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March 9, 2001, Chandigarh, India    |
Securities scam — Mark II Wanted: clarity on J&K policy
Fanaticism at war with human values |
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Clinton trapped in
pardon-gate
Between the Indus and the
Nile Singapore Airlines sued for
crash
Beware of “Viagra” versions
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Securities scam — Mark II HEADS should roll in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) but will not since SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has developed enviable expertise in hushing up scandals. From the contours of the latest hanky panky already available, it is clear that not only the regulator slept through massive price rigging of the shares Global Trust Bank weeks before it decided to merge with the UTI-owned one, but also allowed pilferage of sensitive information on the trading positions of several leading brokers. It was on Friday last which witnessed a 176-point fall in the sensex. In a chain action, Monday too saw a sharp downward movement, with the position marginally improving on Wednesday. At the centre of this was its president Anand Rathi, who once headed Indian Rayon. He telephoned the chief of the surveillance department of the BSE, one Mr S. Gerala, and obtained the companies and volume of shares broker Ketan Parekh owned. Two or three brokers were with him. The next step was easy. They printed out sell offers on their computer deals at a rate lower than the ruling one, in what is technically termed short-selling. This concerted move and a cleverly leaked information that Parekh was in deep financial trouble and may default sent the sensex plunging. Price manipulation is an old sin at the BSE. Harshad Mehta did it. In his own way a shoe exporter jacked up his company’s scrip prices. With the active help of the then BSE president J.C.Parekh, an uncle of Ketan Parekh, a few operators, caught in a bear squeeze, entered the trading floor of the exchange at the dead of night to doctor the computer data to artificially increase the prices of BPL, Videocon and Sterlite. He was sacked. Now SEBI has the tape of the conversation between Rathi and Gelara and he deserved an unceremonious dismissal. Instead he has been allowed to resign. There is a structural flaw in the BSE administration. It is run by brokers themselves who are not averse to raking in tainted profit by victimising investors. Also, they are not keen on punishing anyone.
SEBI chief D.R.Mehta understands this and wants the BSE to be professionally administered as is the NSE (National Stock Exchange), also in Mumbai. The clear record of the NSE is in sharp contrast to the BSE blots. The BSE should become another NSE. That is the solution. |
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Wanted: clarity on J&K policy HOME Minister L.K. Advani’s statement on Kashmir made in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday shows that the Union Government is not clear about the direction it should take to handle the problem effectively. He says the government will not allow the All-Party Hurriyat Conference to play the role of a mediator between India and Pakistan whenever there are talks between the two, and in the same breath tells the nation that there is a plan to hold discussions with the various political groups active in the valley and they include the Hurriyat. So far the government has been in favour of permitting representatives of the Hurriyat, in accordance with the wishes of the 23-party conglomerate, to visit Pakistan to convince the leadership of the militant organisations engaged in destructive activities in Kashmir that their actions will take them nowhere. The development was a result of the Vajpayee government’s ceasefire initiative. However, the Hurriyat delegation could not leave for Pakistan because the government expressed its reservations about the inclusion of J&K Jamaat-e-Islami leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Mr Geelani, a former head of the Hurriyat, is known for his strong anti-India and pro-Pakistan views. His recent comment that what was happening in Kashmir was a religious problem and not a political one led to a division within the Hurriyat ranks. He also levelled serious charges against a senior Hurriyat leader. It appeared that the government had been successful in not only humiliating an incorrigible anti-India leader but also preventing him to be part of a visiting group supposed to work for ending the militancy in Kashmir. But now things have taken a different turn. One report has it that Mr Geelani has scored a victory over his Hurriyat rivals. The leadership of his parent organisation-— the Jamaat — has told the Hurriyat that it cannot accept its demand for a replacement for Mr Geelani