If only fifty men, good and true, can be found to join as founders, the thing can be established and the further development will be comparatively easy. ...
And if even the leaders of thought are all either such poor creatures, or so selfishly wedded to personal concerns that they dare not strike a blow for their country's sake, then justly and rightly are they kept down and trampled on, for they deserve nothing better. Every nation secures precisely as good a Government as it merits. If you the picked men, the most highly educated of the nation, cannot, scorning personal ease and selfish objects, make a resolute struggle to secure greater freedom for yourselves and your country, a more impartial administration, a larger share in the management of your own affairs, then we, your friends, are wrong and our adversaries right, then are Lord Ripon's noble aspirations for your good fruitless and visionary, then, at present at any rate all hopes of progress are at an end and India truly neither desires nor deserves any better Government than she enjoys. Only, if this -be so, let us hear no more factious, peevish complaints that you are kept in leading strings and treated like children, for you will have proved yourself such. Men know how to act. Let there be no more complaining of Englishmen being preferred to you in all important offices, for if you lack that public spirit, that highest form of altruistic devotion that leads men to subordinate private ease to the public, weal that patriotism that has made Englishmen what they are,- then rightly are these preferred to you, rightly and inevitably have they become your rulers. And rulers and task-masters they must continue, let the yoke gall your shoulders never so sorely, until you realise and stand prepared to act upon the eternal truth that self-sacrifice and unselfishness are the only unfailing guides to freedom and happiness.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Allan Octavian Hume
Thursday, August 23, 2007
A Tryst with Destiny
As a child I always knew the first para of this speech, thank to Internet here is the whole speech, its a speech which takes me on trip of nationalism. The spirit of freedom now resides in our generation.
August 14th, 1947- Jawaharlal Nehru
Speech in the Constituent Assembly of India, on the eve of India's Independence
Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment, we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.
At the dawn of history, India started on her unending quest, and trackless centuries are filled with her striving and grandeur of her success and failures. Through good and ill fortune alike, she has never lost sight of that quest, forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today a period of misfortunes and India discovers herself again. The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?
Freedom and power bring responsibility. The responsibility rests upon this Assembly, a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India. Before the birth of freedom, we have endured all the pains of labour and our hearts are heavy with the memory of this sorrrow. Some of those pains continue even now. Nevertheless, the past is over and it is the future that beckons us now.
That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we may fulfill the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means, the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and poverty and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest men of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.
And so we have to labour and to work, and to work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart. Peace is said to be indivisible, so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and also is disaster in this one world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.
To the people of India, whose representatives we are, we make an appeal to join us with faith and confidence in this great adventure. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill-will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell.
The appointed day has come -the day appointed by destiny- and India stands forth again, after long slumber and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent. The past clings on to us still in some measure and we have to do much before we redeem the pledges we have so often taken. Yet the turning-point is past, and history begins anew for us, the history which we shall live and act and others will write about.
It is a fateful moment for us in India, for all Asia and for the world. A new star rises, the star of freedom in the East, a new hope comes into being, a vision long cherished materializes. May the star never set and that hope never be betrayed!
We rejoice in that freedom, even though clouds surround us, and many of our people are sorrow-stricken and difficult problems encompass us. But freedom brings responsibilities and burdens and we have to face them in the spirit of a free and disciplined people.
On this day our first thoughts go to the architect of this freedom, the Father of our Nation, who, embodying the old spirit of India, held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that surrounded us. We have often been unworthy followers of his and have strayed from his message, but not only we but succeeding generations will remember this message and bear the imprint in their hearts of this great son of India, magnificent in his faith and strength and courage and humility. We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest.
Our next thoughts must be of the unknown volunteers and soldiers of freedom who, without praise or reward, have served India even unto death.
We think also of our brothers and sisters who have been cut off from us by political boundaries and who unhappily cannot share at present in the freedom that has come. They are of us and will remain of us whatever may happen, and we shall be sharers in their good [or] ill fortune alike.
The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.
We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be. We are citizens of a great country on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action.
To the nations and peoples of the world we send greetings and pledge ourselves to cooperate with them in furthering peace, freedom and democracy.
And to India, our much-loved motherland, the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new, we pay our reverent homage and we bind ourselves afresh to her service.
JAI HIND.
Citizens of Bambolim-Goa -Please Stand Up
HC directs GCZMA to file fresh report on Fomento Resorts
NT Legal Correspondent
Panaji, Aug 23 The division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising of Mr Justice RMS Khandeparkar and Mr Justice R S Mohite has directed the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to file a fresh report on Fomento Resorts and Hotels Ltd.
The court passed the orders after it was brought to its notice that both the petitioner and the village panchayat of Taleigao were not present when the inspection was carried out.
The court has directed GCZMA to conduct fresh inspection in the presence of the petitioner and the village panchayat of Taleigao and to submit a report within two weeks.
Petition was filed by the residents of Vaiguinim valley against the GCZMA, village panchayat of Taleigao, Planning and Development Authourity, Fomento Beach Resorts and others on the ground that the respondents have permitted Cidade to privatise and monopolise the public beach.
In the petition it was stated that GCZMA was derelict in its duty to prevent breach of CRZ notification by Fomento Resorts by refusing to act against the violations committed.
It was brought to the notice of the court that, the entire beach was occupied by beach beds, beach umbrellas and barbeque platforms.
It was also noticed that there was a private jetty right into the Zuari for water sports. Further it was noted that Fomento had erected shed on the beach for water sports activity and another shed was erected on the rocks for generation plant and equipment installation.
