Amartya Sen: National security is one component of human security

Nalanda is not a Buddhist university, nor was the old Nalanda. So, had we looked for a monk to run the university, it would have been a mistake — that was not what we were seeking.

Economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s latest book, The Country of First Boys, is a collection of essays on an array of topics, ranging from development, justice, and education, to calendars, Rabindranath Tagore, and the importance of play. In an interview with The Hindu, Prof. Sen spoke candidly about the need to prioritise human security and not just national security, the controversy that has dogged the Nalanda University, and, drawing inspiration from Adam Smith, the need for an intelligent response to rampant capitalism. Excerpts:

In your book, you speak of the different priorities of human security and national security. Don’t you think national security often becomes an alibi for not spending enough on human security?

Well, there are three things. Firstly, security ultimately is a matter in which the leading concern should be around human life. So if we are speaking of security, it has to be human security. Since this also means security from external threats and violence, what we call national security is only one of the constituent factors in human security.

Secondly, it is true that in the name of national security, resources are often not allocated to things on which human security depends, such as education, health care, and a social safety net. And sometimes, national security in the political context seems like a barrier rather than a component to fostering human security. But at the same time, when we consider reducing the budget for national security, we also have to think of the other implications. There’s no reason why there should be a conflict between the two.

Thirdly, the neglect of education, health care, and social safety net has been so foundational in India, so deeply rooted in the class structure of the society, that to blame it all on national security would be a mistake.

Your work has helped shift the focus of development from economic growth to concerns about the quality of human life. Is it time now for another shift — from human development to social justice, as the true measure of a nation’s progress towards being a more developed society?

When we came up with the Human Development Index (HDI), the idea was to have a simple index that would capture something better than the GDP figures. If you look at the very first Human Development Report (HDR) of 1990, we invoked the idea of justice in a number of cases. I think as human development grows as a discipline, justice will increasingly become a bigger component of it.

How do you respond to critics of development economics such as Arturo Escobar and Majid Rahnema, who argue that the very discourse of development perpetrates a regime of powerlessness and ‘unfreedom’ among those identified as ‘underdeveloped’, who are then coerced to follow the Western model of industrialisation and market-led development?

I respond with a great deal of scepticism to this line of reasoning. Adam Smith [whose major work, The Wealth of Nations, was published in 1776] was constantly concerned about human life, about distribution, the divide between the rich and the poor, the role of the market in the efficient production of commodities and the government’s role in providing education, health care, and social safety nets. I think this lesson remains relevant. To call it a ‘Western model’ undersells it. The market economy was not purely an invention of the West — there was trade between Egypt and Babylon, and you find trade seals in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.

But there was no capitalism at that point.

That’s true, but capitalism is a very peculiar term. The way the interests of the poor are consistently neglected — if you call this capitalism, then I would object to this kind of system. In this sense, Smith was in many ways an anti-capitalist. While he was in favour of private ownership of capital, he also thought that whenever rich men got together, they conspired on how to defraud the poor. He never used the word ‘capitalism’, but he was against the excessive power of capital; so am I; and in many ways, so was Karl Marx.

Coming to the subject of Nalanda, people have criticised Dr. Gopa Sabharwal’s appointment as vice-chancellor of the university. They point out that she neither has any background in Buddhist studies nor does she fit the UGC criteria for vice-chancellorship — at least 10 years as a professor in a university set-up.

She is a very good vice-chancellor. It’s not surprising that given the Indian caste system, caste-like issues have cropped up, with people saying that for a vice-chancellorship, the candidate’s caste has to be that of a professor and not a reader, and certainly not a lecturer. In such a regime, the great American universities would not have flourished.

Secondly, Nalanda is not a Buddhist university, nor was the old Nalanda. So, had we looked for a monk to run the university, it would have been a mistake — that was not what we were seeking.

