Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Kalinga International Literary Award to Anand Neelakantan, Kalinga Literary Award to Haraprasad Das, KLF2017 to start from June 10

. Hon’ble Union Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan will grace the festival as the Chief Guest. Hon’ble Union Minister of State HRD, Shri Mahendranath Pandey will join as the chief key Note Speaker.
2. “Literature for Peace and Harmony” is the central theme for 2017
3. Over 200 international and national speakers to join the Largest Monsson Literary Festival
4. 30 leading district level Odia Writers will be felicitated
5. Creative Attractions: Kalinga Art Festival and Mystic Kalinga
6. Mystic Kalinga, dedicated poetry session, at Chilika

Bhubaneswar: Fourth Kalinga Literary Festival is here. Around 200 celebrities from the worlds of literature, cinema, media and politics will assemble in the temple city of Odisha to deliberate on the theme of ‘Literature for Peace and Harmony’, at the Kalinga Literature Festival in Bhubaneswar, from 10th-12th June, 2017.

Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) has emerged as one of the leading literary platforms in India and number one in the Eastern part of India, attracting both experienced and young litterateurs. Bigger than ever before, the fourth edition of the festival will bring nationally and internationally acclaimed names on one platform to discuss, debate and explore commonalities in the diverse voices in literature, peace and harmony.

This year’s festival will be inaugurated by the Chief Guest, Hon’ble Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan. Hon’ble Union HRD Minister of State Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey will be guest of honour and Chief Key note speaker. Other speakers in the inaugural session include Guest of Honour, Eminent writer and poet Dr. Kedarnath Singh as a key note speaker and renowned writer and academic Dr. H.S. Shivprakash will also join as Guest of Honour and second key note speaker.

The three-day festival will cover several dimensions of the interconnections between Literature, Peace and Harmony. The key sessions will be on topics such as ‘Literature for Peace and Harmony’, resurgence of nationalism, literature beyond class privilege, democracy in the age of social media, Odissi, Branding of Odia literature beyond classical status, Indian films and the grassroots reality, transformative Dalit literature: voice and the margins, youth, women, media, sports, folk and regional literature, etc. Apart from this, more than 20 new books will be released during the three-day festival. The delegates and speakers of KLF will have a unique opportunity to participate in Ekamra Heritage Walk.
This year KLF is introducing special sessions for poets and artists. ‘Mystic Kalinga’, is dedicated for the poets and Kalinga Art Festival is for the artists. From this year onwards, KLF will showcase art exhibitions of international artists at the KLF venue. Another crucial addition to the festival are the establishment of literary awards including the Kalinga International Literary Award, Kalinga Literary Youth Award and the Kalinga Karubaki Award.

Awardees, 2017
Mr. Haraprasad Das: 4th Kalinga Literary Award
Mr. Anand Nilakantan- Kalinga International Award
Ms. Paramita Satapathy- Kalinga Karubaki Award
Kalinga Literary Youth Award: 30 young minds selected from Odisha

Highlighting the need to go international, KLF Founder and Director Mr. Rashmi Ranjan Parida said, “Three years of KLF have seen great voices in literature. This year, we got several suggestions to expand the festival to reach out to global voices. This certainly will be a great value addition for our young writers.” Mr. Parida strongly believes that Kalinga International Awards will expand the horizon of the KLF and Odisha literary scenario by translating the maxim of think global and act local. “Indian literature is rich in imagery and encompasses diverse human experiences. KLF has also been a platform to explore Odisha’s rich variety of literature and human experience,” he further added.

