Be the Change

DEEPAK CHOPRA





The concept of God as Generator, Organiser and Destroyer is represented in Hinduism by Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh. But I don't expect anyone to believe in an anthropomorphic God because I don't do so myself. But I do think God is a field of intelligence: inconceivable, transcendental, beyond space and time, the source of the observer and the observed.... I think the best description of God can be found in Vedanta.The Upanishads don't propound a philosophy; what they're saying is authentic science. You don't have to believe in electricity to be able to see a lit bulb.We're all differentiated aspects of a single reality . All of us are differentiated aspects of a single consciousness. You have to see others as you see yourself.Just as our DNA converts into eyes, the nose and different parts of the body , this single reality manifests in different forms.The Upanishads talk of the seven states of consciousness. Chapter 10 of the Bhagavad Gita talks of unity . Many view this concept -of a single reality -with scepticism. How can this be translated in our daily lives, they ask. Mohandas Gandhi asked, “Can you be the change that you wish to see?“ You want to see peace in the environment. Then, ask yourself, can you be the full expression of non-violence? No one owns anything in this world.Everything is recycled. In the end, even your body doesn't belong to you. Neither do your thoughts. There are no original thoughts. All thoughts emanate from a common bed of thoughts. We can only exchange energy .

Happiness, beyond measure

People are jumping on to the Gross National Happiness bandwagon, in an attempt to capture something that remains elusive

What is common to Bhutan, Venezuela, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Madhya Pradesh? All of them have a ministry/department for happiness. Bhutan is talked about the most, with the idea of GNH (Gross National Happiness) presented as some kind of alternative to GDP (gross domestic product). GNH is built into Bhutan’s constitution, in Article 9, on Principles of State Policy. What is invariably quoted is Article 9.2: “The State shall strive to promote those conditions that will enable the pursuit of Gross National Happiness.” However, this follows Article 9.1: “The State shall endeavour to apply the Principles of State Policy set out in this Article to ensure a good quality of life for the people of Bhutan in a progressive and prosperous country that is committed to peace and amity in the world.”

Operationally, what does this mean? Those who mention Bhutan talk about GNHI (Gross National Happiness Index), administered by the Centre for Bhutan Studies and GNH Research. GNHI is based on four pillars (political, economic, cultural and environmental) and nine domains (which can be skipped for present purposes). There were surveys in 2010 and 2015 to determine how Bhutan performed on GNHI. Hence, along a happiness/unhappiness continuum, progress could be measured and one had an aggregate measure that was an alternative or supplement to GDP, based on subjective responses to questionnaires that were then aggregated. To state the obvious, Bhutan has a population of around 7,50,000.

But I don’t think the alternative or supplementary summary measure is the point. The point is the Planning Commission and Committee of Secretaries being subsumed in the Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC). In other words, feedback received from GNHI surveys is factored into government policies and public expenditure priorities, reflected in central and local body plans. More than the aggregate measure, if I have understood the idea right, this suggests decentralised planning to me. Ascertain the needs of gram panchayats/urban local bodies. Use those local plans to aggregate and move up to a block level, district level and national plan. If we get too fixated on the alternative to the GDP idea, we lost sight of this process, the operational and much more important part.

After a lot of sarcastic comments and dark humour in 2013, I haven’t heard much about Venezuela’s vice ministry of supreme social happiness. Perhaps it just vanished, because of chaos and general uncertainty. The initial idea seems to have been to converge anti-poverty programmes directed at disabled, homeless, poor and old-age pensioners. Unlike Bhutan, you don’t ask people what their priorities are. Given the ideology of the government, you know what people want, or should want. At best, you synergise across schemes. This also illustrates why discussions on happiness that mention both Bhutan and Venezuela in the same breath are misleading.

