Digital technologies like Internet, mobile phone and computers banged the world with a claim to work freely. Suddenly there was an air of borderless world. Its popularity and power stunned the world nations. Governments lost track of digital power. Their radar of censorship got blocked by Internet. Information was flowing freely from anywhere to everywhere.

At one point of time there was a global movement try to control the world affairs. What was started in Brazil under the banner of World Social Forum threatened to break the iron cages of Governments. Independent people’s power of the world was half visible. Awaken by such critical realities; some countries tightened their information control. The axe fell on the Internet. Simply certain websites which are anti-national and provoking people to react were blocked.

Technologies which were part of younger generation were slowly impacting the elder sections too. Lagging behind in techno knowledge, Governments constituted cyber cells both to spread its information and to track its rebels and anti-establishments messages in the cyberspace.

China qualifies to the number one spot in censoring and blocking websites. No other country has so powerfully dealt with the Internet power than China. Jonathan Zittrain and Ben Edelman in their study found that collected two hundred thousand website samples and found that about fifty thousand were unavailable at least one and nineteen thousand were unavailable twice. BBC, CNN, US Court System were blocked. Some websites were clever enough to copy past the information from the blocked sites were available. It is a matter of popularity of the free expression of China sites that matter most to the Government. Tibet and Taiwan searches in the Google yielded no information or pro China news. Such was the strength of Government control over internet in China.

The Amnesty International says that the Chinese users were cleverer than their government by using proxy servers. It is the same case in information controlling Iran. The network system got popular from the university campuses. Slowly the anti-establishment students started spreading their message through Internet. Having successfully crushed down the print medium which was spreading anti-government messages, the Internet power came as a great shock.

Despite several tortures and control mechanisms Internet seems to be penetrating right to the end of the Government and hitting hard with antagonistic messages. Naturally the state control seems to be partial rather than totally ruthless. Off late the Chinese authorities are sending proxy pictures with anti-China message and infecting it with virus deliberately. This comes on the top of the searches and threatens the surfers not to download it. This exercise is repeated to fill many search results with virus attached messages and images.

One never knows the time of total takeover of Internet by the Government. Its power can be enhanced and upgraded any time. If a techno person takes over the Government then he/she will apply own mind to control the information. Rarely one can see a liberal implementing his prophecies. With the increasing terror threats anyone in the government will be compelled to give it as an excuse while ordering information control.
It is crucial to separate information freedom and information menace. Naturally every government should allow the free flow of information. Keeping track of the terrorists and troublemakers is a must. Indeed internet should be used proactively by the Government to track terror operators and help public to live peacefully.

In the fast moving career world who got time for formal relationships? This question seems to be answered on the ground and evidences are ample to witness. If a man and woman are living together and enjoying sexual relationship without marriage then it can be termed as ‘live in relationship’. India is totally strange to this model of human relationship few decades back. The Western societies which are accustomed to live in relationships infected traditional nations with this social model. Although this is few in numbers live in relationships will grow in big strength in the future.

There are various reasons for the escalating live in relationships. One, both man and woman are working and earning. In the past women used to be at home managing family. Men worked and brought resources to sustain livelihood. Whatever tensions he had at work are soothed at home by wife and children. Family life gave calmness and guided him at times of crisis. Entry of women in professional and higher education fields compelled them to take employment. Most importantly the high cost consumer economy necessitates women to work. Although work emancipated from ignorance and boredom it has taken their peace of mind. With eight hours of tedious work at office, concentrating on family matters is extremely difficult. But most of the Indian women have managed to strike a balance between work and home.

Few can handle occupational hazards. Either they have to sacrifice work or family. Working in private firms can be challenging for family people. I know some my women staff gets censored every day for coming late. Either they cut sorry figure or inhale frustrations. One of the programme coordinators keep saying “my days are numbered”. For the past two years she continues to come late due to her engagement with her son’s education. Despite giving her Saturday off, she comes late at forty five minutes late everyday to office. With this disadvantage she keeps fighting with everyone. Rarely does she go home with a peace of mind. Naturally one can expect the consequences of her family life.

According to a national survey, 99 percent of the Indian women are married. The remaining one percent enters either live in relationship or remain spinsters. But the number of increasing live in relationships is increasing from the surface view. A study conducted by Public Action in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata says that two percent of the sample of 3000 young age people below 35 identified themselves as live in partners. The respondents mainly pointed out that there is no time for them to think about formal marriage system. They are afraid of registering marriage and filling divorce cases. Basically they are aware of the fragility of their marriage. Why to invite legal trouble by going for the marriage?

The high visibility of live in relationships has attracted the attention of courts. The Maharastra Government has extended the meaning of wife to one who is also living with a man for a long period of time. Justice. Mallimath Committee has recommended in 2003 that a woman who lived with a man for a reasonable period of time enjoys the legal rights of a wife. Is India getting ready for a large-scale live in relationships?

An international organization working in the tsunami affected area gave a CD to give opinion about their research. It was about the miseries of affected children. In one of the moving episodes a dalit child of 11 years said ‘We elected our own community man to improve our lives. But he is improving his own wealth without concern for his community people. One or two poor among dalits who were elected to the public office on reserved ticket are enjoying their power rather doing positive things for the community”. This moved me to explore the correlation between power and change.

Who benefits from the change? This is a very trivial question to answer. It is also difficult to provide an absolute evidence for the change brought in by people who were given mandate. Is it just enough to elect a black as the President of USA to ensure total justice for all blacks? Whether the ascendancy of woman to the top executive position of a country necessarily empowers women in that country? These are few fundamental questions keep cropping up in the minds during the high voltage talk about empowerment of underprivileged communities by electing one among them to represent in the highest power drivers.

