“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.”
Ashley Smith
“जीवन सौन्दर्य से भरपूर है। इसे देखें। भंवरे को, छोटे बालक को, मुसकुराते चेहरों को देखें। बारिश की खुशबू को सूंघें, और हवा को महसूस करें। जीवन को पूरी तरह जिये, और अपने सपनों की पूर्ति के लिए पूरी कोशिश करें।”
एशले स्मिथ
India ranks 176th in the Global Nature Conservation Index (NCI) 2024, with a score of 45.5 out of 100. This places India among the five worst performers globally, alongside Kiribati, Turkey, Iraq, and Micronesia. The NCI was released on October 24, 2024, and assesses conservation efforts across 180 countries.
The NCI is a new tool that evaluates conservation efforts using four key markers:
Developed by the Goldman Sonnenfeldt School of Sustainability and Climate Change at Ben-Gurion University and BioDB.com, the index aims to provide a clear analysis of each country’s conservation strategies. It helps governments and organizations identify issues and improve their conservation policies.
India’s low ranking is primarily due to poor land management and increasing threats to biodiversity. The country has converted 53% of its land for urban, industrial, and agricultural use. The NCI marks several problems:
Marine conservation is another critical area of concern. Only 0.2% of India’s national waterways are protected. There are no protected areas within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), despite 7.5% of terrestrial land being safeguarded.
India faces threats to its biodiversity:
From 2001 to 2019 lost 23,300 sq. km of tree cover due to deforestation. Although 40% of marine species and 65% of terrestrial species are in Protected Areas, many continue to decline. The index reports that 67.5% of marine species and 46.9% of terrestrial species are experiencing population decreases.
India’s NCI findings align with issues raised in the latest global progress report on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The country struggles with SDG 14 (Life below water) and SDG 15 (Life on land).
The index notes both challenges and opportunities for India’s biodiversity. With one of the highest population densities globally and a population that has doubled since the late 1970s, ecological wealth is under threat. India is also the fourth-largest illegal wildlife trader, with annual sales of around £15 billion. The index calls for stronger enforcement and international cooperation to combat this issue. Strong political will is crucial for effective conservation. This includes passing laws that promote sustainable development and securing funding for environmental initiatives. With commitment and action can address its conservation challenges and work towards a sustainable future.
he Union Ministry of Culture in India is revitalizing the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM). This initiative aims to preserve ancient texts and manuscripts. A new autonomous body, likely named the National Manuscripts Authority, is proposed to enhance these efforts. The NMM currently operates under the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts.
On October 14, an important meeting took place. Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat chaired the session. Experts from various fields attended, including linguists and scholars. They discussed the future of the NMM and its accomplishments since its inception in 2003.
The NMM has made notable progress. It has compiled metadata for 5.2 million manuscripts. Additionally, over 300,000 titles have been digitized. However, only one-third of these digitized works are accessible online. This limited access raises concerns about the visibility of India’s rich manuscript heritage.
Experts brought into light issues with the digitized metadata. There are discrepancies between the data and the actual manuscripts. Efforts are underway to correct these mismatches. A senior NMM official revealed that out of 130,000 uploaded manuscripts, only 70,000 are viewable. The lack of an access policy discourages private owners from sharing their manuscripts.
About 80% of manuscripts in India are privately owned. This presents a challenge for preservation efforts. Many private owners lack incentives to make their manuscripts accessible. Financial support and registration assistance for these owners could enhance preservation.
Over the past 21 years, the NMM has conserved 90 million folios. This includes both preventive and curative conservation strategies. The goal is to ensure the longevity of these valuable texts for future generations.
The meeting outlined a roadmap for the NMM’s future. One suggestion was to establish academic chairs in universities abroad. These chairs would focus on ancient Indian studies and strengthen ties with the NMM. Collaboration between international institutions and the NMM can enhance global awareness of India’s manuscript heritage.
There were discussions on the need for legal expertise within the NMM framework. Intellectual property rights could protect manuscripts and encourage responsible ownership. This could also aid in preventing the sale of manuscripts outside India.
The preservation of non-Brahmi and lesser-known scripts is crucial. Mr. Singh emphasized the importance of collating information on these scripts. This initiative would ensure that all aspects of India’s manuscript heritage are recognized and preserved.
The revival of the NMM and the establishment of a National Manuscripts Authority signify a renewed commitment to preserving India’s ancient texts. The future of India’s manuscript heritage looks promising through collaboration, financial support, and legal frameworks.