Some of the leading names who will be a part of the festival include
Ajit Sharma, Amrendra Khatua, Anand Neelakantan, Ananya Chatterjee, Anurag Saxena, Aruna Mohanty, Arundhati Subramanium, Ashok Maheshwari, Ashwini Kumar Pankaj, Asit Mohanty, Baqir Shameem, Bhalchandra Vanaji Nemade, Bibhuti Pattnaik, Bijayananda Singh, Deba Prasad Dash, Debasis Panigrahi, Dipak Samantarai, Diksha Tiwari, Dillip Tirkey, Dr. Sigma Satish, Dr. Yashodhara Mishra, Dr. Ranjan Ku. Mallik, Dr. Subhas Pani, Dr. Perugu Ramkrishna, Girindra Nath Jha, Dr. Gourhari Das, Haraprasad Das, Hindol Sengupta, Hiranmayee Mishra, Jacob Isaac, Jatin Nayak, Jayanta Mohapatra, Jaydeep Sarangi, Joie Bose, Kedar Mishra, Kedar Nath Singh, Lt. General Charanjit Singh Chima, Lt General Zameer Uddin Shah, Maitreyi Pushpa, Manohar Mouli Biswas, Meera Das, Meera Nair, Mona Mohanty, Mrinal Chaterjee, Munideepa Sahu, Nandini Sahoo, Paramita Satapathy, Paresh Pattanaik, Piyush Mishra, Pratibha Ray, Prof. H.S Shivprakash, R.K. Dash, Rahul Bose, Rabi Swain, Rajendra P Gupta, Ramakant Rath, Ravi Mantha, Ruchhita Kazaria, Saira Shah Halim, Sandeep Mohapatra, Sanjay Baru, Santanu Ganguly, Satyanand Nirupam, Sitakanta Mohapatra, Soubhagya Mishra, Soumendra Padhi, Sudarsan Pattnaik, Sudipti Satyanand, Suhasini Haidar, Sujit Mohapatra, Sumanyu Satapathy, Sundeep Bhutoria, Tarun Vijay, Vineet Kumar and more.

KLF hosting Kalinga Art Festival this year
This year KLF is organizing Kalinga Art Festival. Over 35 Internationally acclaimed artists to exhibit their painting during KLF at the KLF venue. Kalinga Art Festival has been curated by Dr Ranjan Kumar Mallik, Artist and Head of the Department, Amity University Gurgaon, New Delhi.

Participating artists are Mr. Gajendra Padhi , Mr. Sidharth P Betejebrgi , Mr. Manash Ranjan Jena, Mr. Gajendra Kumar Sahoo, Mr. Meenaketan Pattnaik, Mr. Nigamanda Swain, Mr. Pradipta Patra, Mr. Chandra Shekher, Mr. Chintamani Biswal, Mr. Subrat Mullick, Mr. Lalatendu Rath, Dr. Anup Kumar Chand, Mr Pradosh Swain,Artist, Mr Rakesh Kumar Chaudhury, Mr. Priya Ranjan Behera, Dr. Gyanesh Mishra , Mrs. Sonia Mallik, Dr. Ranjan Mallik, Lipsha Pattnaik Mohanty, Chakradhara Behera, Mr. Panchanan Samal, Mr. Tarakanta Parida, Mr. Bipin Martha, Mrs. Subhra Chand, Mrs. Nibedita Pattnaik, Mr. Stitadhi Rath, Mr Smrurti Nayak, Mr Aasutosh Panigrahi, Mr Susant Nayak, Rohit Supakar, Ms. Suhani Jain, artist, Nagpur, Amarendra Moharana, Surat Choudary .

Highlights of KLF 2017:
· 200 Speakers, poets, musicians, artists, performers
· 20 sessions and 22 awards represented
· Kalinga Sahitya Sanman, Kalinga International Literary Award, Kalinga Literary Youth Award (30 Districts), Kalinga Karubaki Literary Award
· Mystic Kalinga – Poetry session for 50 poets
· Art Exhibition- 35 Internationally acclaimed artists
· Ekamra Heritage Walk
· Over 20 books to be launched
· Book Stalls
· Cultural Evening

For Schedule and Online Registration, please visit: www.kalingaliteraryfest.com

Source: Indiaeducationdiary, 4-06-2017

Why a price increase alone won't help farmers

Fundamental problems of crop and regional bias of MSP policy, govt. procurement and access to institutional credit need to be addressed.

