A Path So Expansive

The route to peace is paved with hope, not despair. Similarly, the route to enlightenment and merging with the Paramatma is full of unconditional love and hope. To aspire to be one with the Paramatma is to be free of ego and power struggle. To become a Paramatma is no mean task, and in aspiring for it, there is no objection. The ambition of attaining a small post is fraught with danger. If you wish to become prime minister, you will face innumerable obstacles, jealousies and other problems. All these posts come with conflict and opposition. Those in small posts are always wary of others grabbing their posts. But the post of the Paramatma is very large, expansive. Anybody who wants this post can aspire for it without creating any objection, jealousy or conflict. The path to become the Paramatma is so large that all the small paths get contained in it. It is the path of optimism. The path of spirituality, of meditation, can never be seen as the path of despair. Only those come who are satiated with the materialistic path. They then find peace. A peaceful life and mind do not come from wealth or prosperity. There is no alternative to this peace. Its only way is through mental concentration, steadying the mind and to change the functioning of the glandular system. This way, the thoughts and waves that come to mind are assuaged. Thoughts and waves create opposing actions, causing restlessness. To negate this and achieve balance is the way to peace

Source: Economic Times, 27/09/2018

New institutions outrank old powerhouses in Times list

Nine-Year-Old IIT-Indore In Global Top 400

New institutions have edged past the traditional IITs in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2019 on Wednesday. The country is led again by the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, which retains its position in the 251-300 band. But in an impressive debut entry, the nineyear-old Indian Institute of Technology, Indore (IIT-Indore) became India’s second highest-ranked university — and a global top 400 institution — with its scores buoyed by research volume and research impact. IIT-Indore overtook IIT-Bombay, which slipped from the 351-400 to 401-500 banding. Another surprise this year has been Jagadguru Sri Shivarathreeswara University, Mysore, which is among the top five Indian institutes and is ranked among the top 500 global universities. Globally, Oxford University claimed first position for the third consecutive year, also topping the list for its the research pillar (volume, income and reputation). Cambridge retained the second spot, while Stanford in the US holds steady in third. India again increased its presence, claiming 49 places this year, up from 42 – the fifth best-represented nation in the world, but a majority of institutions either stagnated or declined in the 2019 table. In a statement issued to THE, Pradeep Mathur, director of IIT Indore, said: “Our efforts in making research the focus of the institute is now reflected in the form of citation and other impact metrics of research. We continue to make research the focus of all our programmes which is why you see even our undergraduate students are active participants of research projects and collaborations within India and internationally too.” Among the previously ranked Indian institutions, Amrita University saw an impressive rise in the 2019 table—from the 801-1,000 band to 601-800 this year. Phil Baty, editorial director of Global Rankings for THE, said: “India is bursting with innovation and ambition. The nation has serious potential to grow into a leading player in global higher education. But while it increases its presence again in this year’s table, the majority of its universities remained immobile, struggling against increased global competition. Sustained investment, a continued drive to attract leading global talent, and a strengthened international outlook will be key to boosting its global reputation and research influence.” The United States remains the most-represented nation in the table, with 172 institutions, up from 157. However, marked improvement comes from China, with Tsinghua University now its new number one, supplanting the National University of Singapore as Asia’s top institution.

Source: Times of India, 27/09/2018

What is ecological succession in ecology?

This refers to the progressive changes that happen to the biological structure of an ecological community. Over time, there are changes that take place in the composition of species that constitute an ecological community. In the case of primary succession, a region that is uninhabited by any species gets occupied by a few species over a period of time. In other cases, a preexisting group of species is replaced by a new group of species, a process called secondary succession. As a general rule, it is believed that ecological communities move from possessing very little species diversity to a more stable state where they house an array of species.

Source: The Hindu, 26/09/2018

Building from debris

Construction and demolition waste is an environment and public health hazard. Its recycle and reuse offers a sustainable solution.

India is urbanising faster than its urban planners can handle. We are building roads, bridges, fly-overs, factories, commercial complexes and also building and renovating our homes and residential properties (sometimes to upgrade the buildings or to take advantage of higher FSI regulations now allowed in many cities). But we do not pay sufficient heed to the construction and demolition (C&D) waste we generate, for example, bricks, concrete, stones, hard core subsoil, topsoil, timber, glass, gypsum, ceramics and also plastics. Neglecting this waste has consequences for public health as well as the environment.

