Swachh Bharat ranks show it is time for cities to come clean

The report of the Union urban development ministry on the levels of cleanliness, or the lack of it, in 476 Indian cities makes the case for Swachh Bharat even stronger.

It also lends solidity to the theory that the public spirit of the people is much weaker in cities and towns than in rural areas because the sense of belonging is all but absent in most. In an implied sense that is what Prime Minister Narendra Modi had talked about on August 15 last year, leading to the launch of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

Though the government has clarified that the rankings were based on the findings before the Swachh Bharat mission was launched, from next year the mission will be a weighted component in any survey the establishment undertakes.

The criteria adopted for the rankings have been the extent of open defecation, solid waste management, water treatment, etc. A striking feature of the report is that while the part of Delhi that falls under the New Delhi Municipal Council ranks 16th, Delhi is at 397th place.

This is something that should set the alarm bells ringing for the Arvind Kejriwal government. However, the most striking part of the report is that seven of the 10 cleanest cities are from the south, and Bengaluru, despite its precipitate decline over the past 10 years, has performed the best among the capitals. Only one city, Etawah, from Uttar Pradesh features among the top 100.

However, Lucknow, Agra, Kanpur and Allahabad have been put on the 100 smart cities list.

The budget this year had announced full tax exemption for contributions to the Swachh Bharat Kosh. Moreover, it also talked about building 60 million toilets, though no timeframe was given for this.

More than Rs 90 crore was spent on campaign advertising in 2014-15. But nothing will work unless states become partners in cleaning our cities. And making our cities livable cannot be an exercise in isolation divorced from other developmental activities.

'Shy, quiet worker': Schoolmates talk about Sundar Pichai

Vanavani Matriculation Higher Secondary School woke up on Tuesday, just like the rest of Chennai city, to the news that one of its “boys”, Sundar Pichai, had been named the new CEO of search giant Google.

Kaveri Padmanabhan, principal of the school nestled in the sprawling forested campus of IIT-Madras, said she and the entire staff of the institution felt proud Pichai was set to become a household name across the world.

“Yes, we would like to invite him to the school and we wish he talks to our students, who would get even more inspired,” Padmanabhan told Hindustan Times.

“All said and done, it is a superlative and fantastic achievement for anyone and it is an absolute honour that we (as a school) contributed to it, howsoever little it is,” the excited principal said.

Padmanabhan shared the good news with students during the morning assembly, and told them how it is possible for anyone to become successful if they apply their mind and work hard towards a chosen goal with dedication.

“We are celebrating the moment and the momentous news, and the children are also very happy and want to know more (about Pichai) from us,” she said.

“Unfortunately, we have not been around when Sundar Pichai was studying (in the school). But yes, we have some old students whom we are going to tap and talk to the students.”

Read: India-born Sundar Pichai appointed the new CEO of Google
Pichai, 43, was born and grew up in Chennai, studied engineering at IIT-Kharagpur and then went to Stanford in the US. He went on to complete an MBA from Wharton School of Business.

He joined Google in 2004, the year the company launched Gmail, and has worked on some of the company's best-known products, from the Chrome browser to the Android mobile software.

Pattu Subramanian, who was two years senior to Pichai in school, remembers him as a “quiet worker, studious and a bookish type”.

“He used to have a smile on his face and (was) kind of a bookworm. Once I had the occasion to meet him in Pennsylvania. But I had never thought this shy boy would one day become so big,” he said.

“Heading a global corporation is something very big and it is a matter of great honour and pride for us that someone from our backyard has become the global head of a huge corporation,” said Subramanian, head of logistics at the BMW Plant in Chennai.

Murugavel Selvan, another schoolmate of Pichai, who too was his senior by two years, said he had heard a lot about Pichai over the years.

“A devoted son to his parents, Pichai has done them and everyone of us proud,” said Selvan, an entrepreneur in the IT space.

Recently, Pichai bought his parents a super luxury flat in Chennai costing several crores of rupees, he said. “His elevation as the CEO of a global corporation is very inspiring for us and the young students of Vanavani school and in fact everyone,” he added.

What Pichai’s success has shown is that “whatever the pedigree or background one comes from, success is guaranteed if one works diligently towards a goal”, Selvan said.

IAS trainees to put in 3 months at Centre before big district postings

Sobhana K Nair in New Delhi mirrorfeedback TWEET @MumbaiMirror

New Delhi





In a change from the established norm, freshly-minted IAS officers will have to first work for three months in overcrowded Union ministries as assistant secretaries, instead of being posted across the country as district collectors after completing their introductory training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Musoorie.This latest order from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) says IAS officers from a fresh batch need a `holistic overview of the functioning of the central government', and they will be attached to joint and additional secretaries who will mentor them.
The new batch of 180 officers is expected to start their three-month stint in central government departments from August 22. Sources said PM Narendra Modi felt that IAS trainees were given too much power and space all of a sudden and space in district postings.
“Central government experience at an early stage would equip the officer with greater knowledge of policy formulation, an appreciation of the country's diversity and result ant challenges, and exposure to the best practices from different parts of the country,“ a letter by DOPT secretary Sanjay Kothari to all chief secre taries reads.
The DoPT order, though, hasn't gone down too well with the young IAS officers. “It would be a total waste of time. We will be spending time in the company of central civil service officers of desk officer and under-secretary rank. We are not going to learn anything. Rather, we will miss out on field experience,“ a trainee IAS officer, who declined to be named, said.
The trainee officers, who were expecting generous accommodation in the districts they would have normally been posted in, are not upbeat about having to live in state guest houses in Delhi. The government is not willing to give them space in the Lutyen's Zone as well.
“The proposal has originated from the Prime Minister's Office. It was suggested that the training period at the Centre should be for a year. Later, it was reduced to three months,“ a senior DOPT official said.
“I think it is a good move. Young officers will get a top-down view and learn about Centre-State relationships. More importantly, it will help them in not getting carried away,“ said former Delhi chief secretary Shailaja Chandra.
The DOPT is awaiting a reply from the state governments, a few of whom have expressed displeasure at losing their new officers.

