Wednesday, March 04, 2015
Government to promote Northeast Study Center in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)
Government of India has decided to promote Northeast Study Centre in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) as a part of its initiative to obtain a better understanding of the peculiar characteristics of the region through institutionalized research based on evidence and data.
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of Northeastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh said here today, during an interactive seminar held at JNU focusing on the areas and concerns of students from Northeast. Vice Chancellor JNU Prof. S.K. Sopory and other senior faculty members were also present on the occasion.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the picture is not as pessimistic as it is sometimes made out to be. In this context he referred to the figures and stated that many people are not aware of the fact that out of a total strength of over 8000 students in JNU, around 500 belong to Northeast, which accounts for nearly around 6% of the total student population in the campus. On an average, there could be 60 students each from each of the eight Northeastern States studying in JNU. This number is quite remarkable when compared to the students in JNU from other peripheral States like Jammu & Kashmir or Himachal Pradesh.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the students had an advantage of serving as active ambassadors of Northeast in India because at this age, they are endowed with energy, activism and urge to perform. He advised them that after having completed their studies in JNU, they should prefer to go back to Northeast and enrich their native State with the knowledge and academic empowerment obtained from here.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said, it is for the young members of the community, and particularly students, to make an extra effort to highlight all the good work and good contribution being made by the Northeast community living in the Union Capital, so that the media is compelled to project Northeast only for good reasons and never otherwise.
Referring to Prime Minister’s special focus at Northeast, Dr. Jitendra Singh mentioned, the allocation of Rs.2,362 Cr. made in the current budget presented in the Parliament on February 28, 2015 and the announcement to setup a Film Production Institute and an AIIMS both of which will go a long way in providing employment as well as better vocational avenues for youngsters in the Northeast without having to move out to other cities in the country.
Dr. Jitendra Singh called upon the student community from Northeast to feel free to communicate with him and said that after setting-up two hostels in the JNU and the Delhi University South Campus respectively, DoNER Ministry will work on identifying other places also for similar hostels.
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Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)
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The reinvention of Hindutva
he BJP’s transformation of its Hindu nationalist ideology into Hindu populism has allowed the party to further some of its old aims in a new and relatively uncontroversial way
We have recently witnessed a series of populist upsurges: against corruption, for Narendra Modi and good governance, and most recently for the Aam Aadmi Party. From the context of comparatively stable political loyalties and predictable electoral results, we now have elections where a relatively small number of non-committed voters can swing outcomes decisively and reward parties with disproportionate victories. Victorious parties may thus claim a mandate for their programmes based on seat majorities as if these represented popular majorities, though they seldom do. Similarly, party ideology may be modified to appear more widely acceptable. For example, Hindutva, the ideology of the Sangh Parivar, is changing into Hindu populist politics. This is a more fluid but still discernibly majoritarian entity. How it is taking shape, and what its scope and limits are, need to be understood.
Criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as being anti-Muslim has been muted of late because the BJP is supposed to have moved beyond its aggressively Hindu ideology, by adopting a more inclusive and developmentalist stance. In fact, the BJP’s transformation of its Hindu nationalist ideology into Hindu populism has allowed the party to further some of its old aims in a new and relatively uncontroversial way. At the heart of this success is Hindu populism’s claim to be the product of democratic procedure, and to express the will of the majority. But a ruling party without a single Muslim Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, in the second largest Muslim country in the world, is choosing to interpret its majority in a partisan way.
Populism and the media
The term populism refers to a kind of political reasoning where popular mobilisation serves as its own justification. As such, populism can support liberal, revolutionary or even authoritarian forms of government. The political theorist Ernesto Laclau has argued that populism can emerge with a democratic fervour and end up installing dictatorships, as has happened across Latin America. In the U.K., Margaret Thatcher remade the Tories as an authoritarian populist force, winning over Labour Party supporters and refashioning Conservative ideology to have mass appeal. Somewhat similarly, Hindu identity became a means of lower caste assertion, redefined as both aspirational and nationalist. As late as the 1980s, many experts used to dismiss the chances of the BJP based on its tiny vote share at the time, and its more upper caste leadership, but the party has clearly changed.
The party’s populist transformation has been assisted by the explosive growth of the media. The mediated spectacle of the crowd affirms and reinforces the motives for participation, whether in a demonstration or a political rally. For the media industry, today’s spectators will be tomorrow’s consumers; investment in populism seems to make good business sense. Mass gatherings used to raise law and order concerns; today such events present opportunities for astute political strategists.
Until recently a category such as Hindu populism was hard to imagine. But Hindu nationalism has reinvented itself, combining pro-business policies with the rhetoric of lower caste empowerment. Today nationalists can claim that capitalism and democracy are thriving in India.
