30% juvenile offenders never been to school

Ambika Pandit

New Delhi:





Survey Of 182 Reveals History Of Abuse, Poverty

Even though Rajya Sabha has passed the amended Juvenile Justice Act, a survey of 182 youngsters lodged in the capital's observation homes between last year and early this year reveals a story of childhoods scarred by abuse, poverty , illiteracy and lack of parental care.`Why Children Commit Offences', a study on children in conflict with the law by Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) in collaboration with NGO Butterflies dwells on the factors that trigger delinquent behaviour. It cautions that “reform mechanisms“ must be a focus area if the original intent behind the JJ Act is to be achieved. The findings were released in June.
The study found over 57% of the children involved in offences related to theft, dacoity and robbery . “Offences related to person (murder and attempt to murder) and sexual harassment (including rape) constituted 21.9% and 11.5%. These figures are those of accused and not of those found guilty ...Reports of children accused of rape suggest that of the 21 rape cases reported 11 were either consensual sex or false accusations by the parents of the girls who did not consent to their relationship,“ the study says.
The study also says that those taking to crime early are likely to grow into hardened criminals than those who start late. But 90% of the surveyed children were late starters, having committed their first crime above the age of 14, and were therefore less likely to repeat it. Data also showed that 70% were unaware of the consequ ences of their acts. Also, 58.8% of the offences were committed in groups, and in 90% of these cases, the groups were of friends. This shows how peer influence works.
Almost 30% of the juveniles had never been to school and over 29% had only studied up to primary school. Only 24.2% had moved to upper primary . The dropout rate was also pretty high--of the 182 kids, only 43 were still studying when apprehended. The study holds families and the school system responsible for their failure to identify behavioural deficiencies in these children. Over 50.3% of children were deprived of adequate housing and 62.1% were working for a living when they were apprehended. Also 14.2% of children were not living with parents and 23% were living with single parents or with step parents. Many of the children had also witnessed one parent treating another with violence and had lived in turbulent neighbourhoods.
The study makes the point that “there is no evidence to suggest that harsher punishment or transfer of adolescents to criminal justice system will deter them from deviance“. “Instead, there is strong evidence that they increase recidivism.All this does not mean that childrenadolescents who are involved in offences or deviances should not be held accountable for what they have done.But the means for ensuring such accountability should be grounded in child and adolescent psychology , the human rights of children and a deeper understanding of the circumstances that led to such behaviour,“ the study adds.

Source: Times of India, 28-12-2015

Smoking dips 10% in 2 yrs but women smokers up sharply

Atul Thakur & Rema Nagarajan





Double In 30 Yrs, Highest Number Here After US

Cigarette consumption in India is falling steadily even as the number of women smokers is rising, making it home to the second largest number of female smokers after the United States.According to the latest data given by the health ministry in Parliament, cigarette consumption in 2014-15 was 93.2 billion sticks -10 billion less than in 2012-13. Production fell from 117 billion sticks to 105.3 billion in the same period.
In the face of this good news is the sobering finding of a global tobacco study , which showed that the number of women smokers in India went up from 5.3 million in 1980 to 12.7 million in 2012. The study , titled `Smoking Prevalence and Cigarette Consumption in 187 Countries 1980-2012', was carried out by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington and released last year.This jump in numbers consti tutes only a marginal increase in prevalence (percentage of smokers in the above 15 population) from 3% to 3.2%. But it has been flagged as an area of concern by anti-tobacco activists who point out that it runs against the global trend of the rate of decline among women smokers being consistently faster than in men.
Incidentally , unlike most countries where cigarettes constitute over 90% of tobacco consumption, in India, it is just about 11%. Hence, while the decline is a positive development, its impact on burden of diseases caused by tobacco remains limited as consumption is dominated by chewing tobacco, followed by bidis.
According to a 2009-10 survey by the health ministry, 24% of men and 17% of women use smokeless tobacco, much higher than the proportion of smokers in that age group ­ 15% and 2% respectively. About 9% of men and 1% of women both chew tobacco and smoke it. The survey also showed that tobacco use was higher in rural areas ­ 52% among men and 24% among women, compared to 38% and 12% in urban areas. In the US, where almost a third of the population were smokers in 1980, ground-breaking re search on diseases caused by tobacco use and sustained campaigns by the government and non-profit agencies has managed to bring down prevalence to around 17% of the adult population.
“Every kind of tobacco product consumption ought to be taxed, including the small-scale bidi and gutka manufacturers,“ said Bobby Ramakant, an anti-tobacco activist with Corporate Accountability International.“This, along with pictorial warnings and adequately funded programmes to help people quit us ing tobacco, is the only way the National Tobacco Control Programme will work. It all depends on the government's commitment to reduce non-communicable diseases. Tobacco use is a huge risk factor for many of these diseases, especially cancer.“