India ranks 79 out of 142 countries in the 2024 Rule of Law Index published by the World Justice Project. This ranking reflects the current state of governance, fundamental rights, and the business environment in India.
India’s performance on governance indicators is mixed. It ranks 60th in constraints on government powers and 44th in open government. These scores indicate some progress in governance frameworks. However, they also highlight lapses and a lack of coordination in efforts to improve governance.
India’s score in the protection of fundamental rights is concerning. It ranks 102nd out of 142 countries. This poor performance suggests ongoing issues with the enforcement and respect for citizens’ rights.
In terms of order and security ranks 98th. This low ranking points to challenges in maintaining public safety and effective law enforcement. The effectiveness of policing systems is questioned, impacting citizens’ trust in security agencies.
India’s criminal justice system is rated 82nd. The system is often slow and inefficient, leading to delays in justice delivery. This inefficiency contributes to a lack of public confidence in the legal framework.
India’s rank also reflects a poor business climate. It scores 97th in the absence of corruption, 78th in regulatory enforcement, and 107th in civil justice delivery. These factors are critical for attracting investment and nurturing businesses.
In comparison, Singapore ranks 3rd for both the absence of corruption and regulatory enforcement, and 8th in civil justice delivery. This stark contrast marks the challenges India faces in creating a conducive business environment.
Within South Asia ranks third, following Nepal (69) and Sri Lanka (75). Bangladesh (127), Pakistan (129), and Afghanistan (140) rank lower. This positioning indicates that India is performing better than some of its regional counterparts, yet still faces challenges.
Repeated efforts to stop child marriages in India have still not borne fruit. Policies and laws, social awareness programmes and administrative intervention have not worked. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has suggested that around 11 lakh minors were married off in 2023-24 — and 2024 is not over yet. Against this backdrop, the Supreme Court has provided strict guidelines to prevent child marriage to states and Union territories. Apart from ordering that every district should have a child marriage prevention officer, the court also tasked police officers and collectors to intervene whenever they received a message that a minor marriage was about to take place, even if it were just a suspicion. Judicial magistrates, too, would have to be alert, especially on so-called auspicious days when mass weddings took place; these were the ideal sites for minor marriages. Anyone conducting, promoting or blessing a child marriage would be prosecuted as would be any government official who did not prevent a minor marriage even after knowing it was taking place or who was present on the occasion.
The Supreme Court’s guidelines are detailed and clear; the question is whether all the officers made responsible would do their duty. Some systems, not so meticulous, had existed. So the failure of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 cannot be explained except by acknowledging deeply embedded cultural beliefs and practices. West Bengal, in spite of its incentives against child marriage, has one of the highest rates of minor marriage, with three of its districts, a recent survey has revealed, showing the highest prevalence of early marriage. Child marriage is considered a good thing, especially in rural areas, but economic reasons are as strong nowadays. Dowry and, in the poorest families, the extra mouth to feed, become burdens. There is also a real fear among working parents of having to leave a growing girl unattended. A child activist has suggested that free education be continued until graduation and the age for labour be raised from 14 to 18. These would aid the prevention efforts from the flank. The Supreme Court, however, has not said whether the PCMA should override personal laws, since an amendment to the PCMA to this effect is awaiting Parliament’s decision. It is to be hoped that this amendment would apply to the personal laws of all communities and not be selective. Otherwise the point of prevention would be lost.
Source: The Telegraph, 25/10/24
True gentleman
It took seven requests before I finally got my first interview with Ratan Tata in November 2006, thanks to Kamal Nath, then the minister for commerce and industry. The relaxed interview took place in the company headquarters in Bombay House. Dressed in an immaculately tailored grey suit with a dark blue tie, Tata resembled an old-school English gent, unflashy and understated. He explained why he wanted to build a small car in West Bengal and trusted its chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. He wanted to design a people’s car because he had seen a family perched precariously on a scooter on “a dark, rainy, slippery night”.
Tata came across as a man determined to live below his means. “I couldn’t say I’m wealthy but I am certainly well off enough and I have no desire to show off. I’ve always had a view that 90% of the people really respect the position you hold, and that can be intoxicating. The best way is to continue to be as ordinary a person as you can, wait in lines, drive your own car. I enjoy anonymity. When you’re in London, no one bothers you.” His one luxury weakness, Tata confided, was his Falcon jet: “My greatest indulgence outside work is flying. I love flying and I continue to be a certified pilot. I fly every chance I get.” Tata revealed that he loved one corner of England which was forever Parsi. “It’s really an eye opener to go to Brookwood cemetery (in Surrey) which is full of wealthy Parsis who are buried there, people you read about in books.” Journalistically, as always, I missed the real story — that he was planning to make bids for British Steel and Jaguar Land Rover.
