Sep 08 2014 : The Times of India (Mumbai)

Mera joota hai Japani

Sagarika Ghose





Love in Tokyo and Seiko watches once dominated the desi imagination

`Mera joota hai Japani, Yeh patloon Inglistani, Sar pe lal topi Russi, Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani...' Who doesn't love this 1955 ditty from the film Shree 420? The Chaplinesque vagabond Raj Kapoor skipping along the dusty roads of Real India, lip synching to the rollicking innocence of Mukesh's gentle voice, Shankar Jaikishen's music and Shailendra's lyrics, the song became an anthem. It captured India's post-Independence heart and immortalised Kapoor as a tragi-comic symbol of our wide-eyed infant republic.Back then in the Nehruvian 1950s, Japan, Britain and Russia were aspirational role models for a young nation-in-the-making. Memories of the British Empire had still not faded and Communist Russia was Nehru's most favoured role model. But it was Japan which not only captured the national imagination but from the 1950s to the 1980s, also the Indian wallet.
We were Japanese-crazy in those days: a Made in Japan toy or a Seiko watch or a Sony television were seen as markers of social `arrival'. Ah Japan, we sighed admiringly, starstruck by Japanese engineering skills, disciplined society and glorified status as an Asian superpower. Tokyo was the Asian paradise. Bollywood, always a mirror to the times, kicked up its heels to the beat of `Gudiya Japan ki' and `Love in Tokyo', as army wives held Ikebana classes and homemakers gushed over glossy photos of Bonsai in prized new wall calendars.
Then, with the magic of the Middle Kingdom, the Chinese took over. The Deng revolution liberated the Chinese economy, putting China on the fast track to superpower status, as a slumbering giant leapt to its feet. The label `Made in China' replaced `Made in Japan'. But while we admired the Japanese, we feared the Chinese because of a combination of history and geography, and the 1962 Sino-Indian war scarred our memories.
If Japan was the film Love in Tokyo, then China was Haqeeqat, that poignant portrayal of India's military defeat. The trust deficit over the border and Arunachal Pradesh made China our most feared Leviathan next door.
With a more distant Japan, a country we viewed through the prism of Sony and Nissan, we didn't feel the same sense of foreboding even though World War II had drawn the Japanese army into Indian territory . An imperialist Japan did not terrify us the way an expansionist China did. No wonder we happily invited Japanese companies to set up car factories for us, build our roads and bridges, and marvelled every time we crossed a Japanese-made flyover.
Maruti Suzuki came to exemplify Indo-Japanese friendship. That happy little car, gaily painted green or maroon, packed with the extended families of upwardly mobile Bharat, symbolised our more confident dreams. Chinese companies were national security threats; Japanese businesses were partners. A love-lorn Kumar Gaurav wooed Vijeta Pandit in Love Story with the words `Mujhe to yeh gudiya Japani lagti hai'.
Which is why the sight of the Indian prime minister attending a tea ceremony in Kyoto or beating the drums in Tokyo is rather apt. Narendra Modi likes Shinzo Abe and the Japanese because there are many similarities between him and today's Japan: highly nationalist, regimented and controlled. He probably is admiring of the Chinese too, but may just be a little more wary of wielding his chopsticks when he meets Xi Jinping later this month. The Chinese are always inscrutable, the Japanese even in their great success a little more reassuringly Asian.
Modi was just five years old when Shree 420 hit the screens and the film may not have reached sleepy Vadnagar. Yet Modi's visit evokes that older era when Indians aspired to Japani joota and when Japani gudiya was a prized item in pre-liberalisation desi showcases.

Sep 08 2014 : Mirror (Pune)

Child marriage an evil worse than rape, says Delhi court

NEW DELHI PTI





Child brides have a diminished chance of completing education, at higher risk of being physically abused