There is no agreement on the volume of C&D waste. The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in 2010, put the annual estimate of C&D waste at 10-12 million tonnes. The Central Pollution Control Board settled for 12 million tonnes in 2011, but its Guidelines Document of 2017 has upped the estimate to 25-30 million tonnes, based on information from the Ministry of Urban Development. The Centre for Science and Environment, swung to the other extreme and estimated C&D waste at a humongous 530 million tonnes for 2013, as they include the waste from renovations/repairs, assuming that one-third of the existing stock of buildings carried out renovations/repairs in 2013.

The most recent annual estimate of C&D waste in Indian cities is 165-175 million tonnes, jointly prepared for the period 2005 to 2013, by two government agencies, the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council, and the Centre for Fly Ash Research and Management. This waste is dumped illegally on vacant sites, on the sides of highways, below fly-overs, beside lakes and rivers, in other low-lying areas and open stormwater drains. Delhi and Bengaluru provide glaring examples of this practice, commonly known as “fly-tipping”. In Bengaluru, C&D waste is increasingly being used to encroach on lake-bed land for construction.

Delhi’s air pollution is in no small measure due to the high presence of particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM 10), resulting from the construction debris strewn around the city. Waterlogging, with all its adverse impact on public health and the environment, is another consequence as the runoff from smooth surfaces is trapped in the debris.

Other countries have faced similar challenges and have done something about it. Germany faced huge issues in disposing of the post-war bomb rubble. Stuttgart solved this problem by creating a mini-hillock outside the town which is now a recreational hand-gliding spot. While C&D waste was earlier typically sent to dump sites in many countries, in the past 20 years or so there has been a greater appreciation of the reuse and recycling possibilities of the waste into construction material (recycled aggregate concrete, manufactured sand, etc.) and its implication for the conservation of natural resources.

An EU study has calculated that an average of 28 per cent of all C&D waste was recycled in EU countries in the late 1990s. Since then, most EU members have set goals for recycling C&D waste that range from 50 per cent to 90 per cent of their C&D waste production. The UK’s use of recycled aggregates (materials formed from a mass of fragments or particles loosely compacted together) is the highest in Europe and accounts for 25 per cent of all aggregates used in construction. This has created a vibrant recycling industry, which promotes innovation and new products and their uses, while the International Recycling Federation works to harmonise quality standards for recycled materials.

Even in the US which is known for its proliferation of landfills, California, the most progressive state, has promulgated an ordinance which requires 50 per cent recycling of C&D waste and 75 per cent diversion of inerts away from landfills.

Closer home, Singapore was recycling 98 per cent of its construction waste by 2007. Hong Kong has been recycling its waste to produce recycled aggregates (RA) for use in government projects and R&D work. In Taiwan, a comprehensive plan for the management of C&D waste was put in place in 1999 as a response to the challenge posed by the severe earthquake that year, which damaged about 100,000 dwellings.

India’s record, by comparison, is very poor. Until two years ago, C&D waste was not even looked at separately from the municipal solid waste (MSW). The Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, merely stated that C&D waste be “separately collected and disposed of in accordance with State laws”. Only there were hardly any state laws! But in 2016, recognising the importance of growing volumes of C&D waste in urban areas and the significant differences in the origin and quality of this waste and in the methods of its recycling and reuse, the Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules 2016 were separately notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, and the Solid Waste Management Rules (2016) superseded the 2000 Rules. This reflected the growing recognition of the need to manage C&D waste separately from the municipal solid waste.

The presence of C&D waste in the mixed waste reduces the effectiveness of composting or biomethanation and also reduces the calorific value and combustibility of the MSW. The presence of MSW in debris similarly reduces the quality of recycled C&D waste. While builders and renovators must keep C&D waste unmixed, urban local bodies must ensure that the Rules are enforced. For example, the Rules specify that all government construction projects, at all levels, should utilise between 10 and 20 per cent of C&D recycled products (aggregates, kerb stones, paver blocks, tiles and manufactured sand). This has not happened despite the orders of the National Green Tribunal and other regulatory bodies.

In Delhi itself, which has three C&D waste recycling plants set up by IL&FS Environment, at Burari (2000 TPD capacity), Shastri Park (500 TPD capacity) and Mundka (150 TPD capacity), the government projects have used only 200,000 tonnes of recycled material per annum even as the C&D waste generated has reached 1.5 million tonnes per annum.

The C&D waste recycling industry is in a very nascent stage in India. The challenge is to ensure that C&D waste comes to the recycling plants as segregated input, and the recycled products are picked up for use in construction. The government has to build awareness of the value of recycled products and also provide standard codes to ensure adherence to quality. The government also has to set an example in its own construction activity by complying with the Rules. At the same time, the incentives also have to be aligned for the private sector, for example, the imposition of a reasonable charge for disposal at dumpsites can induce builders or owners to divert the C&D waste to recycling plants. An important additional step in this direction would be to reduce GST rates on products using recycled materials.

