Syrian migrant crisis: The need for broad cooperation

A global security crisis of historic proportions is raging in the Middle East, and spreading by the day, as millions of refugees flee Syria and Iraq. The crisis is now affecting not just all of Syria’s immediate neighbours, straining their resources and exacerbating social and ethnic tensions; it now directly involves all of the current permanent members of the Security Council except China. It is time for all would-be permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – namely, Germany, India, Japan, Brazil, and Egypt – to step up.

The desire for a political settlement that could end the Syrian civil war is palpable; but just what that settlement would look like remains open to debate – or to further conflict. Indeed, Russia and the United States are circling each other like boxers before the contest actually begins, supporting different factions and trying to ensure that their allies in the multi-sided conflict are advancing, or at least holding ground.

The need for broad cooperation – and the support of the entire UN Security Council – is apparent. That is why US Secretary of State John Kerry is talking to the Russians, the Saudis, and the Turks to build support for a new round of international talks. And the UN and Arab League’s special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has created a set of working groups, chaired by Europeans, to “create a framework for concrete talks between Syria’s government and opposition .”

In enabling a peace deal, a coalition of countries that are not yet directly involved in the crisis could be very helpful. Such a coalition – involving, say, Germany, India, Japan, Brazil, and Egypt – could increase the pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to negotiate by convincing Russian President Vladimir Putin that the world is watching his deal-making efforts closely and that his prestige is on the line.

Moreover, coalition members could convince other relevant regional players to push for a lasting peace. Germany, for example, already recognizes that the only long-term solution to Europe’s refugee influx lies in eliminating the need to flee, and has begun to make some moves. Foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier travelled to Turkey in September to help broker a deal on keeping refugees in Turkey, in exchange for restarting talks on Turkish accession to the European Union. A leading German foreign policy expert, Volker Perthes , is chairing one of de Mistura’s working groups.

The other countries have yet to take action. But they, too, have plenty of motivation – and plenty to offer.

India – as well as Pakistan – has a great deal to gain from strengthening Southwest Asian trade, energy, and investment ties. Since the signing of the Iran nuclear deal, India has been contemplating renewing the plan for an Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, with the participation of China and Russia. But that will be impossible without a settlement in Syria and a decision by Iran to stop supporting Hezbollah.

India has a strong relationship with Iran, underpinned by long-standing cultural, social, political, and economic ties, with India now funding an overhaul of the Iranian port of Chabahar, which will give it direct access to Afghanistan. This places India in a strong position to push Iran to put pressure on Assad. Likewise, India can leverage its relationship with Russia – it remains a major importer of Russian arms – to help drive progress.

Japan’s potential contribution also involves Iran, with which Japan has lately been pursuing a closer relationship – not least because Japan needs Iranian oil and gas. Earlier this month in Tehran, the Japanese and Iranian foreign ministers agreed to begin negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty. Japan also wants to speed up implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, so that it can take advantage of the business opportunities that will result when economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic are lifted.

But if Iran is truly to rejoin the international community, it must play a constructive role in its region. Japan, which now aspires to enhance its own role on the world stage, must not shy away from making that clear. A bonus here is that Japanese and Indian interest in the Syrian peace process could spur China to play an active role in reaching, rather than blocking, a solution.

Brazil, despite confronting plenty of domestic problems right now, is also in a position to help. Not only does it have substantial ties with Russia; it is also linked to Turkey, exemplified by the two countries’ 2010 effort to broker a deal with Iran over its nuclear program.

Moreover, in 2011, Brazil put forward a concept paper at the UN outlining how countries seeking to implement the “responsibility to protect” doctrine should behave. With the Syrian government – through its murder of tens of thousands of civilians with barrel bombs and poison gas – having more than fulfilled the criteria for triggering the international community’s obligation to intervene, Brazil could suggest what an intervention that reflected the principle of “responsibility while protecting” might look like.

Finally, Egypt – a perennial candidate for a permanent or rotating African seat in a reformed Security Council – has important relationships throughout the region, particularly with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries that are directly supporting some Syrian opposition groups. The government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who has emphasized the need for a comprehensive political settlement, is tacitly supporting Assad, but is also deeply concerned about the Islamic State. Egyptian diplomats are thus excellent candidates to exert pressure for compromise.

