Slimming Down

Reduce Centrally sponsored schemes, specify their objectives and timelines.

-A Niti Aayog taskforce chaired by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has apparently recommended that 25 per cent of the funds under Centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) be made available to states as untied monies. If this recommendation is accepted, states would receive a total of Rs 42,000 crore during 2015-16 itself. This recommendation should be viewed in the context of the fairly substantial changes proposed to the CSS policy framework, as well as the 14th Finance Commission (FFC) recommendations on devolution of tax revenues. At this juncture, states have taken stock of what they have lost on the swings and gained on the roundabouts. Although every Central finance commission makes recommendations that are perceived by some states as being less beneficial, the recommendations of the FFC have resulted in a solid 10 percentage point increase in devolution of divisible tax revenues. This is untied money. States could put this money to good use in their own priority areas — be it health, education or early childhood care. It is for this reason that many Central ministries witnessed a sharp decline in CSS allocations. To some extent, allocations have now been raised from the original 2015-16 budget level. The taskforce’s reported recommendation that programmes on health, education and employment be implemented by all states is welcome. It is also appropriate to reduce the number of CSS to 25-30, as against the current 67. This approach would have a desirable impact on the states’ ability to tailor their development efforts to their requirements. Reduction in the number of CSS would also enable better fiscal management in the states. As far as untied funds to the extent of 25 per cent go, the taskforce should indicate broadly how this money can be spent. According to some reports, the earlier dispensation of 10 per cent as untied money left many states wondering what to do. The list of 25-30 CSS would also need to be drawn up carefully, so that crucial areas are not left out. A good starting point is to look at the problems that stare us in the face: Rural poverty and unemployment and the resultant lack of income and livelihood security; productivity and drought-proofing of agriculture; lack of access to affordable and sustained healthcare; problems of both quality and access to elementary and secondary education, including the lack of trained teachers, high absenteeism, reluctance to transfer funds, functionaries and powers to enforce accountability to panchayats and lack of schoolrooms and physical infrastructure. Issues relating to malnutrition need serious attention and intervention. At the other end of the spectrum are problems relating to internal security and the quality of policing. Drawing up this list of 25-30 CSS is as important as the issue of their funding. They need to be adequately funded — Central government funding, state government funds and local government resources have to be factored in. Inadequate funding or midstream lack of clarity will result in idling or misutilisation of available monies. Another problem that has led to poor implementation of even flagship schemes is the hiring of personnel. Many schemes provide for hiring staff on a contractual basis. But many states have hesitated to do so as they are afraid of being saddled with manpower costs if the Centre decides to discontinue the scheme. What states most dislike is the frequent introduction of schemes and their abrupt cessation. This taskforce is a good forum to work out the list of CSS, the precise outcomes these should attain, the period of time in which this should happen and lastly, a solid system of account-keeping and early audit. Impact-assessment by independent agencies is already part of the system and could be further institutionalised. If the Centre and states can work together to prepare a roadmap, fully involving local governments and factoring in contributions of corporations, India could hope to provide good education, health, nutrition, skill development and jobs, as well as a secure environment in which its citizens can flourish. The writer is a former member secretary, Planning Commission. -

Aug 07 2015 : The Economic Times (Bangalore)

India's Engineering Graduates Fail to Crack English Language Code

Prachi Verma Dadhwal & Saumya Bhattacharya

New Delhi:





About 67% of engineers graduating from India's colleges do not possess good spoken English skills