One there is change at the structural and functional levels. But the increasing power of information reached to all sections through 24x7 media makes change invisible. All the negative aspects are projected. Rarely positive aspects of society are highlighted. Result of this is the circulation of frustration.

Political and personal benefits occupy the centre stage of change advocacy. There is no genuineness in advocating change. The gap between the lip and heart is very vast. When it comes to lip talk there is a free flow of rhetoric. In heart beats there are more personal desires than community development thoughts.

In India we had a dalit as the deputy prime minister. Babu Jagjeevan Ram occupied prime positions from ministership to deputy prime ministership. Yet he was not able to bring out revolutionary changes in the perception of dalits and also the others perception of dalits. We had Indira Gandhi the omnipotent woman Prime Minister for nearly two decades. Yet women occupy the down bottom position in the social strata. We had K.R. Narayanan the first dalit President. Today we have dalit chief justice.

It is incorrect to raise this correlation of community person at the helm of affairs and their community development. Firstly they are limited by various permutations and combinations of the socio-political setup. Secondly, whether a dalit or woman or black or any underprivileged category person gets carried by the aura of power. He or she loses sight of community feelings and dons the mantle of power person. In this situation the focus of community development is lost.

For instance, for the past two decades railway ministers of the union come from Bihar. They favour their home state by increasing the number of trains and rail related factories. This burns the hearts of other state members of parliament. Kerala MPs always complain about the raw deal they get in the railway budget. They often accuse the monopoly of Bihar in railways concessions, opportunities and employment.

Both ways it is difficult for the community conscious power people to survive. If they work explicitly for community concerns they are branded as ‘community driven’ and if they don’t work their own people condemn them. A right balance that can bring true change in each one of the underprivileged person’s life can remove this dilemma.

Defeat is difficult to digest. But expressing explicitly in anguished form is not considered as sporty and public figure’s style. Elections in America always demonstrated the distinguished way of conceding defeat. John Mccain has lived up to the standard of defeated candidate in the USA’s presidential election. His cool, clam and assuring speech after the final ballot was counted tells the depth of American political culture. This one aspect of Western political culture mesmerizes both common man and politicians in the Indian subcontinent. I heard many people praising Mccain’s gesture of wishing Obama a bright political future and his support to strengthen America. Rarely political figures in India show such a courtesy to congratulate their opponents. Mudslinging is part of the political game played everyday in the Indian society.

A popular personality’s strength is tested during the time of defeat. In that sense Mccain’s stature has climbed few upper peaks after his defeat speech.
To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.
“In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.
This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.
I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too.
But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.
A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.
America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.
Let there be no reason now ... Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.
Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.
Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.
These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.
I urge all Americans ... I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.
Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.
It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again.
We fought — we fought as hard as we could. And though we feel short, the failure is mine, not yours.
I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama — whether they supported me or Senator Obama.
I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.
Americans never quit. We never surrender.
We never hide from history. We make history.
Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.”
This concession speech should inspire the public figures across nations to conduct themselves in dignified manner after electoral defeat. American can be the leader of a decent political culture which equips every public figure to work for the common cause without vitiating the atmosphere and pushing the people towards frustration.

Sunday newspapers are heavy in weight. Multiple pages of matrimonial columns are the big reason for this heavy Sunday editions. Almost all the English dailies carry 8 page matrimonial advertisements every Sunday. The Times of India and The Hindustan Times are the two prominent newspapers which add weight to these columns. Apart from bride and bridegroom information different sociological factors are in an ample display. To decode these factors one has to spend a lot of time in reading these columns. Normally we do not even look at matrimonial columns if there is no need for us to find a partner for life.

To understand whether caste is still an issue in the wedlock, a cursory look at the matrimonial columns is sufficient. All the newspapers classify brides and bridegrooms according to their castes. Otherwise it is difficult for the reader to scan the whole a lot of advertisements. In addition to the newspapers several matrimonial websites have cropped up. Bharat Matrimony.com, simplymarry.com, shadi.com, jeevansaathi.com, and many others. Everyday there is some innovations in these sites and good improvements have been made. In a fraction of seconds one can find a suitable partner according to his or her desires. The search engines have made it very easy. Type Bride, age 23-26, Height 160 cms, complexion, fair, Caste, Kayastha, City, Patna, you will get 210 matches. With these wide ranges of brides with photos one can choose the finest one. If you are premium member of the site which will cost you Rs.3000 you can directly access the bride’s contact number and strike a conversation in the chat rooms.

The advantage of the matrimonial sites over newspaper advertisements is that there are quick search results with multiple photos. Chatting is possible with the girl and a comfort level can be established prior to striking the final deal. In the fast paced life, finding a life partner is both easy and difficult. Easy because of the several technological aids and difficult due to the persistence of socio-religious factors in finalizing the marriage.

Caste and class should match the desires of the partner searching families. In India it is not the choice of the individual over life partner. But the entire family gets into the process. One of my friends told me that he had no choice than to accept what his parents and sister selected. In more than 45 bride search visits he was never allowed to open mouth by his enthusiastic family members. If mother likes, father dislikes the bride. If three of them agree then his sister disapproves the girl for very strong voice and overweight. For the past 6 years he is searching for suitable soulmate but in vain. The consolation his sister got the right groom during bride hunts for her brother.

Despite high progress in education and heavy urbanization, social factors matter most in selection of life partners. It may be not be the choice of the bride or groom but their family members insists on the suitable social matches. A Rajput boy will demand the same caste, higher income, convent educated girl with postgraduate degree who can stay at home and look after the family. These qualifications are mostly thrust by family members. One of the important reasons for such stagnation in attitudes of parents in selecting life partner for their children is the soap operas telecasted. “Kabhi Saas bhi bahu thi” serial showcases the conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and the consequence of home politics. Most of the mother-in-laws are popular patrons of these types of serials. Obviously the teleserials have impacted them and made them extremely cautious while choosing their bahus.

