Monday, January 07, 2019

The Rocks In Our Path

Prayer, time, distance and balance are needed to give us perspective. We get distracted by a thousand things. A rock along the path can become a mountain we cannot move. Sometimes all we need is a helping hand to lift it up. William Breault recounts a story. A monk was walking down a country road. He was going to meet friends who lived a great distance away. Around noontime he began to tire. Uncentred and distracted, he stumbled upon a rock right in the middle of the road. Why would a rock be right in the centre of the road? As though someone had intended it! (The rock started to grow in size.) Someone had put the rock there for him to fall! (The rock grew even larger.) Someone who didn’t like him? (The rock by now had grown so large that it blocked the road entirely.) Along came a lady who just picked up the rock and threw it to one side. The monk was surprised at this great feat of strength. Ever so slowly the reason why he had started on his journey in the first place came back to his mind —Yes! The journey to see his friends! That was the important thing. Sometimes the rocks we encounter along the way are labels that people put on us. Like the paranoid monk we often get distracted by these labels and expectations and forget where we are headed and why we started on our journey. The paradox of living is that those who are most confused themselves and who lack real purpose in their lives, often are the very people who burden others with their unrealistic expectations.

Source: Economic Times, 7/01/2019

Friday, January 04, 2019

What is object relations theory in psychology

his refers to a branch of psychoanalysis which describes the process by which children develop an internal image of various people around them during their initial years of growth. It is believed that the psyche that children develop during their early years through constant exposure to various objects around them determines their behaviour as adults to a significant extent. The first image of an object that a child usually forms in life is that of her mother, so object relations theorists generally emphasise the importance of the relationship between a mother and her child. Object relations theory has been employed in the treatment of various mental illnesses.

Source: The Hindu, 4/01/2018

Dark recesses

Meghalaya tragedy reveals absence of regulation, state complicity in rat-hole mining

In 2014, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had banned rat-hole coal mining. (Source: Meghalaya Police)

The mining tragedy at Ksan, in Lumthari, East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya would have gone unreported had there not been a lone survivor — Sayeb Ali of Panbari, Assam. This is not the first time that a tragedy has struck the state’s rat-hole mines. If this inhuman form of coal mining is not halted completely, we can be sure that many more labourers will be buried because mine caving accompanied with flooding is not an unknown phenomenon.

In 1992, nearly 30 mine labourers in South Garo Hills were caught in a similar flood — about half of them escaped death somehow. The rest were never found. In 2012, 15 miners were buried in a mine in Garo Hills. Their bodies too were not recovered. Most of the mine workers are migrant labourers, forced by stark poverty to undertake this hazardous work.

Nearly three weeks after the disaster in Ksan, pumps were sourced from the Odisha Fire Service. These can suck out 1,600 litres per minute. However, the water in the mine remained at the same level. Similar pumps were deployed to pump out water from the surrounding abandoned mines as well but the water level went down by a mere six inches. The pump manufacturing company, Kirloskar Brothers, had earlier talked of sending100 HP pumps but these have not yet arrived at the accident site, and water continues to leak into the ill-fated mine. Mining expert Jaswant Singh Gill, who is known for having rescued 65 miners in 1989 from the Mahabir mines in Raniganj, West Bengal, has rightly asked: Do the agencies present at the site, the NDRF, the Indian Navy divers and mining engineers from Coal India Ltd, have knowledge of the area’s topography? And can they get a handle on where exactly the water is flowing into the mine in order to drain out its source or seal it completely?

On December 29, when I visited the mine, the NDRF told me that the water is 176-feet deep. The navy divers cannot plunge straight into a perpendicular hole, which branches out into horizontal rat holes. They are trained to dive into the sea and in open waters, not into a hole that is barely 10 square feet. The mine in the Jaintia Hills is not likely to have enough oxygen, even though it is said to have some air pockets. Moreover, the water inside is very cold, perhaps even freezing — we experienced this while crossing the knee-deep Lytein river at three places to reach the mine site. One ardently hopes that the miners can survive the cold inside, considering this is winter.