Source: Times of India, 28-12-2015

Dear Reader

Wish You A Very Happy Christmas To All Of You


TISS Guwahati Campus Library

Retired professor V. Arasu spends Rs. 15 lakh to create library for research students - Hats of you Sirji

Creating a library out of retirement benefits

The library has 15,000 Tamil books and 5,000 English books, particularly books on Tamil literature and culture- Photo: Special Arrangement

It is common for a person to invest retirement benefits for a secure future. However, V. Arasu, former head of the Tamil Department of University of Madras, has spent Rs. 15 lakh to create an academic library for the benefit of research students at his residence in Perungudi in Chennai.

The library has 15,000 Tamil books and 5,000 English books, particularly books on Tamil literature and culture.

“Keeping the collection in good condition has always been a challenge, especially when you live in a rented house and shift frequently. We used to keep them under the cot. Now they have found a safe place,” said Mr. Arasu, who started collecting books since his college days in the 1970s.

He has all the dictionaries published in Tamil, over a thousand books on Eelam literature, 3,000 literary magazines that created new trends in Tamil literature, souvenirs on great Tamil scholars, including U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, R.P. Sethu Pillai and theatre personality Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar.

Mr. Arasu acknowledged the help rendered by architect Mahesh Radhakrishnan who designed the library on the second floor of the house with adequate aeration.

The racks were created with wood used for packing materials, treated in chemicals to keep away insects.

“The library is open to all serious and committed students.

They can even stay there and work. They can share the food we prepare.

Even while I was teaching in the university, we had always had one student or the other staying with us,” said Mr. Arasu, who has created a separate room for students in the library.

Retired professor V. Arasu spends Rs. 15 lakh to create library for research students

Source | The Hindu | 22 December 2015

‘India should show leadership in TB research’

With a $9.1 million funding in 2014 by several Indian government agencies, India is ranked fifth in the world with documented investments in TB research. India is ranked ninth in terms of money spent on TB research as a percentage of GDP.

India's spend of $9.1 million on TB research in 2014 is in line with its historical spending on TB research over the past four years ($8.6 million in 2013; $8.7 million in 2012; and $9.5 million in 2011).

“India has done well compared to some other countries, but it needs to show leadership in TB research and contribute much more for the sake of the over 2 million Indians who suffer from TB unnecessarily each year and hundreds of thousands that needlessly die from TB,” said Dr. Suvanand Sahu, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership, Geneva, Switzerland in an email to this Correspondent.

Singapore, which has very low TB incidence and mortality, provided $8.1 million last year. Singapore spends more on TB research as a percentage of its GDP than any other nation.

Though world leaders have agreed to end TB by 2030 under the Sustainable Development Goal 3, achieving this goal will not be possible unless and otherwise new diagnostics, drugs and an effective vaccine become available. The Stop TB Partnership’s Global Plan for 2016-2020, published in November 2015, articulates the need for these new tools and estimates that $9 billion will be required for research in these five years.

“So all countries, including India need to significantly increase their investment in TB research,” said Dr. Sahu.

