Nobel laureate, Irish playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw rightly said that “the first condition of progress is the removal of censorship”. Far from removing censorship, it seems that the Central Board of Film Certification has imbibed unabridged powers. An apt example is the Board headed by Pahlaj Nihalani that has become the favourite child of controversies. It has once again shown its might by refusing to certify Prakash Jha’s upcoming film Lipstick Under My Burkha, for its alleged sexual scenes, abusive words and audio pornography. Of late, the CBFC has been in news for all the wrong reasons, weather it was the unnecessary controversy during the release of ‘Udta Punjab’ or the scissor threatened on the Oscar-winning ‘Moonlight’ before allowing it a certification. The Board has been overzealous in the execution of its duties, to say the least.
Lipstick Under My Burkha is a movie about the journey of four women of different ages exploring their freedom and their craving for men and sex. It is a Prakash Jha film starring Ratna Pathak Shah, Konkona Sen Sharma, Aahana Kumra and Plait Borthakur and has been directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, who had earlier directed ‘Turning 30’. The film has already won awards, including the Oxfam Award at the Mumbai Film Festival for ‘Best Film on Gender Equality’ and the Spirit of Asia Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival. The movie has bagged the audience award at the Glasgow Film Festival. It is indeed ironic that the very film that has won an award for ‘Best Film on Gender Equality’ could be labelled having ‘audio pornography’ and ‘lady-oriented!’ Significantly, the CBFC took a decision to not allow this film for screening in January itself (copy of CBFC letter dated January 25, 2017, with Tehelka). The letter allows 14 day’s time to Prakash Jha Productions, Andheri Mumbai to prefer an Appeal to the Reviewing Committee and 30 days to FCAT.
One finds that creative liberty has been at the receiving end at the CBFC and film makers who dare to think out of box and make meaningful cinema, are being gagged. In the process, these film makers suffer financial losses and receive bad publicity. The creative fraternity cannot be perpetually harassed for thinking differently and out of the box. It is the artiste’s obligation to rip off the veil on hitherto forbidden issues and ideas, and it is the duty of society to accommodate creativity. Censored minds would only remain closed minds and an informed society needs creative ideas to flow from everyone and everywhere.
Just a few decades ago, politics was quite clean. Candidates rarely used to name and shame their rivals during election campaigns. They just used to drop hints to highlight the misdeeds of their opponents. There used to be positive atmosphere as the parties and contestants only used to promote and propagate their manifestos.
Even then some of the candidates used to quote from the relevant religious books, as per the crowd, to woo voters. One of them, I remember quoting, “Hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves.” (Quran’s Chapter 3, Verse 103) “Thus, stay united and vote for our party,” he added. I felt the second sentence not only blasphemous but also a cheap trick to incite voters to favour his party.
Decades later, when humiliating adversaries has become a norm, a few election candidates are towing the same line and seeking vote in the name of patriotism. They could be heard saying, “Prove your patriotism by voting for our party.” The appeal sounds too irritating. How can a party or person claim to be more faithful to his or her nation than others. Patriotism, as Mark Twain had said, is supporting your country all the time and your leaders or governments only when they deserve it.
But this patriotism is being misused to spread hatred and demonise particular communities, individuals, and, sometime, even offices. No need to mention in details who is leading the campaign or when and how it all started as readers are well aware of the recent developments. Secondly, the space here is too limited to talk of the subject at length.
However, it’s definitely a high time to pause and think how much we know about patriotism and patriots. We all know who killed Mahatma Gandhi, and there are efforts in some quarters to honour Nathu Ram Godse. But how many of us know about the person who saved life of the Father of the Nation. In 1917, Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Rajendra Prasad visited Motihari, the headquarters of erstwhile Champaran district, to investigate the appalling condition of labourers at indigo plantations and protest against the British government. This was the first agitation led by the then comparatively unknown Gandhiji in India. A British manager of an indigo plantation there invited Gandhiji at a dinner and conspired to kill him. As per the plan, the manager instructed Batak Mian, his Indian cook, to serve a glass of milk laced with poison to Gandhiji.
But Batak’s patriotism did not allow him to do so. He took the glass to Gandhiji but revealed the plot to him, saving his life.