Many of these countries’ governments might say that the Syrian conflict is too far away to affect them directly. But global leadership does not simply mean enjoying the prestige that accompanies presumed power. The UN Charter requires countries to use their power to identify “any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression,” and to decide which measures must be taken “to maintain or restore international peace and security.” The Syrian crisis is a major “threat to the peace,” and the world must address it together.

Anne-Marie Slaughter is the President and CEO of New America. Her latest book is ‘Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family.’

Source: Hindustan Times, 4-11-2015

A culture of tolerance can be a binding force

Apart from its scenic and strategic geography and Article 370, Kashmir, till 1990, also had the unique distinction of cultural tolerance. Much against the widespread impression that was sought to be created when independent legislator Engineer Rashid hosted a beef party to defy the ban and prohibition, the fact is that most Kashmiri Muslims do not eat beef.

No wonder Rashid reportedly served mutton at his ‘beef party’, apparently knowing well that not many people would eat beef, which would have defeated his purpose of making a religio-political statement.

Having lived in Kashmir for 19 years, until being forced out during the onset of the Islamic insurgency in 1990, I can say that Kashmiri Muslims, despite being in an overwhelming majority, had due respect for the minority sentiments (in Kashmir, as also in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the Muslims are in a majority).

Beef never made it to the routine course. It was consumed, that too rarely, during marriages or Id-ul-Azha. Only the marginalised and underprivileged sections of society would slaughter a calf or two on occasions as they could not afford either sheep or lamb.

In our predominantly Muslim neighbourhood when someone would slaughter a calf, he would do it in a clandestine manner, more out of respect for our sentiments than for fear of the law.

During Muslim marriages, there would be a separate kitchen for the Hindu guests managed by Hindu cooks. And the same practice was followed in Hindu marriages, sometimes, even for a single guest.

Food habits are driven more by culture than religion. This is the reason why not many Kashmiri Muslims eat beef and not many Kashmiri Hindus eat pork, as it was never a part of their culture.

Even now, when Kashmiri society is considered to have been more radicalised, people strongly resist eating beef.

One of my Kashmiri Muslim friends recently refused to eat beef served by a Hindu secularist as he had never eaten beef in his life. The same friend was warned by his mother against eating or bringing beef at home.

Our daily lives are determined more by culture and less by religion. But the moment these roles are reversed and religion is imposed as culture, the entire social edifice threatens to collapse.

Culture, unlike religion, is a binding force, and the culture of tolerance is the strongest at that. This is what Kashmir taught me and it is something I will always remember with nostalgia.

(Vimal Sumbly is a former journalist based in Punjab. The views expressed are personal)

Source: Hindustan Times, 4-11-2015

Be Friends With Self

SWAMI KRIYANANDA





When Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within,“ what He meant was that heaven itself would be a disappointment to restless, worldly people. If a person has no true joy in his heart, he will not find true joy outside, though he be in heaven itself and in the company of angels. Heaven must be experienced right here, right now, within ourselves, if we are to experience it ever.A stream extending itself too far into a desert will go dry .Man too dries up inside, spiritually and emotionally , when he extends himself too far in his search for outward pleasures.The wellspring of enjoyment lies in his inner Self. What he is, inwardly , that he will find without. The more truly he lives in himself, the more rewarding will his outer life be, also.
A friend, young and restless, once planned to go around India to visit various saints. This might have been a laudable purpose, except that, so far, this boy had put forth very little effort to improve himself; his real hope was to find someone who would consent to do all his spiritual work for him.(I could imagine him rushing from ashram to ashram, collecting blessings like pine cones!) I said to him, “If you take a thimble to the ocean, you'll only get a thimbleful of water.No doubt those great saints have much to give you. But what of your own capacity to receive what they give?“ If you would change the wor ld for the better, first of all, be better yourself. You are the greatest responsibility the universe has placed in your hands.