While this is an important achievement, it is also in part, the result of a Cold War era strategy of the U.S., which saw India as a frontline state in the battle against the Communist threat. The Cold War’s end, as we know, signalled the defeat of Communism. Religion began to become much more influential directly thereafter in many parts of the world. However, U.S. governments had historically tended to regard religion as an ally against “godless communism.” It was also seen as a stabiliser in the unending “transition” to modernity. No surprise then that influential studies conducted regarding the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh by U.S.-based scholars regarded it benignly, as an ascetic form of socialism, as Gandhian volunteerism, or as Hindu revivalism. Their stoking violence as a means of organising Hindus was thus ignored, and the martial character of the organisation was seen as ornamental to essentially pietist tendencies. Violence was ignored because it pertained to local issues, while the optic these scholars brought was shaped by U.S. concerns during this time. Further, Hindu nationalists were reassuringly anti-Communist. They did not appear to pose any threat to U.S. interests.
Beneath this perception was a long-standing assumption that religion could not be politically viable. The post-Enlightenment separation of church from state had led to the belief that religion did not have a place in modern politics. But religion in India has had a different history, and it has unavoidably influenced the shape and direction of modern politics.
Those wishing to promote Hindu identity had a problem that was the reverse of Enlightenment-era Christianity. They first had to assert the existence of a common religion and create the sense of a shared identity that was, at best, weak. For example, Hindus historically did not all share what was supposed to constitute a religion, such as creed, deity, ritual, or text. During the colonial period, however, Hinduism gradually became codified and subject to juridical intervention. It also became a means whereby lower castes claimed public rights they previously did not have. Hindu themes and symbols were important in anti-colonial mobilisation.
The limits of Hindu populism
After a long hiatus, amid the political crises of the late 1980s, Hindu identity began to be used openly again, and yielded electoral dividends in electoral campaigns. It helped win the small but decisive “non-committed vote,” as L.K. Advani called it, boosting the BJP’s share of seats exponentially. Political Hinduism has grown since then, aided by the Congress’s decline. Then how is Hindu politics different from any other religious politics?
In the Hindu tradition, reality is beyond words and the truth has no essence. There is, in fact, no religious doctrine as such to challenge. Hinduism as conjured for the political process today surpasses dialectical materialism; it is the most expansive ‘philosophical system’ conceivable. In such a context, the category of religion presents an opportunity rather than a problem: to be “Hindu” is an artefact of publicity rather than an expression of ancient mores. It is no surprise that Arun Jaitley has stated that Hindu nationalism is an opportunistic issue for the BJP, a “talking point” rather than a core ideology.
The electoral process has sanctioned a new language of political theology for the BJP. In his Madison Square Garden speech in New York, Narendra Modi referred to the people as sovereign and their verdict as divine. He declared: “Janata Jan Janardhan.” But Janardhan is not a secular term for “ruler;” it refers to Lord Krishna. Electoral success provides the supreme redemption in this understanding, negating merely juridical verdicts. It implies divine power in the figure of the elected ruler, who is like the king but sanctified by a formal democratic process.
Political authority is the end towards which this new kind of religious identity is created, applicable across caste groupings that not long ago were excluded, prominently the former Untouchable castes that constitute about a quarter of the population. No previous party has come to power by excluding Muslims so completely. Meanwhile the situation of Muslims has steadily worsened over the last 30 years.
The exclusion of Muslims from political visibility is accompanied by the increasing political visibility of Dalits. The new basis for Hindu unification is the exclusion of Muslims, alongside the formal subsumption of Dalits. The register of exclusion shifts in the process, from untouchability to invisibility. Media expansion enables more coordinated and extensive forms of exclusion than were previously imaginable; political dynamics have both anticipated this development and furthered it. If Hindu populism is to deepen its democratic character, these are issues for it to reckon with.
(Arvind Rajagopal is Professor of Media Studies at New York University.)
High-tech ink could detect blood glucose
Mumbai Mirror Bureau mirrorfeedback TWEET @_MumbaiMirror
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Researchers filled ordinary ball pens with special bio-inks that react with several chemicals including glucose. By simply drawing on the skin the ink can accurately detect blood glucose levels
A new simple tool developed by nanoengineers at the University of Cali fornia, San Diego, is opening the door to an era when anyone will be able to build sensors, anywhere, including physicians in the clinic, patients in their home and soldiers in the field. The team from the University of California, San Diego, developed high-tech bio-inks that react with several chemicals, including glucose. They filled off-the-shelf ballpoint pens with the inks and were able to draw sensors to measure glucose directly on the skin and sensors to measure pollution on leaves.Skin and leaves aren't the only media on which the pens could be used. Researchers envision sensors drawn directly on smart phones for personalised and inexpensive health monitoring or on external building walls for monitoring of toxic gas pollutants. The sensors also could be used on the battlefield to detect explosives and nerve agents. The team, led by Joseph Wang published their findings in Advanced Healthcare Materials.