in the proposed Pakistan-bound delegation. The Home Minister’s statement gives the impression that the central government has given up the idea of involving only the Hurriyat in the efforts to create a conducive atmosphere for talks with Pakistan. If this is true, the government will have a lot of explaining to do. Does it want to tell the Hurriyat, but not in a categorical manner, that the composition of its delegation will have to be decided by the government and the conglomerate will not be allowed to dictate terms? Or, is there some fresh feedback that the Hurriyat cannot be effectively helpful in bringing about the desired change in the climate? In fact, encouraging the Hurriyat leadership was a big gamble and the government will have to accept it. |
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FRANKLY
SPEAKING THE
Taliban have added one more blot to their horrendous role, reminding the world of similar barbaric acts at different times carried out for different reasons. There is a shocking case of the destruction of the greatest library in the world of that time—that of Alexandria, in Egypt. It burnt for six long months! The person who ordered its destruction had apparently no appreciation for knowledge. But to the world, it was an incalculable disaster. Mullah Muhammad Omar, the man who ordered the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha statues, also does not understand the value of heritage of art and culture. About 1,500 years separate the two events. But, during these long years, the fundamentalists of different shades and varieties have not given up their bigotry. The only noticeable difference probably is that the world is less tolerant of the intolerant today. In the 10th century, Khalifa Hakun II made Andalusia (Spain) the cultural centre of Europe. His library contained 400,000 books. His successor Al-Nansur had it destroyed. The same spirit of vandalism prompted Muhammad bin Bakhtyam to destroy the Nalanda University, the greatest seat of learning in the world, in 1197 AD. The fanatics of Indonesia once tried to blow up the great temple of Borobudur, a great Hindu-Buddhist architectural wonder, now a world heritage. It is no secret that religious fanatics have often opposed the study of philosophy and science. So, when the European world was opening up to the wonders of Greek thought in the Middle Ages, they were closing their mind to all other forms of learning. So, while Europe was going through the great Reformation, the Renaissance and the Age of Reason, the Islamic world during those days, by and large, remained impervious to new thought. It is a pity that certain obstructionist elements have denied to the followers of Islam all that is creative and beautiful in human civilisation. Today the Taliban vandalism looks like the Middle Ages fanaticism which should have no place in the 21st century. The Taliban want to wipe the slate clean and make a wasteland out of Afghanistan. The war, first against the Soviet Union and then among the guerrillas themselves, has virtually driven the Afghans into the Stone Age. Thousands of people have been fleeing their country, even at the risk of their lives. The Taliban are a creation of Pakistan fundamentalists, the ISI and the CIA. Together they fashioned this Frankenstein. Of it, the Frontier Post of Peshawar (Pakistan) writes: "Indeed, the extremism and intolerance that are now the hallmark of Taliban culture is utterly irreconcilable with Islam." The monster is still useful to the ISI—the monster of Pakistan— in providing cannon fodder to its proxy wars in India and elsewhere. Where can one find thousands of crazy Taliban killers except in Pakistan and Afghanistan? Some Islamic scholars say that there is no place for a theocratic state in the Quran. Others say that there is no place for secularism in an Islamic society. What is the truth? It is difficult to specify. All the same, it is for the Muslim intellectuals and enlightened forward-looking persons not to legitimatise the absurd. Here it needs to be appreciated that Buddhism is the only religion which was inspired by human suffering. The young Siddhartha was shocked by it. He gave up his throne. No other faith probably had similar inspiration. To do violence to such a noble faith shows the true nature of the Taliban. They are the heartless vandals of our times. Perhaps Samuel Huntington, a well-known US Professor and author of "The clash of civilisations", had foresight. He anticipated the emergence of the Taliban. His prophesy of the conflict of civilisations seems to be coming true. The outrage in Bamiyan and the jehad that the Taliban are waging today prove him right. The world has not yet passed into the hands of misguided religious fanatics. Nor is that possible. Both Hitler and Mussolini thought they could shape the world as they