Pick Up Stones And Turn Them Into Jewels

Janina Gomes





In my growing up years, John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress left a mark on me. The book became a challenge for me. Even if i forgot all about the book in the intervening years, the message remained ­ that i should learn to walk unencumbered in life.It is not easy to shed extra baggage, even if it weighs us down. Unpleasant memories of the past can become a burden and we would be better off without it. When weighed down by burdensome memories we could try not to pay them too much of attention.
I often have a recurring image in my mind of a pilgrim walking the lonely road to inner freedom. That image inspires me when i feel the road ahead is too long. How often have i allowed all kinds of encumbrances come in the way of just walking ahead! One such big encumbrance has been that i have given too much importance to those who view me negatively and who can never see anything good in me.Initially, i was discouraged and let the perceptions of others define me. But, deep down, in the core of my being, a voice would insist that these perceptions were not the real me; that what others chose to think of me was not my problem.
My own measure of evaluating myself was a pilgrim's progress. The pilgrim never starts with having it all. The pilgrim often starts with a modest set of baggage. But as she proceeds in life, the pilgrim collects things, memories, experiences along the way ­ some of these are helpful to the upward climb and growth; others just come in the way .
The pilgrim's goal is never perfection, but the ability to use all that happens as steppingstones to a more enlightened way of life. The backdrop therefore is never one that is only hunky dory, but one where there is movement accompanied by struggle, pain and lapses of understanding.
The pilgrim's progress reaches no final cut-off date or time. The journey continues and the way ahead gets easier, because we choose not to listen to negative voices. We may never inherit a hostile free world. But, the pilgrim acquires the ability to pick up stones and turn them into jewels.
We have to learn to accept and transform circumstances.We have mountains to climb, rivers to cross and valleys and fjords to navigate, but the pilgrim's steps do not falter.And if they do, they are steadied by time and experience.
We are sometimes encouraged to keep daily logbooks in which we record our daily lives. This habit may help us as pilgrims to reflect and introspect on our experiences, turning them to our good. At the end of our earthly lives, we will not close the chapter, but continue the journey. Pilgrims must of course sometimes reach a destination. That is often described in tradition as heaven. The invitation is for all, but only some accept it. Others choose to travel with too much baggage ­ of hate, animosity, vengefulness and anger. They cannot even get started on the journey.
Learning to walk unencumbered is the pilgrim's task. If we try it, we will find that we can move ahead and walk freely, less weighed down by baggage.We were meant to travel light. And so, as i am homeward bound, i shed more and more baggage on the way . I don't allow people's pre-judgments to stall me. I have my eye on the path ahead ­ and the destination.

Assam's nowhere people

The state has lost more than seven per cent of its area to erosion because of floods. The result: thousands of displaced people in makeshift camps across Assam

For seven years, Abdur Khan has been calling the makeshift camp, a thatched one room on an embankment, his home. A resident of Assam’s Balimukh village in Morigaon district, he moved out of his village along with his wife and two children. “We were a prosperous farming family with 9.6 hectares (ha) of cultivable land, a power tiller and a house. Today, I work as a daily labourer,” says Khan. The land that Khan owned started to degrade during the floods in 1998. “We never thought that the entire land will be degraded. But the Brahmaputra completely engulfed our land during the 2007 floods,” he says, his voice choked with emotion.

Khan is not alone. State government data shows over 150,000 families have been displaced in the past decade due to soil erosion in the state, and 37,000 of the families have been rendered homeless in the past five years. About 100 families live along with Khan.

With each flood and with every bit of land eroded, new camps are fast cropping up. The state government doesn’t keep record of them as these are not official camps. These people don’t even have basic amenities. “You can call it a life sans any recognition,” says Khan. There are hundreds of such camps across the mighty Brahmaputra and several other rivers in the state.

Currently, the state is facing one of its worst floods in recent decades. Some three million people have been affected in 80 per cent of the state by floods in the last six months. Floods are not new, and land erosion is a recognised problem in the state. Assam loses 8,000 ha of land to rivers like the Brahmaputra and the Barak and their tributaries every year (see ‘Eroded’). The width of river Brahmaputra has increased by up to 15 km at some places due to bank erosion. According to experts, though Assam has always been vulnerable to floods, the Great Earthquake of 1950 led to massive changes fostering erosion. “The river became more unstable after the earthquake and the shifting of channels and erosion became more severe and frequent,” says Parthajyoti Das of Aaranyak, a Guwahati-based organisation working on environment.

Chronic erosion

However, in a criminal interpretation of government provisions, the state government refuses to take up rehabilitation of erosion-induced displaced people. By law, flood is recognised as a natural calamity, thus qualifying for relief and rehabilitation. But, the resulting soil erosion is not treated as a calamity.

7.4%

State's area eroded by flooding between 1950 and 2011

150,000

Families displaced due to erosion

No rehabilitation

Government doesn't recognise erosion as a calamity

30,000

Unofficial camps set up by people

The government has not set up even a single relief camp till date for the erosion-affected families. The displaced people set up their own camps. A 2014 study, Disaster recovery and resilience: Case study of Assam floods, by Sneha Krishnan, a PhD candidate at University College, London, says government assistance is only limited to immediate relief as long as families are living in state-run flood camps. Such camps are temporary and for those who can come back to homes after the flood recedes. “It is not only the state, even humanitarian agencies were not forthcoming to support or assist—as many considered erosion to be a chronic problem,” says the report.