They also observed private chambers in a public nullah and that all the sewage was directly released in Zuari river and the sewage treatment plant is close to the residential buildings.
Being aggrieved by the various illegalities committed by the Fomento Resorts and the inaction by the respondents to prevent or abet such illegality the writ petition was filed in the court.
Heat is turned on by CRZMA
Nevertheless here is the news update on this....
Bambolim construction permissions challenged in HC
NT Legal Correspondent
Panaji, Aug 24 The permissions granted by the Curca panchayat to Goan Real Estate and Construction Ltd have been challenged before the division bench of the Bombay High Court.
The Curca panchayat had granted permission to the company to construct a hotel cum residential project at Bambolim village, part of which falls within the 100 metre no development zone according to the Coastal Regulation Zone notification.
When the matter came up before the division bench, Mr Justice R M S Khandeparkar informed the counsel for the petitioner that he was unable to take up the matter.
The court however granted liberty to the petitioner to mention the matter for August 28 and the matter will be now heard by the division bench of Mr Justice R S Mohite and Mr Justice N A Britto.
The petitioners have sought a stay on the developments within 100 metres on the grounds that the area has been classified as CRZ III in the Goa Coastal Zone Management Plan, approved by the central government.
The Curca village panchayat had issued a construction license in July 1995 which was again renewed for three years in October, 1998. According to the petitioners no revalidation could be done without considering the law applicable at the time of revalidation and the series of revalidations is illegal because it was issued after the date of expiry.
It may be recalled that the division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising of Mr Justice R S Mohite and Mr Justice N A Britto had set aside the orders passed by the Goa Coastal Zone management Authority directing the additional collector, North Goa to a pass a status quo order on construction by the company and also the orders passed by the additional collector, Mr Swapnil Naik to stop the work of the construction project.
Now with this petition the fate of the ongoing construction will depend on the decision of the court.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Independence with dignity
Source:http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/08/19/stories/2007081950120500.htm
Article by-HARIHARAN BALAKRISHNAN
| For more than three decades, Joe Madiath has been helping villagers in Orissa empower themselves. |
The devastating super cyclone of 1999 is fresh in the memory of many in Orissa, and others in India and across the world. But few remember the cyclone that ravaged Orissa, Bengal and Bangladesh in 1971. India, particularly Eastern India, had to bear the burden of 10 million refugees from the erstwhile East Pakistan. At a time when world attention was focussed on Bangladesh’s birth pangs, a great cyclone hit the same part of this globe.
BeginningsJoe Madiath led a group of 400 volunteers from Young Students’ Movement for Development (YSMD) to West Bengal. They worked in West Dinajpur, Malda and a few other districts but Joe soon found that, while international aid was pouring into Bengal, the devastation in Orissa was not on anyone’s radar. So he shifted base and pitched tent in Kendrapara area of Cuttack district with 40 volunteers.
After some basic work, the group decided that providing irrigation facilities would be the best way to put the victims back on their feet. So, they formed a lift-irrigation co-operative of villagers and helped augment resources. But once the facilities were operational, the big land-owners reneged on their earlier promise to cede some of their land for common benefit. Big landlords got the maximum benefit, smaller ones got less, and the landless were left high and dry. Joe decided this was not his calling. The group handed over the irrigation points to the locals and left.
But Joe’s heart was with the poor. He had seen the misery of have-nots at close quarters. When travelling through Orissa — in Kalahandi one day and Keonjhar the next week — one Collector spotted him and asked if he would like to do something for the tribals of Ganjam district. And Joe landed in Mohuda village to what turned out to be his life’s calling.
A dairy cooperativeJoe visited Berhampur, Ganjam’s largest town, in response to Collector D.P. Bagchi’s call, travelled intensively and met many. Among them was Ramanath Das, President of the District Co-operative Bank. Around that time, a mahant donated 100 acres of land for a milk producers’ co-opearative. Ramanath Das asked Joe to take a part of the land on lease and develop a dairy farm. Joe went back to Chennai and Kerala and returned with five volunteers and 30 acres were taken on a 35-year lease.
This was when I first met Joe. In 1974, some of us were involved in civic improvement of Berhampur, besides weekend health work in another village near Mohuda.
On Sundays and holidays, scooters rolled towards the hills and we held clinics. Young doctors from MKCG Medical College volunteered, and the HOD, Paediatrics, helped with immunisation kits. Soon sisters of the newly-started Missionaries of Charity joined in. Thanks to Mother Teresa’s volunteers, there was no more scarcity of medicines.
After a few years of dairy and horticulture work, Joe realised that milk produced in Mohuda did not benefit the local people. Tribals considered milking a cow a “sin”! All produce was going to Berhampur.
Again, he decided this was not his calling either. Soon Joe and his group formed Gram Vikas, which was registered in 1979.
The dairy farm, horticulture and healthcare were going on apace. Micro-finance had made a small beginning. One nationalised bank opened a branch at Mohuda. Simultaneously, the poor tribals were realising the power of a group. A massive andolan was launched to shake off their burden of debt and bonded labour.
Not only were small holdings of land, but even their children, were mortgaged to the Sahukars who lent them money and supplied liberal liquor to men-folk. Women, under the leadership of Anthya Madiath, made a consistent effort to wean the men from liquor. The freshly-enacted Act against bonded labour came in handy. Before long, land came back to the rightful owners.