wanted. They failed. The fundamentalists are not likely to succeed either. The people of this country are really sorry for what has happened to the Afghan people. They are our cousins. Kaikeyi of the Ramayana and Gandhari of the Mahabharata hailed from Afghanistan. Afghanistan became a major centre of Buddhism under the Kushans. The Kushan empire, one of the greatest, with its capital at Purushapura (Peshawar), stretched from Mathura to China, embracing Central Asia. Kanishka, its greatest emperor, held the fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir. Buddhism spread from both Kashmir and Afghanistan to Central Asia and China. And Bamiyan was a halting place for merchants and caravans on the Silk Route. Thus, till the advent of Islam, Afghanistan was a flourishing place and part of the great Indian civilisation. What have the Afghans made of themselves! Be that as it may. The Taliban phenomenon poses the biggest socio-cultural-political-philosophical and security challenge to India's civilisational values which are based on enlightened universal norms. The Taliban's is a one-lane negativism which distorts all that higher teachings of Islam stand for. The danger here lies in fanaticism which is more often than not goes beyond geographical barriers. We have already seen how some mischievous elements have reacted to the destruction of the ancient and giant rock-cut Buddhas in Bamiyan, along with other pre-Islamic art which depicts the serene figure. The Bamiyan statues are a precious treasure of humanity. They are part of a very rich heritage of mandkind. The Buddhist contribution to Asia's cultural richness, for that matter, has been varied and extensive. It symbolises a universal ideal. It is, therefore, shameful that the custodians of human heritage have no answer to this barbarism of the Middle Ages. This naked vandalism also shows the impotence of the world's democratic forces and UN agencies which generally swear by human values, a barrier-free cultural flow and the preservation of common heritage in arts, literature, architecture, temples, etc. wherever they are. The point to ponder is: why this helplessness? "There can be no question that Buddhism was one of the great products of the mother-heart of India," Rabindranath Tagore once put it succinctly. He also declared: "The great religion of the Buddha had once spread its living spirit of unity over the greater part of Asia. It drew races together and turned their hope and faith away from turmoil and self-seeking." The barbaric act of the Taliban underlines the basic hollowness of what the gun-toting jehadis propagate. They have no respect for human values and sensitivity of other religious groups. The question here is not of religion. The Buddha statues belong to the entire humanity. They represent some of the finest ideals of human beings. They are a symbol of global culture, beyond a narrow religious frame. However, the real challenge is how the civilised world should respond to the barbarians operating in the name of Islam. Intolerance is one of the greatest challenges we face today. Of course, mere anger and revenge by means of brute force does not provide the answer. All the same, civilised persons and nations ought to address themselves to these aberrations and devise ways and means to defeat the Satanic thoughts and practices of conflict which are divorced from truth, human values, universal love and brotherhood. Tagore saw in the Buddha a complete expression of the Supreme Man who "represents in himself all men in all ages and lands, and whose consciousness has not been broken up by the customary walls of age or race or nation." Viewed in this context, the Taliban frustration and the lack of confidence in their distorted beliefs are understandable. They are indeed a pitiable lot and this land of great gurus and sublime faiths of goodness and unity is capable of fighting and taking care of them as part of Indian, nay, human civilisational values. |
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OPINION THE
elephant, alive or dead, is worth a thousand sovereigns—so goes a familiar saying in Tamil. Mr Bill Clinton, as President or ex-President, has hogged the media limelight nationally and internationally. Right now, the preoccupation of the American Press with the fallout of 140 presidential pardons and 36 commutations granted by Mr Clinton in his last hours in the White House is not exactly to the liking of the aides of his Republican successor, Mr George W. Bush. Not that they are sympathetic to Mr Clinton. They are just worried that the media are ignoring President Bush and concentrating on the ex-President. White House spokesman Ari Fleisher feigned to be unconcerned, though. “We have other fish to fry”, he told reporters last week, when asked about the Clinton pardons. “That is not a