Dr Rajendra Prasad was a witness to the incident. However, Batak had to pay a heavy price for his act. The manager had put him into jail and brutally tortured him. His house was turned into a crematorium. Later on, he and his family were forced out of the village. This unsung hero died in 1957. On his visit to Motihari in 1950, Dr Rajendra Prasad, as first President of India, had ordered that Batak’s family be allotted 24 acres of land in recognition of his sacrifice. The order is yet to be implemented even after more than six decades. At present, his five grandsons, who are illiterate, stay with their families in Akwa Parsawni Village of West Champaran district and work as migrant laborers. They have been visiting the government officials in the hope of getting the land but all in vain.
Batak Mian’s case is just one example of how people at every level silently do their bit for the betterment of the nation. Amid debate on patriotism, the real nationalists and their families are still working hard for the welfare of the country. Away from limelight, these loyalists are living anonymous and tough lives. Isn’t it sad and ironic?
Aristotle, the Greek Philosopher, famously said that “Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime”. He along with Socrates and Plato had done much of the groundwork for philosophy in those times and today we find that much of our ills in society are because of poverty.
It is at such a time that the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI) has attracted attention of policy makers, analysts and the common people alike. The Economic Survey released prior to the 2017-18 Budget too debates this alternative to welfare schemes meant for citizens of India.
No one will dispute the need for social security for the vulnerable sections of society though skeptics would doubt its implementation because it involves a huge cost. The survey expects the Universal Basic Income to cost between 4 and 5 per cent of GDP. Naturally, it raises pertinent questions. Are we ready for such a game changing idea? Do we have resources and financial muscle needed for its implementation?
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had been quick to lay speculation to rest and hoped that the Universal Basic Income (UBI) scheme mooted by the Economic Survey will be implemented over the next one year in at least in some parts of the country on an experimental basis. The Economic Survey, authored by Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, had suggested that the Centre may come out with Universal Basic Income scheme under which the government would provide a minimum cash to poor people to meet their basic needs.
According to the Finance Minister, under the proposed system Univeral Basic Income could be given to people and subsidies could be phased out. The issue of subsidies has always remained contentious as in certain sectors like the farm sector and for poor, the subsidies can not be done away. Many states provide subsidy in lieu of free power to farm sector and food grain at cheap rates to poor.
Now the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has laid the foundations for a Universal Basic Income in India and the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley has promised its implementation, though on an experimental basis. A good beginning at last as the idea of offering a regular payment from the state to all citizens regardless of their employment status is slowly but surely taking shape.
The novel concept
According to the Basic Income Earth Network, a universal basic income is a “regular cash payment unconditionally delivered to all citizens on an individual basis, without means-test or work requirement.” In simple words, every citizen in the country would be entitled to a periodic payment, irrespective of social or economic status of the person. There is no need to prove your unemployment status or your socio-economic identity to be qualified for this benefit of the Universal Basic Income.
The novel concept tentamounts to a paradigm shift in the way the government spends its revenue that it generates from taxes. Currently the money that the government garners through taxation is direceted to fund the government services. The money for different subsidies is also funded from the revenue generation by the government.
Will the Universal Basic Income mean that the government would be moving away from subsidies and other services? Will the government only provide its people the money to access those services? Or will it be the combination of the two? Could a basic income be suitable for a country of the magnitude of India? Would it not divert country’s focus from crucial sectors like health, education and infrastructure building? Another question would be if the Universal Basic Income scheme is launched will it be in lieu of all subsidies or investments made by the government? Or will it be a separate programme? These are the questions that need to be debated.
A dominant argument in support of basic income for all is that it would serve as a sort of insurance against lack of work leading to denial of livelihood and subsistence. With globalisation taking roots in India, along side its gain, the flip side is that employment levels have fluctuated and there have been lay offs and effect of slowdown in West percolating down to India too. Our record has not been bad as a welfare state despite pitfalls of resource crunch and over pooulation. Since independence the country has undertaken projects aimed at improving the health, nutrition, and education levels of people and it has meant a heavy funding from the government in the form of Direct Benefit Transfers or subsidies.
Why UBI?
