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| Wednesday, November 29, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Attack on farm science No work, all pay Captain crook of cricket |
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IMPACT OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY Shameful capitulation to a bandit
Half-man, half-animal A BIOTECH company has taken out a Europe-wide patent on a process which campaigners claim would allow “chimeric” animals to be developed with body parts originating from humans.
Tragedy worse than
hooch Image of B’desh judiciary
saved
Netaji park by Jan 23@@Tribune News Service@@AMBALA@@Nov 27 — When the Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, announced at a recent ‘Sarkar Apke Dwar’ programme that he would unveil a statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, he gave a new lease of life to the Netaji Park project. The unveiling is expected to be done on January 23 next. Mr Anil Vij, who represents Ambala Cantonment in the Haryana Assembly, had put forward the demand to complete the park by the next birth anniversary of Netaji and the Chief Minister had readily agreed.@@Mr Vij maintains, that he has spoken to the Deputy Commissioner of Ambala who has assured him that the work will be completed by the due date. Mr Vij is expected to lead a team to Jaipur to buy a statue of Netaji or place an order for it. He says that Netaji’s statues are readily available and they will buy the best one available.@@The Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, Mr D D Gautam, said that the park would be ready by January 23. When completed, the park will be an attraction for the residents of Ambala Cantonment. According to Mr Vij, the project envisages a water body for boating, a children’s corner, an open air theatre and fast food booths. Mr Vij hopes that the revenue generated at the park will ensure its maintenance.@@A Public Health Department official said that the estimate prepared for the park does not include a statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose which will be installed by the people. “We are waiting for the approval and sanction of money to start work in right earnest”, he said. |
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AGRICULTURAL scientists in the country are angry at the shabby treatment meted out to the tallest among them by the government. Senior researchers and experienced teachers have dashed off a second letter to the Prime Minister pouring out their frustration and demanding justice. Some days back they sent their first letter protesting against the virtual sacking of Dr R.S. Paroda as director-general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE). The government limply said that the CBI was looking into complaints of malpractice in the purchase of computers and his presence would hamper a free and fair enquiry. This is totally bogus. There is no complaint against him and, two, irregularities in government purchases are so routine that if officials are placed on compulsory wait, all departments will be depleted. The very first bureaucratic action reveals the real motive behind this unethical attack. The two posts he held were delinked and DARE came under an IAS officer. And needless to say, the secretary will wield more power than the director-general, thus effectively stifling the voice of science. It is a throwback to colonialism, if not feudalism, that bureaucrats want to, and get to, control even so sensitive a subject as agricultural research. And Dr Paroda is no run-of-the-mill laboratory man but an internationally reputed scientist and currently holding a key position in the Global Agricultural Research Forum which hands out generous funds to all countries, including India. Within the country he is the general president for the forthcoming Indian Science Congress in New Delhi from January 3. Ironically, the Prime Minister is to inaugurate the congress with a suspended star presiding over it. As one analyst has pointed out, that will create a protocol problem and there is no vice-president who can take the place of Dr Paroda just to save embarrassment to the Prime Minister. All top agricultural scientists from Dr Norman Borlaug, to Dr M.S. Swaminathan to Dr G.S. Khush have condemned the virtual suspension and have demanded immediate revocation of the order. The top officers of the IARI have met to pass a strongly worded resolution not only highlighting the excellent work of the maligned fellow researcher but also pointing out the way he placed his team’s work at a higher plane. He has earned for his colleagues authority and autonomy and made them accountable. It is one field where the country’s success has been without a parallel and the proof lies in the food security it now enjoys. Anyway, the Indian agricultural research establishment is the second largest in the world and Dr Paroda towers over others. The Vajpayee government, which awarded him Padma Bhushan, has formally endorsed the proposal to punish him by unquestioningly accepting the tattered irregularity charge. Agriculture Minister Nitish Kumar concedes that Dr Paroda’s name does not figure in the complaint but pleads he is helpless. Now that the cream of the ICAR has threatened to resign if justice is not done to the scientific community, the Prime Minister should cancel the earlier order and, instead, ask the CBI to ferret out the real reasons for targetting Dr Paroda. There are reports that he ticked off several Everest-sized egoes in the Ministry over preparations for the Indian Science Congress and they have hit back. Incidentally, this year theme of the congress is agriculture and an exhibition “Agrovision” is to be the centre of attraction. Now the Paroda affair threatens to come to the centrestage. It is all so sad and shocking. |
