Monday, February 28, 2011

Dinesh Kamath was told that newspaper Newsband is Times of India of New Bombay or Navi Mumbai



Newsband is Times of India of New Bombay or Navi Mumbai, say many readers of Newsband

Newsband newspaper of New Bombay or Navi Mumbai is coming close to completing four years as the daily newspaper of Navi Mumbai. But there are many readers of Newsband who are referring to Newsband as Times of India of Navi Mumbai or New Bombay. All those who contributed towards the making of Newsband feel extremely proud of this fact. I, Dinesh Kamath (Senior Sub-editor of Newsband and currently Acting Editor of Newsband), am also one of the staff of Newsband who is overwhelmed by the fact that we have many of our readers who feel that the newspaper Newsband deserves to be called Times of India of Navi Mumbai or New Bombay. This is a proud moment for especially the Publisher of Newsband Kailash Gindodia.

Dinesh Kamath's editorials ('Convert corruption from liability into asset' and other editorials) that appeared in Newsband


Convert corruption from liability into assetThere are many prominent Indians who have stashed away a lot of money abroad. All these money are mostly stashed in countries like Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Mauritius and the Cayman Islands. If this entire money was to be brought back to India it would totally transform the country's economy. At one stroke, the entire internal and external debt of the government would be wiped out. One fourth of this money is sufficient to meet all of India's basic infrastructural needs power, roads, primary healthcare and primary education.
India is considered as the world's leading country in terms of undeclared offshore wealth. India has the world's biggest hoard of black money. The government is not willing to bring this loot back to India due to moral hazard. Granting immunity from legal action to the people involved would be morally wrong. It would be seen as condoning dishonesty.
The question is does moral hazard really exist? In India scams are common occurrences. Members of all sectors of society the politicians, the bureaucracy, the judiciary, the police, the defence forces are involved in some sort of swindle or the other. Our morals could hardly be exposed to any more hazard than they already are. So it's time to drop the hypocritical pretence of moral hazard and make use of all the black money in the interest of the nation. The government should see how best to exploit the situation for the benefit of the nation as a whole.
Countries like Liechtenstein and the Bahamas have become repositories of the world's ill-gotten booty, much of which has come from India.
India is one of the most corruption-riddled countries in the world. Why not turn this national train into an asset rather than a liability? When a tiny country like Switzerland is one of the world's most sought-after destinations for undeclared cash, why shouldn't India, with its huge size and its even bigger reputation for highly sophisticated financial jugglery, take its place? Along with tourism, we should promote India as the most desirable and safest address for clandestine assets and watch the world's hidden wealth pour into our coffers.


See the world from a large perspectiveThe wise one constantly lives in awareness of the basic unity of existence, free from the delusion of separateness. Grief and delusion come as a result of identification with the body, mind and intellect the little self. The moment you look at things from a personal angle there is sorrow. View the same thing from a larger perspective and peace prevails.
Everything around us changes, points out Krishna. One who is not troubled by these fluctuations and remains steady, equal to joy and sorrow, is fit for Immortality. The world is a roller-coaster ride. It is in a constant churn. It is a mix of pairs of opposites and is unpredictable.
It is your duty to act. There is nothing more sacred than a righteous cause. Just get rid of your worries and anxieties, fears and apprehensions. Focus on action. Perform it wholeheartedly, with sincerity and dedication. Success will follow. Work well done is in itself joyous. Action consecrated to a higher ideal is worship. You evolve spiritually.
We are all warriors in the battle of life. Each one of us has obligations to perform. Do what you have to do, do without attachment. Your right is to action only, not to its fruit. When you are free from attachment to action and anxiety for its fruit the mind is calm and intellect, sharp and clear. The result is perfect action. Then the fruit of action success, happiness and spiritual growth will come unsought. You will be free of sorrow and bondage of birth and death. You will then transcend delusion and move to the state of Godhood.


Solve problems of tribals India's tribal areas continue to fare poorly on development indices. These tribals have been exploited for too long and not shown enough sympathies by the government. This has denied them access to the fruits of progress. The tribal grievances have received little redressal.
The government's keenness to see state governors play a proactive role in administration of tribal areas is welcome. The Centre also can contribute to genuine development in these mostly neglected regions.
The governors should play the role of an interventionist because they can stop the state governments dominated by non-tribal representation from exploiting the tribals and preventing the benefits of welfare schemes reach tribal people. It is governor who can prevent the local administrative authorities from being prejudiced and keeping the tribal areas out of the development graph. Governors are in a far better position to direct the implementation of government schemes, and guard against injustices that tribals routinely face. In addition to Governor's rule, Centre's contributions in ushering in development will help mitigate the feeling of alienation among the tribal populace. Of course, the government has the responsibility of guaranteeing tribal welfare within the constitutional framework. Proactive governors working in consultation with cooperative state governments is the way forward.
But the problem is among a host of contentious issues between the Centre and states, a major controversy is related precisely to the role of the governor. There are many chief ministers who want the governor's discretionary prowess to be pruned and their interventions minimized. According to these CMs, the greater concentration of powers in the hands of governors is akin to taking a top-down approach, which is against the federal spirit of the Constitution.
In spite of there existing opposition to the idea of giving too much powers to Governors, it is widely felt that only powerful Governors can help solve problems of the tribals.

Be stylishly corruptCorruption now has attitude. No longer do thick wads need to pass furtively under the table from sweaty palm to grasping hand. Nowadays, contracts are handed to kith and kin as if by divine right.
Things don't look as if they'll change. The wicked won't actually mend their ways. On the contrary, the current public outcry may drive corruption back into the shadows and give us a rerun of the closet scamster.
The bribe today is not called a bribe since the word has a coarse ring to it. It is called as advisory services, or intermediary charges or consultancy services. The man or the woman who is bribing is not called a tout. He or she is called a lobbyist.
At scam school, you will also be taught to correctly arrange your facial muscles when you are being led in for questioning under the glare of TV cameras and popping flashbulbs. Rather than shading your eyes and covering your face - that is left to petty thieves and teenagers caught in a drug bust - your expression should communicate that you have powerful backers and that you are unafraid of the CID, CBI or the JPC. You can even smirk
Next time you find the need to negotiate your way out of a parking ticket or ensure a smooth passage for your long pending application at the registrar's office, do so in style. Don't change colour or glance nervously over your shoulder. Just dig into your pocket and hand out goodies with a flourish. Pull levers unabashedly to make sure that by marvelous coincidence all the juiciest contracts go to your close ones. You may even bring yourself to do it by wearing a pink tie.
In other words, indulge in corruption in a stylish manner because that's the order of the day.