“Our new biocatalytic pen technology, based on novel enzymatic inks, holds considerable promise for a broad range of applications on site and in the field,“ Wang said.
The biggest challenge they faced was making inks from chemicals and biochemicals that aren't harmful to humans or plants; could function as the sensors' electrodes; and retain their properties over long periods in storage and in various conditions. Researchers turned to biocompatible polyethylene glycol, which is used in several drug delivery applications, as a binder.
To make the inks conductive to electric current they used graphite powder. They also added chitosan, an antibacterial agent which is used in bandages to reduce bleeding, to make sure the ink adhered to any surfaces it was used on. The inks' recipe also includes xylitol, a sugar substitute, which helps stabilise enzymes that react with several chemicals the do-it-yourself sensors are designed to monitor.
REUSABLE GLUCOSE SENSORS
Wang's team has been investigating how to make glucose testing for diabetics easier for several years. The same team of engineers recently developed non-invasive glucose sensors in the form of temporary tattoos. In this study, they used pens, loaded with an ink that reacts to glucose, to draw reusable glucose-measuring sensors on a pattern printed on a transparent, flexible material which includes an electrode.Researchers then pricked a subject's finger and put the blood sample on the sensor.
The enzymatic ink reacted with glucose and the electrode recorded the measurement, which was transmitted to a glucose-measuring device. Researchers then wiped the pattern clean and drew on it again to take another measurement after the subject had eaten.
Researchers estimate that one pen contains enough ink to draw the equivalent of 500 highfidelity glucose sensor strips. Nanoengineers also demonstrated that the sensors could be drawn directly on the skin and that they could communicate with a Bluetooth-enabled device to gather data.
SENSORS FOR POLLUTION
The pens would also allow users to draw sensors that detect pollutants and potentially harmful chemicals sensors on the spot. Researchers demonstrated that this was possible by drawing a sensor on a leaf with an ink loaded with enzymes that react with phenol, an industrial chemical, which can also be found in cosmetics, including sunscreen. The leaf was then dipped in a solution of water and phenol and the sensor was connected to a pollution detector. The sensors could be modified to react with many pollutants, including heavy metals or pesticides
“Our new biocatalytic pen technology, based on novel enzymatic inks, holds considerable promise for a broad range of applications on site and in the field,“ Wang said.
The biggest challenge they faced was making inks from chemicals and biochemicals that aren't harmful to humans or plants; could function as the sensors' electrodes; and retain their properties over long periods in storage and in various conditions. Researchers turned to biocompatible polyethylene glycol, which is used in several drug delivery applications, as a binder.
To make the inks conductive to electric current they used graphite powder. They also added chitosan, an antibacterial agent which is used in bandages to reduce bleeding, to make sure the ink adhered to any surfaces it was used on. The inks' recipe also includes xylitol, a sugar substitute, which helps stabilise enzymes that react with several chemicals the do-it-yourself sensors are designed to monitor.
REUSABLE GLUCOSE SENSORS
Wang's team has been investigating how to make glucose testing for diabetics easier for several years. The same team of engineers recently developed non-invasive glucose sensors in the form of temporary tattoos. In this study, they used pens, loaded with an ink that reacts to glucose, to draw reusable glucose-measuring sensors on a pattern printed on a transparent, flexible material which includes an electrode.Researchers then pricked a subject's finger and put the blood sample on the sensor.
The enzymatic ink reacted with glucose and the electrode recorded the measurement, which was transmitted to a glucose-measuring device. Researchers then wiped the pattern clean and drew on it again to take another measurement after the subject had eaten.
Researchers estimate that one pen contains enough ink to draw the equivalent of 500 highfidelity glucose sensor strips. Nanoengineers also demonstrated that the sensors could be drawn directly on the skin and that they could communicate with a Bluetooth-enabled device to gather data.