Benefits of biogas
Meanwhile, Joe had seen the benefits of biogas (earlier, Ramanath Das had taken him to a tea-snack joint where the fuel was produced from cow dung in a makeshift plant). The Government too was thinking on alternative energy, and offered liberal subsidy.
So, Joe decided to provide power to the people with locally available material. Till date, Gram Vikas has installed more than 55,000 biogas plants in Orissa, one of the smallest States.
While Gram Vikas was on its way to becoming the torch-bearer in the biogas field, Joe was visiting places, sharing and learning about empowerment and development. Much of the mortality in rural areas was related to water and hygiene.
So, an ambitious project was started to get rid of this scourge. Clean, continuous running water for each home through taps in toilet, bathroom and kitchen was the target. Technology for building overhead storage tanks, laying pipelines and such work was the domain of government engineers.
Joe and his team sought to demystify this. Soon the villagers, with help from a core group of trained people, dug wells, drilled borewells and put 40 ft. high tanks in place. Pumps were installed where electricity was available. In remote hamlets, where it was not, the gravity flow principle was used with ingenuity.
Simultaneously, toilets and bathrooms were coming up in thousands, all built by the villagers. Gram Vikas lent a helping hand. All toilets and homes were of one type, irrespective of the owner’s caste, social or economic status. It was an “all or none” decision for the village.
Participation and involvement are the key words in this idea of rural development. Each village has to contribute Rs.1000 to the “core fund”, each villager according to his ability. Every family also had to contribute local materials, labour and some cash. Gram Vikas gives the “social costs” in the form of cement, steel, pan and door. Village boys and girls are given free masonry training.
What used to be bathing ponds were turned into farms for pisciculture. Fish became a source of revenue for many a village. Social pressure plays a great part in ensuring norms.
Young rebelA Marxist at heart, Joe’s initial protest was at age 12 when he organised youngsters in his native Kerala town to get better working conditions for workers in family farms. His father packed him off to distant West Bengal for schooling.
Returning at 16, he was active as a student leader in college. At 21, while he was President of Loyola College, Madras, he went on a solo cycle trip across the country, right up to Sikkim. He found that poverty knew no language or caste.
At the threshold of 60 today, Joe Madiath has set a target of reaching 1,20,000 families by 2010 for his clean water and toilet scheme. It will benefit a million people in all. He says this is achievable. Joe knows this cannot be done within the confines of Orissa State. Gram Vikas volunteers are interacting with like-minded NGOs in Jharkand, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh to take the movement forward.
RecognitionSuch sustained effort at development is recognised sooner or later. Last year, Gram Vikas won the India NGO Award and the Kyoto World Water Grand Prize at Mexico City. In February this year, Joe Madiath was voted one of the 10 recipients for the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. In material terms, it means three-year grants of more than $1,000,000.
With sincerity and good management at the top, each dollar will benefit the poor and the marginalised. The world would be a better place if Madiath and Mohuda inspire some “citizens of tomorrow”.
That would help a million poor Indians stand up with dignity.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Thats all we have
On February 14, 1990, The Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of planet Earth made by Voyager 1 from a record distance, showing it against the vastness of space. Carl Sagan gives the distance as 3.7 billion miles in the book, while NASA website describes it as "more than 4 billion miles" (6.4 billion kilometres). The picture was taken using a narrow-angle camera at 32° above the ecliptic, and created using blue, green, and violet filters.Now to think of it, all our individual unhappiness, success, struggles, wars, politics, corruption, career, industry, poverty, fame, movies, love, relationships, hatred, greed, every emotion. When I look at this picture, Every emotion of society, and possibility of our life all seems so insignificant. I mean we are almost equal to nothing.
As Al Gore says, "thats all we have"....
To add I feel, we are already an endangered planet, almost extinct race, our life and our civilization is just a dot in the sky.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Message to Young Indians in India
aj phir humara swantrata diwas hain.
Message to Indians Abroad on Independence Day
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18 Hours with a Gandhian
Thakurdas Bang, a Gandhian, had joined Mahatma Gandhi when he was 25 years old. From the time of Quit India movement, assassination of Mahatma, and Jai Prakash Narayan Movement against the emergency has been some of his milestones in path of practising Gandhian way of life. Both sons of Thakurdas, Abhay Bang and Ashok Bang run NGOs in Wardha and have received International acclaim.
Gandhi personally wrote 4 letters to Lord Irwin seeking release of Bhagat Singh, one of the letters replied by Irwin was addressed to Gandhi as “Dear Barrister Mohandas”, in which he reiterated that Bhagat Singh has expressed in court that he was no regretting for his act of violence, which on based of moral code can be forgiven but not on Legal code. To which Gandhi discussed on impacts of sentence on future generation. All three; Gandhi, Bhagat singh and Irwin, were right on their sides.
It was not that Gandhi had handpicked Nehru as PM, it was more that he was the undisputed popular Leader amongst the masses and youth specially, as well was a face of
Gandhi always stood with will that partition of
There has been a lot of atrocities against communities based on caste and tribes. Reservation was required post
Non violence has been a concept far before Gandhi came. Yes, Gandhi did have charisma, but it was not accepted just because of that. Because, many decades later, JP Narayan started a similar movement across the nation when millions of Indians protested in peaceful manner against the imposition of Emergency. Weapons were banned by the British to be available among the masses. Since it was difficult to procure arms, Non Violence as a concept to many seemed difficult but a way of achieving freedom. Non Violence shows not cowardice but courage.
Who is follower of Gandhi, his sons, me, you, followers? What is Gandhi, if I drink Pepsi can I be a follower of Gandhi.