I don’t think it is fair to place UAE in the same bracket either. In 2016, UAE announced a new ministry (and minister of state) for happiness. It may be early days, but so far, all this ministry seems to have done is to train officers from federal and local government to become “chief happiness and positivity officers”. I am not sure the UN General Assembly Resolution of July 19, 2011 was a very good idea: “(1) Invites Member States to pursue the elaboration of additional measures that better capture the importance of the pursuit of happiness and well-being in development with a view to guiding their public policies; (2) Invites those Member States that have taken initiatives to develop new indicators, and other initiatives, to share information thereon with the Secretary-General as a contribution to the United Nations development agenda, including the Millennium Development Goals”.

Irrespective of what is done to public policy formulation, people are jumping on to the bandwagon of measuring and pushing something that is, at best, elusive. The UN’s World Happiness Report, an annual feature since 2012, is based on diverse indicators across GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption (trust). Measure a country’s distance from the perfect dystopia and you have a rank and a score. In 2016, India had a rank of 118 out of 150 countries.

If citizens are happier in a certain country, presumably people would want to migrate there, given a choice. In 2016, the top three countries were Denmark, Switzerland and Iceland and both Nepal and Bangladesh have higher ranks than India. It is worth checking out the number of Indian immigrants to these five countries. Among India’s states, Madhya Pradesh was the first one to start a happiness department in 2016. It is early days there too. At the moment, the focus is on volunteers training people to positively impact the lives of others. This is thus an attempt to bring about behavioural changes in people, not behavioural changes within government.

Such disparity across three countries and a state should remind you of the clichéd blind men and the elephant and perhaps of John Godfrey Saxe’s poem too. Most people will remember how the poem starts. “It was six men of Indostan..” And this is how it ends: “So, oft in theologic wars/ The disputants, I ween/ Rail on in utter ignorance/ Of what each other mean/ And prate about an Elephant/ Not one of them has seen!” For happiness too, theology is a good expression, because that’s what the fetish about measurement has reduced it too. The means of measurement have become more important than the end.

The writer is a member of Niti Aayog. Views are personal

Source: Indian Express, 16-02-2017

Time to Act: New law a welcome step towards world-class education

Every time a world university ranking comes out, we look for the possibility of our state universities on the list in much the same way that a student scans the list of names when exam results are announced.

Our public institutions, however, never make it to these rankings, or appear shamefully behind universities elsewhere in the world.

This time though, Maharashtra’s Higher and Technical Education (HTE) department is working towards a better grade. In December, the State Legislative Assembly passed the Maharashtra Public Universities Act 2016 to bring state universities up to par with the times and with top universities in India.

The Act introduces several reforms in the functioning of 11 institutions currently governed by the Maharashtra Public Universities Act. It proposes the idea of a Cluster University (a clutch of empowered autonomous institutes), a committee to fix fees, a digital university and a choice-based credit system with transferable credit points. It also plans to reintroduce student elections and establish centres in foreign countries.

MA Khan, registrar of the University of Mumbai says the previous Act, in use since 1994, was outdated. “The new Act is progressive and makes provisions for activities that can improve higher education in Maharashtra,” he adds.

The Bill has got the signature from the Chancellor (Governor) and has got status of an Act that may be effective from March this year. It is based on the recommendations of three committees set up in 2010-11 to suggest long-term strategies that might improve the management of the 11 state universities and the 3774 colleges affiliated to them.

Here are some of the major features of the Act and how they have been received within the community.

AIMED AT STUDENTS

The Act is designed to be more student-friendly. Clauses include appointing the previous year’s topper in a particular stream (Arts, Science or Commerce) as a member of that faculty’s board of studies. It recommends nominating the president of a university students’ council as an invitee member of the management council. It also proposes special exams for students who miss them because they are participating in sports and cultural events.

“Student representation is extremely important in university decisions and we will welcome students’ opinions on the syllabus through the Act,” says Anand Mapuskar, subject expert at the HTE department. He was also part of education minister Vinod Tawde’s 21-member committee that took a final look at the Bill before it was tabled in the Assembly. “The Act makes provisions for an ombudsman at the college and universitylevel for students’ grievances.” It also reintroduces college and university elections.