Though critics may point that it is difficult to implement in India but the fact is that it would be very easy to adopt unlike targeted welfare schemes that need extensive groundwork to identify actual beneficiaries the Universal Basis Income scheme would be an across-the-board basic pay and would be launched without any faux pas.
With a single stroke of pen, the Modi Government would be able to counter corruption, plug loopholes in social welfare measures and ensure that benefit reaches the targeted audience. It would be an apt example of good governance and unmatched citizen welfare measure. The only thing needed is determination to go ahead.
A universal income would give citizens, the freedom to spend it the way they choose to and to choose the kind of work they would want rather than be forced to take up jobs that are not to their likings. Little doubt it would enhace productivity and individual happiness.
The Arvind Subramanian report suggests that “Today there are at least 1000 schemes that the Central government runs for the poor…It is not clear that the money actually reaches the poor. So the question is whether the UBI is a more effective way of reaching the poor that the current schemes that government employs…We have historically focussed on individuals who are poor by virtue of accident of their birth — they are dalits, adivasis, etc. But what is happening now is that the accident of birth has become less important than the accident of life. People fall into poverty due to reasons like drought, declining opportunities in agriculture, disease and so on…. So the safety net provided by the government should be quite wide and that is why this UBI has some merit.”
Precautions
Before implementing the novel scheme, the government has to ensure access to education and health to all citizen at nominal prices if these programs are not to be subsidized and also to pump in massive investment in developing its infrastructure before the Universal Basic Income concept is implemented.
Another suggestion would be to decide whom to target as in a country as large country as India, some baseline on socio-economic parameters has to be arrived. With all these precautions, we can say that time has come for out of box thinking and implementing schemes like the Universal Basic Income scheme in India.
In the public perception, political corruption is the fountainhead of most forms of corruption. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had often said that “this is the beginning of the end of the corrupt as the government was initiating tough steps corruption which has become a dangerous disease worse than even cancer in the country”. Recently in a well-packed punch, he had a jibe against his predecessor, saying that “only doctor sahib knows the art of taking a shower with a raincoat on”. One can safely argue that the image of former PM remains as that of a man of integrity. Little doubt that when Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley presented his Budget that public was expecting steps to check the lack of transparency and accountability in the funding of political parties. He indeed announced some measures in the Union Budget to cleanse the process of making donations toward election expenses of parties. But his proposals fall too short of expectations as the ceiling of 2,000 on cash donation by any individual to a party reduced from the earlier 20,000 would not serve many purposes to bring the desired reforms in the electoral system and end political corruption once for all. All that the parties would now need to do is find more people to lend their names to these donations as cash donors. The proposal falls short of stopping the flow of illicit political donations.
In the 2017-18 Budget, Jaitley has introduced electoral bonds with a view to ensuring transparent political funding while maintaining the secrecy of the bond holders. The proposal to allow donors to purchase electoral bonds from banks for giving to registered political parties for redemption would hardly contribute to transparency. Indeed, donors should not be leveraged with any anonymity. Even Wanchoo Committee report submitted in 1971 had suggested several reforms but the report has been given a burial it seems. Political leadership should understand that the dual challenge of breaking the unholy alliance between big corporate houses and politicians and stopping the use of black money in elections can be achieved by restricting political parties to receive only cashless payments from donors. The civil society was also expected to influence and educate the political parties to change their old hackneyed working styles that left many things to imagination. It is heartening that the proposal has come from the ruling dispensation but far from adding to transparency, the proposal seems only a half measure and half -measures never go even halfway in achieving transparency and accountability in political donations.
I took that call after just two rings. “Your uncle Kalam Farooqui has passed away in Pakistan after being on the bed for about a year,” the voice at the other end conveyed before disconnecting the line. My heart sank. This was not the first time I had received such news. Many of my elders, who had decided to go to Pakistan during partition in 1947, have passed away there over a period of time. But we, at this side, have no option but to mourn their deaths from a distance. They too, on their part, do the same. We, in both countries, could not attend any of the marriages of our first cousins, now most of whom we don’t even know by their names.