On visiting the mine site, one gets the impression that the rescue personnel, while giving their best, don’t actually know what’s in store for them. The East Khasi Hills District Administration has been found wanting from day one. Much time was lost before the rescue operation was launched. I put this down to the absence of a Standard Operation Procedure for such a mining disaster. The mines are privately owned and do not follow any regulatory protocol. When an accident happens, the administration is caught in a bind and does not know what to do first or how to go about it.

There was delay in requisitioning the high-powered pumps and the NDRF is right in saying that the district administration should have been equipped with these pumps in the first place, given the history of mining disasters in the region. The state government was caught napping. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma is yet to visit the site. Two of his ministers, including the minister for disaster management who actually represents the area in the state legislature, visited the site two weeks after the accident. Perhaps the government is embarrassed at being caught unawares.

Just two weeks before the disaster, Sangma and a few other Meghalaya ministers, denied that coal mining was continuing illegally in the state after the National Green Tribunal banned it in 2014. But their statements were essentially meant to convince the Supreme Court that all the coal lying near the collieries was mined before the NGT ban. The pleas had the desired effect: Last month, the Court allowed transportation of coal till January 31. But the mine disaster has exposed the state government’s lie.

The Meghalaya disaster did not get the kind of media attention that an accident in Thailand in June last year did — a school football team strayed into a cave even when there were clear instructions not to enter it. The cave was flooded and the boys could not find their way out. India sent Kirloskar pumps to drain out the water from the cave. British navy divers finally rescued the 13 boys. But Meghalaya is in the back of beyond and when the state government is slow in seeking help, because it has to defend its own back, things are bound to go awry. What comes out clearly from this incident is that the lives of the poor and the voiceless don’t really matter, not to the mine owner, not to the state government certainly not the Centre, and not even to large sections of the media. We live in our own bubbles.

Coal mining in Meghalaya enjoys political patronage because elections are funded by coal barons. Several elected MLAs are coal-mine owners. In fact, it would be interesting to find out which politician, which bureaucrat and which police official does not own a coal mine. The MP from Shillong constituency, Vincent Pala, and his family, own mines. Recently Pala raised a zero hour motion on the mine tragedy but instead of calling for strict action against illegal mining, he pleaded for the legalisation of rat hole mining. This is a blatant display of self-interest

Source: Indian Express, 4/01/2019

Endangered species are key to our survival

Animal, plant and marine biodiversity keeps our ecosystems functional.

Last week, India submitted its sixth national report to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. The report was a mixed one: While the country is on track to meet most of its national biodiversity targets, the bad news is that the list of animal species from the country under the international ‘red list’ in the critically endangered, endangered and threatened categories has been increasing over the years. It is clear that there is severe stress on biodiversity and wild habitats. The report states that India is working on preventing the extinction of species by developing a landscape- and seascape-based approach. This aims at holistic, systemic approaches to integrate biodiversity concerns with social and economic values and development aspirations. The endangered species (birds and animals) in conservation priority include the Asian wild buffalo, Asiatic lion, Brow-antlered deer or Sangai, Dugong, Edible Nest swiftlet, Gangetic river dolphin, Great Indian bustard, Hangul, Indian rhino or Great one-horned rhinoceros, Jerdon’s courser, Malabar civet, Marine turtles, Nicobar megapode, Niligiri tahr, snow leopard, swamp deer and vultures.

The stress on India’s wildlife is increasing by the day. Almost every other day, there are reports of cases of man-animal conflict, thanks to the increasing human population and urbanisation. Just as often, there are reports of or animal deaths from accidents because project developers don’t take into account animal corridors while building infrastructure. Wildlife crime is also becoming a key threat due to the increased demand for wildlife derivatives ranging from tiger and leopard bones to pangolin scales and bear bile. India recorded 460 leopard deaths in 2018, the highest mortality rate of the big cat species in the country in the last four years, the Wildlife Protection Society of India said in December.

