- An Air France flight en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro(Brazil) mysteriously crashed into Atlantic on Monday jun 1st, with 228 people on board.This is one of the biggest mishaps in the recent history.The search is still on and Brazil's Navy says it has recovered five bodies till date.
- Delhi reported its first case of human-to-human transmission of H1N1 influenza after Hyderabad. The total number of H1N1 cases in India has climbed to 10 since the virus surfaced in the country on May 16.
- Attacks on Indians continue in Oz, despite the assurances of its govt.Recently a car of Indian student was burnt in front of his house.
- Much delayed Womens Reservation bill is likely to get a nod within the first 100 days of the new UPA govt.
- GM filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.The Detroit base auto giant's bankruptcy filing is the fourth-largest in U.S. history and the largest for an industrial company.
- Microsoft launched BING, its new search engine touted as rival to Google.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
The Week Gone By
Where are Thou, My Guru
“There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live." – James Truslow Adams
As a child I learnt that people are divided into four groups based on their birth. Few days back I read in an ancient scripture that caste system is the ‘Varnashram’ where ‘Varna’ means color and not caste. People must be segregated based on their quality and work they do rather than by birth. We condition our mindsets according to what is taught at school. It is a shame that we call ourselves ‘higher’ based on birth and family rather than what qualities we possess. Children must, on the contrary, be taught that we are all born equal and similar and strive to become an asset to the society in any which way rather than inclining towards the negative and become a burden to the world.
I shall focus on Education and society in the next couple of paragraphs.
The need of the hour is effective teachers to prepare sensible youth for future who can differentiate good from the bad and right from the wrong. We say that India is great without realizing that people make it great. Our land and people are so diverse that it requires diverse teachers to shape it. Instead of asking students to do ton of homework, carry heavy bags, and nailing the little creatures, teachers must embrace children and their background as funds of knowledge. It has become a routine for teachers to consider children as blank slate. Blank Slate indicates children have no knowledge and teachers can pour anything and everything in their brains. Teachers must go beyond the textbooks and homework. They must possess knowledge and information that is original and meaningful.
Just imagine Obama administration decides to allocate 40% of college seats for the minorities like Afro Americans or Hispanic, where would foreign students go then? The schools here are striving to mix students from different races together in all activities rather than segregating. We have excellent teachers who are Blacks, Hispanics or Asians, for that matter. Our educational goals from the primary school should focus on higher achievement and equality rather than lesser important issues that foster caste and religion. It must be noted that Indians have proved to be better achievers than many others according to statistics. The intelligence and funds our children have must be utilized to the optimum level instead of letting them dwindle by discouraging them. National spelling bee champion Kavya Shivashankar is a good example in this context.
The recent attacks on Indian students in the USA and the myriad terror attacks in India and elsewhere have got me to think: what is the root cause for such events. I always believed that a strong foundation is required for a building to stand still for ages. Similarly children, if from the very outset, are trained to develop the qualities: peacefulness, tolerance, honesty, wisdom and other positive aspects, the day shall not be far where we can have a perfect utopian society. We say that children are the future of the country but are we working towards preparing them for better future? Maybe not!
-Nivedita Matsyaraja
I shall focus on Education and society in the next couple of paragraphs.
The need of the hour is effective teachers to prepare sensible youth for future who can differentiate good from the bad and right from the wrong. We say that India is great without realizing that people make it great. Our land and people are so diverse that it requires diverse teachers to shape it. Instead of asking students to do ton of homework, carry heavy bags, and nailing the little creatures, teachers must embrace children and their background as funds of knowledge. It has become a routine for teachers to consider children as blank slate. Blank Slate indicates children have no knowledge and teachers can pour anything and everything in their brains. Teachers must go beyond the textbooks and homework. They must possess knowledge and information that is original and meaningful.