There’s a new chancellor now, George Yeo from Singapore. Chancellor Yeo has made a public statement saying that Dr. Sabharwal is a very suitable vice-chancellor and he would like her to continue. The propaganda against Dr. Sabharwal was quite orchestrated.

In your book you poke fun at the Indian Left for its “antiquated understanding of imperialism” and its obsession with “American imperialism”. The U.S. has 900 military bases in 130 countries — you think there is no such thing as American imperialism?

It is certainly unbalanced that America has so many bases across the world, and to worry about it is legitimate. But to be able not to think of anything else is a mistake. I was thinking particularly of the time when the Left decided to pull the government down over India’s nuclear deal with the U.S.

Is there such a thing as American imperialism? In some ways there is. But there is some Indian imperialism as well. There’s also some Chinese imperialism, and some French and British too. American imperialism is much more important than these, that’s true. But I am against a situation where the Left cannot think independently because of their obsession with one thing.

Now the party is under a new leadership with Sitaram Yechury, and one hopes that there will be more intelligent thinking. I am in favour of humanity, equity and justice, but also in favour of intelligence.

sampath.g@thehindu.co.in

Keywords: Nalanda University, Prof Amartya Sen, human security, national security, American imperialism

Source: The Hindu, 24-12-2015

God Playing Games?

SWAMI SUKHABODHANANDA





Very often people ask, “Why is God playing cruel games with us?” We can give explanations, but explanations need not be answers. What is life and what is death? You are looking at death as the opposite of life when, in fact, death is one more expression of life.Life scientists declare that death is the most critical defining feature of life. All and only living things die. When you die, you are making the ultimate undeniable assertion that you have been alive. In fact, death is even a precondition to life. The Holy Bible says, “Unless a seed falls into earth and dies, it cannot produce any grains.” That is, a seed has to cease to be itself in order to be a source of life to several others like it.
At the time of delivery, the body of the mother pushes the child out. When it is pushed out, every child goes through what is called birth trauma, experiencing a form of death.
Tagore asks, “Is it death or is it life?” What do we experience? Birth, exit from the womb where life originated and was sustained for about nine months and into the world outside is a form of death that leads to life although in different environments. Similarly, death — exit from the world — could be a door to some other form of life or life at yet another plane.… Therefore, the trauma that you feel at events like accident or death is also mainly psychological and, so, death is something you can overcome through spiritual discipline.

Self-affirmation And Hard Work Lead To Success

H P Kanoria





God said, “I am One, let me become many“. `I am One, alone, from this One, let there be many' ­ this is the teaching of the upanishads. Every human being is created in God's image full of love, virtues, strength, infinite knowledge and infinite power. He is our parent and friend.The goal of life is to manifest the divinity we are bestowed with.Spiritual thoughts give us strength to stand with poise during storms of failures and depression. They strengthen us to overcome failures and enable us to climb the ladder of success; sharpen memory; give new vitality; have faith in self and in all.They discipline and balance life that becomes joyful and stress-free. In spirituality , life is enlightened; failures become stepping stones. Swami Vivekananda said: “Manifest spirituality within you. Mark, if you give up spirituality the result will be that in three generations you will be extinct.“
On the battlefield, Krishna told Arjuna ­ who was depressed at the thought of killing relatives and others for the kingdom ­ “You have the right to perform your duties honestly , but do not try to control the results. Results of work should not be the motive. So, failures or success is not in one's control.Every one of us has to work hard with concentration in a righteous way .
Success is not only material achievement. There has to be inner happiness, peace and stream of service and love. Failure and success are part of the journey of life. Former President A P J Abdul Kalam in his book, `The Journey of My Life' wrote, “I firmly believe that unless one has tasted the bitter pill of failure, one cannot taste the sweetness of success. I have seen both and have learnt life's toughest lessons when I have been in the pit of despair that failure brought with it.“
Spirituality can guide us through the process of developing consciousness.Spiritual development within the mind, body and soul can help us sweep off failures and dive into the ocean of success.Kalam had inspiration from an acclaimed enlightened guru when he was in depression on not being selected for a job.
Success is not easy . Hard work with concentration is required. Holistic success gives joy which is universal. Make it simple. Moral integrity is essential. Focus your mind and feel the power of God within you. d feel the power of God within you.Do not waste time. Mind must remain undefeated with source of fresh power from God. Analyse your failure and its causes and benefits from experience.
Konosuke Matsushita's management philosophy in his book, `Not for Bread Alone' is the reason for its great success. Steve Jobs, a college dropout was working in Apple. He was dismissed by a new and educated CEO who considered Steve as uneducated.Steve had bad times. He used to have his meals at Iskcon every week. His intuition and insight was awakened through spirituality in India. He was reappointed with due respect. He then developed Apple further and that went on to become a huge success. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook said that he had spiritual awakening in India. Therein he had intuition.
Let us have tremendous faith in ourselves. In you is infinite power, unbounded wisdom and indomitable energy . Rouse the power within with positive thinking and prayer. You will achieve success. Stay determined.
According to the New Testament, “Whatever things you desire when you pray sincerely , believe that you have received them and you will have them“.Let us affirm that `I have divine power, I have infinite knowledge, I am success, I am success.' (H P Kanoria is chairman, Srei Foundation.)