Do we need products from distant places? Should we consume products of what is available near us? Where I as a consumer can go and see the quality of production, how he does it. Why do we buy goods from far? Just to reduce costs isn’t, because scales of production are cheaper in far distant lands. The concept of Swadeshi, and how it relates to the self sustaining economies. Why buy from distant place where there is control by consumer, where he is not witness to the production or creation of a product.
There were 7 attempts to kill Gandhi, Godse was arrested at Wardha before, and on Gandhi’s consent he was pardoned. Thakurdas was in Wardha Ashram when this event happened. Infact the Home Ministry was informed by senior person from ICS, that a possible assassination bid was being attempted and planned by some senior people in Hindu Maha Sabha.
Thakurdas asked us, why did Farmer Suicides increase Post Independence? To which some said that it, in those there might information deprivation, now we have access to rural parts of
Thakurdas mentioned that the entire ecosystem will be abused further. They will be dictated which crops to grow, and with large scale, organizational farming, many will become unemployed. Even the middle layer of present abusers will be unemployed. To which the Youth asked as the middle layer is much worse than direct retail sourcing. To which Thakurdas replied that, today we are less sensitive to fellow humans. We don’t have feelings and compassion for other humans. If these middlemen have compassion they wouldn’t have abused the farmers.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Ramon Magsaysay award for P.Sainath
I met P Sainath, in 2003, the stories and conversations with him, I will remember for the rest of my life. His Book Everybody loves a Good Drought, has completely shaken my version of India and its development. P Sainath has been a great inspiration and I recommend everyone to read his books and articles.
In a citation, released on Tuesday afternoon, the Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation recognised Mr.Sainath for his "passionate commitment as a journalist to restore the rural poor to India's consciousness, moving the nation to action." He joined The Hindu in June 2004 and wrote extensively on the agrarian crisis.
"This award is as much The Hindu's as it is mine," Mr.Sainath said, after the announcement came from Manila. "The freedom and flexibility allowed me (by The Hindu) to plan as I wished or react very spontaneously to a new idea or development."
Profile and comments by Sainath on the Award Foundation website.
"In the early twentieth century, the press was at the heart of India's freedom struggle. During those formative years, says Indian reporter Palagummi Sainath, journalism contributed to "the liberation of the human being." In contrast, he says, India's press today merely performs "stenography" for big business and the governing elite. As the economy surges, matters that call for the urgent attention of the public and government are ignored in favor of film starlets and beauty queens, the stock market, and India's famed IT boom. Sainath has taken a different path. Believing that "journalism is for people, not for shareholders," he has doggedly covered the lives of those who have been left behind.
Born in Chennai in 1957, Sainath completed a master's degree in history before turning to a life of journalism. At Blitz, a Mumbai tabloid, he rose to be deputy chief editor and became a popular columnist. In 1993, he changed course.
For the next few years, under a Fellowship from the Times of India, Sainath painstakingly investigated life in India's ten poorest districts. In Everybody Loves a Good Drought, his bestselling book of 1997, and in hundreds of subsequent articles, Sainath presented his readers with a world that belied the giddy accounts of India's economic miracle. In this India, the harsh life of the rural poor was, in fact, growing harsher.
Sainath discovered that the acute misery of India's poorest districts was not caused by drought, as the government said. It was rooted in India's enduring structural inequalities - in poverty, illiteracy, and caste discrimination-and exacerbated by recent economic reforms favoring foreign investment and privatization. Indeed, these sweeping changes combined with endemic corruption had led small farmers and landless laborers into ever more crippling debt-with devastating consequences.
Sainath provided the evidence. He reported, for example, that the number of migrant-swollen buses leaving a single poor district for Mumbai each week had increased from one to thirty-four in less than ten years. He exposed the shocking rise in suicides among India's debt-pressed farmers, revealing that in just six hard-hit districts in 2006 alone, the number of suicides had soared to well over a thousand. He revealed that at a time when officials boasted of a national grain surplus, 250 million Indians were suffering from endemic hunger, and that in districts where government storehouses were "stacked to the roof with food grain," tribal children were starving to death.
Sainath's authoritative reporting led Indian authorities to address certain discrete abuses and to enhance relief efforts in states such as Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. But his deeper message also struck home. In 2000, nearly thirty of his articles were submitted as evidence at a national hearing on anti-dalit atrocities. In such ways, he has touched the conscience of the nation.
India's press today, Sainath says, is "creating audiences that have no interest in other human beings." He is training a new breed of rural reporters with a different point of view. His journalism workshops occur directly in the villages, where he teaches young them to identify and write good stories and to be agents of change.
Sainath finds hope in these young reporters and in the resilience and courage of the people he writes about - such as the legions of poor rural women in Tamil Nadu who have overcome taboos and learned to ride a bicycle. To advance freedom, even small freedoms such as this, is the most significant legacy of the early giants of Indian journalism to today's reporters, he says. "I'm not ready to give up on my legacy yet."
In electing Palagummi Sainath to receive the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts, the board of trustees recognizes his passionate commitment as a journalist to restore the rural poor to India's consciousness, moving the nation to action.
AP reports from Manila: A Filipino nationalist at the forefront of struggle for democracy during and after Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorship, and a South Korean minister who dedicated his life to curing blindness are among the winners of the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay Award.
Jovito R. Salonga, 87, won the award for government service for tirelessly fighting for the rule of law, honest and competent government and showing compassion for the poor - democratic and social ideals that were not always easy to find in the Philippines under Marcos.
