NGOs: An extension of the government, not an adversary

Those who question the government’s policies are targeted. It is a pattern,” said lawyer Indira Jaising after her NGO — Lawyers’ Collective — was barred from receiving foreign funds for six months and its licence suspended for alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) by the government last week. Ms Jaising is not the only one who thinks that the government is using the FCRA as a tool to silence dissenting voices; there are many others. In this case and several earlier cases — Greenpeace being a well-known one — the government’s timing of issuing strictures and its targets have been injudicious, to say the least. In the case of Greenpeace, the NGO’s employee was going to Britain to speak on tribal rights and mining; and in the Jaising case, she had just returned from a release function of a book on the 2002 Gujarat riots. The timing and choice of targets have led to the criticism that the Centre cannot stomach dissent. While no one holds any brief for corrupt NGOs, in both these cases, the motives are less than benign.

Read | Indira Jaising’s NGO ‘Lawyers Collective’ suspended for 6 months

In fact, the Centre’s run-in with foreign-funded NGOs started in 2014. Last year, it proposed new rules that would require banks to report every transaction made by these organisations within 48 hours. Additionally, the NGOs will have to pledge that the money won’t be used for activities that go against national, public, security, strategic, scientific or economic interests — with the government retaining the right to interpret what these are.

Last week, Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, and Parliamentary Affairs Venkaiah Naidu wrote a piece in a national daily describing what kind of ‘activism’ the government will accept from NGOs. Saying that the government respects dissent and freedom of speech and expression but they are not absolute and are subject to reasonable restrictions, the minister said that NGOs must practise “evidence-based advocacy”. The minister, more than anyone else, knows that in many cases, especially when it comes to the rights of the people, “evidence-based advocacy” is not always possible. In Bastar, getting people to speak against the high-handedness of the security forces and government can be a challenge. Should NGOs not raise issues because there is no evidence, at least the type the government wants.

The Centre must realise that raising uncomfortable questions has its value. Moreover, NGOs can work as an extension of the government and help it in implementing social schemes effectively. Looking at them as adversaries will only lead to more tension and criticism.

Source: Hindustan Times, 5-06-2016

The Virtues of Solitude

HUMRA QURAISHI





There's something about solitude... something so very special that can't really be described. You have to experience it, to realise what it is all about, which can only be felt and which can never really be described graphically .No words can describe the potential in solitude. Religious scriptures and philosophers hint at the benefits of spending time all by yourself, even setting aside a few days for `retreat'.Yet, in today's fast-paced world, all that -like taking time off for retreat and reflection -is not taken seriously enough.Actually , it boils down to the need to be left alone, to get wrapped up in your own thoughts and flow of emotions.
Solitude sets you in an introspective mood. It enables seeing and sensing aspects of life with a more dispassionate outlook. For, when you are alone, only then do you see a certain special perspective. For, in your aloneness your constant companion, that inner voice, takes charge. And like other supposed companions, it doesn't let you down nor does it let go of you. Just give importance to that inner voice and see the way it guides you, nudges you, enriches you.... Yes, you've got to be far away .Even if you can't move physically away -that is, seek refuge in remote places or sit all alone -then do so at the mental level. It's all in the mind. It can take you away from the daily disappointments and hurt into a world where there's less friction and turmoil. Savour Solitude. It might help you find answers... and be at peace within and without.

Citizens have right to safe water, say draft legislation

Groundwater will not be a free resource’.

The government has for the first time said that citizens had a right to safe water and laid out stringent rules on how corporations and large entities can extract groundwater in two separate pieces of draft legislation uploaded on the website of the Union Water Ministry and open for public comment.

The Bills —in a first — also propose fines ranging from Rs.5,000 to Rs. 5,00,000 depending on the level of infraction and who the perpetrators were. Groundwater wouldn’t also be a free resource and those who could pay for it ought to be doing so while ensuring that it was equitably available to all. The Bill doesn’t detail a mechanism but lays down broad principles.

To be sure, previous governments have also tried to enact legislation to ensure that groundwater— a fragile resource and 80% of India’s irrigation supply— is used judiciously. However, these didn’t account for the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution vesting powers to panchayats and municipalities in the management of water that includes groundwater and was rarely adopted by States.

More power to panchayats

The draft bills — the National Water Framework Bill and the Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection, Regulation and Management of Groundwater will be open for public comment until the month end, aim to decentralise water management and give more power to panchayats and gram sabhas to decide how water can be better used.

“What have we learned from Maharashtra [drought]? That in spite of spending so much on large dams it is among the least irrigated States,” Mihir Shah, Former Planning Commission member and Chair of the committee that drafted the Bills told The Hindu, “and that’s because the end users of water had little say.”

The most fundamental reform that the Bill sought to make was to do away with the “British Common Law” concept — as Mr. Shah described it — that he who owned the land could extract unlimited groundwater. According to the provisions of the proposed Bill, corporations and industries extracting groundwater now had to submit plans to ensure that water was used responsibly and that any possible contamination was remedied.

Funds for river clean-up

The NDA government has announced massive budget outlays to clean up rivers such as the Ganga as well embark on interlinking rivers to improve storage capabilities. The present legislation doesn’t attempt to decide if the States or the Centre ought to have the final say in developing or conserving water bodies.

The Bills also say that the top priority in the use of groundwater ought to be in meeting drinking, sanitation, food security, sustenance agriculture, the needs of women and only after that for industry.

There would also be an incentive for those who cultivate less water-intensive crops. There would also be groundwater security boards and groundwater protection zones that would be overseen by State bodies.

