Wednesday, October 30, 2024

New approach: Editorial on Supreme Court’s guidelines to prevent child marriage

Repeated efforts to stop child marriages in India have still not borne fruit. Policies and laws, social awareness programmes and administrative intervention have not worked. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has suggested that around 11 lakh minors were married off in 2023-24 — and 2024 is not over yet. Against this backdrop, the Supreme Court has provided strict guidelines to prevent child marriage to states and Union territories. Apart from ordering that every district should have a child marriage prevention officer, the court also tasked police officers and collectors to intervene whenever they received a message that a minor marriage was about to take place, even if it were just a suspicion. Judicial magistrates, too, would have to be alert, especially on so-called auspicious days when mass weddings took place; these were the ideal sites for minor marriages. Anyone conducting, promoting or blessing a child marriage would be prosecuted as would be any government official who did not prevent a minor marriage even after knowing it was taking place or who was present on the occasion.

The Supreme Court’s guidelines are detailed and clear; the question is whether all the officers made responsible would do their duty. Some systems, not so meticulous, had existed. So the failure of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 cannot be explained except by acknowledging deeply embedded cultural beliefs and practices. West Bengal, in spite of its incentives against child marriage, has one of the highest rates of minor marriage, with three of its districts, a recent survey has revealed, showing the highest prevalence of early marriage. Child marriage is considered a good thing, especially in rural areas, but economic reasons are as strong nowadays. Dowry and, in the poorest families, the extra mouth to feed, become burdens. There is also a real fear among working parents of having to leave a growing girl unattended. A child activist has suggested that free education be continued until graduation and the age for labour be raised from 14 to 18. These would aid the prevention efforts from the flank. The Supreme Court, however, has not said whether the PCMA should override personal laws, since an amendment to the PCMA to this effect is awaiting Parliament’s decision. It is to be hoped that this amendment would apply to the personal laws of all communities and not be selective. Otherwise the point of prevention would be lost.

Source: The Telegraph, 25/10/24

Ratan Tata was a man determined to live below his means

True gentleman

It took seven requests before I finally got my first interview with Ratan Tata in November 2006, thanks to Kamal Nath, then the minister for commerce and industry. The relaxed interview took place in the company headquarters in Bombay House. Dressed in an immaculately tailored grey suit with a dark blue tie, Tata resembled an old-school English gent, unflashy and understated. He explained why he wanted to build a small car in West Bengal and trusted its chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. He wanted to design a people’s car because he had seen a family perched precariously on a scooter on “a dark, rainy, slippery night”.

Tata came across as a man determined to live below his means. “I couldn’t say I’m wealthy but I am certainly well off enough and I have no desire to show off. I’ve always had a view that 90% of the people really respect the position you hold, and that can be intoxicating. The best way is to continue to be as ordinary a person as you can, wait in lines, drive your own car. I enjoy anonymity. When you’re in London, no one bothers you.” His one luxury weakness, Tata confided, was his Falcon jet: “My greatest indulgence outside work is flying. I love flying and I continue to be a certified pilot. I fly every chance I get.” Tata revealed that he loved one corner of England which was forever Parsi. “It’s really an eye opener to go to Brookwood cemetery (in Surrey) which is full of wealthy Parsis who are buried there, people you read about in books.” Journalistically, as always, I missed the real story — that he was planning to make bids for British Steel and Jaguar Land Rover.

Let there be light

In the run-up to Diwali, the artist, Chila Burman, lit up Leicester Square in London with eight of her neon installations that include depictions of Lakshmi, Ganesh and an Indian Barbie doll in a saree. Burman expressed delight that a statue of William Shakespeare, leaning against a pile of books, was looking down on her: “Shakespeare says [in Twelfth Night], ‘There is no darkness but ignorance.’ And my installation is called, There Is No Darkness In The Garden of Light. It’s visual poetry. It’s great honour to be here.”

Diwali is now very much part of British life. At Labour Indians’ Diwali party, held last week in the colourfully-decorated, Taj-owned St James’ Court Hotel in London, the work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendal, used the occasion to emphasise the importance of the British Indian community and UK-India relations: “It was a very clear part of our manifesto that we want to build a new strategic relationship with India, India being the second largest investor in the UK.”