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IT is straight from the horse mouth now. There is not enough work available to keep all Central Ministers gainfully employed, at least not the junior ones. Tired of twiddling their thumbs endlessly, the jobless Ministers of State are finding strength in unity. More than a dozen of them held a dinner meeting — what else — to exchange notes last week. What is surprising is that this happened at a time when Parliament was in session. No, they did not say there was not enough work going. The way they saw it, it was the senior ministers who were sidelining them. Bureaucrats being trained functionaries, to borrow a phrase from Mr Narasimha Rao, they too take their cue from the senior ministers and do not route files through Ministers of State even when the senior ministers are away from Delhi. They rather wait for the return of the real boss to the national capital, it was lamented. Indeed, there is a turf war going on, but that does not fully explain the idle status of some of the ministers. The fact of the matter is that there are just too many of them. At last count, the number was 75, barely short of the all-time record. There is no way so many mouths can be fed and also kept gainfully employed, unless one follows the Bihar model. When a few from Laloo’s brigade had petitioned him that they were yet to sign a file after being ministers for several years, the one and only Laloo had retorted that they should be more than happy that they get to have an official car and an official bungalow. Why should they also want to see a file? Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee cannot be expected to be that blunt. What one expects from him is a close look at the size of the ministry. A wag once said that bliss is when you have no work to do and two persons to assist you. Such an idyllic situation should not come about at the top. There are at least three ministries — External Affairs, Finance and Human Resource Development —which are headed by Cabinet Ministers and have two Ministers of State each. The turf war has led to many ego clashes, the most celebrated being the one between Mr Murli Manohar Joshi and Ms Uma Bharti. His new assistant, Mrs Sumitra Mahajan, is equally dissatisfied. In fact, it is at her house that the dozen-odd disgruntled ministers met and all but formed a sufferers’ union. The Prime Minister has been understanding personified but his men in the PMO are livid at the “ganging” up. According to the assistants, the ministers could have met the Prime Minister directly instead of making the grouse public. The ministers’ approach may have been questionable but their complaint is worth looking into. There is no doubt that exigencies of coalition politics tend to inflate ministries but some downsizing is essential. White elephants are hard to feed unless you happen to have lots of money to burn. The same is true of jumbo-sized ministries as well! |
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FORMER Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin should be banned from playing cricket. For someone who brought unimaginable disrepute to the game which pulled him out of obscurity and made him into an international icon no form of punishment is in fact enough. A life ban is the least he deserves now that former CBI Joint Director and anti-corruption commissioner of the BCCI K. Madhavan has found the conclusions of the official report on cricket matching-fixing and related malpractices to be substantially correct. He should also be stripped of all the personal honours which were bestowed on him on the basis of his achievements on the field. The Special General Meeting of the BCCI today would have the official report of the CBI, Mr Madhavan's findings and the disciplinary committee's recommendation before it to decide the future course of action against Azhar, Ajay Jadeja, Ajay Sharma, Nayan Mongia and Manoj Prabhakar and the longest serving physio of the Indian team Dr Ali Irani. The Madhavan report has come to the conclusion, after studying the official document and talking to the Indian players named by the CBI, that Azharuddin may indeed have been involved in fixing the outcome of matches in which he played as captain. The evidence against Mongia was found to be insufficient to warrant harsh punitive action. The reason why the evidence against Azhar is more damning in relation to other tainted players is because cricket is the only team game in which a crooked and corrupt captain has the power to influence the outcome of a match. A cricket captain can in most cases ensure defeat for his side, but not victory. Yes, the captain cannot make "uninvolved" batsmen play poor shots, but he can always under-bowl the strike bowlers, as Azhar used to do in the case of Kapil Dev, and set a poor field for the rival team to score runs. The former South African captain, Hansie Cronje, admitted his role in match-fixing and Azharuddin has been found out to have been equally greedy about making easy money, even if it meant selling his soul and the sporting pride of the nation. The Pakistani authorities found Salim