How does the loss of species alter ecosystems? The loss of iconic species is a tragedy with broad and deep impact. Animal, plant and marine biodiversity keeps ecosystems functional. Healthy ecosystems allow us to survive, get enough food to eat and make a living. When species disappear or fall in number, ecosystems and people — especially the world’s poorest — suffer. A recent study published in Nature reveals the extinction of plant or animal species from extreme environmental change, which we are witnessing now, increases the risk of an “extinction domino effect” that could annihilate all life on Earth.

Unfortunately, as this paper reported earlier this year, India might not meet the international target of identifying wildlife and marine-protected areas by 2020, making the challenge of conserving species much more difficult.

Source: Hindustan Times, 4/01/2019

Keep Out the Five Thieves

We try to protect our homes from intruders, but are we taking care to keep the five thieves of negative qualities from entering our inner home? They sneak into our being, causing us to be angry and be deceitful. They make us greedy and selfish. They cause us to be intolerant. They make us egotistical. They rob us of spirituality. How do we get rid of these thieves? When all else fails, prayer succeeds. Prayer is an act of humility. Simran, or repeating the name of God, can help chase away the five thieves. It can prevent anger from sneaking in. We will become calm and peaceful. The desire to be selfish will be replaced with an urge to help others. We will be filled with humility. Being in the presence of one who radiates spirituality can also change the tendency of our mind. Not only do we gain when we are in the company of saints, but through meditation on the inner Light and Sound of God, our mind is stilled and the soul remains unperturbed by wayward thoughts. It can stay concentrated on the inner Light and Sound long enough to transcend physical body consciousness. From there, it can soar into the divine regions within. We can find security by attending satsang. The benefit of satsang is that it is a place where we can leave our worries by the door. It gives our soul a chance to connect with the God-power within. The atmosphere in a satsang is so charged and wonderful that we can carry it back with us. It becomes an inner retreat where we can return to and find that still place within.

Source: Economic Times, 4/01/2019

Only 10 Indians on list of world’s 4,000 top scientists

China 3rd On List With 482 Names

India boasts of eminent science and social science institutes like IISc, IITs, TIFR, JNU and Tiss. Yet, only 10 Indians figure among the world’s top 1% highly-cited researchers (HCR) in the two fields. To top it, some of the 10 are not from the country’s leading institutes. The list, comprising over 4,000 of the globe’s most ‘influential’ researchers has been released by firm Clarivate Analytics. Eminent scientist and former head of the scientific advisory council to the PM, CNR Rao, figures on the list. More than 80% of the names in the list, which covers over 60 countries, come from only 10 countries. Remarkably, 70% are from just five countries. Among institutions, Harvard University has the highest representation on the list, with 186 names. While India’s representation is negligible, China with 482 names is third on the list. The US tops the list with 2,639 names and the UK comes second with 546 names. JNU’s Dinesh Mohan, who figures on the list, said that till last year, less than five Indians would be on the list. “This year, they have included an additional category of ‘cross-field’, which took the number to 10,” he said. Rao said India must improve its quality of research, along with quantity to improve citations. “About 15 years ago, China and India were at the same level. But China contributes to 15- 16% of science in the world and ours is only about 3-4%,” he said. Ashok Pandey, from CSIR’s Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, is the only HCR from CSIR, which has a network of 5,000 scientists. “It is a matter of concern and needs to be addressed by the government, and stakeholders, including scientists,” he said. IIT-Kanpur professor Avinash Agarwal, who is on the list, said applied research does not get enough respect in a country like India, which is obsessed with fundamental research. “We need to improve our research ecosystem... Predatory journals, where you pay and publish, need to be penalised.” The other Indian names on the list are: Alok and Jyoti Mittal (a married couple; Jyoti is the only woman researcher on the list) from NIT Bhopal; Rajnish Kumar from IITMadras; Sanjeeb Sahoo from Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar; Rajeev Varshney from International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Hyderabad; Sakthivel Rathinaswamy from Bharathiar University, Coimbatore

Source: Times of India, 4/01/2019