Sunday 31 August 2008

Salaam Sportsmen!

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Of late, I have been observing blogs ridiculing the celebrations of Indians for winning medals at Beijing Olympics. When our neighbor China has almost got 50 odd Gold medals silently, we are going over-board for a single Gold medal won. Why can’t India get more medals in such sporting events? Is this something to do with the race? If so, how can Chinese, who do not differ much from our race, can get more Gold medals and display the world that they are the real emerging Super Power?

I do agree that we are going overboard in celebrating the wins at Olympics, but we should not forget the efforts put in by our sportsmen in these events. Remember India who ranked second in the 1951 Asian Games, slipped to 4th rank in 1982 Asian Games. This again slipped to 8th slot in the previous 2 Asian Games. It does not mean that Indian sports arena is deteriorating. We remained stagnant while others improved.

While we ridicule the celebrations on winning these medals, we should throw light on the following that remains the causes of such a plight.

¨ How many of us would prefer our kids to choose a career in Sports apart from cricket?
¨ How many of us accept Sports as a curriculum of education?
¨ Which corporate company sponsors a sport other than cricket?
¨ Indian sportsmen (excluding cricketers and tennis players) are generally given a raw deal in terms of amenities provided. Usually, 20 are lodged in a room and 2 have to share a bed. The less we said about the facilities is better
¨ India is participating in 13 events only out of 34 Olympic events
¨ Our medal prospect is limited to six events namely shooting, archery, tennis, badminton, boxing and wrestling. Out of this six, we were sure that we will not get medal in tennis and badminton

Still, today, we have won 3 medals. I hope Virendar brings us a Silver or Gold. If not for the sake of nation, for the sake of dating Bipasha, Virendar has to win Gold. This is the ironical status of sports in our country!

Our sports authorities are busy playing politics than improving the sports quality in India. Courtesy, personal animosity, blaming false allegations, our authorities ensured no ticket to Monika for Beijing. All her hard-work just for this moment had gone waste. Truth prevailed but late. She lost the opportunity. Whether she would have won is another question but her hard work was not respected. The authorities who slammed false allegations on her are roaming scot-free! With such incidents happening, how can we expect our sportsmen to get motivated?

Sania’s mother can be a part of the team to Beijing but a genuine sportsperson is denied of that opportunity. Our sportsperson brought India medals from time and again despite these officials and authorities and not because of them. We had many a source of inspirations in form of Milkha Singh, Dhyan Chand, PT Usha, Shiny Wilson, Malleswari, Paes, Rathod etc., however, we failed to produce the likes of them.

To win a world cup starting from scratch in 3 hours is possible only on silver screen. If at all we dream of hosting Olympics by 2020 (I don’t know what magic lies in 2020), we have to start working from now. Every country that hosted Olympics found a place in the top 5 rankings. Prior to decide on hosting Olympics, we should work on improving the quality of our sports and sportsperson. At the least, we need 10 years to form a qualitative team. That should start from now. If we started that now, we can expect more medals in 2020!

Schools & Universities can play a pivotal role in this. Unfortunately, we lack the infra-structure. We are neither rich nor poor. We spend more on the security of our ministers and their kith & kin. Even if we spend 50% of what we spend on the fringe benefits of our so-called leaders and their security, we can build a decent infrastructure for sports! It is the high time we focused our efforts on improving the quality of sports and think beyond politics!

The unclear deal of nuclear deal

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The nuclear deal issue has taken a back seat, courtesy, misrule of our Govt in Jammu and shorter memory of public affairs among us. The signing of deal was supposed to be the shot in the arm of the present government for which they staged a mockery of democracy in nation’s interest.

As expected the countries of NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group) board have thrown the spoke on the wheels of progress on waiver draft pertaining to the nuclear deal between India and USA. Already this Govt is charged for having limited India's strategic options through a pact (that makes conducting a nuclear test difficult) and now with the opposition from NSG, India may be forced to accept new multilateral commitments as to empower the deal. The government might find it increasingly difficult to sell such a deal at home.