A law graduate and senator, he was crippled by a bomb blast at a political rally in 1971, a year before Marcos declared martial law. He fought Marcos' iron-fisted rule by defending the president's opponents and working for the release of political prisoners. He was briefly jailed in 1980 and spent four years in U.S. exile.
He returned a year before Marcos was ousted in the ''people power'' revolt and put his personal ambitions aside to back Corazon Aquino, the pro-democracy icon who succeeded Marcos.
Salonga initiated the government's efforts to recover Marcos' ill-gotten wealth. In 1991, as the Senate president, he clinched his nationalist credentials by leading fellow senators in voting to close down U.S. military bases in the Philippines.
''His rare moral authority stems from a simple fact: he practices what he preaches,'' the organizers said.
The Rev. Kim Sun-tae, 66, from South Korea, is being honored for public service for devoting himself to a hospital dedicated to treating and curing blindness. During the Korean War, Kim was blinded by a mortar shell, but soon learned to read Korean Braille and to type. The Korean Presbyterian Church named Kim director of Blind Evangelical Missions.
In 1986, with support from Korean businesses, he led in founding Siloam Eye Hospital, where sight-restoring surgery and modern facilities are available to the needy at no cost. In 1997, Kim opened Korea's largest rehabilitation and learning center to help blind people cope with daily life.
More than 20,000 people have received free eye surgery, and 200,000 more have been treated at the hospital.
Other winners include Mahabir Pun of Nepal, who received the community leadership award for his innovative application of wireless computer technology that brought progress to remote mountain areas. Tang Xiyang from China received the peace and international understanding award for guiding his country to meet its mounting environmental crisis.
Chung To and Chen Guangcheng of China won the emergent leadership awards. Chung's AIDS Orphans Project provides children who have an AIDS-infected parent with school fees.
Chen, blinded by a fever as a child, became a ''barefoot lawyer'' helping farmers with grievances to file court cases, leading protests against a river-polluting paper factory and documenting abuses. He and his friends were beaten, Chen was held for months under house arrest and in a closed-door trial was sentenced to four years in prison for disturbing public order. He is still serving the sentence. The awards will be presented Aug. 31 in Manila.
Monday, July 30, 2007
The Agents Of Change
I feel its a good "IofC for Dummies"
Source: http://www.lifepositive.com/Mind/Spiritual-travel/Life-MRA.asp
first change themselves and then aim at global transformation
“Make God your guru, Let him tell you what to do, Listen, he’s calling clear and true... Take time to listen Take courage to obey, inner voice is calling,calling you...”
These lines catch the essence of an increasingly popular movement of change makers—the Initiatives of Change (formerly known as Moral Re-armament Army, or MRA). This is an international network of people working for reconciliation, justice and the healing of history. Or more simply, it’s a group of people motivated to bring a change within society, starting with themselves.
The Beginning
The Moral Rearmament Movement was started by Frank Buchman of Philadelphia, USA, to counter society’s moral decline in the wake of World War II. Its philosophy is influenced by Buchman’s personal story of change. As an employee of an orphanage, he was embittered by the refusal of its six trustees to grant it a more generous fund.
Eventually, he resigned and moved to the UK. There while sitting in a church he realised that the bitterness was holding him back. He immediately wrote letters of apology to the six trustees and healed his hurt.
Says R.D. Mathur, a founder trustee who has dedicated his life to MRA for over 50 years: “MRA aims at global transformation, beginning with the individual. We aim to re-arm people, not with weapons but with values.”
The cornerstone of the philosophy is fourfold: Absolute Purity, Absolute Honesty, Absolute Unselfishness and Absolute Love. It challenges men to live their lives daily by these standards.
In Buchman’s own words: “These standards are like the pole-star. No ship has ever reached the pole-star, and yet, over centuries, countless sailors have set their course with the guidance of the star. These values are ABSOLUTE. They might not be reachable in completion, but the individual has to keep striving for them.”
MRA in India
The international conference and training centre of this movement is Asia Plateau, nestled in the hills of Panchgani in Maharashtra. What in 1964 was a barren piece of land with a single silver oak tree, is today a verdant 64-acre centre of reconciliation, dialogue and introspection, supported and frequented by people from all over the world. From industrialists to social workers, from senior citizens to youth, Asia Plateau attracts all those striving for personal change.
On October 2, 1963, a group of 70 people from different parts of the country, led by Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, and famous scholar-statesman C. Rajagopalachari, marched across the nation advocating a clean, strong and united India. They covered 4,500 miles over 40 days. This was the genesis of the MRA in India. The formation of Asia Plateau followed soon after.
Born with a bang, MRA was among the mainstream activist movements in India, with numerous youth volunteering to join in and work without any pay or stipend. Things changed later. “With the advent of the 1980s and the ’90s there was a wave of materialism—people had rising aspirations, and they began to move on to other jobs that would pay better and give them those comforts,” says Nabnita, a dedicated volunteer who s still with them.
After the slowdown, the organisation today shows signs of growth once again. Slowly, more and more people are coming in contact with its ideologies. The change of name was also a brave step for the organisation.
Looking Inwards
Asia Plateau provides a near perfect environment for a sincere seeker to introspect and look within. The ideology encourages honest self-observation of the wrongs that one would like to see eliminated from society but that are present in one’s own actions, attitudes and relationships.