30% juvenile offenders never been to school

Ambika Pandit

New Delhi:





Survey Of 182 Reveals History Of Abuse, Poverty

Even though Rajya Sabha has passed the amended Juvenile Justice Act, a survey of 182 youngsters lodged in the capital's observation homes between last year and early this year reveals a story of childhoods scarred by abuse, poverty , illiteracy and lack of parental care.`Why Children Commit Offences', a study on children in conflict with the law by Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) in collaboration with NGO Butterflies dwells on the factors that trigger delinquent behaviour. It cautions that “reform mechanisms“ must be a focus area if the original intent behind the JJ Act is to be achieved. The findings were released in June.
The study found over 57% of the children involved in offences related to theft, dacoity and robbery . “Offences related to person (murder and attempt to murder) and sexual harassment (including rape) constituted 21.9% and 11.5%. These figures are those of accused and not of those found guilty ...Reports of children accused of rape suggest that of the 21 rape cases reported 11 were either consensual sex or false accusations by the parents of the girls who did not consent to their relationship,“ the study says.
The study also says that those taking to crime early are likely to grow into hardened criminals than those who start late. But 90% of the surveyed children were late starters, having committed their first crime above the age of 14, and were therefore less likely to repeat it. Data also showed that 70% were unaware of the consequ ences of their acts. Also, 58.8% of the offences were committed in groups, and in 90% of these cases, the groups were of friends. This shows how peer influence works.
Almost 30% of the juveniles had never been to school and over 29% had only studied up to primary school. Only 24.2% had moved to upper primary . The dropout rate was also pretty high--of the 182 kids, only 43 were still studying when apprehended. The study holds families and the school system responsible for their failure to identify behavioural deficiencies in these children. Over 50.3% of children were deprived of adequate housing and 62.1% were working for a living when they were apprehended. Also 14.2% of children were not living with parents and 23% were living with single parents or with step parents. Many of the children had also witnessed one parent treating another with violence and had lived in turbulent neighbourhoods.
The study makes the point that “there is no evidence to suggest that harsher punishment or transfer of adolescents to criminal justice system will deter them from deviance“. “Instead, there is strong evidence that they increase recidivism.All this does not mean that childrenadolescents who are involved in offences or deviances should not be held accountable for what they have done.But the means for ensuring such accountability should be grounded in child and adolescent psychology , the human rights of children and a deeper understanding of the circumstances that led to such behaviour,“ the study adds.