Me or my family is not alone. The impact of 1947 partitioning, which led to 200,000-2,000,000 killings in the retributive genocide at that time, is still felt by hundreds of thousands of families who got split and are living across the borders since then. Even after almost 70 years, the wounds of the largest mass migration in human history are still fresh. According to UNHCR estimates, 14 million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were displaced during the partition.
India would probably have been a more prosperous and peaceful place had it not been divided in two parts. There would not have been any row over Kashmir. Huge security forces, deployed on both sides of the border, would have been used for more constructive purposes. Defence budget would have curtailed. The one-ness would have added more strength to our economy, culture and sports.
But a handful of takers of the ‘two-nation theory’, a British-created design to divide Indians based on religious grounds, continue to remain active on both sides of the border. Politicians too use it to achieve their own goals. While fires are regularly exchanged at the line of control, artistes from both sides are threatened to perform in the neighbouring country. These non-friendly elements even force their respective governments to review more than 65 years old water-sharing pact between India and Pakistan. They simply can’t share water with their neighbours. These admirers of partition even say that there is no possibility or use of reversing the decision taken in 1947.
Instead of highlighting negative developments, the peace-seekers in both India and Pakistan should be appreciated and promoted
No use arguing on their stance. Nothing suggesting reunification of the two countries is in sight, even though there are a handful of people and organizations working very hard to bring the two nations closer and end mutual disputes. There is no signs that the two will become one any time soon. But these efforts, if succeeded, would surely add to peace and harmony.
The best course of action would be to focus on developing our own countries and forget about altering borders. We both need to improve the standards of living and education. In this, we should help each other. After all, a prosperous and peaceful neighbourhood will help both of us focus more on progress and growth. The leaders of both the countries need to put in more efforts as mere lip services and wishing birthdays won’t help much. Stronger policies and initiatives are needed to come closer. I wish we could easily travel whenever we want to the neighbouring country. I would surely have booked the ticket of the next flight to Pakistan and attended my uncle’s funeral.
Cashing in on drugs Total drug seizure from the five poll-bound states are about 4,774kg, which make them worth `19.83 crore, according to police
The Aam Aadmi Party and Congress have repeatedly targeted the Punjab’s ruling Badal family for failing to address the problem of drug abuse locally called ‘chitta’ in the state. The two parties had been alleging that 70 per cent of Punjab’s youth was addicted to drugs. However,the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi while kick-starting Punjab campaign had said that some parties were bad mouthing Punjab’s youth.There are conflicting views but the seizure of 2,632kg of drugs and narcotics including large quantity of heroine, poppy husk, charas and ganja ever since the imposition of model code of conduct for the Assembly polls shows that the situation is alarming in Punjab on this front.
Though when it comes to seizure of cash, Uttar Pradesh tops the chart. Of the over 96 croreseized till January 28, UP alone accounted for 87.67 crore.The Election Commission-appointed surveillance and expenditure monitoring teams in the five poll-bound states which released the data say that maximum cash has been seized from Uttar Pradesh which totals 87.67 crore followed by Punjab which accounted for 6.60 crore and from Goa about 1.27 crore was seized during raids. Uttarakhand stood at number four in case of total recovery with an amount of 47.06 lakh in and Manipur at 8.13 lakh.
Drug seizures double
Drug seizures by the anti-narcotics agencies and police teams came on the expected lines as in Punjab, where drug abuse is the major poll plank, maximum recovery has been reported from the border state. Total drug seizure from the five states are about 4,774 kg whose present market value as per the police is 19.83 crore. Of this total haul, Punjab accounts for 2,632 kg valued at 12.30 crore followed by UP which accounts for 2,035 kg worth 4.89 crore, Manipur worth 2 crore, from Goa about 6.85 kg of the similar consignment was recovered by agencies worth 34.22 lakh in Goa and about 28.54 lakh worth contraband in Uttarakhand.The total volume of drug seizures including heroin, poppy husk, charas, Ganja and smack among others has doubled in a span of 10 days, the data revealed. Interestingly in Punjab, 163.8 kg gold and 26.5 kg silver worth around 26 crore was recovered. No other state had reported seizure of the precious metals since the poll code was imposed.