The centre helps sensitise an individual to his/her own awakened sense of conscience through the practice of quiet time. This practice helps flush out the toxic stress of daily life, and aids in clear thinking, offering time and space to evolve. It also encourages the habit of listening, vital for a meaningful dialogue. The experience has empowered many to change their own lives.
Chantharasy, former Ambassador of Laos in New Delhi, has often been at Asia Plateau with his family. His is an area which has suffered much. He says: “There will not be lasting peace unless there is peace in the hearts of the people. I look to Asia Plateau to do something for the nations of Indochina. Honesty in families is the key to honesty in international affairs.”
Om Prakash Bagaria, a businessman, had a manufacturing company in Assam. After exposure to the MRA, his attitude to the trade union leader in his factory changed. As a result, an eight-year-old dispute was settled in three days and a workers’ housing scheme was started within a month.
Gajanan Sawant, a textile worker from Mumbai, was similarly inspired to de-silt the neglected community well in his area. Later, he and his neighbours started a school for the children.
A trade union leader for 28 years, Satya Banerjee has attended conferences here with his wife. Banerjee’s conviction is: “As I am responsible for my union, so I am responsible for my industry and my nation.” All the 3,000 workers in his union, including himself, lost their jobs when their private railway company was closed down. Due to his initiative and persistence all were relocated in the Indian Railways across the country. Banerjee was the last to find a job.
Former British minister for economic and social affairs at the UN, A.R.K. Mackenzie, does a summing up: “It was interesting to note at the concluding session of the Panchgani Dialogue that 34 people spoke in 90 minutes, each one announcing something they are going to do, a conclusion in vivid contrast to many UN sessions where it would be common to find one delegate speaking for 90 minutes on how 34 other countries ought to act!”
Asia Plateau has a plethora of programmes under the Effective Living and Leadership (ELL) series. An introduction to its ideology can be had at the Open House, a one-and-a-half day programme held regularly. Apart from a basic introduction to the philosophy of Initiatives for Change, the programme has some interesting sessions geared towards giving participants a feel of the place. This is done through open space forums, group discussions, songs, and talks.
A remarkable programme conducted here is the nine-month Action for Life (AFL), where a group of 34 people between the age groups of 19 and 72 and from different countries, travel around the world. This helps cultivate the ‘world is my family’ concept among youth. It is meant to be a learning experience, where a journey through communities leads to an inward journey.
A national youth conference called Let’s Make a Difference is also held for youngsters in the16-25 age group from all over India. Viral Majumdar, its organiser, says: “The values of MRA have brought about a personal transformation in my life. I patched up with a friend after not talking to him for years. Today, I live life everyday by the values of MRA.” Fondly known as Viral Bhai, he is a friend to every participant in the conference.
Asia Plateau can comfortably accommodate over 200 participants. The 64 acres contain a farm and gardens, cottages, a clinic and a post office. A 400-seat theatre facilitates world-class presentations. The dining hall provides tasty food in an ambience that makes meal times fun and meaningful.
Managed by a paid staff of less than 40, Asia Plateau’s spick and span condition compares to the best of hotels. The participants themselves wash, cook, serve and bond over these tasks, deriving a feeling of team spirit.
The thickly wooded centre houses over 85 different species of birds. A large part of the forest consists of trees that are a key source of ayurvedic medicine. Rainwater harvesting provides drinking water around the year, and domestic waste is recycled and used for compost and vermiculture. Hot water is provided by solar water heating, and farm water is pumped by a windmill. The centre is a living example of how a modern and complex structure can be sustainable and eco-friendly.
There are no overt religious symbols at Asia Plateau. It encourages individuals to live according to their highest secular and religious values. It has no membership, no subscription and minimal formal organisational structure. There is a role for everybody, everywhere. To quote a former International Monetary Fund director: “This is an extraordinary place. In the last five days I spent here, I have not figured out who the boss is!”
Quiet India Movement
Source: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=248518
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| Vipul Shaha spearheads the message of silence on Indian roads through the Quiet India Movement that believes in the motto — Horn Not Ok Please |
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| Sixty-five years ago, when For Vipul Shaha, a final year student of business ad |
So, he got together with some friends and even came up with a slogan for the movement — Horn Not OK Please . Coincidentally for Shaha, an opportunity to spread the good word immediately came up in the form of the Pune-Baramati cycle rally recently organised by the Cycling Association of Maharashtra. “I sported a t-shirt with our slogan and cycled 120 kilometres hoping that people would notice the campaign and be part of it,” says Shaha, who himself has been using a bicycle to commute in the city since the last five years.
Their current group consists of ten members who come from different backgrounds such as the IT industry, law and academics. 
And the first major effort already got underway last week when the group went to Baramati (where Shaha hails from) and visited a dozen schools and spoke to 2,500 students about this campaign. “Schools, colleges and corporates are the best targets because we have seen that excessive honking has become a display of ‘cool’ attitude among young drivers,” says Chetas Desai, a BPO employee who feels that Pune’s status as a young city makes it imperative to reach out to the youngsters.
While for Shrikant Shelat, a software engineer, the campaign is his way of giving back to society. “Sound pollution is a major problem, but it somehow never comes up in a conspicuous way. For me, addressing this issue was important. In fact, honking is a chain where if the person behind you honks too much, you honk at the person in front of you and it goes on. Imagine all the unnecessary sound pollution,” says Shelat.
And while they are hoping more and more youngsters would join the Quiet India Campaign, they also have a plan chalked out. “Firstly, we’re planning to hold talk shows on the radio and have some experts talk about the hazards of honking. Apart from that, we’re also going to approach the PMC and the RTO to help us in spreading the message,” says Shaha. More ambitious plans include observing a Quiet Pune Day where citizens will be urged to keep their hands off the horns for the day-but that’s once they mobilise enough members.