Last but not least, effective management of C&D waste helps in curbing excessive consumption of natural resources and contributes to sustainable development. For example, the demand for sand is expected to more than double between 2010 and 2020. In India, we primarily use river sand for construction. The Supreme Court has recently warned about the adverse environmental consequences of riparian sand mining. Increasing demand, easy availability and limited government oversight have given rise to a thriving illegal trade in sand. Manufactured sand from C&D waste provides an environmentally sustainable alternative.

Since almost 60 per cent of the stock of buildings projected to be there in 2030 is yet to be built, sustainable construction and effective management of C&D waste assume even greater significance.

Source: Indian Express, 26/09/2018

It’s time to fix our Internet shutdown laws

This year alone there have been more than 100 Internet shutdowns. Surely, nobody can seriously contend that there have been over 100 instances of “public emergencies” in the last 9 months

Internet shutdowns are carried out when the State cuts off access to the Internet, more commonly mobile Internet. Due to their indiscriminate use, the social impact, deprivation of individual rights and the huge financial losses this is a growing issue of public concern. Hence, it becomes important to look at whether the legal rules which govern this power fulfil their public policy objectives and whether they have adequate safeguards. In August last year, the government made the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017 which are the basis of passing orders to shut down the Internet.

The Rules give state governments and the central government the power to suspend telecom services such as mobile Internet during public emergencies. In practice, however, governments have regularly used the tool for routine policing and even administrative purposes. Examples range from preventing cheating in exams to defusing local crime – both of which do not rise to the level of large scale public concerns and certainly do not amount to a “public emergency”, which is a requirement under the Rules.

The numbers lay bare the governmental abuse of power to enforce shutdowns. This year alone there have been more than 100 Internet shutdowns. Surely, nobody can seriously contend that there have been over 100 instances of “public emergencies” – however defined – in the last nine months. As for effects to the national economy, one estimate pegs the opportunity costs of Internet shutdowns between 2012 and 2017 at a staggering $3.04 billion. Another estimate of losses to telecom operators from shutdowns stands at $18,000 per hour. However, numbers only speak half the story. The Internet has silently in many ways become the bedrock of our daily lives. Communications and commerce – together making up the nuts and bolts of social, economic, and political life – are now conducted over WhatsApp groups, online shopping applications, and (sometimes) healthy Facebook debates. By frequently suspending access to the Internet, governments have intruded on a number of fundamental rights with grave ramifications.

Those intrusions may possibly be justified if accompanied by necessary checks and balances codified in law and practice. The Rules, which forms the legal basis for suspending the Internet, suffer from several design flaws that require immediate repair if they are expected to perform those checks and balances. I argued in a recent research paper that the Rules have problems in three core areas which require urgent reform.

First, and foremost, the Rules lack a sunset clause that places a time limit on a shutdown order and automatically terminates the order on its expiry. The absence of a sunset clause gives the government a carte blanche to authorise, enforce, and perpetuate shutdowns even in times of peace when it should be reserved only for egregious instances of public unrest, if ever.

Second, the sole safeguard contemplated in the Rules collapses on examination. The Rules have created a committee to review any shutdown order and examine its legality. However, due to sloppy drafting, the Rules do not authorise the review committee to do anything should it find the order illegal. This is counter-intuitive and renders the review committee with the academic task of evaluating the legality of a shutdown order without the further power to strike it down. Third, the Rules require the review committee to evaluate the legality of a shutdown order within 5 working days. On inspection of available data, any notion that 5 working days is a reasonable period of time to sit and review an order is incongruous. Data suggests that in recent years, states are suspending the Internet more frequently, but at the same time for lesser durations. As current data indicates, over 84% of shutdowns complete their life-cycle – of the Internet being suspended, fundamental rights being affected, and the Internet being restored – before 5 days.

Finally, what is most perplexing is also what is most patently unreasonable. The entire enterprise of shutdowns is mired in official secrecy and authoritarianism. From the secretive manner in which the Rules were drafted, to the opaque manner in which they are carried out, in many cases without so much as a notification to those affected by it, to failing to maintain an official record of the number and duration of shutdowns imposed, governments in India have approached the whole shutdowns process in a manner that is unparalleled in other domains. The unique position that the Internet commands in modern society aggravates this situation further.