The opposition from NSG was expected by everyone, however, the experts in the Government failed to foresee the fiasco that happened at NSG. This Government had 3 full years to do home work on this subject but it preferred to sleep on it. In the last moment, it woke up and pretended to act. They were also ready to lose the government for this sake after enjoying power for almost full term doing nothing. Perhaps, we failed to take the confidence of other countries of NSG while maintaining our closer relationship with USA. The countries that oppose India’s deal are New Zealand, Austria and Switzerland. These countries insist that India sign the NPT. Brazil, South Africa are the other countries who support India.

Come what may, India should not accede to a ban on access to ENR (enrichment and reprocessing) technology. It is reported that our old friend Russia too had expressed reservations on transferring this technology to India. The Indian insistence on ENR technology was a big deal during the 123 negotiations with the US. The US, which has the most stringent laws on transferring ENR technology, has denied it to every country in the world, except Australia.

India possesses enrichment and reprocessing technology, and it has been completely indigenously developed by Dr Homi Sethna. Despite having both enrichment and reprocessing plants, India has not been able to scale up the technology to commercial levels.

This deal is critical to India not only in Power-generation sector but this could provide India a chance to become a supplier of low-cost nuclear reactors. After the successful inauguration of Kaiga 3 project in Karnataka, the 220 MW pressurized heavy water reactor will start generating power by this month end. The cost per KW installed is expected to be around Rs984/- (US$ 23) and we can eye on marketing this to countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The average market price is around Rs 1500/- per Kw. For this to happen, we have to win the confidence of NSG Board and this is possible only after we redraft our IAEA with US again.

If India has to get the deal cleared by the board of NSG, we have to re-initiate our negotiations with IAEA. This has to happen before November when they meet again. If we miss the bus this time, it would be a street of not-return for us. We are not sure how the ruling Government would approach this. Now, Left would fire on all cylinders to halt the progress of the Government in this regard. With elections due early next year and the political permutations & combinations are to take place for an alliance, Congress might find all the ways to delay this further. Instead, they might be on a hunt to find reasons as to blame the government that would succeed them.

Let us wait and see hoping whatever happens prove good for India.

Sunday 24 August 2008

Tolerance, Violence, Media and Society

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Tolerance is the appreciation of diversity and the ability to live & let others live. It is the ability to exercise a fair attitude towards those whose opinions, practices, religion, nationality etc., differ from one's own. Tolerance is not just agreeing with one another or remaining indifferent in the face of injustice, but rather showing respect for the essential humanity in every person.

Intolerance is the failure to appreciate & respect the practices, opinions & beliefs of another group. For instance, intolerances over issues could be of identity (caste, religion), self-determination, statehood, return right for refugees, etc. The result is continuing inter-group violence.

Violence is the exertion of force so as to injure (physically or mentally) or abuse. The word is used to describe a destructive action, forceful and intentional injury to people, damage to property and verbal & emotional abuse towards others.

With the lack of experience, individuals base their opinions of one another on assumptions. This can be influenced by the positive or negative beliefs of those who are most influential in their lives, (parents, family members, colleagues, educators, and/or role models). This leads to perpetuation of intolerance among individuals.

Individual attitudes are influenced by the images of other groups in the media and press. In education, there exists school curriculum & educational literature that provide biased and/or negative historical accounts of world cultures. Education or schooling based on myths can demonize and dehumanize other cultures rather than promote cultural understanding and a tolerance for diversity and differences.

Tolerating tolerance is preferable to tolerating intolerance. How can one be tolerant of those who are intolerant of them? For many, tolerating intolerance is neither acceptable nor possible. Being tolerant remains a key to easing hostile tensions between. In cases of violent conflict, being tolerant helps the affected groups endure the pain of the past and resolve their differences. Some ideas:

Individuals: Individuals should continually focus on being tolerant of others in their daily lives. This involves consciously challenging the stereotypes and assumptions that they typically encounter in making decisions about others and/or working with others either in a social or a professional environment.

Press Media: The media should use positive images to promote understanding and cultural sensitivity. The more people are exposed to positive media messages about other cultures, the less they are likely to find faults with one another. Particularly those communities, who have little access to the outside world and are susceptible to what the media tells them! Ironically, media opts for sensationalism & it indirectly perpetuates negative images of different groups. SHUN SENSATIONALISM!