But the Diwali party with a difference was the one held by the global consultancy firm Grant Thornton in The Long Room at Lord’s cricket ground. As for Durga Puja, there are about a hundred celebrated across Britain. Attending the one organised by Prabashi in Hounslow Central in west London brought back childhood memories.

Mysterious universe

Last week, the physicist, Sir Tejinder Virdee, who was born into a Sikh family in Kenya and came to Britain at the age of 15, was given the Royal Medal, a high honour, by the Royal Society. It was “for extraordinary leadership and profound impact on all phases of the monumental CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, including the crucial discovery of the Higgs Boson through its decays to two photons”.The Higgs Boson takes its name from the British theoretical physicist, Peter Higgs, and the Indian legend, Satyendra Nath Bose, who had collaborated with Albert Einstein.

Virdee has lived in Geneva for over 30 years but remains a professor of physics at Imperial College London. He has been working on “the new physics”, which will take science beyond Newton and Einstein and perhaps give mankind a fuller understanding of how the universe was created billions of years ago.

Destination in demand

Other chief ministers should perhaps follow the example of Rajasthan’s Bhajanlal Sharma, who led a delegation to London last week to lobby for investment in his state and to invite British entrepreneurs to attend the Rising Rajasthan Global Investment Summit in Jaipur in December. But he began on a lighter note by talking about destination weddings. He said someone in South Korea had told him there was now a three-year wait for suitable wedding locations in Rajasthan. He joked that as chief minister, he could “reduce the waiting time only to 18 months”.

When Gopi Hinduja’s eldest son, Sanjay, married Anusuya Mahtani in Udaipur in 2005, the likes of Jennifer Lopez performed on stage. And the actress, Elizabeth Hurley, sold the picture rights to Hello! magazine when she married the businessman, Arun Nayar, in Jodhpur Palace in 2007. Even Nayar’s father was ejected from the premises when he was spotted with a camera in case he spoilt her exclusive deal.

Amit Roy

Source: The Telegraph; 26/10/24

Poor mix: Editorial on 77% of Indian infants lacking WHO-suggested dietary diversity

There are several challenges to ensuring MDD. The most formidable among these is food inflation — the price of pulses has increased by 10% in each of the 12 previous months

Indian children are not keeping well. The recently released Global Hunger Index threw up grave data about child wasting (18.7%), child stunting (35.5%) and the prevalence of undernourishment (13.7%) among Indian children. This has now been followed by a study by the World Health Organization that has pinpointed a probable cause for this: some 77% of infants in India, aged between 6-23 months, do not receive the Minimum Dietary Diversity — a mixture of at least five out of the eight recommended food groups, including breast milk, grains, roots and tubers, legumes and nuts, dairy products, flesh foods, eggs, vitamin A-rich fruits or vegetables and other fruits and vegetables — that is required for healthy growth. Lest the Indian government dismiss this data as foreign mischief, it is instructive to note that as per the latest National Family Health Survey, 88.5% of the age group failed to meet the dietary diversity standards. This poor-quality diet is one of the most significant barriers to not only children’s survival, growth and development but also their learning abilities.

There are several challenges to ensuring MDD. The most formidable among these is food inflation — the price of pulses has increased by 10% in each of the 12 previous months. A majority of Indians, even non-vegetarians, derive their protein, a key nutrient for growth, from pulses. A report by a group of United Nations organisations has also shown that 55.6% of the Indian population cannot afford a healthy diet. Gender discrimination that adversely affects women is another hurdle. Children suffer on account of the lack of MDD in mothers, which leads to breast milk being inadequately nutritious. Studies also show that the level of education among mothers affects the dietary diversity of children. Girls, unsurprisingly, fare worse in MDD according to the WHO. Government policies on crops, too, leave a mark on MDD — years of disproportionate emphasis on rice and wheat cultivation have had a deleterious impact on the dietary diversity of all Indians, including children. There is also the mistaken belief that packaged food for children — 21% of the food budget in rural areas and 27% in urban areas is spent on this — can fulfil their dietary requirements. Policies related to food security thus need to be broadened to acknowledge the effect of a myriad conditions that leave a mark on children and their diets.

Source: The Telegraph: 30/10/24

Monday, October 07, 2024

Quote of the Day October 7, 2024

“The sun will shine into our yard too.”
Russian proverb

“हमारे आंगन में भी सूरज की धूप अवश्य आएगी।”
रूसी कहावत

What is National Agriculture Code?