Just imagine Obama administration decides to allocate 40% of college seats for the minorities like Afro Americans or Hispanic, where would foreign students go then? The schools here are striving to mix students from different races together in all activities rather than segregating. We have excellent teachers who are Blacks, Hispanics or Asians, for that matter. Our educational goals from the primary school should focus on higher achievement and equality rather than lesser important issues that foster caste and religion. It must be noted that Indians have proved to be better achievers than many others according to statistics. The intelligence and funds our children have must be utilized to the optimum level instead of letting them dwindle by discouraging them. National spelling bee champion Kavya Shivashankar is a good example in this context.
The recent attacks on Indian students in the USA and the myriad terror attacks in India and elsewhere have got me to think: what is the root cause for such events. I always believed that a strong foundation is required for a building to stand still for ages. Similarly children, if from the very outset, are trained to develop the qualities: peacefulness, tolerance, honesty, wisdom and other positive aspects, the day shall not be far where we can have a perfect utopian society. We say that children are the future of the country but are we working towards preparing them for better future? Maybe not!
-Nivedita Matsyaraja
New Government, New Governance?
The verdict is out and people chose Dr.Manmohan Singh and his team over others with a decisive mandate. In the backdrop of the recession and the dreams of the country’s youth, an agenda of stability and inclusive growth based on issues like infrastructure, rural and urban development, agriculture and food security, education, amongst others is already set. But the most important issue that should be addressed is the reforms in governance, which I believe is crucial for this agenda to be successful.
In a recent survey conducted by an Hong-Kong based consultancy ranked Indian bureaucracy as least efficient in Asia and termed as “slow and painful and a power center in their own right”. After the economic reforms in 1990’s, liberalization has improved the climate for investment in India. However, the world has moved on and we are perhaps not keeping pace. Civil service was set up in colonial times, when its function was to assert control over a vast subcontinent on behalf of the British Raj. They created a bureaucracy, which exists even today, but its outlook hasn’t changed much since.
Many say “administrative processes and procedures are cumbersome and create hurdles in the process of harmonious development”. For investors (FDIs, FIIs, etc) their biggest frustration about investment in India is the bureaucracy. The so called babus failed miserably in delivering public services and basic essentials of life like electric power, drinking water, schools, hospitals, transport and municipal functions continue to remain out of the reach for many Indians even after 60 years of independence.
Not reforming the bureaucracy and the governance and minimizing the political interference and the corruption, it wouldn’t make much sense pouring out thousands of crores on various welfare and developmental schemes. This way aam admi would “still” get just 19 paisa out of every rupee spent.
Of the many lessons of the recent mandates, one thing is clear, if change is not quickly visible to an impatient new India, governments will be dumped faster than they ever have, and the only agenda is “to Perform or Perish”.
-Vikranth
In a recent survey conducted by an Hong-Kong based consultancy ranked Indian bureaucracy as least efficient in Asia and termed as “slow and painful and a power center in their own right”. After the economic reforms in 1990’s, liberalization has improved the climate for investment in India. However, the world has moved on and we are perhaps not keeping pace. Civil service was set up in colonial times, when its function was to assert control over a vast subcontinent on behalf of the British Raj. They created a bureaucracy, which exists even today, but its outlook hasn’t changed much since.
Many say “administrative processes and procedures are cumbersome and create hurdles in the process of harmonious development”. For investors (FDIs, FIIs, etc) their biggest frustration about investment in India is the bureaucracy. The so called babus failed miserably in delivering public services and basic essentials of life like electric power, drinking water, schools, hospitals, transport and municipal functions continue to remain out of the reach for many Indians even after 60 years of independence.
Not reforming the bureaucracy and the governance and minimizing the political interference and the corruption, it wouldn’t make much sense pouring out thousands of crores on various welfare and developmental schemes. This way aam admi would “still” get just 19 paisa out of every rupee spent.
Of the many lessons of the recent mandates, one thing is clear, if change is not quickly visible to an impatient new India, governments will be dumped faster than they ever have, and the only agenda is “to Perform or Perish”.
-Vikranth
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