Most of the matrimonial columns are difficult to decode. To meet the stipulated space and spent less on the advertisement, people adopt strategies and abbreviations. It is difficult for new readers to understand these code languages. It took months of brain racking to find out what BHP, S.M, etc are. Nevertheless matrimonial columns are interesting sociological reservoirs.

Recession is a reality in the current economic crisis. Corporate sector is clueless in managing the trouble. Job cuts, slashing of salary, reduction in allowances, shutting down units which do not give huge profits, and other ways are followed to ward off the sudden death situation. Common people too face the music with the shooting inflation. How Indians are coping up with this gloomy economic condition? Any scale down in celebrations? The initial results show no reduction in the size of the festivities. With diwali nearing most people are continuing their usual fireworks and gifts exchange. One has to wait and see whether the economic crisis has altered the spending. Last year Rs.500 crores worth of gifts was exchanged.

Shops are making all out efforts to woo the customers. The gold price is coming down from Rs.14,000 to Rs.12,000 per 24 karat 10 gms. Dhanteras – an occasion to buy gold is celebrated with fanfare by the jewelers. The purpose of flashy advertisements about Dhanetras is to tempt the customers to buy gold. Non stop louder advertisements in television channels pull the people towards gold buying. Slowly and steadily they are coming to buy. Investment in gold is attractive due to the slump in stock market and banking sector.

Generally festivals are ought to be celebrated even with borrowed money. Lay-offs and economic crisis are temporary phenomenon which does not tamper with the spirit of the people. One of the important reasons for such undeterred festive mood is that it is suppose to dump the worries and look for bright future. For instance diwali is a festival which welcomes Goddess of money – Lakshmi to home. If one does not have money due to the economic crisis, he or she borrows money and do the grand puja to worship Lakshmi. So that the Goddess becomes happy and showers all the prosperity to the worshipped home.

India has too many festivals. There is no stopping of any celebrations. Durga puja, vijayadashmi and diwali come in a month’s time. After two months, New Year and harvest festivals. In north India, Holi comes in March which is a gala event. Apart from these major festivals there are region specific ones which are equally attractive.

Added to the misery of economic crisis, terrorist attacks during festival seasons have slowed down the spirit of shoppers. Diwali season has been the prime target time for terrorists to plant bombs. The dense packed markets provide chance for terrorists to strike at their will. Continuous terrorist strikes have compelled police to erect more security barriers. The fallout is also on the shopkeepers. This year only 35 whole salers were given license to sell crackers in comparison to 250 last year in Delhi. Breaking all these barriers most of the people are shopping and inspiring others to face the grave situation with confidence.

What does the recession mean for Indians? It is not the one stop shock for all. Recession affects different people differently. Those who have good stock of savings and assets need to worry about this situation. Nearly 35% of the Indian population belongs to this category. Another 30% struggle for everyday living and festivals do not matter for them. The final 35% of the middle category may feel little difficult but not completely out. They are salary class people who get into the routine mode of get credit, enjoy now and pay later trend. Who is finally affected by the recession? Those who lost heavily in the stock market crash and lost jobs in the financial tsunami are ones who faces heat in the diwali season this year.

Still diamond –encrusted watches costing more than a million Euros, Armani scarves, Louis Vutton bags, Mont Blanc playing cards, Vertu phones, golf sets and many more exotic gifts are all doing rounds in the wish list of gift givers.

Recession will come and go. Festive spirit is permanent. It should not be bartered for temporary troubles. Live king size life and enjoy every bit of the festival. Pray to Goddess Lakshmi to crush the crisis and continue to pour wealth. Who knows will there be any gloom tomorrow?

The Supreme Court has thrown spanners at the only gala annual event of New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University - student union elections. The stay order issued yesterday instantly outrages all those who have been part of the radical university. Cutting across ideological lines members of the university community feel deprived of an intellectual entertainment during the union elections. Debates, dharnas, campaigns, posters, pamphlets, public meetings and many more unique events are part of the election process. It is the only university where elections are conducted by students. For the past thirty and above years this process has been a quite smooth affair bearing few odd incidents.

J.M. Lyndgoh Committee appointed by the Supreme Court in its report last year proposed few sweeping changes in the conduct of student union elections all over the country. Violence, uncontrolled flow of money, muscle power, political influence and loss of academic character of the institutions during student union elections have influenced the committee to propose stringent measures. Restricting the age limit to 28, amount spent per candidate to Rs.5000, first class pass in all subjects with 80 percent attendance and no second term contest are some of the recommendations of the committee as criteria for students to contest their union elections.

All other universities in the country have either following these guidelines or not conducting student union elections. JNU which is known for questioning the questioner was trying to convince the Court about its unique nature of the elections. The university does not have attendance system. Students are encouraged to do self study and attending lectures are made optional. It is a successful experiment where self struggle breeds all round development. Students from extremely backward families without any basic advantage used the university and reached top positions in life later. Those who have observed such a successful social transformations engineered by JNU supports the university’s unique culture, tradition and ethos. But law and rule of the country cannot be JNU specific.

Knowing well the impact of the Lyndgoh committee report, enlightened student union members of JNU were lackadaisical when the report was accepted and put for implementation by the Supreme Court. I find this as the biggest mistake of JNU student union. Last year when the Supreme Court threatened to stay elections, JNUSU pleaded for course correction this year due to lack of time. After a year the circle is repeated. In the absence of strong record, Supreme Court will not vacate the stay. At best there can be few agreements to the Court order and few amendments can be made to the Lyndgoh’s committee report. There should be segregation between college and university union elections. The age limit can hiked to 35 instead of 28. Two terms can be allowed per candidate due to his/her long term stay in the campus (9 years). Without a give and take policy the stalemate will continue.