The Act recommends that universities and their affiliated colleges set up complaints committees to address sexual harassment, much like those in workplaces under the Vishakha Guidelines. It takes the existing Credit system a step ahead by proposing a choice-based credit system, which will allow students to choose a subject from any stream of education (academic, technology, professional and social, and personality and cultural development) and transfer credits smoothly. This will ease the movement of students between universities and colleges.

“Our careers will no longer depend upon our subject choices, which is a relief,” says Shweta Verhani, 20, second-year Arts student. She adds that choice based accreditation will allow more room to experiment with streams.”

In other good news for students, semester exam timetables will be released a year before the exams start. “We understand that students who opt for competitive exams after college need the dates to plan their studies and exams. Thus, there is a provision for this in the Act,” says Mapuskar.

SEEING THE OTHER SIDE

To free universities from vested interests, the Act proposes to create the Maharashtra State

Council for Higher Education and Development (MAHED). The umbrella body will plan, shape, coordinate, supervise, devise use of technology and raise finances for higher education. It will be headed by the chief minister and run by academicians, scientists, technocrats, and industry and financial experts.

The concept of MAHED comes from a committee headed by Anil Kakodkar. “But it was supposed to be in addition to the Higher Education Council, which is almost dormant,” says Kakodkar, a nuclear scientist and former member of Board of Governors of IIT-Bombay. “Political bodies can’t get too involved in running a university. It needs an environment to flourish and grow. It needs to be peer-driven and not hierarchy driven. Mixing these two defeats the purpose.”

Others see it differently. “MAHED will link the state with the Ministry of Human Resource Development and decision-making councils in higher and professional education, as well as with the government’s think tank NITI Aayog,” says MS Kurhade, dean of Arts and principal of DTSS College of Commerce, Malad. “This link was missing and is much needed.”

Madhu Paranjape, member of the Bombay University and College Teachers’ Union (BUCTU) fears that a government-led body means a loss of democratic functioning. “Nominated members protect the interest of the government and self-financing institutes,” she says.

THE LONG VIEW

The Act claims to have a far reaching vision, making progressive strides in Maharashtra’s higher education.

It proposes to create a comprehensive digital university framework for e-learning and administrative services. “The world is moving towards a digital phase and we cannot shy away from offering this opportunity to our students,” says registrar Khan. He adds that work has already begun and affiliated colleges will soon have WiFi on campuses.

Not everyone is rejoicing. Of the 750 affiliated colleges under the University of Mumbai, only 296 colleges are in Mumbai and its urbanised periphery. The majority are in rural areas, where most students don’t even own cellphones or computers. “This is an Act of the elite. It isn’t inclusive at all,” says Paranjape, referring to the new governing council and the idea of student election – provisions that can’t be modified once they are put into the act.

The Act’s other additions include cultivating research parks, technology incubators and other entities to help university research reach the commercial domain and allow faculty groups from several disciplines to collaborate on projects. It also hopes to establish centers or institutions in foreign countries with the permission of the Central and the State Government.

Its offer of empowered autonomy for groups of better-graded colleges has had a mixed response. “Cluster universities can take the load off institutions like the University of Mumbai, which has a large number of affiliated colleges,” explains Ashok Wadia, principal, Jai Hind College, Churchgate, who was also part of the team in the earlier phases of the creation of the Act. “But it is yet to be seen what statutes are made to implement them. It will be important to see how colleges are segregated and decentralised, as each college has its own culture, region and mission. Autonomy will always be preferred over clusters.”

Kakodkar sees the Act as an incremental progression. “It has failed to consider our recommendations in their entirety,” he says. “However, I understand that when you make an Act, you need to take everyone along. Probably, that is why some recommendations have been watered down.”