Agricultural distress is often viewed as a short-term phenomenon in which farmers look for support from various quarters on account of being unable to get a gainful return due to price crash, poor marketing facilities, rising credit burden, increasing cost of inputs and frequent occurrence of natural calamities. A prolonged unrest in rural India — such as the decision of Andhra Pradesh farmers not to sow in the 2011 kharif season and mark a ‘crop holiday’ protest — will have serious consequences for food security.

Agricultural distress has become a permanent feature due to the failure of not only elected governments to find a lasting solution but also local institutions such as community or social networks which are supposedly weakening because of increasing individualisation. The consequence is that helpless farmers are increasingly pushed to the brink of committing suicides.

A tipping point

The distress seems to have reached a tipping point, with scenes of dejected farmers throwing agricultural produce such as vegetables and milk on the roads becoming a routine feature in recent years. Rather than addressing the genuine problems of farmers, politicians are unfortunately busy scoring points over the deaths of innocent farmers.

Are demands of our farmers unjust? Not really. They want a reasonable price for their produce, better marketing facilities, institutional credit, irrigation, quality seeds and fertilisers, procurement during times of market glut and a social safety net during natural calamities. These are the basic inputs and services farmers need to continue to engage in agricultural production. Many committees and commissions constituted in the past have looked into India’s farming conditions. Their recommendations have been shelved by successive governments.

The non-availability of remunerative prices to farmers on agricultural produce is a vexed issue and emerges as the prime issue in various research studies wherein farmers are asked to rank production constraints. Will a rise in the minimum support price (MSP) solve the problem? Some critics argue that a rise in the MSP will lead to increase in food inflation, while others that it will augment farmers’ income. Both arguments rest on the mistaken notion that the MSP is a remunerative price. It is actually an insurance price, a floor price of sorts. Besides, a vast majority of the farming population is unaware of its existence.

The Government of India has an MSP for 23 crops, but official procurement at the MSP is effectively limited to rice and wheat, and that too concentrated in a few States only. Awareness about the MSP is limited to States such as Punjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh where such procurement takes place. According to the National Sample Survey’s (NSS) Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households 2013, even for paddy and wheat, less than one-third of farmers were aware of the MSP; for other crops, such awareness was negligible. Further, a substantial proportion of crops are sold to local private traders and input dealers to whom the resource-poor marginal and small landholders are obligated to sell their crops due to tie-up with credit.

Since 2004, successive governments claimed to have increased institutional credit flow to the agricultural sector through increased budgetary allocation on crop loans. According to NSS data, over 40% of farmers still rely on non-institutional lenders, who mostly happen to be moneylenders-cum-traders and input dealers. Further, analysis of credit disbursement data from the Reserve Bank of India reveals that out of total advances to agriculture, the share of indirect finance has increased substantially over time, while that of direct finance to farmers has declined. This means that at the macro level, it would appear that there is an increase in credit flow to the agricultural sector but this has actually accrued to agro-business firms/corporations and not directly to the farmers. Consequently, marginal and small farmers continue to rely on traders and input dealers. Unless the fundamental problems of crop and regional bias of MSP policy, government procurement and access to institutional credit are addressed, mere increase in MSP will not benefit most farmers in the country.

Further, the response of various State governments to a glut in the market appears to be muted. There exist intervention schemes to undertake the procurement of commodities whose market prices go below the MSP, but on most occasions the marketing season of bumper crops gets over by the time a bureaucratic decision on procurement is taken. Ultimately, the farmers are left at the mercy of unscrupulous traders to sell at whatever price they offer, with resultant repercussions such as the burning of the entire crop or throwing the harvested produce on roads in protest.

Various studies show an increasing divergence between agricultural and non-agricultural income. And the rising aspirations among rural youth to emulate urban lifestyles put enormous pressure on them to find ways to increase income through various agricultural activities. Unfortunately, income from crop cultivation, which is a major segment of agriculture, is not growing enough to meet the expected level. On the contrary, the increasing market orientation and reforms in the input sector have resulted in a substantial rise in input costs.