The complainants in a dowry harassment case were charged with violating the law by a magistrate's court in New Delhi for getting their daughter married when she was only 14.Metropolitan magistrate Shivani Chauhan ordered a case be registered against the girl's parents, calling child marriage “an evil worse than rape“ while holding that giving and taking dowry is punishable under the law.
The court directed the police to register a case under appropriate provisions of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act and under the Dowry Prohibition Act against the parents of the 14-year-old girl as well as her in-laws, against whom a domestic violence case was already registered.
“Child marriage is an evil worst than rape and should be completely eradicated from the society. This would not be possible if the stakeholders like the State fail to take appropriate action against the offenders. The court is not expected to sit as a mute spectator and let the evil perpetrate,“ the magistrate said while directing the DCP (South) to file a status report by October 19.
The court pulled up the girl's parents, saying that they too had committed a “serious offence“. “There are serious outcomes of child marriage. It is the worst form of domestic violence by the respondents (husband and his family) and her parents,“ the court said. The magistrate observed that “child brides have a diminished chance of completing their education and are at a higher risk of being physically abused, contracting HIV and other diseases, and dying while pregnant or giving birth. Luckily, this girl is healthy. But this does not in any way diminish the seriousness of the offence which her own parents, relatives and the husband are alleged to have committed upon her person,“ the court added.
According to the domestic violence complaint filed by the parents, their minor daughter was married on May 5, 2011 and an amount of Rs 3.5 lakh was given to her in-laws at the time of the wedding. They alleged that her husband and in-laws had demanded a car and Rs 50,000 in cash, and beat her up as she couldn't meet the demands.
The girl's in-laws, however, contended that her parents had shown the girl to be a major at the time of the wedding.
The court, while relying on her school leaving certificate, turned down the husband's contention and held that the girl was a minor when she was married.
“There is a school leaving certificate of the child on record and it shows that her date of birth is August 30,1997. The victim was around 14-15 years of age at the time of her marriage with Respondent 1(the husband),“ it said.
Besides registration of an FIR, the court also directed the husband to pay Rs 4,000 as monthly interim maintenance to his estranged wife. The court, in the meantime, allowed both parties to settle the matter amicably as they expressed their desire to bury the hatchet.
“At this stage, both parties jointly pray that there is a possibility of amicable settlement between them and that the matter may be sent to the mediation cell. In the interest of the child, and with a view of providing proper maintenance to the child without the rigmarole of the trial, the matter is referred to mediation centre,“ the court said.

Sep 08 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Panel finds most deemed varsities don't fulfil criteria

Akshaya Mukul

New Delhi





A high-powered committee set up at the behest of the Supreme Court to look into 41 `C' category deemed universities has found that majority of them still do not fulfil the criteria needed to become deemed university .“It is likely that around 10 or so have been found fit to be upgraded to become deemed university . Rest of them can exist as educational institutions affiliated to universities. Basically , classification of `C' category institutions has been done in which a few pass the test of becoming deemed, a few lag behind on certain criteria and others have been found totally unfit,“ a source said, In 2009, the Tandon committee, while reviewing deemed universities, had put 44 of them under the `C' category and declared them unfit to be a university . These institutions went to the Supreme Court and the matter is being heard. In January ,a new committee was set up by UGC to assess `C' grade universities. UGC will discuss the new committee report on September 22 and 23.
Sources said the new committee headed by H Devaraj, vice-chairperson of UGC, after hearing 41 deemed universities extensively in July , raised several questions about the manner in which deemed university status was granted. Since the committee was also asked to examine other reports on deemed universities, namely one set up by UGC in 2009, Tandon Com mittee and Committee of Officers, it found many flaws.
One, how come many institutions got notified as deemed university on certain conditions. “There is no provision for conditional notification in the UGC Act. If some of the deemed universities had conditional status, did UGC or HRD ministry check if conditions were fulfilled after a certain period. Also, how come many of them with conditional status made it to the `A' category (high performing) of Tandon Committee,“ asked a member of the committee.
He also asked how deemed university status was given to one college which brought its sister institutions under its ambit without getting them separately assessed. The new committee also pointed out serious discrepancy in upgrading eight `B' category institutions to `A' category .
The report was written in the last days of August as Amita Sharma, additional secretary in HRD ministry and a member of the committee, was retiring. Sharma is being brought back as advisor in the HRD ministry .

Sep 08 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

India loses more foresters than any other country

Sivakumar B

Chennai:





India loses more forest rangers to poachers and attacks by wild animals each year than any other country. As many as 72 forest rangers were killed in India in the past three years. Other forested countries in Asia, Africa and the Americas lost less than 10 rangers in the same period, according to statistics made available to TOI by International Ranger Federation, a nonprofit organization to raise awareness of the work of park rangers.“We’re extremely concerned that rangers continue to face high levels of violence and are being murdered (by poachers) at an alarming pace,” International Ranger Federation president Sean Willmore said. Nearly 60% of rangers killed are in Asia, said the federation’s report.
India lost 34 rangers in 2012, a year in which the United States, which had the second largest number of forester deaths, lost only six.
India recorded 14 forester deaths in 2013 and 24 in 2014, the largest among all countries for both years.
The Philippines and Congo lost nine forest guards each in 2013, Uganda seven, and Kazakhstan and Chad six each. Kenya has recorded 10 forester deaths this year, Thailand six, and Tanzania three. Wild animals and poachers were responsible for most ranger deaths but some have also been claimed by diseases like dengue and malaria, as well as forest fires and road accidents. India's forest establishment must be the largest in the world,“ Wild life Conservation Society director Ullas Karanth told TOI. “We have thousands of forest officials, guards and rangers. Our tiger reserves are manned by thousands of people employed by state and central forest departments. They come in contact with wild animals while patrolling, so often their job involves putting their lives on the line.“
The country , by demarcating protected areas, has been successful in protecting wild animals from hunters but this has also led to officials coming under attack, he said. Armed poachers at times have no compunctions about gunning down forest rangers, Karanth said.
A report by International Ranger Federation, an organisation that works to spread awareness of the work of park rangers, says 72 forest rangers died in the country in the past three years. Other countries lost 10 rangers or fewer in the same period.
Ecologist AJT Johnsingh says in sanctuaries like Kaziranga in Assam rangers poachers of rhinos frequently attack forest officials who get in their way . “These officials take on poachers, who kill rhinos for their horns, and sometimes get killed,“ he said. “Forest officials are also vulnerable while on the trail of tigers or ele phants,“ Johnsingh added.
Wildlife activist and sports journalist Joseph Hoover says visitors to Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka killed a forest official called Naik two years ago. “Naik refused to give them permission to feed crocodiles meat. After an argument, they attacked him, leaving him in a coma from which he never recovered,“ he said.
“Although the world is slowly awakening to the dangers that forest rangers face, we need to turn this awareness into meaningful action on the ground and make sure that the dangerous work rangers do to protect our valuable wildlife receives the support and respect it deserves,“ Willmore of International Ranger Federation said. “This still remains our challenge.“
The federation has 63 ranger associations from 46 countries as members and collects data about the welfare of the rangers from these associations each year.