On July 31, 2018, Husain Dalwai, a Member of Parliament, introduced a statutory motion in the Rajya Sabha seeking annulment of these Rules. However, the statutory motion was never taken up for business. By failing to do so, Parliament missed a golden opportunity to remedy them, which currently fails the tests of valid law or sound public policy.

Nakul Nayak is a legal fellow at the Internet Freedom Foundation and is currently pursuing his LLM from the University of Pennsylvania Law School

Source: Hindustan Times, 25/09/2018

Breach the wall of silence: Give State recognition to Indian Sign Language

The country’s population of deaf and speech disabled remains invisible at institutions of higher learning since most of them even fail to even complete school

Between 2007 and 2012, while studying at Delhi University’s St Stephen’s College and the Delhi School of Economics, Nipun Malhotra, chief executive of Nipman Foundation, doesn’t remember coming across any deaf students. Looking back, the 31-year-old disability rights activist says the country’s population of deaf and speech disabled remains invisible at institutions of higher learning since most of them even fail to even complete school.

The only time people like us get to view someone using sign language is during news bulletins on Doordarshan or when we watch the Independence Day or Republic Day on the national broadcaster with a sign language interpreter commentating about the event. A World Health Organization report says around 63 million people in India suffer from either complete or partial deafness, and of these, at least 50 lakh are children. One barrier standing before the country’s deaf population is the threadbare infrastructure of educational facilities such as specialised schools. The country only has about 700 schools which teach sign language. Another big impediment is the State’s reluctance to provide the official language status to Indian Sign Language (ISL), a collection of visual cues, hand gestures and devices which are used as a communicative mechanism by people with hearing or speech impairments to interact with each other. In this regard, we lag behind nations such as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Sri Lanka, USA and Zimbabwe, among others. Closer home, Nepal has made a special provision in Article 31(4) of its Constitution to specifically recognise sign language as a means through which education could be provided to hearing or speech impaired persons.

Last week, the Delhi High Court issued a notice listing a PIL filed by Nipun Malhotra seeking official recognition of ISL. Finally, the government, too, appears to be waking up to this. On September 23, minister of state for social justice and empowerment Krishan Pal Singh Gurjar said he would write to home minister Rajnath Singh to request that ISL be made an official language. The minister’s initiative is welcome. This will bring India’s hearing-impaired community a step closer to having their only method of interaction recognised by the government. Once it is listed as an official language, the Union government can promote and develop sign language in an official capacity. It can then be used to conduct UPSC examinations, among others, and qualify for printing on currency notes.

In a country as linguistically and culturally diverse as India, the gestures used in sign language vary with every region. So, the Sign Language Research and Training Centre backed by the government is working towards codifying it. Last year, a project commissioned by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment put together an online dictionary with than 7,000 signs that deal with words used in academic, medical, legal, technical and routine conversations by deaf people. The dictionary included videos and subtitles to facilitate easier comprehension and was accompanied with photo illustrations and information about the usage of the corresponding English and Hindi word.

There are only about 250 certified sign language interpreters in India. Non-recognition of a standard language hinders schooling and a shortage of educators and can also lead to mental health issues when deaf children find it tough to communicate with their parents. Recognition of sign language could be the first step towards helping people with hearing loss fight social stigma, lack of jobs and a formal education. It’s high time we helped break this wall of silence.

aasheesh.sharma@hindustantimes.com

Source: Hindustan Times, 25/09/2018

So Much to Thank For

Apart from knowledge and skill, what we require most for cultivating a decent quality of life is proper attitude. An attitude of gratitude is undoubtedly of prime importance, as the same can execute miraculous transformation in the quality of our own life and living. Gratitude is spontaneous thankfulness to someone who has benefited us in any manner. It springs from the heart. Though we are aware that we have a great many things to be thankful for, why is it that most of us remain ungrateful most of the time? We are basically egoistic. Hence, we find an easy escape route with fault-finding. Once Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, educationist and benefactor of the poor, was told that someone abused him. He was surprised and said, “I do not remember to have benefited him in any way. Why should he speak ill of me? Only those whom I help, speak ill of me.” He never expected gratitude from anybody and profusely helped the needy or anybody approaching him for help without expectation of any kind. When Jesus cured 10 lepers, nine of them instantly left the place to rejoice without thanking him. Only one of them waited to thank him. Jesus asked him, “Why are you waiting?” He replied, “To thank you for divine healing.” With utmost humility, Jesus said, “Don’t thank me. Thank God, since His healing power has worked through me.” Let us take vow to be grateful to all givers by discarding our false ego and ridiculous sense of superiority complex and, thereby, build up better human bonds on universal ethics and value system of the humanity at large

Source: Economic Times, 26/09/2018