Poor spoken English may be keeping a large number of India's engineers from landing some of the best paid jobs in the country.A study has found that an overwhelming 97% of engineers in the country cannot speak English required for high-end jobs in corporate sales and business consulting.
Moreover, as per the report based on the study, about 67% of engineers graduating from India's colleges do not possess spoken English skills required for any job in knowledge economy.
The study `The National Spoken English Skills of Engineers Report', conducted by Aspiring Minds, surveyed English skills study of 30,000 engineers across 500 engineering colleges.
Although the problem is far more pronounced in tier 2 and tier 3 colleges, instilling spoken English skills is a big challenge in Indian Institutes of Technology and National Institutes of Technology as well.
About 600,000 engineers graduate annually in India.
“As we get students from different back grounds and regions around the country , they are mostly not comfortable with the English language,“ said Gautam Biswas, director, IIT Guwahati. “Quite a few students appear for JEE (joint entrance examination) in their mother tongue. It becomes very difficult for them to follow the curriculum as almost everything is taught in English.“
UB Desai, director of IIT Hyderabad, said the problem of students not being able to speak English is not restricted to IITs but is prevalent across the country, and even in China and a few European nations.
“Over the years, the focus in the education system has shifted to chemistry, maths, physics. Focus on soft skills has reduced. This is impacting the students. Sometimes, these students may even lose out on good job prospects as many companies come to campuses for global positions as well,“ he said.
Engineering students in the metros do much better in spoken English skills than those in the non-metros, according to the study . Kushal Sen, dean-faculty at IIT Delhi, affirms this.
“A majority of our students may not have the problem of speaking in English but there are about 30 per cent who need to be groomed when it comes to soft skills. Soft skills that include speaking in English, etiquette, etc, are important from the job point of view,“ he said.IIT Delhi offers its students additional courses on soft skills.
Tier 1 colleges fare better in spoken English skills than their peers down the line. “As expected the spoken English ability of candidates becomes worse, on average, in campuses in lower tier cities,“ said Varun Aggarwal, co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO), Aspiring Minds. “There is further degradation of spoken English skills from tier 2 to tier 3 campuses as compared to that from tier 1 to tier 2 campus,“ he said.

the speaking tree - Possession Without Obsession Is The Way To Go

Jaya Row





Vedanta speaks of the attitude of dispossessiveness towards your possessions. But people have misunderstood this to mean giving up possessions. And they have given up vedanta instead! The Bhagwad Gita extols concepts like aniketa, homeless, and aparigraha, dispossession. And people have either walked away from home and possession in the name of religion or renounced spirituality .Possession is physical. How can a physical entity cause mental bondage?
You may possess the whole world and remain free of `my-ness' and `mine-ness'. Or you may have very little but be hopelessly dependent, possessive and miserable! Vedanta recommends sannyasa or renunciation. This is a mental attitude, not a physical state. You have to renounce your dependence, attachment and acquisitiveness; not possessions.Possession and possessiveness are totally unrelated. King Janaka was a man of renunciation. So was Sudama, a pauper.
Possessiveness is defined as excessive desire to acquire, possess and dominate.This leads to bondage and loss of freedom. The Tibetans refer to it as do chag or sticky desire. It springs from dependence and lack of self-sufficiency. It causes fear, friction, suspicion and frustration. The root cause is a sense of emptiness, incompleteness, deficiency. You are too obsessed with yourself.
Vedanta emphatically declares the truth that you are paripurna or totally fulfilled, completely satisfied. For some reason, you do not know it.Ignorance of your fullness causes an imaginary void.Desire arises in the mind to acquire and possess things to fill the void. When desire is fulfilled, you are happy. When desire is thwarted, you are unhappy .
Vedanta gives knowledge of your fullness. Once you experience fullness you will be free from desire. Then you will be independent of the world. Vedanta also prescribes the technique of obtaining the world so that you are comfortable at any stage in life. In short, Vedanta enables you to gain the world and not be bound by it.
The turning point is to look within and become aware. Awareness is a function of the intellect. You are living a life divorced from the intellect. Look within. Are you jealous, vicious, negative towards people? Or are you loving and affectionate? Are you smallminded and obsessed with yourself or are you inspired with a higher vision?
The 3-D plan of action is ­ Dedication, Devotion and Discrimination. Krishna tells Arjuna in the Gita to perform yajna, work in a spirit of service and sacrifice for a higher goal. Shift from the attitude of taking to that of giving.
Devotion is not just declaring love for God; it is cultivating love for your fellow beings, removing hatred, ill will and competitiveness from your heart.One who hates no being, is dear to me, says Krishna.
Discrimination is knowledge.Knowledge of what will remain with you and what will perish. Then you begin to disinvest in that which is temporary and divert your energies to that which endures. Shankaracharya defines knowledge as ­ nitya anitya v iveka vichara ­ constant reflection on the distinction between the permanent and impermanent aspects of life.
Get to the centre of the wheel of life.You will gain mastery over the universe.Worldly things occupy the rim. Objects of attachment spin ceaselessly and mercilessly around you. Fixed at the centre is Atman, the lodestar. That is the real you. Find it! Follow Jaya Row at speakingtree.in The Speaking Tree is also available as an 8 page newspaper every Sunday for Rs 3. Book your copy of The Speaking Tree with your newspaper vendor or SMS STREE to 58888.