Malik to have been in the same stinking boat of corruption and slapped a life ban on him. Cronje too has met a similar fate. There is no reason why Azharuddin should not join his other unworthy international colleagues in the rogues gallery. Three former captains out of nine established Test playing countries have been found to have thrown matches in return for money and other favours from international cartels. Yet, neither the International Cricket Council nor the boards of the Test playing nations have shown any urgency in putting into place harsh penalties for corrupt cricketers. The least they can do is give serious thought to the issue of how to pick only players of proven integrity for leading their countries. Individual players can take money for under-performing themselves. But only the captain can giftwrap a match and hand it on a platter to the bookies. Another issue which needs attention are the rumours doing the rounds about political pressure being used for saving the skins of some of the tainted cricketers At least two of the five players named by the CBI can claim to have the right political connections. The action which the BCCI will recommend today should help provide some clue to the authenticity of the rumours. The board officials, who are largely responsible for letting a bruise to become a soar by consistently ignoring reports of match-fixing, should know what is good for the health of Indian cricket. The cricket-crazy nation will not forgive them if they once again try to obfuscate the issue and provide an escape route to the captain crook of Indian cricket and those who directly or indirectly helped him build his empire of dirty deeds. |
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IMPACT OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY THE World Bank’s recently released World Development Report (WDR) for the year 2000-2001 is subtitled “Attacking Poverty”. The report deals exclusively with the problem of poverty in the world and proposes strategies to alleviate the misery which is indeed grave of the world’s 6 billion people, 2.8 billion live on less than $ 2 a day and 1.2 billion live on less than $ 1 a day. However, this 335-page report, by and large, overlooks one of the most critical causes of poverty. The WDR does not advocate — as it ought to have — the need to minimise the adverse effects of modern technology that lead to the depletion of job opportunities which is a major cause of poverty and to promote the use of labour-intensive technologies. Among the numerous commendable achievements of science and technology (scitech), three are of relevance for the present analysis. First, the tremendous advancements in the field of medical science and public health care have led to a significant reduction in infant/child mortality and crude death rates. Second, the remarkable increase in the human capability to harness nature for consumption or even wastage. Third, the replacement of human labour by machines. These three consequences of developments in scitech have made a profound impact not only on economic growth but also on the socio-political scenario of the world. Because of decline in the death rate, human population registered a rapid increase; and since the turn of the 19th century, that is, from the time of Malthus the world’s population has increased more than fivefold. It is true that scitech has also provided ways and means for birth control, but due to various reasons the decline in the birth rate has not been commensurate with the fall in the death rate, leading to the population explosion as stated above. But despite this massive increase in population, no part of the world is today facing any holocaust of the kind predicted by Malthus. This is so because of the tremendous increase in the human capability to harness nature to meet the increasing human needs or even greeds; and hence the world today is by and large free from any crunch of the Malthusian kind despite a five-fold increase in population since Malthus published his famous thesis. But let us not be overjoyed for allaying the Malthusian apprehensions vis-a-vis the population growth as the advances in scitech are, in the process, also leading the nations to a future which is destined to be more cruel and worse than the Malthusian prognosis. This has to be so because, as rightly cautioned by Bertrand Russell, “both industry and agriculture to a continually increasing degree, are carried on in ways that waste the world’s capital of natural resources. The world has indeed been living on its capital, and so long it remains industrial it must continue to do so. Agriculture too depends upon irreplaceable materials and sources of energy.” And with the ever-increasing demands of the growing population, natural resources are being harnessed at an equally accelerated rate made possible by technological advancements, resulting in yet faster depletion of natural resources. In fact, with the phenomenal advancements in scitech, the issue today is not whether the growing demands of the burgeoning population can be met or not but whether they can be fulfilled without damaging the sustainability of the ecosystem. Besides sustainability, there is yet another problem associated with the high rate of consumption of nature’s resources. We must realise that mostly consumption leads not only to the depletion of natural resources but also produces wastes. And if the rate and form of waste generation are such that the wastes