convent schools in many places in India. These missionaries employed in their schools both Catholics and non-Catholics English teachers to impart education in English to all the Indians whether they were Catholics or non-Catholics. These convent schools sprung up at places wherever there were churches. But in India, it was not just convent schools which were imparting English education. In fact, many non-Catholic anglicized Indians too built schools that imparted English education.
Today we find that side by side with convent schools there is a big number of non-convent English schools too flourishing in India. We find that English education is not just imparted by Catholics teachers but also by a huge number of non-Catholic teachers.
Hence this practice of associating English language with Indian Catholics should be stopped simply because it is not true that Indian Catholics are the owners of English language. They certainly are not. The anglicized people from all the Indian communities deserve the credit for borrowing English language from the British and spreading it to a huge number of Indians belonging to all the Indian communities.

It's tough to be a parent todayOne more child went through the macabre ritual of reaching up to attach a rope to a ceiling fan, tying a slip knot, putting her neck into it and kicking away the stool. How did the girl know the method of committing suicide and how did she gather the courage to do it?
Eleven year old Sayoni Chatterjee's suicide reminded many of Neha Sawant, also 11, and Sushant Patil, 12, who also had hanged themselves. The death of a young child is unbearable and you feel horrified when the death is by committing suicide. Then we get the news of a mother who gave the fatal push to her three year old daughter and six year old son. She pushed them out one by one from the 19th floor before taking the final leap herself. Horrible!
Shampa Chatterjee, the mother of Sayoni, had chanced upon her daughter's 'personal diary' heaving with her outpourings about a boy in her class, and did what many a similarly enraged parent would automatically do. She first confronted the child, and then marched off in high indignation to the school. A petrified Sayoni pleaded with her not to take the matter to the principal. But the mother was unmoved. She waited to see the headmistress, and when she returned home, she came upon the terrible sight.
You can't blame Sayoni's mother for this incident. She didn't overreact to the diary. It was natural for her to feel provoked. Any other parent too would have reacted in blind rage to a similar discovery. Mrs Chatterjee had displayed only the 'normal' paranoia you can sense in every mother of a young daughter today. She only meant to protect her daughter and prevent her from being treated in a similar manner again. Just her one protecting act turned out to be the cause of the death of her child.
Children today become mature at a very young age. It is high time all the parents became aware of this fact. Parents who take their children lightly might have to pay for it the way it happened with Shampa Chatterjee. This incident proves as to how tough it is to be a parent in today's world. It's not enough to just give birth to a child. You have to know the modern methods of childcare too.



Who cares for non-human deaths?We have a moral consensus on the essentially scandalous nature of death by accident or intent. We kill in order to defend country, community, even ideology. Suicide-bombers become breaking news and wars give birth to award-winning films. Evil makes man kill; the good in him makes prime time and high art out of it. Many of us are we voracious consumers of disaster stories, like the tragic one coming out of quake-hit Japan. Man's undoing at human hands or by nature's fury works as moral recompense for his own aggression. Of course, the victims of violence must necessarily be human to move us.
What about non-humans? Man however sheds non-human blood on a huge scale. In calamities, natural or manmade, non-human deaths are deemed a trifle unless at our economic cost. When tsunamis strike or cities are bombed, we assess depletion of 'livestock' or 'fish stocks'. Who cares that animals and birds also perish in floods and forest fires, zoo animals starve in war-ravaged towns, and marine life chokes in oil spills and fishing's overkill?
Violence against non-human species is global in scope, colossal in cruelty. Canada's seal hunts are brutal. Japan's slaughter of near-extinct whales, bluefin tuna and dolphins is horrible. Chinese bear bile, food and fur farms provoke outrage; so does "canned hunting" of captive lions and tigers from the US to South Africa. Dogfights are a blood sport in Mexico. Spain's conservative politicians want bullfighting declared world heritage. And everywhere, every year, billions of living beings perish in meat-producing plants, experimentation labs, aquaculture...The scandal sits easy on civilised consciences.
Hog factory sows are 'farmed' as breeding machines till they burn out. Mutilated lab chimps are caged entire lives. Salmon turn cannibals when bred in polluted, overcrowded ponds.
These slaughterhouses, labs, fur farms, etc, should be kept out of sight since civilized humans can't tolerate them. Thus silence reigns over the terrorization of non-human species everywhere on Earth.


We should learn from Japan Many are dead, injured or missing following the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan. But there is no information on damage to other life forms.
The pressure and force caused by tsunamis and earthquakes could destroy coral reefs, fish populations, mangroves and other aquatic life. Natural disasters could be devastating not just for people but also for non-humans. What happened in Japan ought to concern us. As human beings we are not divorced from the ecosystems in which we live. No human can survive without an ecosystem to cater to his needs.
One feels shocked to see the images of devastation and suffering streaming out of Japan. The damage in terms of human lives has been shocking. This was the worst earthquake in Japan's recorded history, followed by a tsunami originating close to Japanese shores that was even more devastating.
But the credit must go to successive Japanese administrations and to civil society itself for keeping the damage to a limit. The Japanese have drawn their lessons from the past disasters. They have the most sophisticated earthquake early warning systems to an extensive tsunami warning sensor network; from building codes that keep such exigencies in mind to thorough disaster management plans at every administrative level. Yet the scale of the tragedy is colossal and Japan badly needs the support of rest of the world. India too should help in whatever capacity it can.
India must also learn a lesson from Japan. The Indian subcontinent is prone to dangerous earthquakes with five having taken place in the past two decades. A survey indicates that a big part of the country is at some risk of experiencing an earthquake, and several major metropolitan centres fall in high-risk zones. The World Health Organisation has rated India's disaster preparedness fairly well, but there is a difference between adequate policies and effective implementation. For instance, very few institutions here offer any training in earthquake engineering or integrate it with civil engineering.
Development of better building codes, strict enforcement of existing ones, creation of disaster management plans and response bodies from the local level to the central, streamlining of the relevant administrative machinery with funding and jurisdiction clearly demarcated - these are all measures the government must take, and soon. A thorough safety audit must be conducted of Indian nuclear plants - to test whether they can withstand the severest possible earthquakes.
We have to take all these measures as a kind of precaution