the speaking tree - How to Say `No'

CHANDER GUPTA





In an oral communication, one is both a speaker and listener in turn. Generally , we tend to speak more and listen less though the vice versa is more conducive for smooth communication. Even though there is a proclivity more for speaking rather than listening, it does not automatically mean that we are more skilled in speaking.In reality, we are deficient not just in listening but in speaking too, notwithstanding our fondness for speaking more than desired. Now, when we speak, what comes out is a combination of text and tone. Speech has two components: vocal and verbal. The vocal part carries primary impact on the listener rather than the verbal part even though the speaker will remain oblivious to the tone.
We focus on enhancing our verbal skills -by improving our vocabulary and grammar -but do not fine-tune our vocals. Though we might be choosing our words carefully , our tone gives away the dissonance. Even the flawless verbal can't camouflage the discordant vocal. Our mind is trained for choosing what we say , hardly for how we say what we say .
This deficiency becomes pronounced when we have to say `no'. The impact of a verbal `no' is accentuated many times if accompanied by the negative vocal. When we are bent upon saying `no' -out of our conviction and belief or if rules do not allow to say `yes' -we utter that `no' with a vehemence that might sound rude. Most of us succumb to this failing. Our tone should mitigate the impact of -though we have all the justification for -saying `no'.

Scientists discover secret to live beyond 100

London: PTI





Scientists have cracked the secret of why some people live a healthy and physically independent life over the age of 100: long telemores and low inflammation.For the first time, a team of experts from Newcastle University's Institute for Ageing and Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, explored which biological and pathological processes may be the most important for successful ageing after 100 years of age.
They identified that to live past the age of 100 you must keep inflammation down in the body and telomeres long -which are part of human cells that affect how our cells age. Severe inflammation is part of many diseases in the old, such as diabetes or diseases attacking the bones or the body's joints, and chronic inflammation can develop from any of them.
“Centenarians and supercentenarians are different -put simply , they age slower.They can ward off diseases for much longer than the general population,“ said professor Thomas von Zglinicki, from Newcastle University's Institute for Ageing.

the speaking tree - Come To Sense The Inner Heart of Trees

Shri Shri Anandamurti





Penetrating the psychic sphere can be done in two ways: through applied psychology and through Cosmic Grace. When you attain the quality of macrocosmic omniscience, by His grace, your mind can easily enter the minds of others. Most people can reach the stage of superficial psychic assimilation. With this superficial knowledge pundits debate amongst themselves, scholars write theses, and groups of intellectuals repudiate each others' arguments. But superficial psychic assimilation of external objects through direct perception, inference or authority is very unreliable.In the stage of knowledge wherein one draws closer to the Atman, one enters the psychic stratum. Take the case of the palmyra tree. What group does it belong to? It belongs to the palm group. What are the physical characteristics of the trees of the palm group? What are their psychic wants? By posing such questions you will gain knowledge about the palmyra and its special psychology . You will realise that if the saliva of any animal touches the palmyra tree, its growth gets stunted.Suppose an animal eats the leaves of a palmyra sapling and drops a little of its saliva onto the plant. The speed of its growth will certainly be hampered.
Coconuts and betel nut trees have the same characteristics.When you sit beside a tree you will intuitively understand what the tree is thinking. Of course, the tree won't say anything loudly , but you will be able to communicate with it because your mind has established a link with its mind. So in the course of seeking Atman, one comes in contact with the inner heart, life and the inner mind of all objects, leading to one's knowledge becoming deeper and more confirmed.
The mind derives much contentment from its contact with the inner mind of certain plants, animals and human beings, for through such contact one can render better service to them.One will develop a certain degree of self-satisfaction for one's psychic assimilation will have been of some use. This is also a step in the acquisition of knowledge. But it does have a particular disadvantage. This contact with the inner mind of a tree, animal or human being depends on the freshness or strength of your mind.
If for some reason your mental power has lost the capacity to acquire knowledge through superficial psychic assimilation, your progress towards Atman will also be lost.
People who have practised the sadhana of avidya tantra can develop the power to know the minds of others. But such acquired power is short-lived ­ it will desert them one day. If they misuse even a small amount of this acquired power, they will lose it immediately . Perhaps you have heard of certain instances when this has happened.
Permanent knowledge is not possible through perception, inference, or authority , or by studying books or discourses. The knowledge which one attains by expanding one's mind in the psychic sphere through the practise of sadhana (spiritual practise), which I call upa atmastikarana is also not everlasting, although it does last for a certain period.
Knowledge only becomes permanent when human beings withdraw the entire intuitive element and focus it on their spiritual point of ideation. At that time the entire universe comes within the scope of their mind, and they become omniscient.
Follow Shri Shri Anandamurti 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

Economic and Political Weekly: Table of Contents

After the Hanging

Vol - L No. 32, August 08, 2015 

• Editorials

There is no closure; we must ask again why what happened did happen.

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Some Issues of Muslim Religious Schools in India

Vol - L No. 32, August 08, 2015 | Shirin Dalvi 

• Web Exclusives

“Modernisation” of Madrassas has become a regular catch-phrase for governments, yet there has been negligence in meeting the educational needs of the Muslim minority. It is high time that Muslim institutions and intellectuals come together to work out Madrassa modernization which meets the needs of the community.

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Editorials The Importance of Protest By persisting, FTII students have exposed the government's insidious intent. Read more	Editorials A Symbolic Presence There is reluctance to truly empower the National Commission for Women. Read more
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