SENSORS FOR POLLUTION
The pens would also allow users to draw sensors that detect pollutants and potentially harmful chemicals sensors on the spot. Researchers demonstrated that this was possible by drawing a sensor on a leaf with an ink loaded with enzymes that react with phenol, an industrial chemical, which can also be found in cosmetics, including sunscreen. The leaf was then dipped in a solution of water and phenol and the sensor was connected to a pollution detector. The sensors could be modified to react with many pollutants, including heavy metals or pesticides
Mar 04 2015 : The Economic Times (Delhi)
Vedanta - Ego, Burden on Faith
DEEPAK M RANADE
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Religion, faith, belief in God or a prophet are all enablers in our quest for salvation. The tenets and principles of almost all religions are based on fundamental humane value systems such as compassion, empathy , respect for fellow beings and Mother Nature.By including ancestors, spirits and gods in the social realm, humans discovered an effective strategy for restraining selfishness and building more cooperative groups. The adaptive value of religion institutionalised morality . So, religious belief was more epistemological than ethical in nature. God would never hold His creation to ransom by demanding or expecting subservience to ritualistic behaviour or practice. Intolerance is the trademark of a highly developed ego. When religion and belief become slaves to dogma and doctri ne, it becomes a self-defeating exercise. Religion, culture and ideologies elucidate a way of life, a code of conduct that sustains society's fabric. Their diversity can thrive only on a deep-rooted mutual respect.
Salvation will be possible only when the scope and comprehension of religion and God evolve to another level.A rigid approach to following any path is ideological sycophancy . When a religion is shorn of ego and is free of its followers' obsessive compulsion to propagate, it would no longer need to assert itself to survive.
Religion is a subject matter of interpretation and freedom of choice. Liberation would be possible only when God is deconstructed to a formless, internalised state of mind. Salvation lies in ending the parallax between the god within and the god without.
Salvation will be possible only when the scope and comprehension of religion and God evolve to another level.A rigid approach to following any path is ideological sycophancy . When a religion is shorn of ego and is free of its followers' obsessive compulsion to propagate, it would no longer need to assert itself to survive.
Religion is a subject matter of interpretation and freedom of choice. Liberation would be possible only when God is deconstructed to a formless, internalised state of mind. Salvation lies in ending the parallax between the god within and the god without.
Mar 04 2015 : The Times of India (Delhi)
Bihar tops in justice delivery with 179 fast-track courts
New Delhi:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
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Bihar continues to operate the highest number of fast-track courts in the country , with 179 of them functional as of last month. Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, UP, Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat are others with high number of such courts.The Centre plans to encourage setting up of at least 1,800 fast-track courts (FTCs) to deal with cases of heinous crimes, cases involving senior citizens, women, children, disabled and disputes involving land acquisition and property pending for more than five years.
Besides, the government has also proposed setting up 460 family courts in the next five years in districts with a population of one million or more, where these courts are not already present. The funding of these projects will come through the 14th Finance Commission awards.
Earlier, in 2000, the central government had allocated financial resources to the states for setting up fast-track courts when 1,734 FTCs were set up. The central grant was made available for a fixed time period of five years but was extended till 2011. Some of the states such as Bihar, Himachal and Maharashtra have continued FTCs with their own resources.
However, during a recent meeting of the advisory council of the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms, chaired by law minister Sadananda Gowda in January, an opinion was expressed against encouraging FTCs. A view was expressed that fast tracking certain categories of cases results in slow tracking other categories.Law commission chairman Justice A P Shah had suggested that a more holistic approach be adopted for pendency reduction.
After the Nirbhaya gangrape incident of December 2012 in Delhi, the law ministry had decided to provide funds up to Rs 80 crore per annum on a matching basis from states till March 2015.However, the Centre specified that this grant money will be used only for the purpose of meeting salaries of judges required for running these FTCs.
After the Delhi incident, states and chief justices had resolved to set up additional FTCs relating to offences against women, children differently abled persons and senior citizens and marginalized sections of society.
According to a status report of the law ministry , 212 FTCs have been set up so far for the purpose of fast tracking cases against women and children in 16 states.
Besides, the government has also proposed setting up 460 family courts in the next five years in districts with a population of one million or more, where these courts are not already present. The funding of these projects will come through the 14th Finance Commission awards.
Earlier, in 2000, the central government had allocated financial resources to the states for setting up fast-track courts when 1,734 FTCs were set up. The central grant was made available for a fixed time period of five years but was extended till 2011. Some of the states such as Bihar, Himachal and Maharashtra have continued FTCs with their own resources.
However, during a recent meeting of the advisory council of the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms, chaired by law minister Sadananda Gowda in January, an opinion was expressed against encouraging FTCs. A view was expressed that fast tracking certain categories of cases results in slow tracking other categories.Law commission chairman Justice A P Shah had suggested that a more holistic approach be adopted for pendency reduction.
After the Nirbhaya gangrape incident of December 2012 in Delhi, the law ministry had decided to provide funds up to Rs 80 crore per annum on a matching basis from states till March 2015.However, the Centre specified that this grant money will be used only for the purpose of meeting salaries of judges required for running these FTCs.
After the Delhi incident, states and chief justices had resolved to set up additional FTCs relating to offences against women, children differently abled persons and senior citizens and marginalized sections of society.
According to a status report of the law ministry , 212 FTCs have been set up so far for the purpose of fast tracking cases against women and children in 16 states.
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