Competing to be more corruptScams have become a part of our daily lives. As each new swindle is unearthed outrage seems to give way to wry resignation. Inaction in this regard may lead to a detrimental notion that India is a soft state and one can meddle with its laws with impunity.
As scams get scammier, both in quantitative as well as qualitative terms, the inevitable question that arises is whether it is our system, our 'soft state', that is conducive to corruption or if it's us as individuals who are peculiarly susceptible to graft of all kinds.
Corruption is fostered by greed. The causative factor is not nature but nurture. Greed, and the corruption it breeds, is rooted in culture, not in genetics. One of the side-effects of India's slow and painful transition from a socialist economy to an emerging free-market system has been the growth of not just conspicuous but competitive consumption. Everyone wants to do well economically - better than the person next door. Such competitive consumption the desire to buy things not so much for themselves but in order to keep up with the neighbours is not a direct result of the free market. Rather, it is the result of decades of suppressed consumer aspirations forced upon the country by an outmoded and economically repressive socialist system. Though the desire for status symbols is universal, it seems to be most keenly felt in emerging economies like India and China, where goods and services, including luxury products, show the steepest growth curves, thanks to the stimulus of competitive consumption.
But this competitive consumption has stimulated competitive corruption. Scams are become status symbols. Each scam, highlighted and headlined by the media, is followed by bigger and better scam. Thus today we witness a competition where each one tries to be more corrupt than the other.


Hindu religion believes in SecularismHindu religion does not force you to accept particular god or dogma. It believes in rule of law and ethics of the age. In the Hindu way of life there are no God-or-prophet-given laws. The Hindu laws are flexible and they can change to be in consonance with changing times. Today's ethics, formulated by the Constitution, is secularism. Anybody who violates this cannot be considered as Hindu. He or she is the enemy of the Hindu way of life if he is not secular. Hindu way of life is in danger today but not from those who follow other religions. It is threatened by some Hindus themselves who misinterpret the religious laws.
Rama was the most successful of all Hindu Gods because he believed in Ram Rajya or good governance. He believed in rule of law. He didn't believe in killing innocents in the name of religion. He gave people the freedom to worship God in any form or not to worship at all.
Hindu religion gives you freedom to see God in all things living and non-living. The Hindu way of life as described by Hindu religion will survive because it is the natural, free, inquiring way. A genuine Hindu will want the rule of law to be restored. He will want Ram Rajya or good governance. Hindu religion is such that it can be practiced without having to come into conflict with other religion.
Hindu religion believes in secularism. A genuine Hindu not only practices his own religion but also respects other religions. He will be forced to defend himself if other religion wages a war against Hindu religion.
Some self-styled 'Hindu' extremists have emerged in recent times. Their problem is the Hindu way of life has not been explained to them. They are unaware of the fact that secular way of life is what Hinduism is all about.

We need an English Publishing House of world standardIndia badly needs an English Publishing House of international standard. Its objective should be to achieve excellence in research, scholarship and education by publishing worldwide. It should form multiple offices around the world and should cover all academic fields at the time of publishing. It should deliver quality. It should publish for different segments ranging from scholarly to professional and school textbooks. Its academic books should influence people with influence. It should have a strong presence in schools as well as professional engineering and business management segments. It should meet the country's educational purpose. Textbooks are important and hence they should fulfill an essential national need. This publishing house should ensure accessible education and affordable quality educational materials. It should try and produce a good number of educational as well as academic books annually. It should try and do lots of new things since publishers can also be innovators. It should have the resources and the depth to make our country understood. The quality of the books it produces should be superb, pages should be glossy and there should be lots of high quality images. The books should be written by serious academicians or researchers. This publishing house should also come up with encyclopedias of international standards. These projects require considerable investment sometimes taking 10 years to realize. Such projects also lend themselves to digitization and e-books which are very useful for researchers. The publishing house should espouse high standards. There should be freedom to run the business side of things and at the same time the editing process, which is most important since it determines quality and reputation of the organization, should be inspected by the professionals.
India badly needs such a publishing house because today we have authors who can be rated as those of international standards. One can't differentiate much between Indian and foreign authors nowadays because there are many Indians based abroad and they write about India. Will India in the near future get such a publishing house?

Cricket favoured, other sports sidelined why?Cricket is a game which is most favoured in India. This fact hurt the India's Olympic sporting circles. According to them, cricket has destroyed or harmed the Olympic sporting fraternity.
Sponsors inevitably queue up to pay for the gentleman's game, television broadcasters give cricket a lot more airtime and print media publish cricket news as the lead sports item.
However, the reasons behind such step-motherly treatment of Olympic sports have hardly been delved into by the administrators of these disciplines, for these would tend to expose their own deficiencies and amateurish work ethic.
A comparison between the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games and the forthcoming Cricket World Cup 2011 (from 19 February) makes clear the fundamental differences in the governance structure of cricket and Olympic sports in India.
When it comes to cricket, the country comes to a standstill with people queuing up for tickets all day and night. Tickets become available online and matches such as England-India contest at the Eden Gardens witnesses an unprecedented number of online hits.
In contrast to this, the ticket sales and distribution for the Delhi Commonwealth Games were a complete mess. Stadiums were never more than half full in the competition's first week. Problems over ticket distribution for the opening and closing ceremonies had also resulted in numerous mini skirmishes at the organizing committee headquarters.
It is the professionalism associated with cricket, evident also from the way the Eden Gardens and Wankhede under-preparedness issues have been handled and hard measures taken, that explains the tremendous interest in the event across the country. Interest in the World Cup isn't confined to just sponsors and marketers. For the media as well, it is the first big event in 2011, a platform to catch eyeballs and garner high TRPs. Knowing full well that the World Cup will have to be covered from start to finish with the same intensity, most networks have already finalized their line-ups for the extravaganza. They have ensured that even lesser known cricketers end up making huge amounts of money as experts from the six-week gala. Unlike in the Commonwealth Games where tourist interest had dwindled to minimal due to the disastrous build-up, tour operators from across the world are looking at the World Cup to make a killing. Thus World Cup is a professionally managed and run event unlike the 2010 Delhi games.

Indo-US closeness a boon for our middle classUS President Barack Obama, during his visit to India, had said, “The relationship between the United States and India bound by our shared interests and values will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century.”
President Obama saw to it that there were job-creating deals between American and Indian businesses and the Indian government. President Obama expressed his support for India gaining a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. He is responsible for opening the door for increased high-technology and cooperation between India and the US. The US companies who joined hands with India are leaders in the civil nuclear, defence and security, civil aviation, and information and communications technology sectors.
It is when India opened itself to the world in 1991 that the trade barriers and tax rates came down. State monopolies were broken up and the license raj was greatly diminished. The talents of the Indian people were unleashed and the results speak for themselves. Indian companies like Tata, Wipro, Infosys and Reliance became internationally renowned.
India now has millions of entrepreneurs most building small businesses, some building big businesses but all contributing to an economy that boasts a middle class as big as the entire population of the United States. India has come along faster than anyone would have expected.
India faces many challenges in ensuring that its educational system, infrastructure, and other services keep pace with its potential. US businesses can help India achieve its goal of providing a better standard of living for all its people. They can provide cutting-edge-technologies to modernize India. They can partner with Indian technology companies to build high-speed internet infrastructure. They can deliver electricity to hundreds of millions of Indian citizens. They can help India build the world's best planes, the roads and the rail lines to help transport Indian-made goods throughout the country and the world. They can also help India to protect intellectual property rights. If India continues to join hands with America, India will be one of the few countries in the world which will lead the global economy in the 21st century.