However, the state government is aware of the ever-expanding unofficial camps. Assam Revenue Minister Bhumidhar Barman told Down To Earth that there should be around 30,000 makeshift camps in the state where erosion-affected people are staying. “We do not have comprehensive data because the camps have been set up by the people and not by the state government,” he adds. The actual figure could be much higher, say experts. “There are close to 100,000 erosion-affected people in Dhemaji, Morigaon, Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts alone,” says Sosi Bordoloi of Women Development Centre, a non-profit based in Guwahati.

More bad news
This year, the population of the unofficial camps is set to swell due to the current floods. “The flood has been very severe, and several new areas have been flooded,” says Basanta Das, Assam’s water resource minister. “Over 1.6 million people residing in 2,000 villages have been affected this year. More than 226,000 people displaced by floods have been shifted to relief camps across Assam,” says Das.

But, will these people come back to their homes? State officials say several villages have been completely swallowed by the Brahmaputra this year. For example, nothing remains of Mikirgaon and Jotiapur villages in Morigaon district. This means that these people will scavenge every possible vacant land and settle in makeshift shelters. Soon nobody will recognise them.

The 230-odd families who were residing in these two villages have now set up camps on embankments nearby. Mikirgaon resident Purnakanta Basumatary says he has lost everything to the floods. The 56-year-old farmer says he had a big house and a comfortable living. All that remains of his belongings is a car that is parked outside the camp. “I do not know what the future holds for us. All that I had earned in my lifetime has been reduced to nothing,” he says. “We have no other option but to wait here, as we have lost all our land with no government help in sight. The best option for us is to make the embankment our new home,” says 45-year-old Jishu Hazarika, who recently shifted along with his wife and two children.

Relief tremorsThe unofficial camps may also soon crumble. Most of these camps are located on embankments constructed to hold back water from rivers. Experts warn that most of these embankments are old and now highly prone to breaches. “There are a total of 449 embankments in Assam covering an area of about 4,350 km. The state water resource department has identified 950 km of these embankments as extremely vulnerable and about 2,390 km embankments as vulnerable to flood and erosion,” says Luit Goswami of Rural Volunteer Centre, a non-profit based in the flood ravaged district of Dhemaji.

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A flood-affected family in Goroimari village in Assam's Kamrup district (JHAI FOUNDATION)

Former Assam Water Resource Minister Bharat Chandra Narah says most embankments and other flood protection measures had overshot their effectiveness period. “Most of the embankments along the Brahmaputra and its tributaries were constructed between 1965 and 1995, and they have already crossed their period of effectiveness,” Narah adds. Goswami says the life span of an embankment is not more than 20 years, but most of the embankments in the state are over 45 years old. “The embankments have weakened and are not able to withstand the high thrust of floods,” he says.

Families living in the camps know about the threat, but they say they have nowhere else to go. “In their local history, many embankments have been washed away in the past 20-30 years. In recent years, the embankments could hold for only one or two years. In Morigaon in 2013, the newly-built embankment was breached and villages were inundated. The communities were concerned that the delineation of embankment layout happened without relocation and resettlement plans of the government in place,” says the 2014 report.

Living on hope 
This March, the state government took the first step towards recognising these camps. It declared a special scheme in the chief minister’s name to rehabilitate erosion affected families. “The government has allocated Rs.5 crore in the current year’s budget for the scheme,” says Bhumidhar Barman, Assam’s revenue and disaster management minister. The implementation of the scheme will take time as the first big challenge for the government is to identify the camps. “As per the information received from 15 districts, some landless people affected by erosion are now living in other parts. Some are living on embankments and on roadside, while others are living on leased land,” he says. In these 15 districts, 880 villages eroded completely and 67 villages were eroded partially. The state has to search for these people.

Acknowledging the problem of erosion is the first logical step, say experts. This will enable the state government to start investing for the rehabilitation of the families. The state government has so far failed to utilise its disaster fund. “The Assam government has Rs.1,425.45 crore under the State Disaster Response Fund, which is yet to be utilised,” says Sarbananada Sonowal, Union sports minister and MP from Assam.