Liquor not far behind
In other illegal inducements suspected to be used to lure voters in these States, a whopping 14.27 lakh litres of liquor worth 25.22 crore has been seized by Election Commission appointed police and excise teams in the respective States. In UP liquor seizures were recorded at 8.01 lakh litre valued at 20.62 crore followed by over five lakh litre spirits worth 2.69 crore seized from Punjab, over 36,000 litre liquor worth 93.91 lakh from Uttarakhand, 71,000 litre worth 81.80 lakh from Goa and worth 15.14 lakh from Goa.In Punjab’s Bathinda another one lakh liquor bottles were seized by surveillance teams for which the valuation is being done.
Unknown sources of poll funding
It is not only the large seizure of drugs, narcotics, liquor and cash in the five poll bound states that shows what ails our election system, an analysis of the Income Tax returns and statements filed with the Election Commission of India by different political parties shows that the source of funding remains largely unknown. At present, political parties are not required to reveal the name of individuals or organizations giving less than 20,000. As a result, over two-thirds of the funds cannot be traced and are from ‘unknown’ sources. This becomes very relevant in the light of recent events when demonetization was announced so as to weed out black money from the society. While the National Political Parties were brought under the RTI Act, they have still not complied with the decision.
The unknown sources are income declared in the IT returns but without giving source of income for donations below 20,000. Such unknown sources include ‘sale of coupons’, ‘Aajiwan Sahayog Nidhi’, ‘relief fund’, ‘miscellaneous income’, ‘voluntary contributions’, ‘contribution from public meetings and morchas’ etc. The details of donors of such voluntary contributions are not available in the public domain.
ADR findings
As per the Association for Democratic Reforms, a Non-Profit Organization and as per the details of the donors available from contribution report submitted by political parties with EC, the total contribution that the political parties received from year 2004-05 to 2014-15, a whopping 11, 367.34 crore. However, only 1,835.63 crore was shown in documents from known sources which is just 16 per cent of total contribution. Income of political parties from other known sources like sale of assets, membership fee, bank interest and sale of publications etc was 1698.73 crore of 15 per cent of total income.That leaves 69 per cent of total income or 7,832.98 crore uncovered or from unknown sources. Six national parties (INC, BJP, BSP, NCP, CPI and CPM) and 51 Regional recognized were considered for this analysis, including AITC which was declared a National Party only in September, 2016.
Of the regional political parties, 45 out of 51 significant regional partieshad not submitted their donations statement to EC for at least one financial year.There are 12 regional parties which had never filed their contributions report since 2004-05 are: J&K PDP, AJSU, NPP, RSP, MPC, KC-M, SKM, AINRC, PDA, MSCP, HSPDP and PPA.
The seizure of 2,632kg of drugs and narcotics ever since the imposition of model code of conduct for the Assembly polls shows that the situation is alarming in Punjab on this front
BSP’s dubious distinction
Among all the national and regional parties, perhaps Bahujan Samaj Party is the only party to consistently declare receiving ‘nil’ donations above 20,000 between 2004-05 and 2014-15. Thus 100 per cent of the party’s donations came from unknown sources. The total income of the party increased by a staggering 2057 per cent from 5.19 crore during 2004-05 to 111.96 crore during 2014-15. The lacunas in the existing system could be understood from the fact that the Enforcement Directorate detected on December 26, 2016 cash deposits totaling over 104 crore in an account of Bahunan Samaj Party and 1.43 crore in an account belonging to party chief, Mayawati’s brother Anand Kumar in Karol Bagh branch of United Bank of India in New Delhi. The discovery of such a huge amount after demonetization was detected by the ED during a routine survey to check suspiciously huge cash deposits.
As Section 13A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 grants exemption from tax to political parties in respect of their income from house property, other sources, capital gains and income by way of voluntary contributions received from any person.The only rider is that the exemption in respect of contributions would be available when the political parties keep and maintain a record of all contributions with names and addresses of the persons who had made such contributions.This means an anonymous contribution below 20,000 is completely exempted for the purpose of Income Tax and in case of BSP, almost the entire donation comes from donors who ‘donate’ less than 20,000 each.
While all this goes on, I recall the famous lines of Robert Browning in Pippa Passes: God’s in His heaven— All’s right with the world!