could not be assimilated by nature through its own process or even with assistance from suitable scitech, then there will inevitably be piling up of wastes which will eventually become unbearable for people and the ecosystem. Thus, while scitech has helped humans to overcome the Malthusian dangers by enhancing the powers to harness nature to meet the needs or even greeds of growing numbers, it has also endangered the very sustainability of the ecosystem by depleting its resources at a rate faster than the nature could sustain and by generating wastes at a rate faster than the ecosystem could assimilate by itself or even with technical assistance. Thus, it should be evident that while scitech has enabled nations to survive and enjoy so far despite their burgeoning population; it has done so if only at the cost of their future. It is this realisation that has forced people to look for newer scitech paradigms that could lead to sustainable socio-economic developments. We now take up the issue of replacement of human labour with machine, which has been a well-known consequence of advancements in scitech. It is, of course, true that scitech has also created new job opportunities, but they are less in number than the jobs killed by machines. Modern technologies are all the more adapt to promoting automation and are thus minimising the need for human work force, restricting the much needed commensurate increase in job opportunities vis-a vis the requirements of the growing population leading to an increase in unemployment. So, the advancements in scitech have on one hand led to an increase in world population and on the other have also seriously impeded the growth of job opportunities; and both these phenomena have led to a shortage in opportunities for earnings for the growing population causing an increase in the number of the poor. The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, has very rightly stressed that the rise in unemployment in our country is due to the increase in our population and the induction of new technologies in the country. Anyone feeling concerned about the problem of poverty must be aware that the shortage of opportunities for earning is the single most important cause of poverty; and productive and purposeful jobs are the only sustainable and proper way to alleviate poverty. The penury of a jobless person may be mitigated to some extent by giving doles or subsidies, but these “state charities” cannot remove indignities and frustrations caused by unemployment to any individual. So, the only sustainable and dignified way to removing poverty is to generate adequate job opportunities to save people from the frustrations of “joblessness” and also from income — poverty which is a necessary prerequisite for removing non-income poverty as well. For attacking poverty and the miseries that poverty breeds, the WDR has set seven international development goals to be achieved by 2015 or earlier. These goals are: “(i) reduce the proportion of people living in extreme poverty (living on less than $ 1 a day) by half between 1990 and 2015; (ii) enroll all children in primary schools by 2015; (iii) make progress toward gender equality and empowering women by eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005; (iv) reduce infant and child mortality rates by two-thirds between 1990-2015; (v) reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three-quarters between 1990-2015; (vi) provide access for all who need reproductive health services by 2015; and (vii) implement national strategies for sustainable development by 2005 so as to reverse the loss of environmental resources by 2015.” A closer look at these goals makes it clear that the goals at numbers two, three, four, five and six are rightly the same that are also required to control population growth which, as explained earlier, is promoting poverty. The goal at number 7 is to save the nations from unsustainable modes of development. But what about the depleting effects of scitech on job opportunities driving people to poverty and frustration? Why the WDR is mostly evasive on this vital issue? The WDR talks about several strategies to generate “opportunities” necessary for alleviating poverty such as overall economic growth, market reforms, credits, education, health care, technology innovation, etc, but does not lay any stress on the promotion of labour-intensive industries and agriculture without which the goal to reduce extreme poverty sounds more like a hollow slogan than any achievable aim, unless of course, the World Bank wants the nations to mitigate extreme poverty through mainly state charities given overtly or covertly. If restrictions could be imposed on scitech to safeguard ecology, there should also be no objection in restricting the mindless craze of scitech for automation depleting job opportunities. This article can be summed up most effectively by recalling the words of Mahatma Gandhi. He said, “Machinery has its place; it has come to stay. But it must not be allowed to displace necessary human labour. An improved plough is a good thing. But if by some chance one man could plough up, by some mechanical invention of his, the whole of the land of India and control all the agricultural produce and if millions had no other occupation, they would starve, and being idle, they would become dunces, as many have already become. There is hourly danger of many more being reduced to that unenviable state.” He also made it clear