Let there be light
In the run-up to Diwali, the artist, Chila Burman, lit up Leicester Square in London with eight of her neon installations that include depictions of Lakshmi, Ganesh and an Indian Barbie doll in a saree. Burman expressed delight that a statue of William Shakespeare, leaning against a pile of books, was looking down on her: “Shakespeare says [in Twelfth Night], ‘There is no darkness but ignorance.’ And my installation is called, There Is No Darkness In The Garden of Light. It’s visual poetry. It’s great honour to be here.”
Diwali is now very much part of British life. At Labour Indians’ Diwali party, held last week in the colourfully-decorated, Taj-owned St James’ Court Hotel in London, the work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendal, used the occasion to emphasise the importance of the British Indian community and UK-India relations: “It was a very clear part of our manifesto that we want to build a new strategic relationship with India, India being the second largest investor in the UK.”
But the Diwali party with a difference was the one held by the global consultancy firm Grant Thornton in The Long Room at Lord’s cricket ground. As for Durga Puja, there are about a hundred celebrated across Britain. Attending the one organised by Prabashi in Hounslow Central in west London brought back childhood memories.
Mysterious universe
Last week, the physicist, Sir Tejinder Virdee, who was born into a Sikh family in Kenya and came to Britain at the age of 15, was given the Royal Medal, a high honour, by the Royal Society. It was “for extraordinary leadership and profound impact on all phases of the monumental CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, including the crucial discovery of the Higgs Boson through its decays to two photons”.The Higgs Boson takes its name from the British theoretical physicist, Peter Higgs, and the Indian legend, Satyendra Nath Bose, who had collaborated with Albert Einstein.
Virdee has lived in Geneva for over 30 years but remains a professor of physics at Imperial College London. He has been working on “the new physics”, which will take science beyond Newton and Einstein and perhaps give mankind a fuller understanding of how the universe was created billions of years ago.
Destination in demand
Other chief ministers should perhaps follow the example of Rajasthan’s Bhajanlal Sharma, who led a delegation to London last week to lobby for investment in his state and to invite British entrepreneurs to attend the Rising Rajasthan Global Investment Summit in Jaipur in December. But he began on a lighter note by talking about destination weddings. He said someone in South Korea had told him there was now a three-year wait for suitable wedding locations in Rajasthan. He joked that as chief minister, he could “reduce the waiting time only to 18 months”.
When Gopi Hinduja’s eldest son, Sanjay, married Anusuya Mahtani in Udaipur in 2005, the likes of Jennifer Lopez performed on stage. And the actress, Elizabeth Hurley, sold the picture rights to Hello! magazine when she married the businessman, Arun Nayar, in Jodhpur Palace in 2007. Even Nayar’s father was ejected from the premises when he was spotted with a camera in case he spoilt her exclusive deal.
Amit Roy
Source: The Telegraph; 26/10/24
Indian children are not keeping well. The recently released Global Hunger Index threw up grave data about child wasting (18.7%), child stunting (35.5%) and the prevalence of undernourishment (13.7%) among Indian children. This has now been followed by a study by the World Health Organization that has pinpointed a probable cause for this: some 77% of infants in India, aged between 6-23 months, do not receive the Minimum Dietary Diversity — a mixture of at least five out of the eight recommended food groups, including breast milk, grains, roots and tubers, legumes and nuts, dairy products, flesh foods, eggs, vitamin A-rich fruits or vegetables and other fruits and vegetables — that is required for healthy growth. Lest the Indian government dismiss this data as foreign mischief, it is instructive to note that as per the latest National Family Health Survey, 88.5% of the age group failed to meet the dietary diversity standards. This poor-quality diet is one of the most significant barriers to not only children’s survival, growth and development but also their learning abilities.