“During the Quit India Movement, we were fighting an outside enemy. But here, we have to fight the enemy within, which should be a lot more easier,” smiles Shaha.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Appro JRD-Sudha Murthy
Today for some event at workplace, we had Mrs Sudha Murty, as guest speaker, i have heard quite good number of speeches, but today was some how really special, perhaps it was the sheer simplicity, that made me really wonder what makes such individuals. In her brief speech she talked of working for Tata, after her graduation. After some googling (searching) i found this link. Its about her experience at TATA, please find time to read.
http://www.tata.com/0_about_us/history/pioneers/appro_jrd.htm
Sudha Murty* was livid when a job advertisement posted by a Tata company at the institution where she was completing her post graduation stated that 'lady candidates need not apply'. She dashed off a 'postcard' to JRD, protesting against the discrimination. It was the beginning of an association that would change her life in more ways that one
There are two photographs that hang on my office wall. Every day when I enter my office I look at them before starting my day. They are pictures of two old people. One is of a gentleman in a blue suit and the other is a black-and-white image of a man with dreamy eyes and a white beard.
People have asked me if the people in the photographs are related to me. Some have even asked me, "Is this black-and-white photo that of a Sufi saint or a religious guru?" I smile and reply "No, nor are they related to me. These people made an impact on my life. I am grateful to them." "Who are they?" "The man in the blue suit is Bharat Ratna JRD Tata and the black-and-white photo is of Jamsetji Tata." "But why do you have them in your office?" "You can call it gratitude."
Then, invariably, I have to tell the person the following story.
It was a long time ago. I was young and bright, bold and idealistic. I was in the final year of my master's course in computer science at the Indian Institute of Science [IISc] in Bangalore, then known as the Tata Institute. Life was full of fun and joy. I did not know what helplessness or injustice meant.
It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore was getting warm and red gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies hostel. Other girls were pursuing research in different departments of science. I was looking forward to going abroad to complete a doctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships from universities in US. I had not thought of taking up a job in India.
One day, while on the way to my hostel from our lecture-hall complex, I saw an advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job-requirement notice from the famous automobile company Telco [now Tata Motors]. It stated that the company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent academic background, etc.
At the bottom was a small line: "Lady candidates need not apply." I read it and was very upset. For the first time in my life I was up against gender discrimination.
Though I was not keen on taking up a job, I saw this as a challenge. I had done extremely well in academics, better than most of my male peers. Little did I know then that in real life academic excellence is not enough to be successful.
After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost person in Telco's management about the injustice the company was perpetrating. I got a postcard and started to write, but there was a problem: I did not know who headed Telco. I thought it must be one of the Tatas. I knew JRD Tata was the head of the Tata Group; I had seen his pictures in newspapers (actually, Sumant Moolgaokar was the company's chairman then).
I took the card, addressed it to JRD and started writing. To this day I remember clearly what I wrote. "The great Tatas have always been pioneers. They are the people who started the basic infrastructure industries in India, such as iron and steel, chemicals, textiles and locomotives. They have cared for higher education in India since 1900 and they were responsible for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science. Fortunately, I study there. But I am surprised how a company such as Telco is discriminating on the basis of gender."
I posted the letter and forgot about it. Less than 10 days later, I received a telegram stating that I had to appear for an interview at Telco's Pune facility at the company's expense.
I was taken aback by the telegram. My hostel mates told me I should use the opportunity to go to Pune free of cost — and buy them the famous Pune saris for cheap! I collected Rs 30 each from everyone who wanted a sari. When I look back, I feel like laughing at the reasons for my going, but back then they seemed good enough to make the trip.
It was my first visit to Pune and I immediately fell in love with the city. To this day it remains dear to me. I feel as much at home in Pune as I do in Hubli, my hometown. The place changed my life in so many ways.
As directed, I went to Telco's Pimpri office for the interview. There were six people on the panel and I realised then that this was serious business. "This is the girl who wrote to JRD," I heard somebody whisper as soon as I entered the room. By then I knew for sure that I would not get the job. That realisation abolished all fears from my mind, so I was rather cool while the interview was being conducted.
Even before the interview started, I reckoned the panel was biased, so I told them, rather impolitely, "I hope this is only a technical interview." They were taken aback by my rudeness, and even today I am ashamed about my attitude.
The panel asked me technical questions and I answered all of them. Then an elderly gentleman with an affectionate voice told me, "Do you know why we said lady candidates need not apply? The reason is that we have never employed any ladies on the shop floor. This is not a co-ed college; this is a factory. When it comes to academics, you are a first ranker throughout. We appreciate that, but people like you should work in research laboratories."
I was a young girl from small-town Hubli. My world had been a limited place. I did not know the ways of large corporate houses and their difficulties, so I answered, "But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to work in your factories."
Finally, after a long interview, I was told I had been successful. So this was what the future had in store for me. Never had I thought I would take up a job in Pune. That city changed my life in many ways. I met a shy young man from Karnataka there, we became good friends and we got married.
It was only after joining Telco that I realised who JRD was: the uncrowned king of Indian industry. Now I was scared, but I did not get to meet him till I was transferred to Bombay. One day I had to show some reports to Mr Moolgaokar, our chairman, who we all knew as SM. I was in his office on the first floor of Bombay House [the Tata headquarters] when, suddenly, JRD walked in. That was the first time I saw 'appro JRD'. Appro means 'our' in Gujarati. That was the affectionate term by which people at Bombay House called him.
