Devotion & Dissolution

People say, “He’s gifted.” Nobody is gifted; you have to earn everything. Either you earn joyfully, or you earn miserably — that is all the choice there is. There are a variety of ways through which one earns. But the simplest way, the easiest is devotion. What is Grace? If you look at yourself as a machine — you have brains, body, everything. But what you call as ‘Grace’ is the lubrication. Without lubrication you have a great engine but you get stuck at every point. Devotion would be the easiest way to become receptive to this Grace, so that the process of life becomes graceful. Calculating minds cannot be devout. A devotee is not somebody’s devotee; devotion is a quality. Devotion means a certain single-pointedness. To such a person, Grace will happen naturally and he becomes receptive. What or whom you are devoted to is not the issue. What you need to know is, God does not exist. But where there is a devotee, God exists. So the power of devotion is such that it can create the Creator. Thinking minds always have an allergy to devotion, because devotees have made such fools of themselves. This is simply because fear is passing off as devotion. Only when devotion arises, there is depth. Knowing devotion just as an emotion, may be makes your life a little sweet; devotion, however, means dissolution. The root word for ‘devotion’ is ‘dissolve’. One who is willing to dissolve himself can be a true devotee. In what and how is not the point


Source: Economic Times, 23/09/2019

Quote of the Day

“If you treat people right, they will treat you right - at least 90% of the time.”

‐ Franklin D. Roosevelt

“अगर आप लोगों के साथ अच्छा बर्ताव करेंगे, तो वे भी आपके साथ अच्छा बर्ताव करेंगे - कम से कम 90% वक़्त।”

‐ फ्रेंकलिन डी रूसवेल्ट

Maths helped Einstein; it can help the economy too

The theory of relativity is regarded as the pinnacle of mathematical elegance, more than a century since its formulation

Can policymakers plan to make India a $5 trillion economy in five years without worrying about the basic mathematics of economic growth? Some of our leaders seem to think that wishful thinking can take us there. Albert Einstein’s discovery of gravity has been invoked as a successful example for achieving seemingly unattainable goals through “out-of-the-box” thinking. Two obvious questions arise. First, did Einstein indeed explain relativity sans any inputs from mathematics? And, two, can economic growth models be devoid of mathematics?

Einstein’s general theory of relativity is the most accurate theory of gravity available to us at present. True, Einstein was certainly not the first one to make contributions to our understanding of gravity. More than two centuries prior to him, Isaac Newton had proposed a universal law of gravitation. However, Newtonian theory of gravity, though remarkably accurate most of the times, had its limitations. When gravity was extremely strong or when the motions involved were extremely fast, the calculations became imprecise. For example, the theoretical calculation of the orbit of Mercury — the planet closest to the Sun — turned out to have a small disagreement with the actual observations of Mercury’s motion. Einstein’s theory not only predicted the orbit of Mercury accurately, but also predicted a number of interesting phenomena not anticipated earlier.

A theory of ‘space-time’

Einstein’s description of gravity was radically different from that of Newton. Newton assumed the existence of an absolute space and universal time. According to Einstein, space and time are part of a single entity called ‘space-time’. What we identify as space or time heavily depend on the frame of reference of the observer. However, space-time is universal. And gravity is the manifestation of curved space-time. Any massive object would curve the space-time around it.

It is hard to imagine a curved space-time, an entity that spans four dimensions — three spatial dimensions and the time. Typically we can see the curvature of a surface when we have access to a higher dimension. For example, we see the curvature of the surface of a football because we have access to a third spatial dimension. It is impossible to directly observe the curvature of the space-time since we don’t have access to a fifth dimension. However, it is possible to infer the curvature of a space without accessing extra dimensions. All the familiar axioms of Euclidean geometry cease to be valid on curved spaces. For example, according to Euclidean geometry, two parallel lines always remain parallel. However, this is not true, for example, on the Earth’s surface. Consider lines of constant longitude: on the equator, meridians are parallel to each other; but on the poles all of them meet. Thus, one could do a measurement to check whether lines that are originally parallel remain parallel. If they don’t, this is an evidence that the space-time is curved. Several astronomical observations conducted in the last century confirm that space-time is indeed curved in the presence of massive objects.