Controlling violence, protecting the campus from defacements, excess usage of money and restricting outsiders influence during student union elections are to be taken care by the student leaders. They need to be trained to follow rules and regulations. If students fail to follow law of the land there is no future for legal mechanisms. Instead of stopping the whole process, educating and improving responsibilities of students need to be carried out. Knowing the pros and cons of student life, Supreme Court’s magnanimity in handling student union elections will be highly productive. Not too much. Not too far can be the role play of the legal authority in campus matters.

For many millennia, inequality has been a part and parcel of the social structure. Philosophers and economists have debated non-stop about it. In every civilizational turn there is a new form of inequality taking birth. It seems that inequality cannot be totally eliminated. Only it can be reduced. Different ideologies popped up to destroy inequalities and create egalitarian society. Alas! None survived except inequality.

International, intra-national, class, gender, language, race, caste, religious inequalities are some of the old forms. Technological inequality is one of the latest. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were formulated by United Nations and signed by the world nations to stop the fast pace of inequality. Statistics show the stagnation in the goals. Many of the underdeveloped countries especially in Sub Sahara are going down further. An observation of the living standards of common people reveals the inevitable nature of inequality.

A family was dreaming to chase their neighbhours in social status. Few years back they were without television set, camera, telephone and other consumer durables. After a long struggle somehow they managed to procure a 21 inch colour television set worth of Rs. 10, 000, Kodak camera costing Rs.1000, a cell phone costing thousand rupees and a fridge in the range of Rs.8000. But the consumer products are innovated and marketed in new form every day. His neighbhour now got LCD television which costs Rs.1.2 lakh, digital camera worth Rs.15,000, apple iphone costing Rs.35,000 and latest fridge costing Rs.60,000. The day dream of chasing the neighbhour’s status got crushed by the fasting moving consumer world.

A man walking on the street was envious of the one who was raiding a cycle and he was envied by another man who cannot walk. The cyclist was grumbling against the motorist who fumbled against the car owner. Maruti 800 possessor was biting his teeth against the Honda City owner who in turn was grudging against the BMW owner. The Gandhian saying “World has got for everyone’s need not for greed” is relevant now than ever before. Unmindful racing of consumer products is damaging not only mental but also environmental spaces.

Karl Marx is one of the revolutionary thinkers who thundered against inequality. For him the society is a constant clash between property owners and labour class. To eliminate inequality Marx advocated the transformation from capitalism to socialism to communism. Russia was the first nation to embrace Marxian philosophy and became a communist country in 1917. In eight decades time the first communist country was torn into pieces. It was followed by east European nations.

India is a mixed economy where political socialism and economic capitalism are in a symbiotic relationship. Communism refused to take off beyond Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. After the Indian public refused to accepted communists for a larger role, they have embraced capitalism in practice. Buddadeb Bhattacharya the hardcore Marxist is the torchbearer of capitalism in Bengal. In the final analysis communism in theory and capitalism in practice is followed. For the past two decades India has been swept by capitalism of neo liberal kind. In this transformation there is an equal mix of rich and poor. One shining and the other suffering.

There is a growing list of millionaires in India. Mukesh and Anil Ambanis wealth is more than few states annual expenditure. Naked display of wealth breeds hatredness against them. Wealth creation is not bad but concentration in few hands is determinant to the long-term social interests. Some enlightened big earners allocate a share of their wealth for public cause. In the recent times, Warren Buffet has become a role model for corporate philanthropy.

In India, Tatas and Birlas have earned everyone’s blessings for their social responsibility. Their time tested giving is an inspiration for the generations of corporations. To bring down inequalities corporate sector devise systematic methods. Any adhoc programmes and policies will not be able to make any visible changes on the ground. The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme ought to imbibe a time bound resulted oriented mechanism. Otherwise it becomes just a flavour of the month talk.

Inequality cannot be removed. It can only be reduced. The first step to minimize inequality is to take away greed mentality of the consumers. Today excess consumerism is the root cause of all evils. The society needs slow-down of ultra pace consumer culture. It cannot be controlled through mere pep talks and advertisements. A consolidated attempt is required to constantly influence people to buy for their needs rather than to equalize their status with others. Corporate companies are hyper active to induce consumer interests. Social leaders should work harder than corporate brains to control greedy consumerism.

Violence has a unique branding in India. Different people see killings of innocent lives differently. According to their political nature interpretations differ. One group can defend dreaded terrorists who maimed many people by blasting bombs. The other group can justify their attack against fellow Indians in the name of region and religion. Even a police enquiry creates uproar. 48 bomb blasts and 180 incidents of communal clashes in the last six months. Can we separate these two?


Violent activities carried out by Hindu groups are fancifully termed as “Communal” whereas by Muslims are protected as innocent minorities which I refer here as “Secular violence”. The minority syndrome started during the partition days to reassure the Muslims for an equal treatment is misused by political leaders to play vote bank politics. This segregated politics is the true divider between communities and destroy the secular ethos of the nation. India will lose its secular sheen if the law breakers are allowed to have field days. From the day of Babri Masjid demolition this divided politics of communal vs secular is getting louder.