In the cacophony of noises created by the election in five states which is being termed as midterm test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the sordid tale of Meghalaya Governor V Shanmuganathan has not met with condemnation that it deserved. The governor was forced to quit after about 98 members of his staff wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee, Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh alleging that the governor had turned the ‘Raj Bhawan’ into a ‘young ladies club’. The letter made 11 allegations against him. One is that he appointed three young women who were allowed free lodging in the Raj Bhawan.
The letter mentioned that one of the women was appointed as personal assistant to the governor, then elevated as the public relations officer and she accompanied V. Shanmuganathan whenever, he was on tour outside Meghalaya. The letter alleged that the governor had “compromised the dignity” of the Governor’s House, turned it into a club where “young ladies come and go at will” and had hired only women on his staff. The petition alleged that the Governor House had “become a place where young ladies used to come and go at will on direct orders of the Governor… Many of them had direct access to his bedroom.”
Trouble for the governor began when a woman job aspirant accused the Governor of making advances when she appeared for a ‘personal interview’ at the Raj Bhavan for the post of PRO on January 24. The woman alleged that the governor offered her a “part time or full time job”. She went on to allege that the governor hugged and kissed her describing it as a “dirty hug”. Women activists held protests in Shillong after the letter listing various acts lecherous acts and omissions by His Excellency reached PMO.
Sadly, such lecherous act is not confined to one party or office or constitutional authority. The high and mighty often feel a sense of entitlement, a licence to take advantage of their position and exploit vulnerability of women. Instances of voyeuristic indiscretion by men in high offices cut across party lines and people’s reactions vary from expressions of outrage to amusement while some show least concern dismissing these as a private matter.
The system has to ensure that criminal behaviour, should not be allowed go unpunished. We at Tehelka condemn such behaviour by anyone including those in power and at helm of affairs. The governor, who is a bachelor has denied the allegations and said that the candidates were like his daughters and grand-daughters, but the whole sordid episode needs thorough probe and strongest condemnation.
When a top CEO like Peter Huntsman from Huntsman Corporation comments that “At a time when courage is lacking, we find it in India. At a time when leadership seems to be at a low, we find it in Modi”, it’s time to give full marks to our Prime Minister, Narendra Damodardas Modi. And when another CEO, David Farr(chairman and CEO), Emerson Electric Company, adds “It’s my hope that Make in India, Digital India and Skill India will begin to make steady progress for future growth,” we can only conclude that our country is moving in the right direction.
The occasion was the 8th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in Gandhinagar where more than 50 global CEOs had in-camera discussion session with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley and Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani on the theme of “Transforming India”. Some of international CEOs present at the session included Boeing International President Bertrand Marc Allen, President of Emerson Electric Company Edward L Monser, Trafigura Beheer BV Mr Jeremy Weir, Chairman and CEO of Electricite de France S.A. Jean-Bernard Levy, Suzuki Motor Corporation President Toshihiro Suzuki, and Executive Chairman of CISCO John Chambers among others. CEOs from India included Mukesh Ambani, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Anil Ambani, Anand Mahindra, Gautam Adani, Dilip Shanghvi, Adi Godrej and Ajay Piramal among others.
The fact is that India’s growth story over the last few years has been incredible with several indicators including a healthy GDP growth rate, ease of doing business, manufacturing environment, FDI growth, financial inclusion and a flourishing start-up ecosystem witnessing encouraging developments. However for India’s true potential to be realized, these transformational trends need to be evenly spread across country’s diverse demographic and geographic landscape. The government’s Digital India initiative, complemented with collaborative private participation may catalyze India’s transition into a digitally empowered society and a knowledge economy which will impact industries, enterprises and individuals, making way for futuristic technologies that will lead to never-before-seen transformation at professional and personal levels. There’s no better time than now to do business in India.