Einstein himself was not well-versed in the geometry of curved spaces. Here, Einstein turned to his friend, mathematician Marcel Grossmann, to master the necessary techniques and tools. Armed with these tools, and driven by some unique physical insights which are marks of a genius, Einstein was able to construct an elegant mathematical theory of space-time.

However, mathematical elegance is not the primary touchstone of a theory of nature. The key yardstick of success is the theory’s ability to describe the natural phenomenon that it seeks to describe — in this case, gravity. General relativity remained inaccessible to most of the scientists during its initial years. However, Einstein and many others were able to extract specific observable consequences of the curved nature of space-time by mathematically solving the equations. Even though space-time itself is not directly observable, all of these observable predictions were verified by a variety of astronomical observations and laboratory tests.

Is math useful?

Not all areas of sciences are able to construct theories or models that have the level of mathematical rigour that theories of physics enjoy. This is due to the highly complex nature of the phenomena they seek to describe. Most of the social sciences are in this end of the spectrum, due to obvious reasons. However, economics is probably one notable exception, where models and techniques employing higher mathematics have proven to be highly fruitful.

However, “math” is also commonly used as shorthand for quantitative reasoning, which is the backbone of all scientific enquiry. Ideally, planning and policy should be largely informed by quantitative reasoning, including the purported goal of doubling the size of Indian economy in five years. Wishful thinking and ideological propaganda are poor substitutes to quantitative reasoning.

Parameswaran Ajith is a physicist at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru. Views are personal

Source: The Hindu, 20/09/2019

Courts of injustice

The fate of close to two million people excluded from the NRC in Assam rests with the Foreigners Tribunals. The constitutionality and conduct of these quasi-judicial bodies are questionable

Over 1.9 million people have been excluded from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. The herculean executive exercise, mandated and closely monitored by the Supreme Court, has incurred a staggering expenditure of over Rs 1,200 crore and immeasurable cost in terms of human suffering and death. The buck now passes to the Foreigners Tribunals. The fate of close to two million people who have been excluded from the NRC rests with these one-man tribunals. The constitutionality of these quasi-judicial bodies — from the appointment of its members, arbitrary procedure for its functioning and the nature of its orders — have always been in question. Yet, the numbers of these tribunals are being increased, from the existing 100 to more than 200, to adjudicate upon citizenship claims. The Supreme Court recently ruled that the order of the Foreigners Tribunals will prevail over the NRC order on citizenship and declined to create an appellate forum for appeal from the tribunals.

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Foreigners Tribunals were set up by an executive order in 1964 in contravention of Article 323B of the Constitution, which requires the legislature, by law, to provide for adjudication of matters by tribunals. The matters that can be decided by the tribunal, listed within the Article, do not include citizenship. “Judicial experience” was an essential appointment criteria for its members, as stated in the 1964 order. However, the eligibility was relaxed in June 2019 by a notification, calling for applications from retired civil servants and advocates with just seven years of practice, to be appointed on a contractual basis, through an interview conducted by a panel of high court judges. Two hundred and twenty one members were recently appointed without any written test and no transparency in the selection process. The members of the tribunal are selected by the Gauhati High Court, but the appointment is done through the home and political department of the Assam government. The tenure of tribunal members and extension of their terms is based on a review of “performance” conducted by the Gauhati HC.

The minutes of the monitoring committee of the HC reveal that the government is also asked to send its appraisal of tribunal members to the court. The performance report of the government has a special column — “percentage of foreigners declared”. Extension is often given to those who have declared the maximum number of persons as foreigners — the low scorers are “terminated”. Pay and allowances of members is regulated by the government. “Impartiality is the soul of the judiciary, independence is the life blood of the judiciary”, held a Constitution Bench in UOI v R. Gandhi (2010). In the absence of security of tenure and dependence on the government, these tribunals cannot function freely and impartially. There is no mechanism for receiving complaints against members of a tribunal, giving a free hand to such members to adjudicate, most often without any judicial experience, on citizenship — the right to all rights.