that, “What I object to, is the ‘craze’ for machinery, not machinery as such. The craze is for what they call labour-saving machinery. Men go on ‘saving labour’ till thousands are without work and thrown on the open street to die of starvation. I want to save time and labour, not for a fraction of mankind, but for all; I want the concentration of wealth, not in the hands of a few, but in the hands of all. Today machinery merely helps a few to ride on the back of millions. The impetus behind it all is not the philanthropy to save labour, but greed. It is against this concentration of things that I am fighting with all my might.” It is indeed an irony but no wonder that today starving millions and tonnes of “excess” foodgrains rotting in the godowns or even outside are coexisting side by side in the very land of the Mahatma despite his warnings. The World Bank should not be oblivious to such realities. —
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Shameful capitulation to a bandit WE have just witnessed yet another shameful chapter in our political history — the kidnapping and release of Mutturaj Puttaswamiah, known to his army of fans simply as Dr Rajkumar, the hugely popular 73-year-old Kannada movie icon. He was kidnapped on the night of July 30 by the gang of Gopinatham Muzhukkam Veerappan, an ivory and sandalwood smuggler, who has been responsible for over 100 murders. Veerappan held Rajkumar till the other day, when he suddenly released him under circumstances which are still shrouded in mystery. For over three months, a forest brigand sporting a trademark moustache was able to defy the might of two states, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, while making the most outrageous of demands. The Chief Ministers of both states, Mr S.M. Krishna and Mr M. Karunanidhi, are claiming “victory” and the people of Karnataka have been celebrating. This is no victory and no cause for celebration. It is an abject defeat for both states, a shameless capitulation by the two Chief Ministers to a mass murderer. As for celebration, Kannadas should really be in mourning. The only man who is celebrating is Veerappan, the man who has had the last laugh, thanks to our two inept Chief Ministers and their advisers. He has emerged as a generous hero. Rajkumar has referred to his “humaneness”. Veerappan “treated us like a relative”, said Rajkumar after his release. One paper carried a photo of a beaming Veerappan handing over a parting gift to a smiling Rajkumar just before his release. The actor must be out of his mind or a victim of the “Stockholm Syndrome”, whereby those kidnapped and held over a long period of time often start having friendly feelings towards their captors. Veerappan is a ruthless and cold-blooded killer, who, apart from his 120 human victims, has slaughtered hundreds of elephants for their tusks. When trade in ivory collapsed, following the ban on the sale of ivory goods, he turned to sandalwood and denuded the forests in which he operated. The police forces of two large states and even a Special Task Force (STF) was unable to bring him to his knees. He has survived mainly because he has been able to bribe politicians and officials through his ill-gotten gains. He has terrorised the villagers in his area. “Informers” are tortured and killed. There is not even an iota of humanity in him. He has made India look foolish and backward in the eyes of the rest of the world. Imagine, in this day and age, a bandit able to kidnap and hold to ransom a revered film star for over three months, while teams are sent to “negotiate” with the bandit, with the two Chief Ministers, both supinely obsequious, ready to concede all his demands, including the release of convicted terrorists and separatists. Fortunately, the Supreme Court came into the picture and said, “Nothing doing.” If confirmation was needed that we are indeed a soft state, unwilling to take tough decisions when required, it has come with this sorry affair. We did the same over the hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane and the hostage crisis at Kandahar. There, too, we took the easy way out. External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh even went in the same plane as the released terrorists! What prevented Mr Karunanidhi and Mr Krishna from saying, “enough is enough” and requesting the Army to hunt out Veerappan and his gang, if the police were not up to the task? Yes, there was a risk that Rajkumar and the others who had been kidnapped might be harmed. But that was a risk that had to be taken in the circumstances. Instead, we have been made a laughing stock by a bandit. And a bandit who is now even more powerful, who could repeat another high-profile kidnapping whenever he chooses. He must also have got something in return for releasing Rajkumar. The story that the actor is sending out, about how a lady doctor, who was in the negotiating team, and he, had play-acted about him (Rajkumar) being seriously ill and that Veerappan had been fooled into releasing him, is strictly for the birds. It strains credulity. Veerappan must have got his pound of flesh, in the form of hard cash — figures ranging from Rs 10 crore to Rs 50 crore are being bandied about — and probably also a commitment that he would not be pursued by the police or the Army. Only time will tell if this was actually so. The latest story doing the rounds is that he has escaped to Sri Lanka, or rather been allowed to escape to that country. The other main