Saturday, February 26, 2011

Dinesh Kamath's editorials ('Indian cricket fans need to mature' and other editorials) that appeared in Newsband


Indian cricket fans need to mature
The International Cricket Council (ICC) could not have found a better place to host the 2011 World Cup than the subcontinent, with India playing host to the bulk of the matches..
It is understood that India matches will be played to packed stadiums. The real challenge is to fill up stadiums for the non-India matches. Only if there are sizeable crowds for these games can we claim to have matured as a cricket-watching nation.. Take the FIFA World Cup: not only were matches involving South Africa well-attended, but most matches were played to sizeable crowds across the country in June-July 2010.
Unless India's public embraces the Cup in totality, filling venues across the spectrum, it is difficult for us to push home the argument that India is world cricket's true centre of gravity. Certainly it is the hub of cricket finance and also perhaps of new age innovation as in the IPL. But a mature cricket-viewing public, as we find in Australia or England, is still to be a reality in India.
The non-India clashes like England versus South Africa or Australia versus New Zealand is important and cricket fans in India should throng the stadiums for these matches too. Unless this happens, the event can hardly be labeled a successful spectacle and India as cricket's true home.
Interestingly, Indian cricket fans are faced with stiff competition from their Bangladeshi counterparts. Once tournament tickets went on sale in Bangladesh on January 2, the entire nation went into a tizzy to buy up passes. Within 48 hours the entire inventory of tickets was sold out, indication enough of the cricket craze across the border.
In India, on the other hand, organisers have found it difficult to sell inventories of non-India games and have resorted to innovative ways of filling up stadiums. The most obvious of these techniques is to hand out free tickets to schoolchildren, a practice that has almost become a norm at the VCA stadium in Nagpur, one of the country's best cricket venues. Even when India played South Africa in a much-awaited Test series in February 2010, VCA officials were forced to distribute free tickets in schools to ensure the stadium was at least a third full. This was because during the first two days of the match there were no more than 1,000 spectators in a stadium of 55,000 capacity.
This gives rise to the question as to when will India's cricket-lovers mature?


India can win

For cricket fanatics in the subcontinent the greatest show on earth has kicked off. For the next month and a half, the cricket World Cup will be omnipresent. All the cricket lovers in India are hyper excited. This is India's best chance to take home the trophy in a long while. In the years since its dismal performance in the 2007 World Cup, it has successfully achieved what few teams manage - a gradual, careful renewal, bringing in new faces, striking the right balance between precocious talent and experience. The selectors have really done a wonderful job. This time they indeed have behaved responsibly. It is clear that they are in a mood to see India win this World Cup. They have done an excellent job by including Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina in the ODI line-up, all. The bowling did appear to be our weakness, with excessive reliance on Zaheer Khan. But if the warm-up games are anything to go by, we might manage to become the winner. Our players displayed terrific form in the warm-up games. India played exceedingly well in the warm-up games and hence the expectation from the team has peaked. It is clear that our players are both physically and psychologically prepared to give their very best in the World Cup.
This World Cup is vital. It is hosted in a region where cricket has the most followers - and whose market, therefore, is the economic engine of the sport. This is probably Sachin Tendulkar's last opportunity to hold aloft the trophy.
M S Dhoni and his boys certainly go into the World Cup as one of the favourites. Fans, who till recently had expressed apprehensions, have now started to feel otherwise. They are looking forward to seeing India clinch the Cup. Will our cricketers live up to their expectations? Let's wait and see!


Can robot replace human warmth?

The Japanese are thinking of building advanced robot that will take care of the elderly people. This is tantamount to shirking one's responsibilities towards senior citizens. Taking care of the elderly cannot be left to a machine no matter how sophisticated and interactive it is. There are some people who are of the opinion that robot cannot replace the warmth of human companionship.
With the advent of industrial societies and disintegration of the joint family system, caring for the elderly has become a highly impersonal affair. An entire industry has emerged for providing old age services. Nursing homes, condominiums specifically designed for old people, professional caregiving services, etc, all give a sense of support. But the ugly truth is most people today do not have the time or the inclination to take care of the elderly in their families. The robot stems from the mindset that taking care of senior citizens is more of an obligation than a responsibility. This only represents a debasement of moral values.
The emphasis should be on devoting time to the elderly, not creating interactive robots for the task. Senior citizens should not be made to feel like social pariahs. Counting on a robot to provide companionship to the elderly because no one else has the time is downright insulting. These are not the values we would want to pass on to our children. Technology definitely has its uses, but it is hardly desirable to let it replace human interactions.
But there are some senior citizens who don't mind the company of robots instead of humans. Just as some elderly people are willing to be taken care of, many are unwilling to accept that they require help or too proud to be helped or just plain embarrassed when it comes to personal matters. In such situations, a robot could not only perform such functions but the very fact that it is not human could be an asset. Robots would provide a constant watchful eye and permit the old to live on their own, free of the demands of caregivers or a sense of indebtedness to their children.
The benefits could transform all our lives. Robots would give younger family members the choice to not invest in costly caregivers and to actually maximise the quality of the time they spend with their elderly relatives.
Thus the subject whether robot can be a substitute for human warmth is a debatable one.



Is India prepared if Pakistan attacks?

While India's economy is on course to rival or surpass China's growth rate this year, our neighbour Pakistan can lay claim to a rather different statistical feat. It now possesses the world's fastest expanding nuclear arsenal - and probably already has more nuclear weapons than the UK.
Indian attention has typically focussed on Pakistan's 100 or so deployed nuclear weapons. Pakistan - and its ally, the US - has gone to great lengths to reassure the world that the country's weapons are safe. The British had dispatched their nuclear safety technicians to Pakistan and they had voiced concerns about Pakistan's security controls.
Pakistan is now trying to build smaller, 'tactical' nuclear weapons for battlefield use to supplement its array of strategic weapons aimed at human settlements. We have special reason to worry about their having accumulated nuclear material because of the condition of state and military institutions in Pakistan.
When we think of Pakistan, we have our fixed reference points: entrenched generals, conspiratorial ISI, fanatical mullahs, jihadi extremists, corrupt and feeble civilian politicians.
Vulnerability of undemocratic or weakly democratic systems such as Pakistan's should be a thing of concern for us. It is the Pakistani state's vulnerabilities that pose the greatest danger. Its incarnation in terrorist forms should be of concern to Indians.
In recent times, Pakistan has suffered from sectarian violence as well as from natural disasters. Their economy has proved susceptible to global downturn. With more than half the population below the age of 19, unemployment is estimated at 15%, with much higher rates of underemployment. Although some of Pakistan's recent celebrity terrorists, such as David Headley and Faisal Shazad, are members of the elite, neither poor nor products of madrassas, a large, young population with time on its hands generally does spell political trouble.
If we have our Sangh Parivar, Pakistan is spawning a jihadi biradari. Both the Pakistani army and terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), for instance, recruit new members from the very same villages and areas in Punjab.
What if some of Pakistan's fissile tonnage were to slip into the hands of a group like LeT and, afloat a rubber dinghy or slung across a camel's back, make its way into an Indian city. Upon its detonation, what should - and could - our response be? Our military options are limited. To what extent are our leaders working to prepare public opinion, and build political consensus about how to respond?