Here's the list of 8 words added to Oxford Dictionary's June edition

 We share with mid-day readers a list of 11 words that were added to the Oxford English Dictionary’s (OED) June edition

 >Arre (interjection): Used to express a range of emotions and commands, esp.annoyance, surprise, or interest, or to attract someone’s attention. [Firstrecorded in 1845]  

>Batchmate (noun): A member of the same graduationclass as another; a classmate. Also used in Philippine English. [1918]
> Revert(verb): To answer in speech or writing; to reply. [1973]
> Topper(noun): The leading student in a particular class, school, exam, etc.; ahigh-achieving student. Frequently with preceding word. [1971]
> Yaar(noun): As a familiar form of address: friend, mate. [1963]
A few more that we bet you didn't know werein the OED:
> Biodata(noun): Biographical details, esp. summarising a person’s educational andemployment history, academic career, etc. Used chiefly in North America andSouth Asia. [1947] 
> Videshi(adjective): In India: foreign; coming from a country other than India. [1980]
> Papad(noun): poppadom [1813]

Source | Mid Day | 3 August 2015 

CBSE tightens strings to check fake universities menace -

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has informed that sporadic incidents of candidates using fake Mark-sheets and Certificates for obtaining job or admission in Higher Educational Institutions as well as incidents of schools sponsoring ineligible candidates in the examinations conducted by the Board have been reported.

UGC, AICTE and CBSE have taken several steps to check the menace of these Fake Universities, Institutions and Schools. UGC has written to all the Chief Secretaries, Home Secretaries and Education Secretaries of all states including Union Territories to check the menace of fake universities and initiate a drive against institutions offering degrees without approval of the Statutory Authorities viz. UGC, AICTE and Distance Education Council (DEC) in the States and Union Territories. UGC also issues ‘Public Notice’, ‘Press Release’ and paid advertisements for the awareness of the general public, students in the leading daily newspapers at the beginning of academic session, cautioning aspiring students not to seek admission in such institutions.

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has informed that various fraud cases have been detected during the last two years in several states. AICTE has further informed that presently 343 technical institutes which do not have AICTE approval are running in the Country. The details of such Institutes are available on AICTE web portal at www.aicte-india.org/misapproved institutions.php.

In order to avoid irregularities, to ensure the availability of qualified faculty and basic infrastructure, AICTE has published an approval Process Handbook as per the AICTE (Grant of Approvals for Technical Institutions) Regulations, 2012. Institutions violating these norms and standards are liable for punitive action per the Approval Process Handbook. AICTE has introduced e-governance in all the processes to bring transparency, accountability, flexibility by integrating the entire system. Besides above, AICTE has also taken few steps viz. sending letters to Principal Secretary/ Director, Technical Education/ concerned State authorities for taking appropriate action. Public Notices have also been issued by AICTE in newspapers cautioning the students not to take admission in such unapproved institutions for the benefit of Stakeholders.

CBSE has also displayed the list of affiliated or disaffiliated schools as well as the results of Class X and Class XII and other entrance examinations conducted by the Board on its website for ensuring the genuineness of the mark sheets. Public notices are also issued as and when the Board withdraws affiliation of any school.

As per information made available by the University Grants Commission (UGC), 21 Fake Universities have been listed in the UGC list of Fake Universities. The details of such Fake Universities are available on the UGC website www.ugc.ac.in. In addition, the UGC has also informed that Bhartiya Shiksha Parishad, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh and Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM), Qutub Enclave, Phase-II, New Delhi are also unrecognized and functioning in violation of Section 2(f) and Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956. The High Court of Delhi has given the final decision against the IIPM and advised that acts of the IIPM, Arindam Chaudhari and Malay Chaudhari, constitute a criminal offence of cheating punishable under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code. To comply with the Court decision, the UGC has lodged FIR against IIPM in the Police Station.