Law is not allowed to function as per the written script. Police are handicapped. A senior IPS officer told me that everyday his official life is getting complicated. Trial by political figures, media, court and common people are disturbing his peace of mind and normal working ability. Despite their powerful positions, power breathing people are feeling helpless. This is amply clear from the statement of Shivraj Patill, Union Home Minister in the Times of India on 19 October 2008 (p.1), “If I am distracted by unfounded criticism, I’d not be able to discharge my duties. The terrorists are to terrify people, demoralize and defame the police and the government. If we succumb they’d succeed. That’s true of not just me but of my predecessors and those who might follow”. According to Patil, the number of violent incidents (communal, J& K terror strikes, Naxal killings) has come down from 36,000 to 24,000 during the tenure of UPA in comparison to NDA record. He puts the decrease in casualities from 11,000 to 6,000.

Politicians invoke “human rights”, “Innocent before final judgment”, “Hindu bias against minority community” and many other forms of rhetoric to protect the accused for petty political dividends. Another group goes on rampaging railway board exam writing students in the name of safeguarding their regional rights. There is a divisive method employed to trigger violent passions in the name of promoting the cause of community, caste, language, religion and region. It is easily understandable all these causes are not the real ones but political motives are the real motivator. Internal troubles by political groups and external terror by anti-national forces are testing the strength of the nation.

A democratic nation which believes in unity in diversity cannot afford to be a mute spectator towards this segregated violence. All forms of violence should be dealt severely and no one should be allowed to rise above the law of the land Whether SIMI or Bajrang Dal or Maharastra Nava Nirman Sena or Bodos all trouble makers should be delivered instant punishments. Any prolongation in punishment sends wrong signals and encourages more challenges to the law enforcing agencies. .

The simple solution advocated to end all these menaces is “ban them”. The past experience shows that a mere banning is not the solution. The groups can resurface under new names. The cross border terrorists have specialized in creating more fanciful names and structures if they are banned. What the nation needs today is a unified command with one vision to put an end to all root causes of violence. This team will not be controlled by any political motives or diktats. Total freedom and time bound action plan are required for such a force which will have only people with fire in their bellies to end violence without any distinction. No more debate or speculation about communal vs secular violence.

http://www.theage.com.au/world/old-values-will-help-us-survive-a-new-global-age-20081018-53n0.html?page=-1

Old values will help us survive a new global age

·         Gordon Brown

·         October 19, 2008

We must act to uphold fairness, stewardship and co-operation in dealing with the credit crisis, writes British PM Gordon Brown.

LIKE most of you, I have come from a family that values hard work and that brought me up to take responsibility and appreciate the importance of enterprise. For generations my father's family worked the land as farmers and many Browns still do. So it's hardly surprising that I believe in markets, competition and rewarding creativity and effort.

I admire the market's ability to release the dynamism and enterprise of people and so my Labour Government is pro-business and pro-markets and always will be.

But I also know that we do not live by markets alone. I have long understood that markets rely on values that they cannot generate themselves. Values as important as treating people fairly, acting responsibly, co-operating for the benefit of all. And these values that our economy and society need in order to flourish are not born in markets, nor in states.

These values - fairness, stewardship, co-operation - are learned in families, neighbourhoods and communities and developed in the relationships we enjoy as a society.

The first financial crisis of the global age has now laid bare the weaknesses of unbridled free markets. In the past few weeks trust, the most precious asset of financial institutions, has been eroded.

Families whose only speculation is buying a lottery ticket or a premium bond or a few shares rightly feel they are being unfairly endangered by storms they had no hand in creating. And what's happening around the world is raising fundamental questions for the new global age about the right relationships between markets and governments.

In this unique period of global change we are in uncharted waters. But we do have a compass by which to navigate. And while action is being taken to rectify the financial weaknesses of our banks and institutions, we must now also act decisively to uphold and apply the fundamental values which can shape a stronger economy and fair society of the future. This is not something that can be guaranteed by more and more intrusive regulation - it is about upholding three key ethics in public policy and across the public arena.

Markets work best when underpinned by an ethic of fairness. The institutions of the marketplace need to be founded on the ethic of stewardship. And this new interdependent global economy cannot work for the world's people without an ethic of co-operation.

Firstly, the ethic of fairness means we reward hard work, thrift, enterprise, effort and responsible risk-taking, but refuse to condone or reward irresponsible or excessive risk-taking. We celebrate those who profit from creativity and hard work but not those who make reckless gambles with other people's money. That's why, for example, a new Financial Services Authority code of conduct will make long-term success the basis for bonuses in the future.

Fairness means that in these tougher and difficult times where there is a risk of hard-working families being hit by unemployment originating in global forces well beyond our shores, we have a duty to act with urgency. So we are extending our new deal for jobs. Where there is a threat to enterprising small businesses - the lifeblood of our national prosperity - we must be there to help with new support in accessing credit. Where people make the effort to save for a home, we must do what we can to assist by getting the housing market moving again.

Secondly, the ethic of stewardship must restore to all financial institutions their public purpose. Boards need to proceed on the basis the best companies do already: that when people start a new business or save for a wedding or Christmas they are investing not just their cash in the bank but also their hopes and dreams. Quite simply: banks are unique because they are stewards of the people's money. That's why we have acted not just to stabilise the banking system, but to ensure that financing is passed on to small businesses and families who want to get on with ordinary life in these extraordinary times: banks doing what banks were built to do and the best banks have always done.

We are also finding that in an interdependent global economy the ethic of co-operation matters more than ever. We are in this together. Risk has been globalised, but the responsibilities to act when problems arise have not been. In the 1940s, visionaries took on the challenges of the day and built international institutions that have lasted for 60 years. But they were designed for an era of sheltered markets and national competition. Now we must build global institutions for an era of global markets and global competition. I have set out my proposals for a new global early warning system, for cross-border supervision for action to eliminate the conflicts of interest that have dragged our world economy down, and for fundamental reform of international institutions.