Education: Educators are instrumental in promoting tolerance and peaceful coexistence. For instance, schools that create a tolerant environment help young people respect and understand different cultures.

Cinema: Stop glorifying violence and justifying terrorism. This is impossible as this entire media is sponsored by terrorists themselves. The irony is, we have more movie-watchers than blog-readers! They are powerful and if they mean it positive, they can do a world of good to the society!

Wednesday 6 August 2008

Corruption & India

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if you ask me whether we are willing to build a corruption-free society, then my answer is NO! Corruption has been, is and will be the biggest problem of India. People’s will forms democracy. If this is based on corruption, then stigma against corruption goes absent. Under such circumstances, the morale of the people goes down. They condone and develop tolerance.

Corruption can be defined as using the public office for private gain. It is anti-poor; anti-national & anti-development. More than the taker, it is the giver who commits a serious crime in corruption. We have accepted corruption as a way of our life. We failed to fight against corruption.

Might is right in a corrupted democracy. In our society, amassing wealth through corruption is a way of demonstrating one’s competence. This continues as it is not questioned. Adding insult to injury is, not only it is questioned but such people are respected. This gives legitimacy to amassment of wealth by wrong means. Corruption is either need-based or greed-based. If the corruption is because of need-based it can be tackled by meeting the requirements. If the corruption is of greed-based, that is the result of wrong social-values taught to the individuals. The worry is what starts off as need-based, turns into greed-based corruption once the need is taken care of.

When rulers are corrupt, the common man approaches the judicial system. If the judiciary itself is corrupted, where can he go? What legacy are we leaving to our generations? Can we find a man with character, integrity and honesty today?

Corruption is not confined to government organizations alone. To have a corruption-free India, we should have corruption-free states, for that we should have corruption-free districts, for which we should have corruption-free panchayats; in turn requires corruption-free individuals.

The objective of fighting corruption is to bring in an equitable society. Decision makers should be trust-worthy. More than legal & administrative measures, it needs moral up-gradation to build a corruption-free society. Integrity should be the pre-requisite for anybody to qualify for a job. Individuals must show courage to rise against corrupt practices. We remained silent when 2 young whistle blowers were brutally murdered after they showed courage to fight corrupt practices. Such men create an aggressive and strong public opinion against corruption.

Neutral agency to investigate corrupt practices that is more powerful than CVC, that is free from political influences is required. The crucial factor is honesty. Patriotism, honesty, integrity – a leader with these characteristics, who can put nation’s interest ahead of self-interest, is required. A good leader leads whereas a bad leader misleads. The press can play a big role. We should encourage journalists and editors who fight corrupt practices & injustice. We should not encourage sensationalism in the name of investigative journalism.

Strict enforcement of rules & regulations by the Government will go a long way in arresting corruption. It is the duty of the government to guard & cherish the citizens and to punish the criminals. Punishing the wicked criminals even with death is like weeding the productive crops by the farmer.

No missionary movement, but individual transformation is needed. Awareness against corruption has to be created among the people. Writers, thinkers and volunteers should rise up to the occasion. Let us not only stop accepting bribe but also stop giving bribe. Persistent attempts have to be made to create awareness in society in which the corrupt persons in public administration, political field and all other walks of life are not respected but condemned. Then only the corrupt people will begin to understand the folly of their impure life and begin to rectify themselves.

Education in India

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The existing Indian educational system neither parts knowledge nor provides values to the future generation. It is unfortunate that such situation prevails in a land that had Gurukul system of education and had Universities like Takshila, Ujjain and Nalanda centuries ago.

The limitations of the present system are:
¨ It produces literates but not educated ones
¨ Intelligence is decided by one’s memory power and not by aptitude or application
¨ Lack of encouragement to creative thinking / research activities
¨ Lack of infrastructural facilities; lack of motivation to faculty
¨ Lack of moral education
¨ Sidelining Meritocracy in the name of Reservation
¨ Considering Educational institutions as business centers

The present system produced likes of M. S. Swaminathan, Dr.Varghese Kurien, Dr.Abdul Kalam - but they existed despite this system and not because of the system. Education should inspire, make one free, make one experiment & ask questions. It should make you realize what you are!