Wish You A Very Happy Teachers Day

“Teachers through education encourage young minds to discover their hidden talents and seek their own path. Great teachers build great human beings who build great nation. This Teachers’ Day We would like to thank all the teachers who direct their students along the right path and are the building blocks of our nation.”

HRD to put universities on digital learning track

To bridge the digital divide in the country, Union Human Resource Development ministry will launch University Network Initiative to Enhance Education (UNITE) on Education Day observed on November 11.

According to media reports UNITE envisages that 4.20 lakh classrooms – 20 classrooms in 21,000 colleges would be WiFi-enabled within a year, reaching out to 1.5 crore students. Access will only be for academically relevant websites. Around 600 universities have already been connected with 1Gbps bandwidth and each of these 600 universities will have a full campus WiFi LAN. Over 140 centrally-funded institutions will be WiFi-enabled. Moreover, web-based study portal SWAYAM offering free online courses will be launched on September 25, the birth anniversary of Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. In the first phase, IITs at Mumbai, Chennai & Guwahati, Delhi University, Manipur University, Punjab University and Banaras Hindu University will begin offering courses.

- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/09/hrd-to-put-universities-on-digital-learning-track/#sthash.EWnhPOma.dpuf

ISRO’s Journey to space. Turning Miles into milestones!

In 1963, in the midst of a coconut grove, where a catholic church served as the base center, the first Indian rocket took off from a newly launched station, in a small village called Thumba. 

The American Nike Apache that left the Indian soil vanished in thin air with a glowing tail that was visible from places far afield. 

This modest yet historic launch of India’s first rocket heralded the beginning of a long journey that established India as a space power and a rocket making nation. Over the next few years, India launched more than 350 small rockets with help from countries like US, UK, France, and Russia.

And this year, this great country is about to embark on a Martian milestone with the return of its first interplanetary voyage of the Mars Orbiter Probe. 

However, fifty years ago, the first artificial satellite Sputnik, reached its orbit and overshadowed the take off of a small rocket being fired from southern Kerala. Four years later, this was followed by the race to the Moon that took the first human into space. 

When the space age was at its prime all over the world, an Indian scientist Vikram Ambala Sarabhai perceived the benefits of satellites and space instruments in the development of a poor country. He was convinced about the growth momentum that space research could provide a developing country. So, he shared this vision with his mentor, Homi J. Bhabha who initiated research under the umbrella of Department of Atomic energy. And India had officially entered the space race with the rest of the world. 

India now makes its own satellites and rockets, specialized in weather, earth observation, communication and remote sensing. ISRO's achievements are something Indians should be proud of. Regrettably, ISRO is an occasionally noticed, inadequately celebrated silent engine of daring and change.

Here is a story of change, a story of strength, the story when India performed and the world stood up to applaud! 

On the 22nd day of October, 2001, ISRO's workhorse, the PSLV C3, soared into space. It had onboard, 1108kgs TES (Technology Experiment Satellite) and two fellow passenger satellites, Belgium's PROBA and Germany's BIRD.

This was the perfect launch of a Polar Satellite Vehicle, which the world had ever seen. The indigenously designed TES was successfully transmitting quality images and messages to and fro towards Earth and space. The TES apparatus had the state of art Indian eye in the sky with cameras of 1 meter resolution. 

Just few months before the launch, US denied India access to images from Ikonos satellite. But TES got better quality, high resolution and more than sufficient images soon after PSLV C3 concluded which we incidentally didn’t share. 

Finally PSLV C3 successfully demonstrated space photography technique to the world with panned HD cameras that keep moving on satellites and need their stare to be fixed on the target, on a pivoting axis for utmost precision. 

ISRO has significantly contributed to world development but its contribution to the Indian social and economic development has been immense. It has modernized India and equipped it with latest technology and social facilities. It has come a long way! 

Of course, ISRO’s space adventure has had its share of downfalls and dependence - but this year is a beginning of a series of stunning successes. Take a look!

Click here to enlarge.

September 05, 2014 /Apurva Bhelke