The smallness of political debate has all too often obscured the scale of these huge global challenges that we must address together in a united way as one country.

This is not just any time - not the time for politics or economics as usual. It is a defining moment for our emerging global society. And tough times test not just our institutions, but our beliefs. In this uncertain world the values of fairness, stewardship and co-operation that underpin markets at their best have come of age. These are the values that can unite the nation, will ensure we can pull together as one country - and we will come through the downturn stronger not weaker.

DAILY TELEGRAPH

 

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/goodbye-mr-kent-20081018-53mq.html?page=-1

Goodbye, Mr Kent

·         Paul Daley

·         October 19, 2008

IT'S amazing what a rush of Franklin D. Roosevelt can do to a prime minister's brain. One minute our PM Kevin Rudd is a super-cautious, process-obsessed, review-driven control freak. Then, after a few back-of-the-envelope sums with the man formerly known as The Least Confident Treasurer The World Has Ever Seen, he's blowing $10.4 billion of a budget surplus obsessively acquired over 12 years by The Least Relevant Former Treasurer The World Has Ever Seen.

Roosevelt, the inspirational Depression-era American president, liked to keep a lid on public expectations while at the same time taking drastic measures - overhauling the domestic economy, introducing the New Deal for the unemployed, enforcing price controls and reforming the banking system. He redefined American liberalism through radical government intervention.

Last week, Rudd had no qualms about channelling part of the Roosevelt strategy of invoking extreme economic measures while simultaneously talking down public expectations - even going so far as to borrow the president's famous quote that "we cannot ballyhoo ourselves back to prosperity".

While such artful appropriation of ballyhoo at a time of crisis has just given Kim "boondoggle" Beazley yet another reason to detest Rudd, our Prime Minister has also just gone from zero to hero when it comes to the politics of grand narrative.

One minute Rudd's critics and allies alike are pasting him for boring us senseless by failing to spin a so-called political narrative. The next thing you know he's banging on so assuredly about the threat of "extreme" capitalism, the implied venality of bank execs and the evils of avarice that you've got to wonder if the Booker Prize judges accidentally overlooked this particular morality tale by this particular loner who also happens to hold an Australian (though not an Indian) passport.

Seriously though, for some time Rudd has been trying to kickstart a debate about the obscene salaries and incentive payments trousered by some of the executives of Australia's retail and commercial banks. Fair enough - it's a worthy debate. But let's not confuse it with the current global economic and banking conflagration, triggered as it was by the subprime loans crisis that, in turn, stemmed from the genuinely immoral practices of some American lending institutions.

No. Compared to the odious banking practices in the under-regulated United States, where executive greed and apparent corporate malfeasance has undermined the financial viability of some institutions, all the Australian banks seem close to virtuous.

By all means let's try to lop a million or 10 off some bank chiefs' packages, but let us not confuse their pay with the solvency of the institutions they head. Naturally these guys and girls say they'd move overseas if their Australian packages were cut. That's not likely, you'd have to say, in this market.

Never deterred by Australia's place (island, down south) and influence (not much) in global politics, Rudd now wants the G20 nations to follow his lead on the banks.

No doubt some of our bankers are cursing the heavens at the injustice of it all. For how could such a shallow morality tale be brought to them by the wealthiest prime minister Australia has ever seen, and seconded, in a spirit of genuine bipartisanship, of course, by the wealthiest Liberal leader (and a former merchant banker, no less) known to this country?

It's all part of the New Kevin-ism, which is propelled and kept on compass by the ostensible modesty, parsimony, sobriety and consideration of its gestures.

This theme of low-key piety versus bellicose consumption has, from day one, been a critical part of Rudd's personal and political story. It's only now, with the image of an economic tsunami gathering off our coast, that it has begun to resonate.

Malcolm Turnbull has little choice. The timing of all this for him, having just assumed the leadership, is appalling. He can do little but feign bipartisanship while getting his shadow ministers to take niggling potshots from the side in the hope of scoring an inside page mention or two.

Offers of bipartisanship coupled with constant claims of "but we thought of it first" seem trite in the face of the current threat. But Turnbull is absolutely right to demand the economic data upon which the $10.4 billion bailout was based. In such threatening times, taxpayers could use the added assurance that the equations used to spend their money add up.

Times such as these are truly treacherous for opposition leaders. Kim Beazley might attest to that from his experience in 2001. Tacking to victory for most of that year, the hijacked planes of September 11 and the arrival of the Tampa changed the atmospherics dramatically.

Beazley's vacillation over the Tampa, in this febrile environment, was fatal.

Britain's Tory leader, David Cameron, meanwhile, is watching his hitherto extremely bright electoral prospects evaporate as Prime Minister Gordon Brown channels Winston Churchill … and FDR.

A few weeks ago, Brown's colleagues were plotting all sorts of strategies to replace their PM. Today, having effectively nationalised three of Britain's biggest banks before moving on to redesigning the global financial architecture, Brown has transformed himself from a ditherer to a doer. Brown was a confident and assured chancellor of the exchequer (equivalent to our treasurer) before he became a largely ineffectual, indecisive prime minister.

Which brings us back to Wayne Swan, formerly known as The Least Confident Treasurer The World Has Ever Seen. Suddenly he is channelling the pre-prime ministerial Brown.

Swan is operating with increasing assuredness as he administers the Australian inoculation program.

But he could make us feel better still as he sticks the needle in by showing us the sums.

What would FDR have done?

*Last week I incorrectly said new gun laws were introduced after the Port Arthur massacre in 1997. It was 1996.

Paul Daley is The Sunday Age's national political columnist.