What is to be done about Pakistan?

Pakistan is "the most dangerous country in the world", in the words of Bruce Riedel in a memo to President Bill Clinton back in 1998. Riedel is a former CIA officer and security affairs adviser to four US presidents. Now a Fellow at Brookings Institution, his latest book 'Deadly Embrace: Pakistan, America and the Future of Global Jihad' is perhaps the most hair-raising tract on Pakistan written to date by an American.
What is to be done about Pakistan? Riedel offers a familiar list of steps needed by the US to continue engaging Pakistan, including encouraging democratic forces, helping strengthen its civilian institutions, and even making a case for Pakistan to get the kind of civilian nuclear deal that the US signed with India. But Riedel also buys the Pakistani argument that nothing can be done unless the Kashmir issue is resolved.
Such a resolution would make Pakistan a normal state that is not preoccupied with India. "It would also remove a major rationale for the army's disproportionate role in Pakistan's national security affairs," he asserts. Yet, in earlier pages he has himself elaborated how every time a solution to the Kashmir problem has been in sight some misadventure has been initiated from Pakistan to scuttle the process.
If a solution of the Kashmir dispute would indeed remove the rationale for the army remaining in power in Pakistan, why on earth should the army, benefiting fabulously as it does from exercising that power as Riedel notes, want a solution in Kashmir that allows peace to flower between India and Pakistan?
The last time an opportunity was in sight was in 2007 when back-channel talks between Pervez Musharraf and Manmohan Singh came within a whisker of a lasting solution. But along came the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. It was like the time when Musharraf himself had initiated the Kargil war while Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif were signing the Lahore accord in 1999 to facilitate peace.
But, no matter, Riedel has laid bare the reality of Pakistan. His book is a must read for political pundits who are interested in sub-continental affairs. Meanwhile, let's all hope that democrats in Pakistan have been watching Egypt's revolution closely.


Nuclear BlackmailPakistan has a facade of civilian rule for years while the military has wielded real power. Generals and colonels have carved out large slices of wealth for themselves and kept their fingers in as many lucrative pies as they can. Its military justifies its stranglehold on power by citing the threat of chaos that would be let loose by Islamic extremists. Opinion polls show actual support for Islamists among the people to be relatively low. It is a US ally supported by substantial economic and military largesse from Washington.
In Pakistan there is tension among ethnic groups that compete violently for space within that country. Pakistan also has major border dispute with its neighbour. Pakistan's military has encouraged radical extremism through its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) wing. Besides, Pakistan has a bomb.
Pakistan is "the most dangerous country in the world", in the words of Bruce Riedel in a memo to President Bill Clinton back in 1998. Riedel is a former CIA officer and security affairs adviser to four US presidents. Now a Fellow at Brookings Institution, his latest book Deadly Embrace: Pakistan, America and the Future of Global Jihad is perhaps the most hair-raising tract on Pakistan written to date by an American.
Detailing how Pakistan's army has nurtured jihad for more than three decades, he warns: "An extremely powerful jihadist Frankenstein is now roaming the world." The monster has powerful protectors in Pakistan, "right up to the very top". It threatens not just India or the United States. It threatens the entire planet.
The Dr Frankenstein who began to create the demon was the late General Zia-ul Haq, a military dictator who was the first full-blown Islamist to rule Pakistan, says Riedel.
Meanwhile, American policy towards Pakistan has oscillated wildly between warm embrace, as under Richard Nixon and George W Bush, to more or less ineffective sanctions, as under George H W Bush and Bill Clinton. Throughout the relationship, the US has endorsed every Pakistani military dictator "despite the fact that they started wars with India and moved their country deeper into the jihadist fold".
The time has come to think the unthinkable. Riedel traces scenarios in which a jihadist takeover of Pakistan becomes possible. And then what? Such a regime will take control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and the thing is no outsider, not even America, knows where most of them are located.
It appears as if Pakistan has held the world, especially India and the United States, at the gunpoint. Jihadi takeover aside, we are paralysed by nuclear blackmail.


Monday, February 21, 2011

Dinesh Kamath talks about his ancestral property at Karnatak

When my grandfather's father had come to Mumbai to settle down here he had left behind ancestral property in Karnatak. Today four families have a claim to that property as per the will made by my great grandfather and his brothers. The four families are my dad and his family, my dad's brother and his family, My dad's cousin aunt (daughter of my great granfather's brother) and her family and my dad's cousin uncle (son of my great grandfather's another brother) and his family. The Will clearly states as to how this ancestral property is divided among four families I have mentioned above. Yet that ancestral property is under dispute today.
First I'll tell you where this ancestral property is located. It is at a place called Mulki which is near Mangalore (Karnatak). The exact place where this property is located is Chiranjipet. A part of this particular property is a small hotel (or Bhansali) which belongs to my dad as per the will. Just this hotel, if it was sold, could have fetched my dad a few lakhs rupees had he sold it when I was born and this would have made him a very rich man (since those few lakhs those day was worth atleast a couple of crore or more today). But the thing is one local person took possession of this hotel at that time and till now he is occupying it. He has no intention to quit that place and he has the support of local goons and also, I guess, the local government. The matter was taken to the court but yet the dispute was not settled.
When I was born my dad needed the money badly and he had the intention of selling off the ancestral property. He had the right to do that. But the property came under dispute and even today it is under dispute.
In 1982, when my dad suffered a heart attack he was admitted to Nanavati Hospital where he was asked to do open heart surgery which could have cured him and kept him alive till today. But he didn't have the money required for that major operation and that time it was our wish that the ancestral property be sold and we get the money that could have helped my dad to undergo the major operation and save his life. But the property continued to remain under dispute and my dad lost his life.
Well, that's all I know about my ancestral property. I am telling you all this because someone the other day happened to ask me whether I didn't own any property at my native place like all the other people do.

