Oct 13 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Q&A - `I don't visit temples - i worship children, true faces of God'





Kailash Satyarthi has won 2014's Nobel peace prize with Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai.Speaking with Nalin Mehta, Satyarthi discussed his spiritual motivation, his mother's fears, his expectations from PM Modi ­ and how he was almost murdered by Pakistani soldiers:Congratulations on this honour ­ but in India, do we only recognise people after they're honoured overseas?
Well, when i gave up my engineering career, my mother was crying because she'd spent a lot of money and had high expectations. My father died early and she was frightened about my future ­ i told her, one day you will be proud of me.
Pride, honours and awards don't matter much to me personally. I am not a saint but i'm driven by spiritualism, not political theories or mere emotions.
Please explain your spiri tualism?
I am not a religious person.I've not gone to a temple or mosque in the last 40 years. I don't worship in temples because i worship children ­ by giving them freedom and childhood. They are the true faces of God and that is my strength.
When i started talking about the rights of children in 1981, the UN convention on children's rights hadn't yet been born. The notion of child rights came only in 1989. Perhaps the Nobel Committee researched all those things and asked, who is this crazy guy who could see the future?

Some suggest child labour can't be eradicated without eradicating poverty ­ your view?
People say poverty creates and perpetuates child labour. This is a half truth.
The full truth is ­ child labour creates and perpetuates poverty . If you allow child labour, you allow poverty and illiteracy to continue.
How supportive has the government government been of your efforts?
This is a new government, so let's see, but we expect a great deal. I requested the PM on the very first day , saying now that a tea boy has become India's PM, it is his turn to ensure no child becomes a child labourer.
Every child cannot become PM ­ but every child can attend school and get a good education.
How will you spend the Nobel prize money?
I don't know. Such decisions are taken by an elected group of children in my organisa tion. In a Bal Mahapan ion. In a Bal Mahapan chayat, children from 400 villages will meet and decide democratically what we should do with this money ­ but every single penny will be spent on the mission to end child la bour and child slavery.

What did you say to Malala Yousafzai when you both spoke?
I invited her to join a new `Peace for Children' initiative.Let every child live in peace, in my country, in Pakistan and everywhere in the world. Children shouldn't be compelled to grow up amidst war and conflict. Let's begin with India and Pakistan.
She thought it was a brilliant idea but she has her own constraints and cannot go to Pakistan. We'll talk again. I have a lot of respect for her.
She wasn't even born when i helped start Pakistan's antichild labour movement, when Pakistan's army wanted to kill me outside Lahore in 1987. I was addressing brick-kiln workers there when soldiers came and put a dozen guns on my head.
I smiled and said, please kill me but only after 10-15 minutes when i've finished talking to these people.

Oct 13 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Food chain evolving due to Ridge ecology





Vultures, which had practically become extinct in and around Delhi over the past couple of decades, are slowly making a comeback.This year, there have been three sightings of the primary or nominate species of the en dangered Egyptian vulture, a migratory bird for which there is no prior record of sighting near the city.While this comes as good news, the irony is that the primary reason attributed to their return by birders is the easy availability of carcasses. The largest flock of birds seen this year has been at Bhatti mines where a couple of roads divide the forest between Haryana and Delhi. In the absence of a corridor, animals using the road to cross from one side to the other are frequently hit by cars, providing ready food for the birds.
The Neophron percnopterus percnopterus, or the nominate species of the Egyptian vulture, with a dark grey bill, breeds in temperate regions and migrates to the south each year. In March, it was spotted in Dighal in Haryana, followed by two sightings in September, one of a single bird in Ghazipur and a flock of over 20 at Bhatti mines. Surya Prakash, a Delhi birder who was among the few to spot the Bhatti mines flock of Egyptian vultures, says it was a mixed flock that had juveniles and sub-adults. “The bird has been mentioned in Bill Harvey's Atlas of Delhi birds as a rare migrant that can be seen between September and March but of all the records that I checked from the Delhi Birds group and the Oriental Databank on birds, I have only found two other sightings, both of which have taken place this year,“ he said.
The sub-species of the vulture, the yellow beaked Neophron percnopterus gingineanus, are a more common sight in and around Delhi. It is smaller than the grey billed vulture and can be differentiated by the colour of the beak. The third sub-species of the Egyptian vulture has not been re ported from India.
Experts say that the development of Bhatti Mines as a classic example of the Ridge eco-system and the presence of a massive waterbody has seen the evolution of the complete food chain in the region, including presence of scavengers and carnivores like the leopard, jackals and the striped hyena. The vultures too seem to have found the region a suitable habitat.
“We have records of neelgais and other animals being killed in road accidents around Bhatti Mines, providing easy food for scavengers. Thisis a classic case of animals coming in conflict with humans. For them the Ridge is one forest and they cannot distinguish between Delhi and Haryana borders. It is essential to have a dedicated corridor for the animals and also supplementary feeding stations for vultures in Asola and Bhatti,“ said Prakash.

TISS partners with GKD for vocational school

Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and GKD Institute for Technological Resources have partnered to launch the School of Vocational Education in Industrial Tool Manufacturing in Coimbatore.

TISS plans to spread the school to a pan-India level. It has identified more than 20 verticals, including vocational courses in travel and tourism, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, industrial safety, industrial tool manufacturing, dialysis technology and printing for starting vocational training schools.

Speaking about the motivation behing opening the vocational school, Neela Dabir, Deputy Director, TISS, said, “Our vision is to create an ecosystem that would bring back the dignity of labour for blue collar streams of work and create sustainable sources of income for the marginalised youths in the country. It is an initiative of the Union Ministry of HRD. TISS is the nodal point to implement the initiative.”