 

Freedoms are different types. Generally the world is loud about territorial freedom and sovereignty of nations. Rarely one talks about personal freedom, institutional freedom and other varieties of freedom. From an observation of day to day events around oneself, it is clear that freedom of a nation does not mean freedom of its citizens. Hunger, illiteracy, safety, security, traffic, crime, political vendetta, diseases and many other ills are ailing the society. Freedom from all these miseries is the complete freedom for both individuals and nations. Is it possible for such a freedom? None can vouchsafe for total freedom and that is not realistic. Unhappiness will persists and freedom will always be troubled and questioned. Nobody can be totally free as long the world system breeds self-centeredness. To breath better air of freedom one has to sacrifice and self-disciplined. To make this another world possible action should start from every individual.

From national to personal freedoms there is a change. The difference is those who control the people. Even today some of the senior citizens in India would like to have the British Raj. They regret sending the colonial rulers out. The common complaint is that the Indian sub-continent has relieved from British rule which was highly judicious. Is justice is more than freedom? Which one is a priority? It depends on the situation. Indians may desire for justice and good governance. Chinese are eager for freedom. The age-old story of the pasture looks greener from this side is the apt description for the current situation.

The fact of the matter is that every individual wants personal rule in the world. Common living needs rules, regulations, control and punishments. If human beings are self-governing and self-disciplined there is no need for laws. Practically that was not possible. Hence the social systems have evolved certain mechanisms which can direct its people for better living. Emile Durkheim the French sociologist studied the ways in which traditional and modern industrial societies differed in treating people for violating rules. Through mechanical and organic solidarities, Durkheim demonstrated that the community in the past acted swiftly and punished the culprits. In the industrial society, elaborate legal procedures were evolved to tackle crime. But that centralized the legal deliveries and prolonged the justice period. In between people lost faith and also lives.

While trying to deliver justice through proper channel, modern industrial societies have installed highly bureaucratic processes. In a hundred year experience this process is found less effective. Across the world cities crime rates are increasing. Policing seems to be futile in controlling crime. The truth is that few khaki clad police forces are not sufficient. A nation cannot afford to deploy police every nook and corner. Community policing is the feasible alternative. Once upon time community policing was the common system. It was replaced by the bureaucratic method. Are we erroneous in the replacement?

The increasing choice for community policing shows that there no one size fits all solution to the nations. General. Pervez Mushraff has written that dictatorship is the best democratic method in Pakistan. It may be true. What the world considers dictatorship is democracy for Pakistan. Whatever suits the local interests should be followed in practice. Any replication of foreign methods will prove detrimental for people. This age-old truth is still not accepted. The governing people lose focus without following the traditional roots.

Some nations are wise enough to avoid ‘dance floor mentality’ and continue to follow their own steps. Bhutan is a fine example for maintaining the traditional systems with adequate dosage of modern methods. Its growth is slow, steady and happy. No wonder this small Himalayan Kingdom which got transformed into a democratic nation few months back is on the top of the World Happiness Index (WHI). Here too individual freedom is controlled to a large extent but people are extremely happy. The minute Bhutan opens its floodgates of global influences it will lose its distinct flavour of happiness and become one among the other unhappy nations.

To be free one needs to sacrifice and lead from the front. Accepting defeat and not accusing others are the crucial lessons to be learnt before embarking on the freedom flight. It is duties not rights, it is respect not fear, it is discipline not compulsion which can keep the world going without much troubles. Any amount of research and talk will be less helpful if we don’t allow others freedom and promote our freedom.

Invariably every company has got a customer care cell. 24x7 one-stop solutions are promised by them. These are basically computer –telecommunications linked systems which are supposed to solve the customer problems immediately. To increase the work efficiency and output generation, latest technologies are used. In the first step towards better management, customer care is insisted.

But practically there is a least care for customer’s complaints and suggestions. In sheer desperation to market products customer care is assured through wide advertisements. When the time comes for problems with products, consumer feels the heat. Cell phones, cable connections, Internet, and other electronic product related issues warrant immediate solutions.

As a free market lobbyist Nitisha (23) was loud mouthing about the best returns offered by the private sector for the customers. She always earned happiness in downgrading public sector companies. To score brownie points in casual debates she poured her heart and vehemently argued for the cause of private sector. Her boss a hard votary of liberal economy recruited her and paid peanut salary. She was assured of better pay after few months. Unfortunately months and years passed, she only worked harder and gave better results. No sign of boss talking about increment in her salary. Meanwhile she has to buy a phone. Naturally the multi national Nokia was her choice. With in days, Nokia phone started creating trouble.

She called the customer care for 20 continuous days. Most of the time she was put on hold or transferred to someone who cannot understand her problem. Frustrated with this problem she went straight to the service centre. There was a huge rush. Amidst burning summer heat the big crowd in the service centre increased her frustration. On top of it there was no air-conditioning. Not even water was served. After three hours her turn came and the executive in the desk rudely told her that it is not place where she can bring small issues. Anger soared to top of her brain and she lambasted him. Few heated exchanges wasted her precious time.

Coming back home she found her Internet not working. A call to the customer care centre was not possible due to the continous engagement of the given number. After 4 hours she got through the line and the executive was not able to communicate properly. Leave alone understanding her problem.

Not only Nitisha experiences these kinds’ of customer unfriendly behaviours, millions of people face such problems. Despite consumer cells and courts these problems persist. One of the prime reasons for pouring complaints against costumer care units is adhoc solutions stitched by private companies. Public Sector companies are known for casual customer attitudes because of the people working in it don’t have private stakes. With the increasing competition from private sector, Government companies are also forced to pull up their socks.