cause for worry is the composition of the final negotiating team. It included Pazha Nedumaran, who belongs to the Tamil Nationalist Movement, a separatist party with close links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the murderous Sri Lankan terrorist outfit that assassinated Rajiv Gandhi. In fact, Nedumaran has been advocating amnesty for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassins. Mr Karunanidhi, who has flip-flopped in his stance towards the LTTE, might have had no problems with Mr Nedumaran. But what about Mr Krishna, who is a member of the Congress? In effect, he has given approval to a man who supports Rajiv Gandhi’s killers. What has Mrs Sonia Gandhi have to say about that? Another member of the negotiating team, Mr P. Sukumaran, though he now calls himself a “human rights activist”, spent a year in jail for his involvement in the bombing of the TV station in Kodaikanal and was closely associated with the People’s War Group (PWG), a leftist outfit, responsible for the killing of hundreds of people. These are the men who “negotiated” with Veerappan, with the blessings of Mr Karunanidhi and Mr Krishna! What have we come to? |
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Half-man, half-animal A BIOTECH company has taken out a Europe-wide patent on a process which campaigners claim would allow “chimeric” animals to be developed with body parts originating from humans. An Australian company, Amrad, was granted the patent last year, which covers embryos containing cells both from humans and from “mice, sheep, pigs, cattle, goats or fish”. Church groups have already reacted with outrage, denouncing the patent as “morally offensive”. Details in the patent do not make it clear what use these mixed-species embryos would be put to, but experts who have studied the patent’s claims are in no doubt that the potential is there to create a hybrid creature. Dr Sue Mayer, director of Genewatch, said: “The company is saying that it wants a patent on a process which could produce chimeric animals using cells from a whole range of species, including humans. Many people will find the thought abhorrent.” A spokesman for the Catholic Church said: “To patent a process where human life is used as a kind of bank to deposit into animals is morally indefensible.” Dr Donald Bruce, a spokesman for European churches on bioethics, said: This patent should never have been passed. If people are talking about using human cells in animals, that is completely unacceptable.” (Observer)
Samyukta is a research fellow at Kumaon University, Nainital. She is about to tie the knot with Abhilash, a Bangalore based computer professional. Samyukta’s wedding invitation card sent to relatives and friends, clearly states the timings of “Maiti ceremony” apart from giving details of the usual events. In fact, Maiti ritual in this hill state has become an integral part of marriage celebrations since people have realised the importance of it. “Mait” in Uttaranchal means the parental home of the bride. The Maiti ceremony has fostered planting of trees on the occasions of wedding as part of the nuptial ceremony. During the ritual, the bride hands over a sapling to the groom who plants it while the girl waters it in the presence of a priest amidst chanting of shlokas and mantras. The friends and parents of the bride look after the plant when the girl leaves for the groom’s place. “Maiti is not just a carrier of emotions though it has emerged as the protector of ecology and culture”, says Dr Madhu Joshi, lecturer at Kumaon University. The brainchild of Kalyan Singh Rawat, Maiti was first introduced in 1996 in a small town known as Gwaldam, where Rawat teaches zoology in a government school. Rawat says that he was inspired to form Maiti organisation after observing his girl students’ interest towards nature while on a trip to “Bedini Bugyal” (alpine meadows). He asserts that such is the popularity of the concept that within four years Maiti has spread in every nook and corner of Uttaranchal. A very important aspect regarding Maiti is that it is women centric. Deforestation, in the recent times, Rawat feels, has affected womenfolk, as they have to walk miles in search of grass, wood and drinking water. “The destruction of forests couldn’t be prevented in hills without active participation of women,” he says. The formation of Maiti group is simple and based on mutual understanding. Among a group of unmarried girls, the elder is known as Maiti Didi (Maiti sister). This group prepares a Maiti nursery in the village or town. On the day of the wedding, a sapling is brought before the bridegroom. While planting the sapling, the groom contributes some money to the Maiti volunteers. The money collected from such contributions is used for the upliftment of poor girls. Needy ones are provided financial aid to meet educational expenses. Maiti organisations also extend monetary support without any discrimination, to the destitute families, wishing to marry their girls. Thus the Maiti movement is filling a social vacuum by bringing people together, apart from conserving the ecology. (Grassroots Feature)