Since India has the highest TB burden and mortality in the world, the country would gain the most from scientific breakthroughs in the development of better diagnostics, shorter treatment regimen and vaccines. “Considering India’s economic growth and the enormous human resource potential, the country can be a leader in TB research,” he said. Besides being the biggest beneficiary of any TB breakthroughs, there is another reason why India in particular should increase its share of TB funding. Global funding for TB research has flatlined at under $700 million per year during the last five years. This is despite the WHO increasing its estimates of the size of the TB epidemic in each of the past two years, and the threat of drug-resistant TB continuing to loom large.

“This lack of funding has left TB researchers waiting for the resources required to put new ideas to test and now threatens to forestall the TB community’s ambitious vision for the future: a world free of TB,” notes a report on TB funding by the Stop TB Partnership and Treatment Action Group (TAG). “There is a proposal to start a research consortium which will coordinate TB research done by different government agencies. The consortium can coordinate and make TB research more effective by avoiding duplication, fragmentation and focus on high priority research areas,” said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Director General of ICMR.

While the U.S ($247 million) and the U.K. ($44 million) have contributed significantly, many developed countries have spent far less than India. The reasons for this are clear — low levels of TB in the developed countries, particularly in Western Europe, have resulted in declining interest in investing in TB research.  

Another reason for declining interest in TB research and funding could be traced back to the nature of the disease itself. TB is a slowly progressing disease that does not kill people in public and is linked to poverty. “It kills people but not in as dramatic a way as Ebola does. Had TB been an acute disease with sudden onset and death it would have scared people and governments would have invested readily on research,” he underlined.

One more factor that adversely affected TB research was that when the DOTS strategy was launched in the late 1990s, “it was thought that with the existing drugs and diagnostics, the DOTS approach could cut down TB substantially. Research was not prioritised during this period,” Dr. Sahu said.

Keywords: Dr. Suvanand Sahu, Stop TB Partnership, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, ICMR

Source: The Hindu, 23-12-2015

Patriotism in the Age of Globalization

The new fault line in politics, according to Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Front, is between globalists and patriots. It is an argument similar to those being made by euroskeptics in the United Kingdom and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in the United States. It is, however, as false as it is dangerous.

Judging by the results of the second and final round of France’s regional elections on December 13, it is also an argument that French voters, at least, roundly rejected. They cast 73% of their ballots for the National Front’s rivals, depriving the party of even a single victory.

Le Pen accused the mainstream parties of ganging up on her, describing their cooperation as a denial of democracy. Her argument is, of course, a classic example of sour grapes; the entire point of a two-round voting system is to force parties and their supporters to seek a consensus and form partnerships. Unless and until the National Front finds a way to win allies, it will not achieve an electoral breakthrough. (The same is likely to prove true about Trump.)

That is not to say that Le Pen’s claim – that those who vote for her party are the only true patriots – should be casually dismissed. She has homed in on a powerful message, one with the potential to attract supporters from other parties. That’s why it must be rebutted, both in France and elsewhere. The assumption underlying such nationalist bombast – that a country’s interests are better served by being closed rather than open – is extremely dangerous.

The belief that openness is treason and closure is patriotic is a rejection of the entire post-1945 framework of politics and policy in the developed world. It is an attempt to turn back the clock to the interwar period, when the focus was on closing off: imposing onerous trade restrictions and persecuting or expelling minority groups. This was true even in the United States, which enacted the most restrictive immigration laws since the country’s founding.

The postwar years marked a complete change of direction, as countries opened up, allowing freer flows of trade, capital, ideas, and people. This process became known as globalization only after China and India joined in during the 1980s, but it had started long before. It was globalization, after all, that created what in France became known as Les Trente Glorieuses – the 30 glorious years of rapidly rising living standards following the end of WWII.

Le Pen and her fellow populists claim that globalization was either an act of foolish generosity that helped the rest of the world at the expense of the nation, or a phenomenon that benefited only the elites and not ordinary people. For them, patriotism means being harder-headed about protecting the national interest and adopting more democratic policies that help the working masses, not jet-setting fat cats.