The Ministry requested the Chief Secretaries of several State Governments where these Fake Universities and Institutions are situated, to investigate the matter and register complaints in the Police Station. The prosecution may also be initiated against those involved in defrauding and cheating students by misrepresenting themselves as “Universities” awarding degrees with their name.

Nagaland: a long road to peace

It is a 97-year-old struggle. To initiate even the beginnings of closure is a major breakthrough. And to have achieved that by recognising the Naga people’s pride, culture and history crowns the accord with renewed hope

Poignancy, laced with a sense of Naga pride and aspirations, can best describe the responses to the August 3 Naga Peace Accord signed between the NSCN (I-M) and the government of India. This can only be understood by talking to those living in Nagaland. On August 4, I received an early morning phone call from Zunheboto town (Zunheboto in Sumi dialect refers to a flowering shrub) in Nagaland. The sober voice of one of my young Naga friends broke the silence across the miles as she whispered, “Sister, finally, we do have closure, right?” followed by a spell of silence pregnant with meaning. I knew that she was brimming with emotions — pride amidst hurt; dignity amidst insecurity. I recalled Martin Luther King, Jr.’s lines from the movie Selma: “this is a demonstration of our dignity”.

That is what the Naga struggle has meant to me: a demonstration of the Nagas’ pride and dignity as a people. This, notwithstanding the violence and the insurgency, the fear and the insecurity and a life lived in uncertainty. Naga-inhabited areas resonate with a sense of unique history and culture — the National Socialist Council of Nagaland NSCN (Isak-Muivah) represents both.

Where it began

The ethnic Naga movement began its journey in 1918 with the formation of the Naga Club by 20 Naga members of the French Labour Corps, who had served in World War-I in Europe. The wartime knowledge motivated the few who came in contact with the European battlefield to politically organise themselves as a distinct ethnic entity. It also aroused in them a feeling of Naga nationalism, which shaped the idea of a ‘Naga nation’.

The Club submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission in 1929, in which it stated that the people of Naga areas and those of mainland India had nothing in common between them and hence the Nagas should be left alone. In 1946, Naga National Council (NNC), a successor to the Naga Club, was formed under the leadership of A.Z. Phizo. Phizo, with the collaboration of eight other Nagas, declared Naga independence on August 14, 1947. In a 1951 speech, Phizo argued, “In the name of the Naga National Council and on behalf of the people and citizens of Nagaland, I wish to make our stand and our national position clear. We are a democratic people, and as such, we have been struggling for a Separate Sovereign State of Nagaland in a democratic way through constitutional means as it is so called. We shall continue to do so”.

It is important to note that several efforts were made to resolve the Naga issue. On June 27-28, 1947, the Akbar Hydari Agreement was signed between the then Governor of Assam, Sir Akbar Hydari and the NNC, in which the Nagas’ right to freely develop themselves was respected. However, Clause 9 of the Hydari Agreement created divisions as it stated, “The Governor of Assam as the Agent of the Government of the Indian Union will have a special responsibility for a period of 10 years to ensure the observance of the agreement, at the end of this period the Naga Council will be asked whether they require the above agreement to be extended for a further period or a new agreement regarding the future of Naga people arrived at”. This was interpreted by the NNC as terminating in sovereignty.

The NNC took to arms in 1955. Indian security forces responded with counter-insurgency operations, which resulted in the imposition of the Assam Disturbed Areas Act on the Naga Hills on August 27, 1955. This later became the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, further amended in 1972.

Those were turbulent times in Naga history, with the landscape plagued by violence, counter-insurgency and civilian deaths. The hills came alive with a complex mix of political ideology, a desire for self-determination, ethnic alignments and tribal divisions. It was not an easy situation to deal with. The insurgency and the deployment of armed forces resulted in civilian deaths.

In 1963, as a mechanism for conflict resolution, the Nagaland State was established. Yet, the insurgency continued, as most Naga inhabited areas were left outside the purview of the new State. In 1964, a Nagaland Peace Mission was created and a ceasefire agreement was signed that lasted till 1968. After years of violence, another effort at peace was attempted with the signing of the Shillong Accord in 1975, where the NNC members agreed to give up violence and accept the Indian Constitution.

However, Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chishi Swu, then members of the NNC, interpreted the Shillong Accord as a complete sellout and revolted, going on to form the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) in 1980. S.S. Khaplang, who now heads NSCN (K), was a member of the unified NSCN that split in 1988 to form the two divisions: NSCN (I-M) and the NSCN (K).

Looking ahead

This history of the struggle is important as a backdrop to understand the significance of the Naga peace accord signed on August 03. NSCN (I-M) under Muivah and Swu have held to the ceasefire since its signing in 1997.

The ceasefire by NSCN (I-M) attained greater significance after NSCN (K) abrogated its ceasefire on March 27, 2015. Also, unlike NSCN (K), whose leader Khaplang has failed to maintain unity within the group, the NSCN (I-M)’s leaders and cadres have stayed with it since 1988.

Where the NSCN (I-M) has succeeded while groups like NSCN (K) have failed is in establishing a presence across all Naga-inhabited areas. It has achieved this by holding regular People’s Consultative Meetings (PCMs) with groups such as the Naga Hoho; Naga Students’ Federation; Forum for Naga Reconciliation; and the larger Naga civil society across States.

The PCMs have reinforced the much-needed local social networks that are the mainstay of any insurgent group. This largely representative structure has also kept violence in check and created an accountability mechanism where aspirations for Naga dignity and pride have taken centre stage.

It is notable that the NSCN (I-M) has shown flexibility in relegating the sovereignty clause to the background and bringing to the fore the issue of Naga identity — a more negotiable factor with the Central government.

Consequently, as I read through the Prime Minister’s speech at the signing ceremony that set the framework for a peaceful resolution to the Naga insurgency, his emphasis on restoring a sense of dignity, pride and respect to the Naga people stood out. This, as the 97-year-old Naga struggle will tell you, is the core issuefor the Nagas — a recognition of their history, dignity and culture.

The details of the Accord are yet to be made public, especially on how the NSCN (I-M)’s complicated political demand for a ‘Greater Nagalim’, comprising areas in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur will be negotiated. However, the biggest breakthrough is that the group has agreed to give up violence and resolve all issues peacefully. For now, this Accord has ushered in hope, bringing joy mixed with poignant memories to my friend from Zunheboto… and that matters the most.

(Dr. Namrata Goswami is Research Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. E-mail: namygoswami@gmail.com)

Refugees as citizens

None can object to the Union government’s move to grant citizenship to undocumented migrants who have come to India fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Not just Hindus but also Buddhists, Christians, Zoroastrians, Sikhs and Jains are eligible for citizenship under the proposed amendment to the Citizenship Act. But ideally, so long as those seeking citizenship are able to prove they are victims of religious persecution in the neighbouring country, their religious persuasion should not be a criterion for grant of citizenship. Minority sects within Islam too face persecution, especially in Pakistan. The real difficulty, however, would be to distinguish between illegal migrants who came to India seeking work opportunities and a better life, and those who fled Pakistan or Bangladesh fearing persecution. In a situation where the Narendra Modi government continues to push for a tough stand against “infiltration” and illegal migration, the religious identity of the migrants should not be the basis for deciding their eligibility for citizenship. Given the past rhetoric of the BJP, which in the 2014 election manifesto described India as the “natural home of persecuted Hindus”, and the election speeches of Mr. Modi himself, in which he asked Bangladeshis to be ready to pack up and leave, the initial fears were that only Hindus, or at the most those adhering to Indian-origin religions, would be chosen for citizenship. That there has been some rethinking is a welcome sign. The government ought to make this religion-neutral.

However, what needs to change more urgently is India’s attitude to refugees in general. India must remain open to all those seeking refuge, and not just those fleeing religious persecution. Although not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, under which it would have been obliged not to send refugees back to a territory against their will if they fear threats to life or freedom, India cannot escape its responsibilities under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to respect the rights and freedoms of all people in its territories. Article 14(1) is categorical in stating that “everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.” Any well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a social group, or political opinion qualifies for refugee status. Worries about the impact this would have on relations with Bangladesh at a time when a friendly government is in place are misplaced. In any case, India cannot compromise on its commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms. If there is a problem with the proposals, it is that they do not go far enough.