It has been dismissed as racist and divisive, but scientists are confronting the greatest taboo in sport: that black athletes are “genetically programmed” to run faster and longer than white athletes. In the most comprehensive study of the biological differences between African and European athletes, Scandinavian researchers compared runners in Kenya and Denmark. Their findings confirm what observers have long suspected: that many Africans have greater stamina and speed than Europeans. The study, revealed this week in a British TV documentary, will fuel the simmering row over biological advantage in the high-pressure world of track and field. Many black athletes — including some African Olympic champions — dismiss claims of genetic differences between African and European runners as a racist slur. Danish sports scientists spent 18 months in the Kenyan town of Eldoret, the capital of the north-western province where the Kalenjin tribe live. Twelve of the world’s top 20 distance runners are Kalenjin and their seemingly effortless victories in 800-metre races and marathons have sparked a passionate debate about genetic advantage. The scientists compared Kenyan athletes’ style and physique with Danish runners. The African athletes’ heart rates were remarkably low, even when running at more than 15 mph over long distances. High altitude — the Kalenjin live on a plateau 7,000 ft above sea level — increases the number of red blood csells which carry oxygen around the body and is thought to explain the low heart rate. (Observer) |
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Tragedy worse than
hooch SOME four and a half years ago, a few weeks before the elections to the Kerala Assembly, I wrote an article in the Indian Express denouncing A.K. Antony’s proposal to introduce prohibition in the state. I said that everyone was talking day and night about corruption in high places but prohibition would corrupt society from the highest to the lowest. And now there is massive evidence to show that this is indeed what has been happening in Kerala. Scores of people have died from drinking poisonous brews and reports reveal that politicians of all colours, excise officers, policemen and businessmen were all involved. Political parties have been taking money from the illicit liquor lobby. In fact a mafia of sorts has been operating. Antony couldn’t fulfil his dream of a liquor-less society because he lost the elections but the Left Front government that came to power did not have the courage to undo the mischief that Antony had done. He had increased the price of Indian-made foreign liquor by almost 200 per cent (by raising excise duty) and banned the production and drinking of arrack, the popular drink of the workers, peasants and fishermen. The government-manufactured arrack was clean and safe. As if making a concession to Antony and his fellow prohibitionists, the new government retained the ban on arrack. The workers had to be content with toddy. This situation brought about a chaotic state of affairs. Toddy was mixed with illicitly smuggled arrack, and arrack itself, sold in 60 ml sachets was freely available in toddy shops. Millions of litres of the stuff came through the checkposts on the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka borders. The recent liquor tragedies in the state showed the extent to which home-brewing had spread. There is no regular recipe for home-made arrack. It can be made with any garbage and it is not unusual for methyl alchohol to be added to the brew to give it a greater, often fatal, ‘kick’. A.K. Antony is still unrepentant and not in a mood to compromise. Total prohibition is what he wants according to journalists who have interviewed him. Moralists like him cannot easily change their views. In the USA prohibition was tried for 13 years, from 1920 to 1923. It is a period that is described by historians as the ‘era of excess’. Excess of morality, excess of crime and corruption, excess of drinking itself. Those who could not go to their usual haunts, the legitimate bars, went to illicit places once in several days and drank themselves sick. By 1929, New York City alone had 32,000 speak-easies (illegal bars), twice as many as there were legitimate bars before prohibition. Thousands of homes across the country were brewing liquor. A popular comic verse of that time went like this: Mother makes brandy from cherries; Pop distills whisky and gin; Sister sells wine from the grapes on our vines; Good grief, how the money rolls in! Prohibitionists became increasingly fanatical as prohibition itself became progressively difficult to enforce. They prescribed the most hideous tortures for drinkers. A woman writing to one of the newspapers recommended that drinkers should be hung by their tongues from an aeroplane and flown over America. The greater the moral fervour and the more the laws, the more widespread became brewing and bootlegging. Crime soared, gangsters thrived. Is this what A.K. Antony envisages for Kerala? The excess of law and the lack of possible enforcement became a feature of the national scene. Walter Lippman wrote in 1932: “The idea of moral perfection made the American people enshrine in their constitution ideals which they could not fulfil, and made them outlaw habits in which they rather generously indulged. By their moral fervour as lawmakers, they made a large part of the people the allies and clients of lawbreakers.” America, he said, had the strongest laws and the weakest government of any highly civilised people. It also had the strongest criminal classes and weakest public sentiment against them of any civilised society. Freud’s famous work, Civilisation and its Discontents, suggests some of the psychological forces that drove the prohibitionists in an authoritarian crusade. The saloon was a sufficient Satan to become the scapegoat of the devil in man. Abolition of saloon was interpreted by the prohibitionists as a personal victory over doubt and sin in their own lives. Freud, whose own life was hard, considered intoxicants a great blessing in the human struggle for happiness and in the warding off of misery. Modern medical knowledge is veering towards this belief. Doctors today generally believe that drinking in moderation can reduce stress and prevent heart attacks. On my visits to Europe and America in recent years, I noticed that people, while avoiding hard drinks like whisky and gin, drink moderate quantities of wine. Light wines and beer are what we in India should be drinking. What use globalisation if we can’t get what the rest of the world regards as elementary needs? |