I was feeling very nervous, remembering my postcard episode. SM introduced me nicely, "Jeh (that's what his close associates called him), this young woman is an engineer and that too a postgraduate. She is the first woman to work on the Telco shop floor." JRD looked at me. I was praying he would not ask me any questions about my interview (or the postcard that preceded it). Thankfully, he didn't. Instead he remarked. "It is nice that girls are getting into engineering in our country. By the way, what is your name?" "When I joined Telco I was Sudha Kulkarni, Sir," I replied. "Now I am Sudha Murty." He smiled that kindly smile and started a discussion with SM. As for me, I almost ran out of the room.
After that I used to see JRD on and off. He was the Tata Group chairman and I was merely an engineer. There was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of him.
One day I was waiting for Murthy, my husband, to pick me up after office hours. To my surprise I saw JRD standing next to me. I did not know how to react. Yet again I started worrying about that postcard. Looking back, I realise JRD had forgotten about it. It must have been a small incident for him, but not so for me.
"Young lady, why are you here?" he asked. "Office time is over." I said, "Sir, I'm waiting for my husband to come and pick me up." JRD said, "It is getting dark and there's no one in the corridor. I'll wait with you till your husband comes." I was quite used to waiting for Murthy, but having JRD waiting alongside made me extremely uncomfortable.
I was nervous. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him. He wore a simple white pant and shirt. He was old, yet his face was glowing. There wasn't any air of superiority about him. I was thinking, "Look at this person. He is a chairman, a well-respected man in our country and he is waiting for the sake of an ordinary employee."
Then I saw Murthy and I rushed out. JRD called and said, "Young lady, tell your husband never to make his wife wait again."
In 1982 I had to resign from my job at Telco. I was reluctant to go, but I really did not have a choice. I was coming down the steps of Bombay House after wrapping up my final settlement when I saw JRD coming up. He was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye to him so I stopped. He saw me and paused.
Gently, he said, "So what are you doing, Mrs Kulkarni? (That was the way he always addressed me.) "Sir, I am leaving Telco." "Where are you going?" he asked. "Pune, sir. My husband is starting a company called Infosys and I'm shifting to Pune." "Oh! And what you will do when you are successful?" "Sir, I don't know whether we will be successful." "Never start with diffidence," he advised me. "Always start with confidence. When you are successful you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. I wish you all the best."
Then JRD continued walking up the stairs. I stood there for what seemed like a millennium. That was the last time I saw him alive.
Many years later I met Ratan Tata in the same Bombay office, occupying the chair JRD once did. I told him of my many sweet memories of working with Telco. Later, he wrote to me, "It was nice listening about Jeh from you. The sad part is that he's not alive to see you today."
I consider JRD a great man because, despite being an extremely busy person, he valued one postcard written by a young girl seeking justice. He must have received thousands of letters every day. He could have thrown mine away, but he didn't do that. He respected the intentions of that unknown girl, who had neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity in his company. He did not merely give her a job; he changed her life and mindset forever.
Close to 50 per cent of the students in today's engineering colleges are girls. And there are women on the shop floor in many industry segments. I see these changes and I think of JRD. If at all time stops and asks me what I want from life, I would say I wish JRD were alive today to see how the company we started has grown. He would have enjoyed it wholeheartedly.
My love and respect for the House of Tatas remains undiminished by the passage of time. I always looked up to JRD. I saw him as a role model - for his simplicity, his generosity, his kindness and the care he took of his employees. Those blue eyes always reminded me of the sky; they had the same vastness and munificence.
*Sudha Murty is the chairperson of the Infosys Foundation. She is involved in a number of social development initiatives and is also a widely published writer.
Arvind Virmani: Poverty can be eliminated
| A modern smart card system that delivers cash and/or subsidies to the poor could do the trick. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What is the cost of eliminating poverty and hunger in India? That of course depends on the extent of poverty, which has been mired in academic debate about the measurement of poverty. There is however universal agreement that in the years from 1993-94 to 1999-2000 the poverty rate (HCR) was between 25 per cent and 35 per cent. We can therefore skirt the esoteric debate about the precise change in poverty between 1993-94 and 1999-2000 and its level in either year by considering three numbers. For each of these years we order the households/person by consumption level and identify the ones which are 25 per cent, 30 per cent and 35 per cent from the bottom. That is, we identify in each year the consumption level of the person(s) who would be just at the poverty line if the poverty rate was 25 per cent, 30 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively. Then we calculate the income transfer needed for everybody below that level to be brought up to the level. The data are summarised in the table . | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In 1999-2000, the total subsidies provided by the central government were Rs 25,690 crore, of which Rs 22,680 crore were for food and fertiliser. During the same year the central and state governments together spent another Rs 28,080 crore on “Rural Development (RD),” “Welfare of SC, ST & OBCs” and “Social Security and Welfare”. Either of these was sufficient to bring all the poor to the consumption level of the person/household at the 30 per cent level. Given that poverty was between 26.1 per cent and 28.6 per cent, either of these if transferred directly to the poor and disadvantaged would have eliminated poverty. Together these subsidies and poverty alleviation expenditures (Rs 53,770 crore) would have been sufficient to eliminate poverty in 1999-2000, even if administrative costs and leakages used up half the allocation (and the small fraction of rural development expenditure on water supply were excluded).
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