The vision of Education is to inculcate knowledge & power to the younger generation. Since long, we are used to teacher-centered education. It should be changed to student-centered. The vision of educational system is to make one self-reliant, self-confident to achieve their goals.

Not choosing a career of their choice is not the problem but, Indian children do not have the vision to think beyond is. So, we need a revolution that brings vast changes in our educational system.

Change the mindset: Education is not a ticket to get a job. Everyone cannot be an Engineer or a Doctor. Let your kids choose their career. Let them study what they want!

Strengthen Pre-primary schools: This should be our fundamental right. The access level of 11.2% is pathetic. Spend minimum of 5% of GDP towards this segment. Access & Quality should be the mantra. Writing should start from age 6. Education should be entertaining at Primary levels.

Go for the best talents in educational sector: Today, teaching is not a career of choice, but of compromise. Pay nuts – Get monkeys! Despite the fact that education is a money-minting industry in service sector, its workers are the least paid. Let’s change it.

World-class infrastructure: Schools & Colleges with libraries that has wide range of books, laboratories that house qualitative equipments, classrooms with more space and air, audio-video presentations, teacher to student ratio of 1:30 make a world class infrastructure for education.

Provide Education that encourages innovation and creativity: Evaluation should not be on basis of memory but on application and aptitude. Vocational courses, Presentations in seminars, group discussions, and Poster creation should be included. Extra curricular & Co-curricular activities should be a part of the syllabus.

One Syllabus for entire country: With the earth becoming flat, the concept of “sons-of-soil” students is dangerous. Students are forced to read 3 or more languages that are useless burden on them. Students should have the freedom to choose the languages they want to learn. Only 2 languages should be taught in the syllabus. Declare an official link language for the country. The different boards like State Board, CBSE, and ICSE should be merged into a single syllabus throughout the country. The Central Govt should accept the responsibility of educating Indians all over! All the universities should be linked and governed by an autonomous body centrally.

Flexible Option of subjects: Students should choose themselves the subjects they intend to learn. Do not group the subjects and restrict the options. This should start from higher secondary (after 10th).

Meritocracy: Reservation should be implemented only at the primary education level and not throughout the career. Seats can be reserved but should be filled in by deserving candidates only.

Businessmen &Politicians are to be kept away from Educational institutions and Syllabus selection as their prime goal is to make money and confuse people. Let corporate bodies sponsor but should not have a say in the routines.

Education builds a man and a nation. Unfortunately, we are not concerned about quality of the human-capital we build. To make India strong, we need to produce visionaries and not bureaucrats, professionals or clerks. A renaissance in the system has to happen as to achieve this.

Judicial slap

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The ban on SIMI is lifted, courtesy, lethargic approach from the authorities who failed to provide sufficient proof of their anti-national activities. Repeatedly, our police forces confirmed the involvement of SIMI in the recent blasts that ripped our cities. However, they were unable to produce sufficient proof that goes as a surprise.

SIMI started as a student wing in 1977 just to liberate India from the impact of western culture, later slowly transformed into a terrorist organization. It perceived RSS as enemy of Muslim & to tackle it, it joined hands with Islamic terrorist groups. The very purpose of founding the organization got deviated with time.

SIMI was learnt to be the mother organization for Al-Umma that was behind the serial blasts of Coimbatore to kill L K Advani. SIMI was suspected to be involved in 2003 Mumbai blasts that killed 55 people. After the 9/11 incident, SIMI was banned and a periodical review of the ban was suggested. Many SIMI members were arrested under TADA. Came Congress rule, and TADA is lifted and these members are free.

On one side, the investigators claim that India Mujahideen is none other than SIMI. They claimed to have made a breakthrough with the arrest of SIMI members in the recent blasts case. However, this judgment gives a serious slap on the face of the judicial system per se. What next will happen is SIMI will float a political party. They will form a secular alliance with parties and even become ministers. Then who can try them let alone think of punishing!