Monday, February 14, 2011

The latest photographs of Acting Editor of Newsband Dinesh Kamath clicked by Photo Journalist of Newsband Ashok Dhamija




ABOVE: Three latest photographs of Dinesh Kamath, Acting Editor of Newsband (in the absence of Editor of Newsband K R Bhat) clicked by Ashok Dhamija, Photo Journalist of Newsband. For your information, Editor of Newsband K R Bhat has been absent since last more than one month and hence Senior Sub-Editor Dinesh Kamath has been playing the role of Acting Editor of Newsband. K R Bhat is expected to resume from 1 March 2011. Till then Dinesh Kamath will continue to play the role of Acting Editor

Friday, February 4, 2011

Dinesh Kamath's Editorials ('Play a fair game' and other editorials) that had appeared in Newsband


Editorial
Play a fair game
Penalty shoot-outs are unfair way of deciding football matches since a survey says that the team taking the first kick wins 60 percent of the time. This is because the psychological disadvantage of playing 'catch up' affects the team going second. Instead of penalty shoot-outs, a tennis style tie-break system should be applied where the first team would shoot once, followed by the second team shooting twice, and so on, to level, the playing field. In case of penalty shoot-outs, the team going second is usually more stressed.
Footballers are paid big bucks to perform at the highest level to the utmost of their abilities. That includes dealing with the mental rigours of their sport, along with the physical. So they should get psychological advantage by replacing penalty shoot out system by tie-breaker.
Sport is a mix of luck and talent. Struggle and overcoming adversity are its central themes. This makes football a beautiful game. But penalty shoot-outs is just not a fair way of deciding the result of the match since they are more about luck than skills. The psychological pressure of losing the coin toss and going second is unfair. In an intense game like football, where small percentages can swing a match, leaving so much to chance is unjustifiable.
Psychological factors play a big part in sport. A lot depends on the player's ability and his mental determination to overcome the opposition. Hence a fair-play should be ensured. At present, in a football game, we have a pattern of play where the reaction time for goalkeepers is as little as 0.3 seconds. Next, those going first in penalty shoot-outs have the opportunity to square up the score on their second try if they miss their first attempt. However, those going second don't have this luxury and are forced to play catch-up.
The scoring pattern in tennis is the most fair of all games. Hence this pattern should be used instead of penalty shoot-outs in the game of football so that the result of the match is decided not by lottery but by merit. That'll make football a fair game.

Editorial

Provide proper healthcare to common man

The world's growing riches seem to make little difference to over 100 million people globally as they slide into poverty every year because of healthcare costs. The financial consequences of illness are severe for many in poorer countries.
In India, high spending on health is a major reason for people sliding into poverty. Coming up with viable financing methods, therefore, is an urgent requirement for many countries, including India. The World Health Organization (WHO) has made a timely intervention by calling for reforms in the way nations finance healthcare. Who pays for healthcare? The cost is now borne by individuals in countries that have weak government-paid healthcare systems. In India, there has certainly been an increase in the share of private insurance to meet private health expenditure. But this is no substitute for the state's role in providing basic, affordable healthcare. It is a know fact that 90 percent of the amount spent on healthcare has been spent from the pocket of the patients or their near relatives. The health care has also become costly. Even for small treatments like asthma, a common man has to spend a five or sic figure amount. Then the treatment for major ailments like by-pass surgery, and other related heart surgeries can better be imagined than described. So there is a basic and urgent need for the state to provide affordable health care to its citizens. The government should see that a common man gets good health care at a cheaper rate.
Public healthcare system has to take care of three main requirements: first, access of healthcare facilities to all those who need it; second, medical treatment at a cost which the poor can afford; third, use of all the three 'pathies' Allopathy, Ayurveda and Homeopathy, depending upon the patient's needs to cure the ailments.
In India, not only the poor, even the middle class citizens can ill-afford to avail of primary and preventive healthcare, not to speak of securing specialized medical aid. Many Indians have in their lips a prayer to God that they should be spared of the killer diseases like cancer, heart conditions and the like. If these fatal ailments afflict them, they are found languishing painfully helpless, soliciting death to redeem them from agony and sufferings. It is high time the government owned up the responsibility to provide for healthcare for the ordinary.

Editorial
Health is Wealth
In order to solve the health problems, China and India, which accounts for almost half the world population, have made concerted efforts in imparting the knowledge and importance of a small family norm. But the poorer African countries consider it a taboo to talk or impose a small family norm and this is the reason why you find a big number of people suffering from health problems there.
World Health Organization (WHO) can play a crucial role in promoting healthcare especially in the poorer countries. WHO should devote its energy and attention on finding a balance between population growth and health care in poorer countries.
The government should have a tie up with leading health care hospitals in the country, to allow facilities for the poor and footing the bills, through appropriations in the budget. Is it too much asking the netas for this small help?
In a country like India, which have vast poor population, we should adopt the policy 'Prevention is better than cure'. The state should educate the people and show them the way to lead a healthy life. Health awareness is the key solution to the poor people rather than treatment after illness even though both are important.
Instead of spending lakhs of rupees in treating a patient infected with Hepatitis-B, it is better to prevent this ailment by a simple vaccination at much cheaper price. So what if the state has to bear the expense? After all, the government money is also the public money. Instead of having expensive bypass surgery or angio plasty which only enrich the hospital and doctors, it is better to force the people to lead a better and simple life style to prevent any heart problems.
We have seen the sordid state of health care in our country where poor die without treatment. Our country boasts of having become an economic power but we haven't yet learnt to respect human lives. The government needs to pool more resources and come up with more innovative ideas to make health care cheap and easily accessible to all. It should make our doctors serve some time in villages. It should train health staff for common diseases. It should provide at least the basic preventive health care. After all, health is wealth!

Editorial

India and Pakistan should make PEACE

If peace breaks out between India and Pakistan, it will prove to be a big event in South Asia. The economic downturn in the West provides opportunity to both the countries to enhance their global profile.
India and Pakistan can learn a lot of things from each other. There should be enhanced trade in products and services between the two since this can give tremendous boost to the economies of both the nations. Instead of depending on the third countries in the matter of trade, the two can indulge in direct trading with one another and save on costs incurred through diversion.
It was very kind of Pakistan to have sent onions to India when we were suffering the shortage of them. This is an example of emergency response by our neighbour to an ongoing crisis. If there will be more such kind of trade the relations between the two countries are bound to become more positive.
India and Pakistan should also focus on IT sector and cooperate with each other as far as this field is concerned simply because this field has a lot of potential. India can also learn a lot from the textile sector in Pakistan.
Both the countries should lift all the trade and investment barriers. This move will give tremendous boost to both their economies. Another thing is Jihadi militancy should be controlled by Pakistan since this will result in more foreign investment both in Pakistan as well as India. India too will benefit because she will be free from terror threat.
India and Pakistan should also cooperate with each other in the matter of Afghanistan. India should not mind Pakistan's attempting to strengthen Afghanistan. In fact India should also work with Pakistan to ensure development and stability in Afghanistan since India is bound to benefit by this move.
If both the country show political will they can resolve all the outstanding issues that exist between them. The government of both the countries should directly talk to each other as far as Kashmir is concerned. Besides that, the two should encourage official initiatives, people-to-people contacts as well as cultural and academic exchanges.
Only such positive moves by both India and Pakistan can bring about lasting peaceful relations between the two countries.