Apart from those excluded from the NRC, who now have to appeal in the Foreigners Tribunals within a period of 120 days, the Assam Border Police and the Election Commission refer cases to the tribunals. Inquiry reports submitted by Assam Border Police to the tribunal, while making a reference, are often blank. There are allegations that poor and unlettered are randomly picked up and, on non-production of citizenship documents, referred to the tribunals. Further, the Election Commission, since 1997, under the pretext of a “strict scrutiny” of the voter list, started an exercise that marked D or “doubtful” against any person in the list, arbitrarily, without any investigation. In the absence of investigation, even decorated army officers have been referred as illegal immigrants to the tribunals.

These tribunals have the power to regulate their own procedure for disposal of cases expeditiously. The section 3(1) of the Foreigners Tribunals Order requires that the tribunal shall serve on the person to whom the question relates, a copy of the main grounds on which he is alleged to be a foreigner. However, in practice, these are rarely mentioned in the notices issued by the tribunals. With no grounds to rebut and the burden of proof on the person alleged to be a foreigner, it becomes impossible to present a cogent case before the tribunal. Most of those declared foreigners by the tribunals are poor and do not have access to legal aid to represent them through the procedural spiral. If a person does not appear before the tribunal, either for lack of understanding of the notice issued or in the absence of any notice, such persons are declared as foreigner by an ex parte order. According to a question in the Lok Sabha in July this year, the minister of state in the Ministry of Home Affairs stated that as many as 63,959 persons have been declared foreigners through ex parte proceedings in Assam between 1985 and (February) 2019. The order of the tribunals can be challenged before a division bench of the Gauhati High Court in writ jurisdiction, most often distant and beyond the means of the poor.

Once a person is declared a foreigner, s/he can be detained under Section 4 of the Foreigners Act, 1946. There are close to 1,000 detainees in six detention centres across Assam. Pending deportation, these persons languish in sub-human conditions with little or no access to legal aid or rights such as adequate healthcare and education. According to the government’s own figures, only four such declared foreigners have been deported since February 2013. Since there is no agreement with Bangladesh to deport declared foreigners, their detention seemingly is indefinite. The Supreme Court, in May, ordered all those who had been in detention for over three years to be released on production of two sureties of Rs one lakh each and reporting to the local police station every week. However, four months after the order of the Supreme Court, only nine declared foreigners have been released while 355 remain detained for more than three years, as on June 2019.

Diversity, plurality and inclusivity form the bedrock of the Indian Constitution, which abhors systematic targeting of the minorities and xenophobia. Unfortunately, in Sarbananda Sonowal (2005), the Supreme Court itself laid the ground for xenophobia. Relying on unverified reports about the influx of foreigners, the apex court declared the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act unconstitutional on the ground that it placed the burden of proving a person to be a foreigner on the state. These tribunals were manned by proper judges and the percentage of those declared foreigners was low. The Supreme Court declared that the Union had failed to protect the State of Assam against “external aggression” caused by the huge influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh! This astounding judgment has since set the tone for all future proceedings under the Foreigners Act.

Bhushan and D’souza are advocates at the Supreme Court of India

Source: Indian Express, 20/09/2019

Super 30 founder Anand Kumar felicitated with Education Excellence Award 2019 in the US

Super 30 founder and noted mathematician Anand Kumar has been felicitated in the US with a prestigious teaching award in recognition of his contributions towards imparting education to the needy students.

Super 30 founder and noted mathematician Anand Kumar has been felicitated in the US with a prestigious teaching award in recognition of his contributions towards imparting education to the needy students.

The Education Excellence Award 2019 was presented to Kumar by the Foundation For Excellence (FFE) at a function on the occasion of the organisation’s 25th anniversary gala in San Jose, California over the weekend.