We are aware of Indian judicial system that is keen on protecting innocents even if it meant leaving out the criminals. The lawyers don’t look for actual facts but for a case in trials. Most of their questions are leading questions and at times, these will be closed leading questions! The jury’s judgment is based on the answers given to those closed leading questions.

With elections in the recent future, with an eye on the minority votes, the ruling Government had asked its lawyers to go soft on this case. It is not new to us as such things do happen whenever a leader is tried in our courts. With a change in rule, the grip of the lawyers in the case varies. Precisely this has happened in this case too. Under such circumstances, one is driven to think that the Government is trying to make Sushma’s idiotic comments true.

The ruling Government has ensured appeasement of a particular community by going soft in this case. However, it has proved India as a soft-target to terrorists. We claim Islamic terrorism responsible for the violence spread across our country but support them indirectly. This provides more ammunition to our enemies, who can utilize this opportunity to kill us! This proves that for our rulers, vote is more important than the nation. This activity is nothing but a suicidal.

That's the way...... Mahi way!

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No longer in India, talent has a relevance to the awards gifted. I intentionally use the phrase gifted as awards are nowadays gifted away as token of reciprocating gesture for some favor extended. Political implications are always there. You got it. This blog is about honoring Mahendra Singh Dhoni with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Please do not ask me what Rajiv Gandhi has to do with Sports in India – I am clueless and all I know is Congress always maintained to name every action of theirs in their leaders’ name so the people would not forget them.

Dhoni is second to Sachin Tendulkar who was the only other cricketer to be awarded with this title. By all means, this award to Dhoni is too early. Dhoni has a long way to go and he has to prove himself as a good keeper, good batsman or a good captain. I do agree that media hype is there for him and even if he fails, that has been hailed as a big achievement. Dhoni is yet to prove himself in all aspects.

If at all the Government is interested in boosting sports as a career, it should look beyond cricket. Vishwanathan Anand is a Chess player who single-handedly gave India too much of recognition in the Chess arena and a generation followed him. There were stalwarts who brought us Medals single-handedly in Olympics and Asian games. They are not rewarded with this award.

Even if we consider cricket, there are others who deserves this award. Rahul Dravid is the next to Tendulkar in terms of runs scored for India and 3rd in the world to score more than 6000 runs away from home soil. He has scored 10000 runs in both versions of cricket and under his captaincy; Indian had won 16 ODI on a trot. He was neglected.

Anil Kumble is the next one who deserves this award. He has taken more number of wickets. Though repeatedly haunted for being an unconventional spinner, his tally will sure overtake the famous spin-quartet of India. He has always been a wicket-taking bowler for India whenever it needed. Jumbo is famous for his fighting spirit and is the only bowler to take all the 10 wickets in an innings apart from legendary Jim Laker.

If this is awarded for captaincy, then Azahruddin or Saurav Ganguly deserves this piece. Ganguly developed a team sense among Indian cricket. Till then, it was a game of individuals and Ganguly gave a fresh breath of younger talents and developed a future for Indian cricket. He should have been awarded.

As said earlier Dhoni has to prove himself. Unlike his predecessors, he is gifted with a ready made team of talented youngsters. Lady luck smiled on him but in recent tournaments lady luck did not favor Dhoni. Still, the media went on gaga over him. Had it been others, they would have been humiliated.

Dhoni on one single issue has overtaken Sachin, Kumble, Dravid or Ganguly that is earning more money apart from playing cricket – brand ambassador. If the Govt thought that this is the criteria for this award, then God help Indian sports.

Till recently, in India Mass and Class was discriminated. There were groups for the class (for example, Kamal, Aamir) and one for the mass (Rajini, Shahrukh). Awards were given to rarely known one based on talents. Alas! This trend has changed now. More the popular you are, more the awards you win. No longer have awards had relevance to talents. This is happening in every field. Under such circumstances Dhoni getting this reward is no surprise.

It is the high time; the authorities should realize that sports cannot be boosted just by giving popularity but by recognizing talents!

புதுமை புதிர்: குணா - பார்த்த விழி

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