Editorial

Socially and ethically responsible celebrities
Sachin Tendulkar had refused to endorse a liquor brand when he was just 16 years old. That proved how socially and ethically responsible he was. It was a Rs 20 crore offer and yet he turned it down. Another person who took such a principled stand was actor Sanjay Dutt. He refused to endorse a cigarette brand. There are other actors and sportsmen who refused to do endorsements for tobacco products, liquor, gutka and the like. These acts on their part have given tremendous boost to their images. They proved that they were capable of taking sensible, responsible decisions. They deserved to be the accomplished professionals in their chosen fields. They deserved to be idolized by the countrymen. They lived up to their larger-than-life images and the status as role models. What these personalities do and say have tremendous influence on large segments of their fans, many of whom might not be old enough to have developed firm perspectives and personal codes. These products which they refused to endorse are of the kinds which can have adverse effects health or otherwise on thief fans. That's a good reason why these celebrities didn't barter their public image to the highest bidder because they knew the implications their wrong acts could have. Peddling harmful products or unethical causes just for money could have affected their brand values. So all these stars did the right thing from staying away from these products since although those products could have fetched them terrific monetary gain, their images would be badly damaged. Had they endorsed these products the public's perception of who they are in their private lives would have got converted from positive to negative. So hat's off to these celebrities!

EditorialLove your neighbour, preach all the religions
World religions have like-minded beliefs. Christianity says: Love thy neighour. Hindus believe that one should never do to others what would pain oneself. Islam says not one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself. The Sikh faith asks you to treat others as you would like to be treated. Zoroastrians believe that nature is only good when it shall not do unto another whatever is not good for its own self. Buddhists say, hurt not others with that which pains yourself. Confucius said: Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.
This proves that all the religions preach that you should love your neighbours. There are three things you can do with your neighbour. You can either love, hate or be indifferent to him or her. Loving your neighbour is the most sensible and best thing to do.
If you hate a person, you suffer from negative emotions. Being indifferent is showing apathy. Apathy is as negative as hatred. It is a cold emotion. Hence you are left with just one choice and that is to love your neighbour. Loving a person simply means respecting the person and thinking of his or her needs and desires as much as you would your own. Sometimes loving a neighbour could be irksome. But yet it is worth loving the neighbour. A neighbour is very important for you own peace and happiness. It is compulsory that you love your immediate neighbour so that you can live peacefully and happily. The more neighbours you love it is better for you. By loving more neighbours, the circle of love gets wider and lessens the differences of community, state, nation, continents.
Your heart is so big and so full of love, that its capacity to love is infinite. It's Divine. Your heart's capacity to hate is limited. So avoid hating others. Hatred can shatter you simply because you don't have a limitless capacity to hate like you have to love. Love strengthens you. Hatred kills you. You don't have to be a religious person to love your neighbour. Loving the neigbour is a superb human emotion, not necessarily tied to any creed or religion.



Editorial

Asia has a long way to go

There is good and bad news for Asia. The good news is that women are giving birth to fewer children, babies born in most countries survive to celebrate their first birthday and indeed can expect to live longer than any time in history, and contraceptive use is as comparable as the developed world. With a young population and thus a large number in the productive compared to the dependent ages, Asia is in an ideal position to reap the demographic dividend. Its economic boom is its crowning glory.
But there is bad news too. There are inequities that persist within countries, between regions, between rich and poor, and between men and women. Many parts of Asia have been hardly touched by the economic boom, children continue to be undernourished and poorly educated, women continue to deliver babies in their homes, and when they are teenager. Motherhood continues to be a death trap for many.
Although maternal mortality has fallen impressively, there are cases where poor women resist delivering in hospitals, fearing hidden costs, disrespectful providers and unhygienic conditions. Distance, limited access to blood and supplies, poverty, and physician apathy cost many women their lives.
Also children continue to give birth to children. When girls become pregnant before their bodies and minds are ready to take on the tasks of adulthood, it exposes them and their babies to huge health risks.
What Asia needs is a youth population that is educated, skilled, employed and healthy. Unfortunately, this is not the case in many settings.
The reproductive rights of women and men continue to be violated in many parts of Asia. Child marriage, outlawed by international conventions, persists in South Asia.
The right to information has been repeatedly violated. Sex education is provided in very few countries.
The practice of prenatal sex determination and abortion of female fetuses continues and this has affected the sex ratio of populations of many Asian countries. Women have little say in sexual relations and sexual and physical violence characterizes many relationships. Many women are not allowed to make decisions, control money and even move around.
It is true that Asia has come a long way from the days of widespread poverty, but it has a long way to go as far as human development is concerned.


Editorial

Look forward with hope

At the end of the first decade of the new century, Indians have reason to be angry at the state of affairs they have to endure at home.
Out global image isn't so good right now. It took a beating in 2010. In terms of economic growth, there is a significant reduction of absolute poverty. When we compare our current economic situations with what prevailed 20 years ago or even at the end of the 20th century, we have indeed made some progress. But we haven't developed fast enough. We have the largest mass of poor people living within any single country. There is a mess in large parts of the country. There are far too many people who lack basic amenities to lead a decent life.
Bihar has proved that better governance can steadily reverse falling performance trends. Such type of governance should be applied not only at the national level but also in other states.
There are barriers hindering interstate commerce and investment. These barriers should be removed.
The past year hit our global image because of the ineptitude and alleged corruption on display during the organizing of the Commonwealth Games. The guilty in this case should be forced to pay for the foul-up and we should refrain from staging such international extravaganzas until we are totally sure we have the capacity and infrastructure to organize them. Radia tapes hurt our international image and left us in danger of losing faith in our national self-worth. Even our scrupulously honest prime minister is considered by the world media as a helpless professor failing to manage an unruly and corrupt class of politicians. The world media accuses our judiciary of being snail-like and our police force as being under-staffed, under-trained, under-paid and overly corrupt.
Thus there are plenty that has gone wrong in our country. We should indeed look back with anger. But at the same time, we should look forward, hoping for a better life in a happy new decade.