Dipping income

Analysis of data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare reveal that income from cultivation of many cereals and pulses has declined between 2004-05 and 2013-14 despite a considerable increase in MSP during this period. In the case of paddy, out of 18 major rice-growing States, net income has declined in five, and it is negative in six States. In seven States, it has increased only marginally. Income from the cultivation of even horticultural crops is uncertain due to the heavy investment involved and the high volatility in market prices. Most acute is the rise in prices of fertilisers: between 1991-92 and 2013-14, while the price of urea increased by 69%, that of DAP (diammonium phosphate) and potash rose by 300% and 600%, respectively.

Recent policy pronouncements have added to the woes of already beleaguered farmers. The promotion of traditional farming at this juncture of agricultural development will take the sector to where it was decades ago. Most existing modern crop varieties will not respond to these practices in the medium term; consequently, yield and income will decline. Further, facilities to produce adequate organic inputs have not been developed either. Animal husbandry has been practised as a supplementary activity since time immemorial. Livestock acts as a cushion against crop loss during times of drought. The new rules on animal markets will put poor farmers and landless labourers in a fix. These developments do not augur well for rural youth whose interest in farming is already dwindling. While other developing countries are moving towards modernisation of agriculture which would reduce dependence of labour force and enable a rise in productivity, Indian agriculture is cluelessly plodding ahead.

Elumalai Kannan is an associate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. His views are personal

Source: Thy Hindu, 13-06-2017

What is Simon-Ehrlich wager in Economics?

A famous bet made in 1980 between American business professor Julian L. Simon and American ecologist Paul R. Ehrlich on what the price of certain ‘non-government-controlled’ natural resources will be in 1990. Ehrlich predicted that increasing demand from a swelling population would exhaust the limited supply of resources, thus increasing their prices. Simon, on the other hand, argued that the price rise would incentivise new production which in turn will reduce the price of these resources. Simon eventually won the bet as the inflation-adjusted prices of all five metals picked by Ehrlich dropped between 1980 and 1990.

source: The Hindu, 12-06-2017

A shattered peace: On Darjeeling hills unrest

ace in West Bengal’s Darjeeling hills has been shattered again, with the key hill party, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, renewing its demand for a separate Gorkhaland state. The protests started with the suspicion that Bengali would be made mandatory in the hills, but have spiralled into a broad-based ‘indefinite’ agitation with the GJM targeting symbols of the state and ordering closure of all government offices from June 12. In May, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced that all students would have to study Bengali from Class I, but later clarified that it would not be compulsory in the hill district of Darjeeling. The GJM, which had lost the Mirik municipal election to the Trinamool Congress in May, appeared to hear only one part of the language decree, and announced a host of marches and shutdowns. When Ms. Banerjee arrived in Darjeeling with her ministers for a meeting on ‘development’ last week, she was greeted with protests and stone-pelting of a kind not seen since 2013. The Army was called out, and Ms. Banerjee stayed put in Darjeeling till she thought a semblance of normality had returned. With May and June constituting the peak tourist season, the GJM has, for now, kept hotels, shops and transport facilities outside the purview of the shutdown. It is the peak season for the Darjeeling tea too, with the second flush harvesting on. This eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation spells fresh trouble for a region that depends on tourism and tea for its survival.

If the first day of the indefinite bandh was more or less peaceful, it was thanks to the heavy military presence and the stringent measures announced against those who supported it, including a possible break in service for employees missing work. For their part, GJM leaders Bimal Gurung and Roshan Giri want the Centre to intervene. When the TMC came to power in 2011 after 34 years of Left rule, the GJM had agreed to the formation of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration after three years of violence in the hills. Mr. Gurung, who had set up the GJM in 2007 with the sole agenda of separation from West Bengal, became its chief executive, saying he would take the Gorkhaland demand to Delhi and refrain from shutdowns in the hills. But with the TMC making inroads in the hills, the GJM clearly feels its wings are being clipped, especially with the government setting up several development boards of ethnic communities and further weakening the hill party. Watching from the sidelines is the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is keen to expand its base in the State. GJM leaders are in touch with BJP president Amit Shah, but the Modi government has not yet spelt out its stand on Gorkhaland. While the State government must be firm and quick to quell cries for the formation of a separate state in the border region, the GJM should tread carefully as a spiral of violence hurts hill-dwellers the most.