In the end one can sense that the present customer care centres are totally inadequate and ill-equipped to handle the problems. One, the scale of the problem and number of customers pouring is above the limit of the employees. Two, companies recruit without adequate training for customer care. Three, low salary and high level exploitation brings most crude work force. Four, top level management is not seriously monitoring the performance of the team. Five all solutions are provided to solve the crisis for the time.

Whether private or public companies should improve their services. Otherwise business will not improve. Consumer courts should take tough measures to punish the defaulters and deliver justice to the common people. Not only technology companies are creating problems, almost all service providers test the patience level of the costumers. Education providers and health services are the next worst areas. A timely support is required to pull out the problem facing consumers.

Gloom and doom surrounds the economy. Aviation sector is not an exception. In the first sign of nervousness, Jet Airways issued pink slips to its 1900 employees. Without any prior notice, Jet had taken this shocking decision. Cabin crew in fresh and clean attire waiting for company vehicle to pickup was devastated. Did anyone apart from the sacked workers thought about the consequences in their lives? What the sudden layoff means to thousands of young recruits? Their dreams crash landed and shows no sign of first aid. Nothing can be crueler than this kind of ill-treatment to the young employees. Of course they are taught dirty tricks which will dent the industry in the long run.

It is understandable that the airline industry is facing severe financial crisis. Increasing oil prices and decreasing passengers are pressurizing the industry to go for dire measures. In a scenario like this a company should marshal all its resources and act maturely. The common question asked is “will the belt tightening is only for employees or for the employer also?” From the initial investigations it is clear that the employers have not scaled down their lavish lifestyles. For a saving of Rs.5 crore a month Jet Airways has shown the door to 1900 employees. Is that Rs.5 crore bigger than 1900 young people’s lives?

One wonders whether Vijay Mallya, the flamboyant figure of the aviation sector is going to reduce his partying or the intake in the number of scotch peks? His emphasize on cost cutting to make his company “mean, lean and efficient” sounds ironical. It is high time that he and his peers graduate to a higher level of corporate leadership and become compassionate capitalists.

Capitalism can never shed its cruel nature. When it comes to counting currencies and profit it can be ruthless. Compassion and employee welfare is not even remotely found. In desperate situations only corporate leadership is tested. In this time of crisis, few pass and most of them fail to withstand. Naresh Goyal and Vijay Malayas are not an exception. They have proved that alternative thinking and solution finding to the mega crisis is not their style. When they fail to speak to their employees about the situation and take hasty decision which impacts the lives of thousands of workers, danger script for the industry is written.

In such a sad situation the corporate leaders should have called for a meeting of employees and explained to them about the crisis. An open heart session could have conditioned the young employees and might have contributed for the mutual understanding. All of a sudden issuing pink slips to thousands of employees is wrong western model of corporate governance. Citing the probation time for no notice sacking is ridiculous and inhuman. The clause for no notice termination is to make the learning a disciplined process not to use it for employer’s fancy.

Failure of the aviation czars to lead the workforce at the crisis will push the employees to seek the guidance of vested political interests. No wonder they first went to Raj Thackeray. Now the aviation corporate honchos will have to face the heat. Even a course correction at this hour can redeem their prestige and put them back on the right sky

4th October 2008 marks the 7th Birthday of the International Young Professionals Foundation.

Born at the conclusion of the first International Young Professionals Summit in October 2001 on Australia’s Gold Coast, the IYPF has grown in to a strong global network of young professionals spanning 130 countries working together to create a better world for current and future generations.

To celebrate our 7th Birthday, we’ve put together 7 ‘gifts’ for you.

1. IYPS 2008 portal
http://scenta.interwise.com/etechb/Portal/IYPS

Go here to see all of the presentations, session summaries, and even live recordings from our 3rd International Young Professionals Summit, held 19-23 August 2008 in Manchester UK. Be sure to take the time to listen to the presentation by Professor Jeffrey Sachs on how young professionals can help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals

2. IYPS 2008 Declaration & Communique
http://www.iypf.org/files/iyps2008/IYPS2008_Public_Communique.pdf

The IYPS 2008 alumni present their commitments and call to action. Read it, join us, and pass it on.

3. Monthly virtual meetings
http://scenta.interwise.com/etechb/Portal/IYPS

At the IYPS 2008 portal, there are links to upcoming events to be held on Interwise. We will hold monthly meetings and all are invited. The October meeting will focus on projects and plans for engaging young professionals in the MDGs. The November meeting will be a learning opportunity as we invite someone working on the MDGs to brief us. In December, we will hold our Annual General Meeting + have another projects and planning meeting. Bookmark the portal website and come back regularly to see what is on.

4. Stand Up Against Poverty
http://www.iypf.org/?q=content/events

Join hundreds of other young professionals at more than 50 events in more than 30 countries to Stand Up Against Poverty between 17 and 19 October and demonstrate that we are ready to play our role in seeing the MDGs realised by 2015.

5. Mdgpledge.org
http://www.mdgpledge.org

Visit mdgpledge.org today and pledge to incorporate the MDGs in to your personal and professional e-mail signatures. It is a quick and easy way to raise awareness about the MDGs and start conversations with your friends and colleagues. More MDG pledges will follow.

6. Onedoes.org
http://www.onedoes.org

To create a better world for all, all we must do is what we can. Visit onedoes.org and nominate outstanding young professionals who inspire you.

7. New IYPF.ORG
http://www.iypf.org

We’ve revamped our website. It is now easier to quickly learn about IYPF and find out how to get involved.


Click through to enjoy each gift and share these gifts with your friends and colleagues.

We look forward to working with you all to mobilise and engage young professionals in achieving the Millennium Development Goals over the next 12 months.

Cameron, Greg and the IYPF team