Editorial Ignore negative and embrace positive
Ravana was a powerful king of Lanka. He was a great warrior. But he had to face his own downfall owing to his extreme arrogance. Duryodhana too was a mighty king of Hastinapur. He too had to perish in the battlefield of Kurukshetra since he had become too greedy and jealous. Both these characters were no ordinary people. But they had to face defeat ultimately since they refused to retract themselves even on repeated good advice.
We find that a child picks up a bad habit more quickly than a good habit and then it is difficult to get rid of it. It is a fact that negativity is present in this world. Normal things have shown the natural tendency to deviate from normalcy. A beautiful palace in course of time gets reduced to a heap of rubble. The system of nature is so programmed that it has the potential to follow the path of negativity that is towards chaos.
Human mind is the most ordered and conscious system in the world. Human mind has the potential to not get affected by the negative side of the nature. If you have a strong mind you can surely stay away from negative things like greed, anger and ego. It is possible to detach yourself from these three negative elements which have the potential to destroy you. A man can keep himself safe by not attaching himself beyond the limit to the material world and by concentrating on building up the spirituality within himself. If every human being follows this practice, mankind can be prevented from getting destroyed and can be made immortal.
There is hope of human beings being able to check regression and continue to evolve to higher states of consciousness. This can be possible if man strengthens the will power and divinity within himself. The guidance of an enlightened guru can do a lot of good to any man. He is the one who can prevent the strong evil characters like Ravana and Duryodhana from getting born once again in this world.

Editorial

China's problem

Peking University is the Chinese capital's finest seat of learning. Its president was a scholar named Cai Yuanpei. Cai was wedded to the idea of a university as a place that provided 'education for a worldview' not just instruction, but a whole new way of seeing and being.
More than nine decades later, the same university is central to the worldview of the Chinese Communist Party. But the party's view is very different from that of Cai Yuanpei. For the party's plan is that universities should be powerhouses in their strategy for China to move from a country that imitates to one that innovates in science and technology. Much of the 'software' is already there. China already graduates some two million engineers and scientists a year.
Authoritarian societies can produce high quality science. In the 1950s, the USSR gave the Americans a real fright when they launched Sputnik, sent the first man into space, and showed that Soviet technology had the potential to beat the West.
Chinese are now at the cutting edge of technology in many areas. Chinese work on solar energy is widely regarded as world-beating. The Chinese space programme has already produced its first astronauts. It won't be surprising if China were to place a man or woman on the moon within the next decade.
Chinese annual spending on research and development in universities and other institutions exceeds that of Japan and is beaten only by the European Union and United States.
Many journals in China have begun to publish in English simply because this is the only significant international scientific language. The question is: will Chinese scientific research forge ahead even while freedom of discussion on political matters remains restricted? It is not possible to create a world-leading scientific culture while maintaining severe restrictions on freedom of speech. The Soviets may have forged ahead in space, but political repression hobbled them.
In China, the historians are prevented from giving the full details of negative historical events in China. To work in an institution which is known for restricting freedom of academic expression will, ultimately, be problematic for a scholar's standing. If China wishes to be the world leader, they will have to open more space for public discussion on change in politics and society, and their public should be fully informed by thinkers who can speak freely about their own country.


EditorialOur IITs should excel on global stage
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) needs to switch from a course-based to a credit-based system of study. This institute is known for churning out quality engineering graduates but it lags behind in cutting-edge research. Hence the future of this prestigious technical institute is at stake.
Our IITs fare poorly in global rankings. IIT Bombay, the highest ranked IIT, ranked a lowly 187 in the 2010 QS World University Rankings.
IITs should be freed up both administratively and financially. These institutes are burdened by bureaucratic red tape. Higher education is a politically sensitive issue. Many are not agreeing to let IITs become autonomous. They like the government-funding-quota system. But it is necessary to make IITs autonomous if it has to emerge as truly world-class institutes. Autonomy will give IIT boards freedom to hire quality faculty from across the world and decide salaries accordingly. But many fear that if these institutes don't depend on government funding it will result in student fee hike. They believe that the government should focus on providing scholarships to those IIT aspirants who come from economically weaker sections of the society.
The thing is that the intense pressure of the curriculum at the IITs has led to students committing suicide in extreme cases. The pressure also prevents in creating an atmosphere of creativity that is crucial for research. A credit-based system of study will ease a lot of the pressure. IITs must promote advanced scientific and technological research since they will serve the needs of Indian industry. Research should be done to suit industrial needs. With autonomy, private sources of funds for research will open up. This will clear all the obstacles that eight new IITs are facing. Autonomy will make them the premier technical institutes and will attract quality faculty. Also they will be able to acquire the infrastructures and funds needed. It's high time that our IITs excelled on the global stage.


Editorial

India is because of its democratic system
Adopting democratic system has done a lot of good to India. It is democracy that led to a growth-oriented, investor-friendly and sustainable climate for doing business. It encourages individual creativity and fostered innovation.
There is a strong connection between economic freedom and political freedom. India inherited the institutions of democracy from the British. This strengthened the country in the years to come. Democracy enabled each citizen to be an active participant in governance. Today, free and fair multiparty elections are routine at all levels, thanks to democracy. We have millions of voters and officials, lacks of polling stations, millions of electronic voting machines, many national political parties and also state recognized parties representing all the ideologies involved in these elections. Across the country, we have several hundred thousand panchayats representing local voters, developing plans for social and economic development, managing funds and undertaking projects. One-third of panchayat members are women and this has empowered one million women.
Apart from elections, India has built up strong institutions that support democracy. Its judicial system allows for rule of law. Courts at all levels hear petitioners and dispense judgments. The media includes a large number of 24-hour news channels and a multitude of newspapers and journals representing each regional language. The media has proved to be the main sentinels of our democratic process.
Then we have National Human Rights Commission to look after Human rights, National Commissions for Minorities to look after the interests of minority groups, Right to Information Act to ensure transparency and accountability in governance process and so on.
With the aid of technology, India is putting in place e-governance systems that have made delivery of public goods and services more efficient and transparent. The Indian governance system has demarcated responsibilities among central and state government. While defence, foreign relations and economic management, among other areas, rest with the central government, crucial sectors such as law and order, education, agricultural and rural development and health are the responsibility of the state government. This allows state government to experiment with novel ideas.
Democratic system does have some drawbacks. In spite of them, it has helped India become a country with a stable government.


Editorial

Science and Religion should join hands
Man aspires for enlightenment and truth. There are two kinds of people. One kind tries to see the truth in religion. The other kind searches for truth in science.
Allure of science is formidable and sometimes irresistible. Many attempts have been made to reconcile religion and science. But the scientists and their institutions were never truly interested in such reconciliation. Scientists strongly believe that science is truth and hence they look down at spiritualists. Science is recognized by them as the supreme religion.
Spirituality and science dwell in two different universes. Science is governed by empirical truths, while spirituality is governed by spiritual truths. Science is about measurable facts while spirituality is about immeasurable like love and bliss.
Times are changing. Many have come to the conclusion that humanity in the future will develop outside the foundations of science and technology, but predominantly on spiritual foundations. Hence science needs to strengthen its foundations. It needs to go deeper into cosmic principles. It should read the laws of the universe with a new depth and imagination. It must base itself on cosmic and not empirical foundations alone, since empirical foundations are flimsy. Science must have the humility to learn from the tradition of spiritual truths. Science must admit that it was spirituality that enabled the human mind to transform the mundane and the vulgar into the transcendent and divine, overcome brutishness in favour of love and share altruistically all the riches of this wonderful universe.
Spiritual traditions too need a renewal at the fundamental level. It also has something to be desired. It is too partial, too self-centered, too isolated. It also needs to look deeper into the principles of the universe. There are still many truths yet to be known. The search for these truths should be done with courage, wisdom and compassion and without competition.
It is necessary for both Science and religion to conduct their search for truths by cooperating and not competing with one another.