Speaking at the event, Anand exhorted the strong Indian community living in the USA and across the world to help education become the strongest weapon to fight all the problems of the world.

“Making quality education accessible to the masses will make a huge difference to the world by solving the core issues of poverty, unemployment, population explosion, environmental degradation and a lot more,” he said.

“Indians have been doing wonders in different fields across the globe, including the USA, and it would be immensely satisfying for them to give something back to their society. There can be no gift more precious than education,” Anand said at a packed auditorium while receiving applause from a gathering comprising eminent personalities.

Anand has been running a highly innovative Super 30 programme for the last 18 years to mentor 30 students free off cost through a year-long residential coaching for India’s premiere IIT-JEE.

The success rate has been phenomenal, with students from underprivileged sections witnessing a generational change by entering the premiere institutions.

Anand said an educated world would be much better place due to greater understanding and compassion.

“Today, the void is getting bigger, which only education can bridge. Give anyone the right opportunity and he or she will excel. It is ultimately the opportunity that matters,” he added.

Anand, who was recently in news for the success of the biopic on his life starring Hrithik Roshan, thanked the FFE for providing scholarships to needy students and lighting the flame of education among the needy.

He said the power of education was immense to bring about generational change for the deprived lot, which would ultimately add speed to the nation’s growth story.

“Through my small endeavour of Super 30, I have experienced how the smile of success on the face one first generational learner brings cheers not only for the entire family, but triggers hope for the entire community. This is what the world needs and your efforts will trigger hope for millions,” he said.

Source: Hindustan Times, 19/09/2019

National Police University to be established in Greater Noida

This NPU will come at an IT park in Greater Noida and will be spread in an area of 100 acres.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will be setting up a world-class National Police University (NPU) dedicated to advancement and dissemination of education, research and scholarships of the highest quality in the domain of policing science, forensic science, cyber forensics, criminology, criminal justice, risk management and related areas.

This NPU will come at an IT park in Greater Noida and will be spread in an area of 100 acres.

“NPU will be a multi-disciplinary University and will offer to the students’ formal education programs leading to the award of the bachelor’s, masters’ and doctoral degrees as well as the PG Diploma in specialised niche areas in Police Sciences, Cyber Forensics, Criminology, Criminal Justice, Forensic Science, Risk Management and allied subjects with special papers in specified areas using classroom teaching initially and later also through distance learning mode”, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a release.

The land for the same has been offered at a 90 years lease basis at a concessional rate at the cost of Rs 371 crores.

Source: Hindustan Times, 19/09/2019

India’s shame: Manual scavenging must end

This requires battling caste, enforcing the law; and restoring dignity to workers

The Supreme Court has equated the practice of manual scavenging with “sending people to gas chambers.” Expressing concerns over the working conditions of manual scavengers, a three-judge bench questioned the Centre on the lack of protective gear like oxygen cylinders and masks.

The court is on the right track, but the problem is deeper. India remains the only country to employ manual scavengers, largely from the Schedule Castes (SCs) and Schedule Tribes (STs). This is no coincidence, for the entire caste system rests on the notion of “purity” and “pollution”, with tasks considered impure assigned to those at the bottom of the hierarchy. This is despite a ban enforced in 1993. The law has only been observed in breach. Fifty workers have died cleaning sewers in the first half of 2019 alone, according to the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). This comes after a survey conducted in 2018 by the Centre which identified around 40,000 manual scavengers in 14 states. The number is likely much higher.

The rest of the world has invested in mechanised methods of cleaning sewers and septic tanks. It is imperative for the Centre, states and local bodies to emulate global best practices, and eradicate this dangerous and inhuman practice by following the directives and guidelines of the NCSK. This must be accompanied with reintegration into society of those considered “untouchable” through rehabilitation, re-skilling and new employment opportunities (within and outside the field of sanitation). Ensuring strict punishment for those who break the law is long overdue. Swachh Bharat will remain incomplete without restoring the dignity of manual scavengers.

Source: Hindustan Times, 20/09/2019