The writer is a research fellow with Observer Research Foundation, Mumbai

Source: Hindustan Times, 15-02-2017

In a first, Mumbai, Delhi ranked in top 100 student-friendly cities in the world

Mumbai and New Delhi have for the first time been ranked among the world’s 100 best places to be a student in the QS Best Student Cities ranking. Montreal is at first place in the list released today by QS (Quacquarelli Symonds), compilers of the QS World University Rankings. It knocked off Paris, which has topped the list in all previous editions since 2012 and is placed second his year.

QS analyses cities according to performance in six composite indicators: affordability, desirability, student mix, rankings, employer activity, and, for the first time, student view. The ranking expands from 75 cities to 100 this year.

Mumbai has been placed 85, the highest position for an Indian city on the list, followed by New Delhi at 86.

Indian cities have done really well in the affordability metric, which measures the cost of living in each city. New Delhi ranks 15 for this indicator, while Mumbai is placed at 30. They also both see high levels of employer activity. While Mumbai is at number 40, New Delhi is at 50.

Ben Sowter, head of research at QS says: “ New Delhi and Mumbai are featured for the first time in our ranking. Both cities do really well in the affordability indicator and reasonably well in the employer activity indicator, based on the opinion of local and international employers surveyed (37,000 recruiters surveyed globally) who are asked to indicate which universities produce the best graduates based on their knowledge and experience. We have ranked the most attractive cities for international students and while the two leading Indian metro cities are certainly on the map, given the huge domestic demand of university places, the focus is principally on serving local students.”

There is an increase in the desirability score of both cities. This measures a number of indicators pertaining to quality of life, including pollution, corruption, and safety. Mumbai is 90th, New Delhi 91st.

The top five cities in Asia are: Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe. The best city in the US to study is Boston, which places 8th worldwide. London rises from 5th to 3rd, and is the UK’s highest-ranking city. Canadian cities perform well in the wake of recent political events in the US. Four of their five ranked cities rise, and Vancouver (10th) also places in the top 10. QS analysed 125 cities for this year’s ranking, publishing the top 100.

This year’s ranking also features the student view for the first time. This metric is based on the survey responses of 18,000 students, who named the cities in which they would most like to study (student desirability), their willingness to remain in a city after graduation, and the quality of their experience there. Mumbai ranks 74th for the student view; New Delhi ranks 82nd. See the top 10 ranking of cities below.

Source: Hindustan Times, 15-02-2017

The foul air we breathe

 A new international report has drawn attention to the deadly pollutants that pervade the air that people breathe in India, causing terrible illness and premature death. The State of Global Air 2017 study, conducted jointly by the Health Effects Institute and the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, quantifies further what has been reported for some time now: that the concentration of the most significant inhalable pollutant, fine particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less (PM2.5), has been growing in India. The rise in average annual population-weighted PM2.5 levels indicates that the Centre’s initiatives to help States reduce the burning of agricultural biomass and coal in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi have failed. The directions of the National Green Tribunal to Delhi, which were reviewed last year, could not end open burning of garbage and straw, or curb the urban use of diesel-powered vehicles. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the weighted national PM2.5 level estimated in the international report rose from 60 micrograms per cubic metre in 1990 (the acceptable limit) to 74 in 2015, with a steady rise since 2011. Weak policy on pollution is leading to the premature death of an estimated 1.1 million Indians annually, and the number is growing, in contrast to China’s record of reducing such mortality.