Source: Times of India, 28-12-2015

Smoking dips 10% in 2 yrs but women smokers up sharply

Atul Thakur & Rema Nagarajan





Double In 30 Yrs, Highest Number Here After US

Cigarette consumption in India is falling steadily even as the number of women smokers is rising, making it home to the second largest number of female smokers after the United States.According to the latest data given by the health ministry in Parliament, cigarette consumption in 2014-15 was 93.2 billion sticks -10 billion less than in 2012-13. Production fell from 117 billion sticks to 105.3 billion in the same period.
In the face of this good news is the sobering finding of a global tobacco study , which showed that the number of women smokers in India went up from 5.3 million in 1980 to 12.7 million in 2012. The study , titled `Smoking Prevalence and Cigarette Consumption in 187 Countries 1980-2012', was carried out by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington and released last year.This jump in numbers consti tutes only a marginal increase in prevalence (percentage of smokers in the above 15 population) from 3% to 3.2%. But it has been flagged as an area of concern by anti-tobacco activists who point out that it runs against the global trend of the rate of decline among women smokers being consistently faster than in men.
Incidentally , unlike most countries where cigarettes constitute over 90% of tobacco consumption, in India, it is just about 11%. Hence, while the decline is a positive development, its impact on burden of diseases caused by tobacco remains limited as consumption is dominated by chewing tobacco, followed by bidis.
According to a 2009-10 survey by the health ministry, 24% of men and 17% of women use smokeless tobacco, much higher than the proportion of smokers in that age group ­ 15% and 2% respectively. About 9% of men and 1% of women both chew tobacco and smoke it. The survey also showed that tobacco use was higher in rural areas ­ 52% among men and 24% among women, compared to 38% and 12% in urban areas. In the US, where almost a third of the population were smokers in 1980, ground-breaking re search on diseases caused by tobacco use and sustained campaigns by the government and non-profit agencies has managed to bring down prevalence to around 17% of the adult population.
“Every kind of tobacco product consumption ought to be taxed, including the small-scale bidi and gutka manufacturers,“ said Bobby Ramakant, an anti-tobacco activist with Corporate Accountability International.“This, along with pictorial warnings and adequately funded programmes to help people quit us ing tobacco, is the only way the National Tobacco Control Programme will work. It all depends on the government's commitment to reduce non-communicable diseases. Tobacco use is a huge risk factor for many of these diseases, especially cancer.“

Source: Times of India, 28-12-2015

Dear Reader

Wish You A Very Happy Christmas To All Of You


TISS Guwahati Campus Library

Retired professor V. Arasu spends Rs. 15 lakh to create library for research students - Hats of you Sirji

Creating a library out of retirement benefits

The library has 15,000 Tamil books and 5,000 English books, particularly books on Tamil literature and culture- Photo: Special Arrangement

It is common for a person to invest retirement benefits for a secure future. However, V. Arasu, former head of the Tamil Department of University of Madras, has spent Rs. 15 lakh to create an academic library for the benefit of research students at his residence in Perungudi in Chennai.

The library has 15,000 Tamil books and 5,000 English books, particularly books on Tamil literature and culture.

“Keeping the collection in good condition has always been a challenge, especially when you live in a rented house and shift frequently. We used to keep them under the cot. Now they have found a safe place,” said Mr. Arasu, who started collecting books since his college days in the 1970s.

He has all the dictionaries published in Tamil, over a thousand books on Eelam literature, 3,000 literary magazines that created new trends in Tamil literature, souvenirs on great Tamil scholars, including U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, R.P. Sethu Pillai and theatre personality Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar.

Mr. Arasu acknowledged the help rendered by architect Mahesh Radhakrishnan who designed the library on the second floor of the house with adequate aeration.

The racks were created with wood used for packing materials, treated in chemicals to keep away insects.

“The library is open to all serious and committed students.

They can even stay there and work. They can share the food we prepare.

Even while I was teaching in the university, we had always had one student or the other staying with us,” said Mr. Arasu, who has created a separate room for students in the library.

Retired professor V. Arasu spends Rs. 15 lakh to create library for research students

Source | The Hindu | 22 December 2015