It was not only the presence of global CEOs but a session with nine Nobel Laureates at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar that lends credence to India’s global positioning getting noticed. The Nobel Dialogue was organized under the tripartite MoU signed by Nobel Media AB (Sweden); the Government of India (Department of Biotechnology of the Ministry of Science and Technology); and the Government of Gujarat (Department of Science & Technology Department). Apart from the Nobel Laureates, the Dialogue was also attended by eminent scientists, dignitaries from the state and central governments, industry leaders and students. The Nobel Laureates included Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, the Indian origin winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009; Dr William E. Moerner (Chemistry, 2014), Dr. Ada Yonath, (Chemistry, 2009) and Dr. Randy Schekman, (Medicine, 2013). Other Nobel Laureates who participated in the sessions were Dr. Richard J Roberts (Medicine, 1993), Dr. Harold Varmus (Medicine, 1989), the 2004 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics Dr. David J Gross — also a member of the Indian Academy of Science; 2012 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics Dr. Serge Haroche; and Prof. Dr. H.C. Hartmut Michel who received the 1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Significantly, the Nobel Dialogue was the first time multiple Nobel laureates spoke under the same roof.
Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan was of the view that Indian biomedical researchers have a great opportunity to research on India-specific issues. Dr. David Gross opined that curiosity-driven research works better in the long run as nature is cleverer than human beings. Dr. Richard Roberts urged India to take advantage of genetically modified (GM) crops as it will help to raise incomes of lakhs of farmers and help combat hunger. Citing the successful adoption of BT Cotton in India, he stressed on the need for a grassroots campaign to build awareness about GM crops in India. Dr. Randy Schekman felt that there is a strong need to encourage research by enabling access and exposure to scientific laboratories at undergraduate level itself. He also spoke about the need for India to integrate research centres with university education.
More than 6,000 delegates from 30 countries gathered at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017 in Bengaluru and reviewed ways to make India a better place for one and all
It was not only the global CEO and Noble laureates meet that was the highlight as the new year began, the Indian diaspora at the 14th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya diwas with participation of more than 6,000 delegates from 30 countries at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017 in Bengaluru from January 7 to 9 showed how world is looking towards India with great expectations. Fourteen States, including Karnataka, Kerala, Assam, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh participated besides foreign dignitaries including Surinamese Vice-President Michael Ashwin Adhin, Portuguese Prime Minister AntAnio Costa and chief ministers from seven States.
The top five quotes from Prime Minister’s address at the meet included: “Remittance of close to sixty nine billion dollars annually by overseas Indians makes an invaluable contribution to Indian economy”, “We want to turn brain-drain into brain-gain”, “I would again encourage all PIO (Persons of Indian Origin) Card holders to convert their Cards to OCI (Overseas Indian Citizens) Cards, “External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has particularly been proactive in reaching out to distressed Indians abroad using social media”, “For me FDI has two definitions. One is ‘Foreign Direct Investment’ and the other is ‘First Develop India’”.
CII partners Haryana
Not to be left behind, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) pitched in as national partners to the government of Haryana to host two-day celebrations of Pravasi Haryana Divas at Gurugram. This resulted in Haryana Government signing 24 MoUs worth 20,000 with potential to generate employment for 43,000. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Union ministers attended the event to not only to honour the great enterprise of people from the State who have made a mark for themselves all over the world, but also to offer an opportunity to the non-resident Haryanvis to see how well their home state has changed on way of rapid industrial development. The occasion was special for 19 noted personalities who hail from Haryana and will be honoured with ‘Gaurav Samman’ including Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda, singer Sonu Nigam, Ritu Sheoran and Vikas Sheoran from Melbourne, Australia; sports icons, including Paralympians, boxers, wrestlers, cricketers and others. B.L. Chawla, father of late astronaut Kalpana Chawla received the Special Achievement Award, conferred posthumously on Kalpana. Vinod Dham, an NRI from Haryana, who is known as ‘Father of Pentium’, was also honoured.
Tail piece
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s signature short-sleeve kurtas and colourful jackets were an instant hit at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit with Jade Blue company selling ‘Modi Kurtas’ and ‘Modi Jackets’. Both Indian and foreign delegates bought ‘’Modi Kurtas’’ and ‘’Modi Jackets’’ priced at 1,595 (Kurta) and 5,900for a jacket.
Celebrated poet Geoffrey Chaucer penned “all good things must come to an end” and so has the eight-year-old tenure of Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th President of the United States. He will be remembered for many of his key policy decisions, achievements and even failures during his regime.
From health care reforms to Iran deal to bringing the crisis-ridden US economy back to track – every measure point to one thing. This first African American president was a great leader, who cared about the general public and masses.