Source: The Hindu, 14-06-2017

Why do so few girls opt for science and engineering in India?

If India wants more women doing science, the barriers ---- travel and safety limitations, centrality of career progression around male working patterns, inflexible work hours and negative stereotyping ---- have to fall. There are no short cuts in this roadmap.

The Joint Entrance Examination – Advanced (JEE – Advanced) results are out and coaching institutes have been proudly advertising their ‘successful’ candidates. All most all advertisements have rows of photographs of bright young boys smiling at the camera. But where are the girls? This gender imbalance is not surprising because when it comes to STEM subjects --- science, technology, engineering, and mathematics --- it’s very much a boys’ club. The situation is so dire that earlier this month, a meeting of the joint admission board of IITs recommended an increase of 600 seats – a hike of 14% -- in the number of seats allotted to women, taking the quota to 1,440 seats. The committee also recommended awarding merit scholarships regardless of parental income to female students. Currently, women make up just 8% of the student strength at the 23 IITs across the country.

The IITs are among India’s best institutes and regularly rank high in global surveys but are plagued by a paltry number of women students, seen as Indian’s society’s belief that men are more suited for technical jobs. The other reason could be the preference for a “trouble-free” career.

While even developed countries have fewer female scientists, the crisis is different in India, says a report. In India, women do take up science for degrees, but few of them go on to pursue careers in this discipline. The reason hasn’t been performance, though. Because of the default role of a woman as a homemaker and society’s perception that only women are responsible for rearing children, marriage and not career is perceived to be the primary goal of a woman—no matter which profession she is in.

“If you are away from research in science, particularly experimental work, even for six months, your work gets left behind and you become irrelevant soon. If you choose to have both a career and a family, you do lose out because there is initially an age limit for projects which is 35 years and later, it is 55 years. So, at both ends, you end up losing,” wrote former chief scientist and head of the biophysics laboratory at the Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai, Aruna Dhathathreyan in Lilavati’s Daughters.

In a recent interview with HT, Melinda Gates spoke about how women are losing out by not taking up STEM subjects. ““Computer science offers the best jobs in the economy. The technology sector is connected to all industry, it offers great pay and the best opportunities, and girls are losing points by not studying STEM subjects,” she said. Getting girls hooked to science is a must. “One way could be through computer games, which are an entry point for boys. When I was growing up, they were gender neutral, but with the shooting and fighting games getting popular, girls lost interest,” added Gates. Then there is the question of role models.

If India wants more women doing science, the barriers ---- travel and safety limitations, centrality of career progression around male working patterns, inflexible work hours and negative stereotyping ---- have to be removed. There are no shortcuts in this roadmap.

Source: Hindustan Times, 13-06-2017

The Seat of Power

SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

A ministership purports to serve the people. However, if it is perceived as a means to derive pleasure or prestige, it will only infest society with corruption, stymie growth and lead to moral degradation.Fear and insecurity will grip society , inhibiting humanness.It is natural for human beings to want to overcome fear and insecurity . Most will do almost anything to feel secure. Consequently there is a struggle for the seat of power. However, those who hanker after power are really powerless. They can accomplish very little even after coming to office. The irony is that even after assuming the seat of power, they remain fearful. In fact, the fear increases manifold. If you are in fear and tension you can't come up with creative ideas -so you can't do much, either for society or yourself.
Often you hear ministers threatening to resign if they don't get their way . It is irresponsible to take pride in resigning from one's post.This is not sacrifice; it is the act of renouncing a sacred duty assigned by the people.Ministership is not a luxury which you can take pride in renouncing. Similarly , conferring a ministerial post on someone is to expect and demand their best service -it is not to be construed as a reward.
Once you realise your innate power, you don't need a seat or position to serve the people.You can do better without a formal post as did Mahatma Gandhi. Often a ruler is not a reformer and a reformer doesn't rule.

Monday, June 12, 2017

Economic and Political Weekly: Table of Contents

Vol. 52, Issue No. 23, 10 Jun, 2017

Followers