The next step, say experts, has to be towards mitigation to reduce erosion. The 2011 Committee for Developing Mitigation Strategies for Brahmaputra River Basin Flood and Erosion Problem, which had experts from Assam and the US, found the key reasons for erosion were “aggradation” (raising of the river bed due to sediment deposition), intense “braiding” and large water discharge. The committee suggested a combination of measures including strategic dredging, protection of erodible bank materials with anchored bulkhead or tie back sheet piles, spurs, toe and bank revetments.

It also suggested improvement of data quality and quantity by extending rain, flow and sediment monitoring network using state-of-the-art equipment and considering physical modelling to study severe and potential scour sites.

Meanwhile, the displaced families continue to live under the fear of eviction. They also live in the hope that their leaders will soon provide them with land for rehabilitation. “Leaders from all political parties visit us before each elections, be it the Lok Sabha, the state Assembly or the Panchayat elections. They pay us Rs.100-500 and assure us that we will get land soon. Most of us are hoping that the leaders will deliver on their promises,” says Rahim Ali, who lives next to Khan in the camp at Balimukh village.
“Till that time, we are on our own.”

Source: Down to Earth

WORKSHOP ON QUALITY MANAGEMENT OF HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS

30-31 January, 2016. 

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad

Organizer/Venue: Centre for Management of Health Services, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad-380015 (Gujarat) India. 

Workshop Faculty:
Prof. Arnab Kumar Laha, email: arnab@iimahd.ernet.in (Faculty-Chair),
Prof. Chetan Soman email: chetan@iimahd.ernet.in

CONTACT: Ms. Uma Baskaran, In-Charge, Centre for Management of Health Services, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad-380015.
Phone: 91-79-66324649/4699; Fax: 91-79-26306896.
Mobile: 91-9726764649
Email: inchg-cmhs@iimahd.ernet.in

Source: IIMA website http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/faculty-and-research/research-centers/cmhs/workshops.html (21/10/2015)

Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) 2016 To Remain Pen-Paper Based

Report by India Education bureau, Jamshedpur:Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) 2016 is to follow the Pen-Paper format like every year. Like previous years, the XAT exams for 2016 will be conducted on the first Sunday of January next year, i.e. 3rd January, 2016.

 

Dr. Munish Thakur, Chairperson-Admissions at XLRI commented, “XAT, though one of the oldest competitive examinations in the country, has always kept pace with the cutting edge testing methodology. XAT’s multidimensional testing framework is designed to meaningfully assess the aptitude of candidates for future business success. We follow the pen & paper format, in order to ensure equal opportunity to all candidates. The examination focuses on multi-dimensional examination structure and fairness, to assess aptitude of future business leaders,”

 

“XLRI has been conducting the test on behalf of the XAMI for over 60 years now. Like every year, the test will be conducted on the first Sunday of January next year, i.e. 3rd January, 2016,” he added.

 

The last date of registration is 30th November, 2015.

 

This year, XAT will be conducted from 47 centers all across India that will include the cities -Agartala, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Berhampur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Cuttack, Dehradun, Delhi, Goa, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Jammu, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nasik, Noida, Patna, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Surat, Tiruchirapalli, Trivandrum, Udaipur, Vadodara, Varanasi, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam. The test will be held in two international cities of Dubai and Kathmandu.

XAT 2016 will be having 3 and half hours duration and will follow a similar pattern like last few years. The paper is to comprise of two sections:  

Section 1: a) Quantitative Ability, b) English Language & Logical Reasoning, c) Decision Making.

Section 2: a) General Knowledge and b) Essay.

 

Candidates holding Recognized Bachelor’s degree of minimum three years duration or equivalent in any discipline are eligible to appear for XAT 2016. Students completing their final examination by June 10, 2016 are also eligible to apply.

 

Apart from XLRI, more than 125 B-schools in India accept the scores of XAT exam as part of their admission criteria. Some of the other top B-schools accepting the XAT scores are: LIBA, Chennai; XIME, Bangalore; XIM, Bhubaneswar; TAPMI, Manipal; Goa Institute of Management; IRMA, BIMTECH, Greater Noida; BULMIM, New Delhi; Asia-Pacific Institute of Management, New Delhi; IFMR, Chennai; SPJIMR, Mumbai; WeSchool, Mumbai; Jaipuria Institutes of Management; Gitam Institute of Management, Vishakhapatnam; Globsyn Business School, Kolkata; Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad (MICA) amongst others.

 

The details of XAT 2016 are to be available at http://xatonline.net.in/.