EditorialInternet has made the world shrink
Human beings began to get civilized around 12,000 years ago. There were humans in different parts of the planet. They were living apart from each other for many centuries and hence different groups developed different languages and cultures. When these communities came across each other, they either fought wars or traded or did both. As a result, cultures intermingled and evolved. Then the earth witnessed technological developments in means of transport and communications. Organization of societies evolved. Tribal clans became nations and finally United Nations was born somewhere in the middle of the 20th century. These nations got born because of developments in printing technology and the dissemination of printed literature. Printing press gave birth to Renaissance and Enlightenment. It made the masses literate.
Then we had the internet getting born in the last decade of the 20th century. The number of internet users went up from a few million to billions. The internet has given human beings a novel platform to interact in new ways. It has not only accelerated but redefined information generation and dissemination. The internet has brought humanity closer and we have begun to evolve as a planetary society. In the next few years almost everybody on the planet will own a mobile phone with an internet connection. Internet has given a boost to information revolution owing to which the world has drastically changed. Internet has helped to create planetary consciousness in all and given birth to global democracy. In the digital age, our lives are truly global. The internet has made possible a new degree of public involvement in some key global issues such as climate change, financial management, terrorism, pandemics and the like that affect people across the planet.
Thus internet has helped considerably in shrinking the world to a very great extent.

Editorial

Change this prevalent system!

Indian public was promised that a report on the Commonwealth Games investigations will be placed in front of them at the earliest. There is no report yet. And it will not come very soon.
Such type of cases is not something new in our country. If we think that our politicians are here to serve the society and that they are accountable and if in the wrong, will be tried and punished just like an ordinary citizen then we are wrong. Nobody powerful here gets convicted unless there is a stroke of luck or his powerful enemies bring him down.
Our Law is under-resourced or lazy or scared to take on the big guns. Contrast this with China, where the punishment for the corrupt can be death by firing squad. Not only that, the family of the convict gets a bill for the bullets, just to emphasize the point that no one steals the nation's money.
Our leaders roam scot-free despite all their crimes. This is King and Robin Hood system. Our leaders are like kings and they are unaccountable. Once in power they are free to use the kingdom to their advantage. The laws are meant for common people, not for them.
Robin Hood stole from the rich and distributed to the poor. This led him to acquire heroism despite being an outlaw. In the same way, our kings cultivate their constituencies like Robin Hoods. Within their caste or community support base, they are local heroes. They distribute their stolen goods among their people. A voter thinks look at that senior minister, he is from my caste, speaks my language and his village is near my own. I am his fan! With such an emotional bond, even the biggest revelations of corruption become highly irrelevant. Thus Robin Hood continues to enjoy support, steals massive amounts at the top, and keeps criminally pleasing his own people for votes. The looting never stops since the king can easily overpower the weak laws.
We citizens must demand an independent, constitutional authority that can prosecute the kings. This is the number one priority if we have to kill corruption. This requires all the politicians to come together, in a non-partisan manner, and pass new laws that actually reduce their unchecked powers. This can happen if people also demand it, and make it a bigger election issue than, say, religion and caste. India needs few genuine leaders who will put forward the principles and systems of a new, modern India. Otherwise, this old King and Robin Hood system will destroy our country one day.


Editorial

Be friendly with all
Most of us are preoccupied with family members and small circle of friends. We don't want to relate with strangers because we think of strangers as other people with whom you should not relate with.
Actually no one is a stranger to you. Everyone is your potential friend. Behave like a friend or relative with others and you will find that everyone is your friend and no one is alien to you.
It is a fact that all of us have common ancestors. This means that the whole world is a single family. That's the reason why we should treat a stranger too like a family member.
It is only distance that makes you a stranger. Eliminate this distance, and all will be like blood relatives to you.
A good action leads to good reaction. If you are truly a friend to others, then they will also become your friends. If you genuinely love others, they too will return your love in equal measure.
If you are a negative person and radiate hatred, others too are bound to receive these radiations and will ignore or hate you. If you have developed love for others, then you are radiating love and others are bound to receive the radiation of love. This is the law of universe. Positive radiation will fetch positive response. Negative radiation will only get you negative response.
It is better to be selfless rather than be selfish. Positive behaviour combined with selflessness always works. It is selflessness that makes your behaviour ring true. On the contrary, if you are a selfish person, your behaviour will be like that of a salesman. And such behaviour cannot have any positive effects.
Everyone is born as angel but after receiving negative impulses from his environment, he becomes otherwise. So, return to your original nature and you will be acceptable to all.

Editorial
India should emulate America, not China
In one of his speeches, US President Obama urged America to shape up for competition with China and India, which are thundering ahead in growth and development. Indians should be pleased to know that Americans consider us as future competitor.
We are indeed growing impressively, but when it comes to competitiveness, or offering an enabling environment for business, we are still way down in global charts. That's because we have a serious 'governance deficit'.
India should imitate America and not China when it comes to developing ourselves. Training people with a renewed emphasis on education at all levels and intensifying research is America's way forward to meet future challenges from emerging nations. It was in the late 1950s when a Soviet satellite spurred America on to a furious race in science and technology. But training doesn't begin or end with school. How children are raised at home is equally important fro training minds.
A Chinese writer says that America have it all wrong by bringing up their children indulgently. According to her, a Chinese tiger mother is right when she insists on a strict, sometimes harsh, upbringing for her child because all work and no play unless monitored for performance, will make Jack successful. But there is a Chinese-American law professor who holds different views on child-rearing. He pleads not to insult, humiliate or frighten the children into submission.
There are several ambitious parents in India's cities nodding their heads in approval of the tiger mother. According to them kids need discipline.
But are children raised in a near-perfect style essential to the success of a society or nation? Or are free minds and self-confidence more effective in producing pesons who can make society competitive?
It is true that China, with its millions of tiger mothers, have done well of late and shows some potential of becoming the leading nation of the world one day. But America has been the world's leading power since the middle of 20th century despite its supposedly lax style of child-rearing. In the field of knowledge, the US lead may have declined slightly but is still massive.
In a world's leading university, out of the top 20, as many as 17 are American. Nobel prize winners in science are mostly Americans. Just in the last couple of decades, the internet, email, Facebook, Twitter and the iPad all came from America, not China. Tiger mothers did not raise those who introduced such innovations like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg.
So obviously it will prove worthwhile for India to imitate America and not China.