The second part of this argument – that the interests of ordinary people have been subordinated to those of the elite – must be heard and responded to. A democracy in which a majority feels neglected or exploited is not sustainable. Either the government or the entire system will be overturned.

Elected officials clearly need to find answers to high unemployment and declining living standards. What mainstream parties need to be make clear, however, is that the answers to those problems do not lie in closing borders or minds. There is no example, anywhere in history, of a society or an economy that has prospered over the long term by rejecting globalism.

Moreover, though openness may not guarantee prosperity, it has always been a prerequisite for growth. To be sure, the optimal amount of openness is a matter of debate. But the bigger, more productive arguments are about how to shape education, labor markets, scientific research, and social-welfare policies in order to help societies adapt to the world around them. The patriotic choice – the national interest – has always consisted in crafting domestic policies that best take advantage of globalization.

For mainstream parties in France, the Conservatives in the UK, and Trump’s more internationally minded Republican rivals in the US, there is nothing to be gained from copying the arguments of their extremist counterparts. Doing so would yield crucial ground in the political battle over how best to serve the country and its people. Mainstream parties must reclaim the mantle of patriotism and redefine the national interest accordingly. In today’s world, the national interest lies in managing openness – not in throwing it away.

Bill Emmott is a former editor-in-chief of The Economist. Views expressed are personal.

Source: Hindustan Times, 23-12-2015

The Prophet Of Divine Love And Kindness

M N Kundu





Jesus Christ added a different dimension to life and living by incorporat ing divine love and kindness in what we do, say and think. He substituted a God-fearing attitude with a God-loving mysticism and ethical religious injunctions by spontaneous human kindness. In addition, he proclaimed the essential divinity of man by asserting, “The Kingdom of God is within you“. The spirit of God hidden within can be known by removal of spiritual ignorance and washing away the filth of sins with the waters of divine love.Once a woman accused of committing adultery was brought before Christ for his final verdict on her punishment.As per the law of Moses she was to be stoned to death for her actions. While all eyes were on Jesus who always advocated forgiveness and kindness under all circumstances, he asked those assembled, “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.“
The crowd dispersed quietly .
The fearful woman awaiting impen ing death asked, “Why have you saved my life? I deserve punishment for being a sinner.“ Compassionate Jesus said, “Go, and sin no more.“ Forget the past and move forward. The message is to condemn the sin but not the sinner. Because every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.
Once a man came to Jerusalem, the birthplace of Jesus, during Christmas. He was delighted at the festive celebrations but was keen to see immortal Jesus in body and prayed for the same. In the night baby Jesus appeared before him and asked, “What have you brought for me as Christmas gift?“ The overwhelmed devotee uttered, “I have brought my whole heart to give you.“
Jesus said, “Very good. But won't you give me something more?“ The devotee replied, “I will give you all that I have and myself too.“ Jesus said, “Excellent.But can't you give me something more?“ The man was puzzled, “What more do I have to give you, my Lord?“ Jesus smiled and said, “Why don't you give me your sins as your Christmas gift?“ With tearful eyes the man asked, “What will you do with my sins?“ Jesus said, “I will forgive them all and relieve you of the burden of sins so that you may not look back and only move forward severing your psychological blocks and bondage with the sins.“
Christ committed his greatest miracle on the cross.
He was humiliated, tortured and crucified for spreading his spiritual wisdom. But with every hammer on the nail for his crucifixion he uttered the al prayer ever heard by immortal prayer ever heard by mankind, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.“ His first commandment was to develop unconditional divine love for God with all strength, mind, heart and soul and also loving neighbours (entire humanity) as extended self. Such mystic love executes complete self-effacement and absolute surrender to the cosmic will, “Let Thy will be done.“ This is the culmination of spiritual wisdom and also the ultimate stage of human devotion.
As a universal prophet Christ prescribed the essence of spirituality for practice by all, beyond sectarian rituals. From the depth of his profound feeling of oneness with the Absolute he said, “I am the light ...“ He gave a call to all seekers, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ... and ye shall find rest into your souls.“ That rest is the eternal peace of kingdom of God within.