ALSO READ

‘India’s air pollution rivals China’s as world’s deadliest’

 

Several studies show long-term evidence of a steady deterioration in air quality in many countries, and South Asia, dominated by India, is today among the worst places to live. Although the central role played by burning of crop residues in causing pollution is well-known, and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute proposed steps to convert the waste into useful products such as enriched fodder, biogas, biofuel, compost and so on, little progress has been made. Last year, helpless farmers in the northern States who wanted to quickly switch from rice to wheat burnt the waste in the fields, in some cases defying local prohibitory orders. The government has no one to blame but itself, since it has not been able to supply affordable seeder machinery in sufficient numbers to eliminate the need to remove the straw. In a country producing about 500 million tonnes of crop residues annually, the issue needs to be addressed in mission mode. Easy access to cheap solar cookers and biogas plants will also cut open burning, and help the rural economy. Yet, there is no reliable distribution mechanism for these. On the health front, it is a matter of concern that in the most polluted cities, even moderate physical activity could prove harmful, rather than be beneficial, as new research indicates. India’s clean-up priorities need to shift gear urgently, covering both farm and city.

Source: The Hindu, 16-02-2017

ISRO sets the bar high

e Indian Space Research Organisation boosted its reputation further when it successfully launched a record 104 satellites in one mission from Sriharikota on Wednesday by relying on its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket. An earth observation Cartosat-2 series satellite and two other nano satellites were the only Indian satellites launched: the remaining were from the United States, Israel, the UAE, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan and Switzerland. Of the 101 foreign satellites launched, 96 were from the U.S. and one each from the other five countries. Till now Russia held the record of launching 37 satellites in a single mission, in 2014, while the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the U.S. launched 29 satellites in one go in 2013. Last June, ISRO had come close to NASA’s record by launching 20 satellites in one mission. But ISRO views the launch not as a mission to set a world record but as an opportunity to make full use of the capacity of the launch vehicle. The launch is particularly significant as ISRO now cements its position as a key player in the lucrative commercial space launch market by providing a cheaper yet highly reliable alternative. At an orbital altitude of around 500 km, the vehicle takes about 90 minutes to complete one orbit. Though ISRO had sufficient time to put the satellites into orbit, it accomplished the task in about 12 minutes. With the focus on ensuring that no two satellites collided with each other, the satellites were injected in pairs in opposite directions. Successive pairs of satellites were launched once the vehicle rotated by a few degrees, thereby changing the separation angle and time of separation to prevent any collision.

ISRO plans to launch more Cartosat-2 series satellites and even an improved version. Besides setting the record for the most number of satellites launched in a single mission, the Indian space agency has launched two nano satellites weighing less than 10 kg. It is a technology demonstrator for a new class of satellites called ISRO nano satellites (INS). The main objective of the INS, which will be launched together with bigger satellites, is to provide a platform on which payloads up to 5 kg from universities and R&D laboratories, and ISRO itself can be easily integrated for carrying out scientific research activities. With many Indian universities already building and launching nano satellites, the availability of a dedicated nano satellites platform is sure to boost space research in India.

Source: The Hindu, 16-02-2017

Mind as Minefield

MATA AMRITANANDAMAYI





Selfless action is the outward expression of selfless love.When the heart is filled with love, it expresses itself in the form of unselfish action. One is a deep inner feeling and the other its outward manifestation. Without deep, unconditional love, selfless actions cannot be performed. In the initial stages of our awakening, the actions we perform in the name of selflessness are not selfless because the love we feel for ourselves is present in everything we do and say .In fact, at the beginning of our journey , our self-love becomes the driving force for each of our actions, even if we choose to call them selfless. Love for the ego, or oneself, is the predominant feeling in every human being. Unless this feeling withers away , real selflessness will not emerge.
Alertness is necessary to prevent the ego from interfering.It is easier to be in love with the ego than feel truly inspired by the ideal of selflessness. The ego, and not our inner Self, is the source of our so-called love and our actions. That is why saints and sages have said that you should know your own Self before you can love and serve others selflessly .
Selflessness can be the driving force in all your actions.Learn to be thankful to everyone, to all of creation, even to your enemy and to those who insult you and get angry with you because they help you grow. They are mirrors, images of your own mind. If you know how to read and interpret the images properly , you can be successful in getting rid of your mind's weaknesses.