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Image of B’desh judiciary
saved DHAKA: An unpredented development has saved the image and integrity of the judiciary in Bangladesh but at the cost of a High Court Justice. Following proof of his involvement in a tape recorded conversation with former Bangladesh President H M Ershad, whose appeal was being heard, Justice M Latifur Rahman sent in his resignation letter to the Chief Justice. But the matter is still uncertain because the contempt Bench of the High Court has referred the matter to the Chief Justice for proper action. The news in four local dailies of such a conversation had created sensation. The contempt Bench of the High Court comprising Justice Syed Amirul Islam and Justice A K M Shafiuddin Ahmed suo motu issued notice on editors, printers and publishers of four Dhaka language dailies to show cause why contempt charges will not be brought against them for maligning the judiciary. During hearing Editor of daily Manabzamin admitted possession of a cassette containing the conversation between Justice M Latifur Rahman and H M Ershad, an accused in a case. The High Court Bench comprising Justice Golam Rabbani and Justice M Latifur Rahman hearing an appeal against the judgement by Additional Session Court of Dhaka confirmed the conviction handed down to Ershad. But during the hearing the accused Ershad had a conversation with Justice Rahman on discharging the conviction. Even there were words of payment of promised 75 per cent of amount to get a preferred judgement. Media reports suggested that even President Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed and Attorney General had in closed door session listened the cassette tape. Daily Manabzamin submitted to the High Court Bench a copy of the tape and transcription of the conversation which the two Justices hearing the contempt proceedings, deputy attorney-general and a defence lawyer listened to the taped conversation in their chamber and later on Wednesday the two judges sent the matter to the Chief Justice for proper action for ‘misconduct’ of the High Court Judge. The following day Justice Latifur Rahman resigned. The contempt Bench of the High Court has now issued showcause notice on imprisoned former President General Ershad why contempt proceedings should not be drawn against him for dishonouring the judiciary. He will reply within 10 days. Ershad had surrendered before the Sessions Judge on November 20 and was sent to Dhaka Central Jail. Meanwhile, the full Bench of the Supreme court on November 23 in a verdict confirmed his conviction, exempted him from suffering imprisonment for the rest of 16 months, confirmed fine of taka nearly five and half crore and in default to undergo imprisonment of six months only instead of High Court decision to undergo two more years. His Parliament membership will go and he is debarred for five years from contesting elections. |
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Ever-engaged in disciplined practice of Holy Name Unattached and indifferent to snares of Maya (illusory world) Ever compassionate, ready to serve; with the power of Unseen Shabad ensconced in the heart. Having renounced the charms of body and mind, Remains immersed in the Absolute Unbiased, fair and truthful in speech. Know all these as signs of a true guru Treating al living beings the same way, showering on them knowledge of love and equality. Such noble ones recognise no caste or creed. Their only criterion being true meditation. —Mahatma Mangat Ram ji Maharaj,
Souvenir, Samata Conference *** I do not know if any of you have noticed, early in the morning, the sunlight on the waters. How extraordinarily soft is the light and how the dark waters dance, with the morning star over the trees, the only star in the sky. Do you ever notice any of that? Or are you so busy so occupied with the daily routine, that you forget or have never known the rich beauty of this earth - this earth on which all of us have to live? Whether we call ourselves communists or capitalists Hindus or Buddhists, Muslims or Christians, whether we are blind, lame, well or happy, this earth is ours. It is our earth, not somebody else's; it is not only the rich man's earth, it does not belong exclusively to the powerful rulers, to the nobles of the land, but it is our earth, your and mine. We are nobodies, yet we also live on this earth and we all have to live together. It is the world of the poor as well as of the rich, of the unlettered as well as of the learned. It is our world, and I think it is very important to feel this and to love the earth.... — From Penguin Krishnamurti
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