Keywords: right to safe water, NDA government, groundwater

Source: The Hindu, 4-06-2016

Suffer or Be Happy

SADHGURU JAGGI VASUDEV





If Creation is perfect, and the Creator has done such a good job, why is there so much suffering? It is such a perfect job that it gives you the opportunity to be whichever way you wish to be. If Creation had not given you this opportunity , then there would be no possibilities, there would be no such thing as liberation.So why create bondage and then liberation? Why couldn't you have just been liberated?
Then there would be no Creation. Only because there is Creation, now there is the possibility of going beyond that.
In other forms of life, there is not much possibility other than to survive, procreate and die one day . So there is no misery either. Their suffering is only physical. In pain, they do not know the kind of suffering that a human being knows.
As a human being, you know this suffering not because Creation gave the suffering to you. Creation just gave you the freedom to make whatever you wish to out of yourself. You're making suffering out of yourself, that is your choice.
There is no end to what a man would want to do to himself to enhance his own grandeur.But somewhere, every human being should be able to place a limit. Some self-restraint is required. Otherwise, your life becomes one of excess.
There is no joy in it; people will become totally frustrated and mentally broken. This is happening to the affluent classes of the world everywhere.Money should have brought well-being, but for most people, it is bringing terrible situations within themselves.

Source: Economic Times, 4-06-2016

India ranks 70th on `Good Country' index, Sweden first

London: PTI





Sweden has been voted as the best country in the world when it comes to serving the interests of its people and contributing to the common good of humanity while India figured low at 70th position on a list of 163 nations.According to the `Good Country' 2015 index which seeks to measure how countries contribute to the global good, Sweden, relative to the size of its economy , does more “good“ and less harm than any other country . The report ranked a total of 163 countries taking 35 different UN and World Bank indices into account, inclu ding global contributions to science, culture, peace and security , climate change and health and equality .
The top 10 best countries included Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany , Finland, Canada, France, Austria and New Zealand, whereas Libya was ranked as the least “good“ country in the world. India figured at 70th position overall, three places below China, with the best ranking (27th) in `international peace and security' and the worst (124th) in `prosperity and equality'.
While the country stood at 37th position in health and wellbeing and 62nd in science and technology , it was ranked 119th in culture, 106th in climate and 100th in world order.“The Good Country Index is pretty simple: to measure what each country on earth contributes to the common good of humanity , and what it takes away , relative to its size,“ the report said.
The biannual index was founded by Simon Anholt, a British government adviser whose aim is “to find ways of encouraging countries to collaborate and co-operate a lot more, and compete a bit less“.





Source: Times of India, 4-06-2016

72 more emoticons like shrug, selfie coming soon

Andrew Griffin

THE INDEPENDENT





Everyone's emoji vocabu lary is about to receive a huge expansion as authorities roll out new pictures.The Unicode Consortium, which maintains the standards for emoji so that they can work across sites, is sending out a new update.And it includes a wide variety of pictures.
Some of those serve obvious purposes, like a picture that shows someone rolling on the floor laughing or a shrug. Others are slightly more unexpected, like a face with a cowboy hat and a gherkin.
Yet more tend to build on existing pictures to give them more possibilities. That includes the addition of a glass of milk, clinking glasses and a tumbler full of whiskey , building on the existing beer and martini glasses.
It could still take some time for the emoji to actually arrive on your phone. Though the consortium will approve the new emoji towards the end of the month, they have to be drawn and integrated into particular operating systems by the firms that make them.
That has led to some problems with the little images, which experts have said can potentially cause huge amounts of confusion because each company draws them differently .

Source: Times of India, 4-06-2016

Over 2000 Indians got HIV due to unsafe blood transfusions in 18 months

Around 2000 Indians were infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after getting botched blood transfusions, in the last 18 months, according to data shared by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) on Tuesday.

The NACO, in a reply to an RTI query sent by activist Chetan Kothari, said that 2,234 people from across India contracted the deadly virus, between October 2014 to March 2016, because of unsafe blood transfusion processes followed by hospitals in India.

About 16% (361 cases) of those affected hailed from Uttar Pradesh, making the state’s hospitals most unsafe among Indian states, followed by Guiarat with 13% (292 cases) and Maharastra 12% (276 cases).

Many union territories like Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and few north-eastern states drew a blank. But according to Kothari it may be because their governments are not maintaining proper records.

Tripura, a state where HIV prevalence doubled between 2007-2015 while it dropped nation wide, also drew a blank in the list.

Remote places like Andaman, Meghalaya, Sikkim have not recorded even one case of this nature because they may lack adequate means to test blood during or after donation. Also, they may not even be aware of the cases of AIDS due to lack of proper labs,” Kothari told HT.

“A basic testing kit costs around Rs 1,200. But many hospitals do not follow proper procedure,” said Kothari.

However, NACO’s assistant director general, Dr Shobini Rajan, in a live chat with The Hindu , said, there is “no shortage of testing kits for all the blood banks supported through the NACO programme.”

“States and blood banks also have standing instructions to procure through their resources to mitigate stock outs so as to ensure mandatory blood testing,” Rajan said during the live chat.

Also, these figures need not worry those who donate blood, as there is no chance of them contracting the virus. “We can donate without fear, as that does not impose any risk whatsoever of transfusion transmitted infections. Needles are attached to the bag and cannot be reused,” Rajan said during the chat.

Source: Hindustan Times, 1-06-2016

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