She said ‘the system involves four different entities – TISS School of Vocational Education, Vertical Anchors, Hubs and Skill Knowledge Partners. While the SVE team has overall control over the process, the vertical anchors design the courses (may also have their own hubs), and the hubs act as implementation partners’. Women participation

The training programme is structured to facilitate vertical movement of the organised and unorganised work force, she said and pointed out that it facilitated participation of women, children and other vulnerable groups as well.

Designed with a vision to improve the lives of disadvantaged and marginalised youth, especially those excluded by the formal school education system, TISS – SVE has enrolled nearly 400 students in various programmes, Dabir said.

- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/10/tiss-partners-with-gkd-for-vocational-school/#sthash.3fwOhfiI.dpuf

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You stop growing when you stop learning: CTS Vice Chairman

In today’s competitive atmosphere students should come out with new thoughts and ideas; this can be generated only through constant learning. The student community should think big and have the confidence to accomplish their goals, speakers at “Techno Dhin” said on Friday.

Speaking at the programme organised by the Oxford Engineering College here, Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice Chairman, Cognizant Technology Solutions, laid emphasis on constant learning. “If you stop learning you stop growing and become obsolete”, he said addressing the engineering students of the institution. New thoughts and ideas would generate only through constant learning, he said adding that people who excelled had learnt every day. He exhorted the students to give their best and excel in their career path.

Ms.Hema Gopal, Vice President, Tata Consultancy Services, Chennai, said discipline was the key to success. Irrespective of the medium of instruction, students should think big and constantly upgrade themselves to excel in their career, she said. She called upon the students to be strong in their fundamentals, learn beyond their academics, and improve their analytical abilities. Chairman and managing trustee of the college M.Subramaniam, spoke.

Narendra Modi launches 'Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana'

If nearly 800 MPs develop three villages each by 2019, around 2500 villages will be developed, he says

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the ‘Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana’, an ambitious village development project under which each MP will take the responsibility of developing physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages by 2019.

Speaking at the launch in New Delhi Mr. Modi said, under the scheme it is envisaged that under the leadership and through the efforts of Members of Parliament, one village would be developed by each MP by 2016.

He said on the basis of the model created by this experience, it is envisaged that two more villages would be developed by each MP by 2019 and that one village will be developed every year.

“We are nearly 800 MPs. If before 2019 we develop three villages each, we reach nearly 2,500 villages. If in the light of this scheme, the states also create a similar scheme for MLAs, then 6-7000 more villages can be added,” Mr. Modi said.

The Prime Minister also said that if one village is developed in a block, it is also likely to have a “viral” effect and development would permeate other villages also.

Speaking about the scheme, Mr. Modi said that there is flexibility and an MP is free to choose any village. The only condition is that it should not be his own village or that of his in-laws.

“I also have to choose a village in Varanasi,” Mr. Modi said and added that he would go there, discuss and choose a village.

He said that till now the model of development being followed in the country has largely been supply driven.

“In Delhi, Lucknow or Gandhinagar, a scheme is prepared and then an attempt is made to inject it everywhere. Through this ‘Adarsh Gram’ (scheme), we want to shift from supply driven to demand driven model,” he said.

He also said that atmosphere should be created where every person is proud of his or her village.

Keywords: MP village scheme, Narendra Modi, Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana

Oct 11 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Satyarthi braved bullets to save kids

Swati Mathur

Lucknow





As an engineering student in Vidhisha, Kailash Satyarthi once came across a cobbler, whose son, who was less than 10 years' old, was helping him instead of going to school. Satyarthi asked why .The response was unassuming: “We're poor. Extra hands mean extra money .“Satyarthi, then 26, walked away unable to help, but convinced there was need for an initiative to rescue poor children being exploited for financial gains.Education, he thought, would be their road to emancipation. That led to the birth of Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) in 1980.
Satyarthi started BBA to rescue children from bondage. In 34 years, the organization has conducted thousands of raids, reintegrating rescued children into society, ensuring they get an education. In states like Haryana, he led rescue missions for kids and families of bonded labourers in mining and manufacturing, braving murderous attacks.
He gave up a career in electrical engineering. For a while before launching BBA, he was a professor in Bhopal. Then he moved to Delhi and began his advocacy against child labour.
Scaling up BBA's work wasn't easy . Though the yearning for freedom existed in every family or child he rescued, Satyarthi -popularly known as bhai saab -faced resistance.
Some of those he wanted to rescue were scared to break free of their shackles, others like the cobbler Satyarthi was too poor to afford sacrificing an extra hand.
BBA continues to operate in Meerut and Lakhimpur districts, adopting nearly 130 villages, convert ing them into child-friendly zones. IPS officer Amitabh Thakur recalls: “I met Satyarthi in June 2004 at Karnailganj, Gonda. He had been beaten up by owners of the Great Roman Circus while attempting to rescue Nepalese girls. He was bleeding profusely . Police pulled him out from a rather precarious situation and helped rescue a dozen girls.“ Thakur was Gonda police chief then.
Satyarthi created the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude (SACCS), a group of more than 750 civil society organizations.In 1994, he launched Goodweave, South Asia's first voluntary labelling and certification system for child labour-free rugs. In 1998, he organised the global march against child labour with more than 50 lakh people in attendance from across the globe. He is member of several other organizations.
For his endeavours in BBA and SACCS, Satyarthi has received global recognition and has been in the Peace Nobel reckoning for nearly five years. He won the US state department's Heroes Acting to End Mod ern Slavery Award, 2007, for creating child-friendly villages. The BBA network runs in nearly 350 villages across 11 states.
Last year, through Satyarthi's initiative in Meerut, 15-year-old Raziya Sultana, a child labourer BBA rescued and rehabilitated, won the UN Special Envoy for Global Education Award.