There are several challenges to ensuring MDD. The most formidable among these is food inflation — the price of pulses has increased by 10% in each of the 12 previous months. A majority of Indians, even non-vegetarians, derive their protein, a key nutrient for growth, from pulses. A report by a group of United Nations organisations has also shown that 55.6% of the Indian population cannot afford a healthy diet. Gender discrimination that adversely affects women is another hurdle. Children suffer on account of the lack of MDD in mothers, which leads to breast milk being inadequately nutritious. Studies also show that the level of education among mothers affects the dietary diversity of children. Girls, unsurprisingly, fare worse in MDD according to the WHO. Government policies on crops, too, leave a mark on MDD — years of disproportionate emphasis on rice and wheat cultivation have had a deleterious impact on the dietary diversity of all Indians, including children. There is also the mistaken belief that packaged food for children — 21% of the food budget in rural areas and 27% in urban areas is spent on this — can fulfil their dietary requirements. Policies related to food security thus need to be broadened to acknowledge the effect of a myriad conditions that leave a mark on children and their diets.
Source: The Telegraph: 30/10/24
“The sun will shine into our yard too.”
Russian proverb
“हमारे आंगन में भी सूरज की धूप अवश्य आएगी।”
रूसी कहावत
What is National Agriculture Code?
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is developing a new set of guidelines called the National Agriculture Code (NAC). This is similar to the existing national codes used for buildings and electrical systems, but specifically for agriculture. The goal is to create a set of standards that can help improve the quality and efficiency of farming practices in India, which currently lack detailed regulations.
The NAC is a plan to create rules and guidelines that will cover various agricultural practices across the country. These guidelines will aim to standardize farming methods to ensure that they are efficient, safe, and of high quality. This is important because, while there are already standards for things like farming machinery, fertilizers, and pesticides, many other areas of farming do not have clear rules.
Although the BIS has already set standards for specific items like machinery and fertilizers, many other parts of farming do not follow a standard process. These areas include:
This lack of clear rules is a problem that policymakers have recognized for a long time. They believe that having a strong framework like the NAC will help make farming more organized and efficient.
The NAC will focus on:
Agricultural Processes: This includes choosing the right crops, preparing the land, planting, watering, and harvesting.
Post-Harvest Operations: Once crops are harvested, the NAC will provide guidelines for things like initial processing, storing the produce, and making sure everything can be traced back to its source.
Input Management: This covers the standards for using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and promoting organic farming.
New Farming Methods: The NAC will also include modern technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) for farming and sustainable farming methods.
The NAC has several main goals:
The BIS is working on drafting the NAC, and the goal is to finish it by October 2025. Once it’s ready, farmers will be trained to understand and apply the new standards in their everyday work.
To help test and promote the NAC, the BIS is also setting up Standardized Agriculture Demonstration Farms (SADF). These farms will be created with the help of major agricultural institutes and will serve as experimental sites. Farmers and others in the agricultural industry will be able to learn hands-on from these farms, where they can see the standardized practices in action and understand how to apply them in their fields.
haratGen is a major new project in generative AI, which is a type of artificial intelligence that can create text, images, or even sound. The goal of BharatGen is to improve public services and increase citizen participation in India using AI. This project was officially launched in New Delhi by Dr. Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister of State. BharatGen is part of India’s efforts to develop its advanced technologies and aims to make India a global leader in AI.
The main purpose of BharatGen is to create AI models that can work with language, speech, and visual information. These models will help solve different social challenges. Some of the key goals include:
Promoting social equality: Making AI accessible to all parts of society.
Preserving cultural heritage: Ensuring that India’s diverse cultures and languages are represented.
Accessibility: Making AI technology available to everyone, especially in different regional languages.
The project is being led by IIT Bombay under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS). It is managed by the TIH Foundation for IoT and IOE, which will work with many top universities and research institutions to develop the project.
BharatGen is special for several reasons:
Multilingual and Multimodal Models: It will focus on developing AI that works across many Indian languages and forms of communication, like text and speech.
Bhartiya Data Set: It will use Indian data to train its AI models, making them more relevant to local needs.
Open-Source: BharatGen will be an open-source platform, meaning its technology will be available to everyone, encouraging collaboration.
AI Ecosystem: The project will support the growth of AI research in India, helping more researchers and developers work on generative AI.
BharatGen is expected to be completed in two years, with key milestones, including developing important AI models, set to be achieved by July 2026.
A unique feature of BharatGen is its focus on data sovereignty, meaning that it will use data collected from India, ensuring that India’s languages, dialects, and cultures are accurately represented. This is especially important for languages with fewer digital resources.
BharatGen is aligned with India’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, which means self-reliant India. The project will help India develop its own AI capabilities, reduce dependence on foreign technology, and build a stronger AI ecosystem that benefits startups, businesses, and government agencies.