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is developing a new set of guidelines called the National Agriculture Code (NAC). This is similar to the existing national codes used for buildings and electrical systems, but specifically for agriculture. The goal is to create a set of standards that can help improve the quality and efficiency of farming practices in India, which currently lack detailed regulations.

Understanding NAC

The NAC is a plan to create rules and guidelines that will cover various agricultural practices across the country. These guidelines will aim to standardize farming methods to ensure that they are efficient, safe, and of high quality. This is important because, while there are already standards for things like farming machinery, fertilizers, and pesticides, many other areas of farming do not have clear rules.

Why is the NAC needed?

Although the BIS has already set standards for specific items like machinery and fertilizers, many other parts of farming do not follow a standard process. These areas include:

Land preparation (getting the field ready for planting)
Irrigation (how water is used for crops)
Sustainable farming practices

This lack of clear rules is a problem that policymakers have recognized for a long time. They believe that having a strong framework like the NAC will help make farming more organized and efficient.

What will the NAC cover?

The NAC will focus on:

Agricultural Processes: This includes choosing the right crops, preparing the land, planting, watering, and harvesting.

Post-Harvest Operations: Once crops are harvested, the NAC will provide guidelines for things like initial processing, storing the produce, and making sure everything can be traced back to its source.

Input Management: This covers the standards for using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and promoting organic farming.

New Farming Methods: The NAC will also include modern technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) for farming and sustainable farming methods.

What are the objectives of the NAC?

The NAC has several main goals:

Create a national framework to guide various farming methods across India.
Promote a culture of quality in Indian agriculture that policymakers and regulators can follow.
Act as a guide for farmers to help them make better decisions in their farming practices.
Encourage the use of modern agricultural techniques, including smart farming and sustainability initiatives.

When will the NAC be ready?

The BIS is working on drafting the NAC, and the goal is to finish it by October 2025. Once it’s ready, farmers will be trained to understand and apply the new standards in their everyday work.

What are Standardized Agriculture Demonstration Farms (SADF)?

To help test and promote the NAC, the BIS is also setting up Standardized Agriculture Demonstration Farms (SADF). These farms will be created with the help of major agricultural institutes and will serve as experimental sites. Farmers and others in the agricultural industry will be able to learn hands-on from these farms, where they can see the standardized practices in action and understand how to apply them in their fields.

What is BharatGen?

haratGen is a major new project in generative AI, which is a type of artificial intelligence that can create text, images, or even sound. The goal of BharatGen is to improve public services and increase citizen participation in India using AI. This project was officially launched in New Delhi by Dr. Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister of State. BharatGen is part of India’s efforts to develop its advanced technologies and aims to make India a global leader in AI.

Key Goals of BharatGen

The main purpose of BharatGen is to create AI models that can work with language, speech, and visual information. These models will help solve different social challenges. Some of the key goals include:

Promoting social equality: Making AI accessible to all parts of society.

Preserving cultural heritage: Ensuring that India’s diverse cultures and languages are represented.

Accessibility: Making AI technology available to everyone, especially in different regional languages.

Who is Managing BharatGen?

The project is being led by IIT Bombay under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS). It is managed by the TIH Foundation for IoT and IOE, which will work with many top universities and research institutions to develop the project.

Four Important Features of BharatGen

BharatGen is special for several reasons:

Multilingual and Multimodal Models: It will focus on developing AI that works across many Indian languages and forms of communication, like text and speech.

Bhartiya Data Set: It will use Indian data to train its AI models, making them more relevant to local needs.

Open-Source: BharatGen will be an open-source platform, meaning its technology will be available to everyone, encouraging collaboration.

AI Ecosystem: The project will support the growth of AI research in India, helping more researchers and developers work on generative AI.

Project Timeline

BharatGen is expected to be completed in two years, with key milestones, including developing important AI models, set to be achieved by July 2026.

Focus on Indian Data and Efficiency

A unique feature of BharatGen is its focus on data sovereignty, meaning that it will use data collected from India, ensuring that India’s languages, dialects, and cultures are accurately represented. This is especially important for languages with fewer digital resources.

BharatGen is aligned with India’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, which means self-reliant India. The project will help India develop its own AI capabilities, reduce dependence on foreign technology, and build a stronger AI ecosystem that benefits startups, businesses, and government agencies.

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