He would be equally remembered for his fondness for his lovely family.
The life of Hawaii-born Obama remained extremely hectic while he was in the White House. But interestingly somehow he managed to spend enough quality time with his family.
He could be seen hanging around with his wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha whenever and wherever it was possible. There were rarely any public speeches in which he didn’t mention his wife or children.
Sometime the US First Lady could be seen writing funny thank you note to her ‘swagalicious’ husband, as she had called Obama during an interview last year, on TV shows. At other times, Obama could be heard praising his wife in public for being his best friend for more than 25 years.
The dad-of-two made sure that his children get the taste of hard work. He let his 15-year-old daughter got for a summer job at Nancy’s, a popular seafood restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard.
Sasha — who’s been going by her full name Natasha while on the clock — had been helping out at the takeout window, and was in charge of such tasks as manning the cash register and busing tables.
Like any normal father, Obama broke down in tears after he saw his daughter Malia’s viral twerk video at a local concert. The outgoing president, according to some reports, had almost collapsed in Michelle’s arms and they had to call a paramedic to be on the safe side.
Obama may give a lesson or two on time management to the leaders and top business executives who say they are not left with enough quality time to spend with their families.
There are many cases where kin of very popular leaders got into bad habits and befriended wrong people as their parents were too busy to focus on their children.
Ironically, Obama once wrote that being in the White House has actually made his family’s life “more normal.”
“It just so happens that I’m fortunate enough to be surrounded by women,” Obama wrote about his wife and the daughters in a publication last year. “They’re the most important people in my life. They’re the people who’ve shaped me the most. And in this job, they are my sanctuary.”
Many things in life fall under extremely important category. But one should set his or her priorities right. Family must come first. If a leader can’t take care of his or her family, how can one expect him or her to find solutions to the complicated problems of the masses.
Obama’s second term is set to end at noon on Jan. 20, 2017. Now he will have all the time for his daughter and wife, who had said that the first thing she wants to do when her husband’s term concludes is go shopping in Target and sit in a public park.Obama knows how to balance personal life and work.
Despite being a public figure, he managed well to keep his personal life private. Since he will now be free from the presidential duties, Obama shall come forward and give us tips on how to be a happy family amid all the chaos of life.
Coming on the heels of demonetisation, elections to assemblies in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa will not only test the success or otherwise of the move against counterfeit currency, terror funding and black money, but would also be a sort of referendum on the NDA government at the Centre. The assembly elections will also show how well the latest Supreme Court (SC) ruling on secularising elections is implemented. Little doubt that the importance of the round of assembly polls cannot be overstated. Our electoral exercise at the central and state levels after every five years is well managed and is the envy of other countries.
Like the Shakespearean drama within drama and plot within plot, UP has seen several twists in the ruling Samajwadi Party’s internecine war between party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. At present, the most populous state of the country points to a tripartite contest between the SP, the BJP and the BSP. Congress may end up supporting SP to get a foothold in the state.
Both Akhilesh and BSP supremo Mayawati are desperately trying to check the Modi juggernaut and to raise the issue of harassment caused to common people post demonetisation. Akhilesh is being projected as one committed to development and as a harbinger of change in Uttar Pradesh. Mayawati who had lost her solid Dalit support base in 2014, is working on a new strategy to woo Dalit and Muslim votes. Akhilesh is banking on his clean image and developmental agenda to counter that.
In Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine will be trying to market its developmental agenda “9 years of progress in Punjab”. The Congress, led by Capt Amarinder Singh, is making a strong bid to wrest power in a bid to check the party’s losing stream after the 2014 Modi tsunami. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had done fairly well in 2014 general elections, seems to have lost plot midway. In Uttarakhand, the Congress will be tested by the BJP after its state government was restored to power by the courts in 2016 after President’s rule was imposed in the hill state. In Manipur, the government has staked its chances on the decision to create new districts that precipitated a renewed ethnic crisis. Goa had witnessed fast development in the Assembly and now the AAP with its renewed focus on the State has queered the pitch for political parties. Together, the results will have strong reverberations at the national level and will be a referendum on the BJP Government led by Narendera Modi.