topic the President is going to look back on. The President is looking ahead and focused on his policies and agenda.” President Bush himself has said he has better things to do than to worry about Mr Clinton’s presidential pardons. Mr Clinton and scandal have for long become synonymous. Even before he became President in January, 1993, he had to grapple with revelations of his sex escapades as Atlanta’s Governor, with the Jannifer Flowers episode almost botching up his election campaign. Later, during his second term, the Monica Lewinsky affair and his denials and retractions led him to face a congressional impeachment, but he came out, if not with flying colours, at least with his presidential office and popularity ratings intact. One would have thought that Mr Clinton would have an uneventful and non-controversial post-presidency career, but what he did with the presidential prerogative of granting pardons has sparked a firestorm of criticism that does not augur well for the political future of his Senator wife Hillary Clinton, who is known to be nursing the ambition of becoming the first woman President of the United States of America. The Clinton pardons may not have provoked the widespread denunciation by politicians, the Press and political commentators but for the fact that one of the beneficiaries happened to be the billionaire businessman Marc Rich, a fugitive from law for the last 18 years, who was indicted for tax evasion, estimated at a hundred million dollars. The other controversial pardon concerns Mr Bill Clinton’s half-brother Mr Roger Clinton, with a drug-peddling conviction. In an interview to Los Angeles Times, he has said he promised half a dozen of his close friends, including men who he met in prison, that his brother would grant them pardons before he left the White House. He has insisted that he never solicited money or accepted any. But it is the Marc Rich pardon that has assumed the proportions of a first class scandal in the wake of the revelation that Mrs Hillary Clinton’s brother, Mr Hugh Rodham, a lawyer, received a fee of $ 400,000 for successfully lobbying the pardon for Mr Rich. The disclosure that Mr Rich’s ex-wife, Mrs Denise Rich, Manhattan song writer, had donated more than $ 1 million to the Democratic Party and $ 450,000 to a fund financing Mr Clinton’s future presidential library has added fuel to the fire, and even Mr Clinton’s friends and allies have begun to question the propriety of the former President’s pardons. Mrs Hillary Clinton has expressed shock and disappointment at her brother’s role and on her advice, Mr Hugh Rodham has returned the money he had received. President Clinton has asserted that “there is not a single shred of evidence that I did anything wrong.” But his denials have so far been met with scepticism, and the former President is today the recipient of brickbats from friends and foes alike. The President called the pardons “disgraceful” and his former Chief of Staff, Mr Hamilton Jordan, said. “It is difficult for the average citizen to comprehend how outrageous Mr Bill Clinton’s pardons are to those of us who have worked in the White House.” The media have gone in for a no-holds-barred attack on Mr Clinton. One may or may not agree with the view of American political scientist P.S. Ruckma that “the history of clemency is a history of abuse”, but the consensus among analysts in the USA is that although some of the previous Presidents had earned flak for their exercise of the pardon privilege, the latest stands out as a deliberate abuse of power. President Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon following the latter’s resignation as a sequel to the Watergate scandal was believed to be the main reason for his defeat at the hands of Mr Jimmy Carter. Mr George Bush, the father of the present White House incumbent, had pardoned 77 people and one of them was his “crony” Casper Weinberger, then under investigation in connection with the Iran-Contra scandal. The last has not been heard about the latest pardon fiasco. Two congressional committees are to initiate investigations to determine whether improper influence was brought to bear on Mr Clinton and the Rich pardon, and similar other pardons were brought about with political contributions or promise of favours. Whatever be the outcome, the controversy chasing Mr Clinton may have provided a lesson to President Bush. Under the American constitution, the President has power to grant pardons and reprieves except in cases of impeachment. Mr Bush has pledged that in granting pardon or clemency he will follow “the highest of high standards. He has already cautioned his relatives: “Behave yourself.” |
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ANALYSES THE greatest theatre of human history falls between the Indus and the Nile. Here arose the earliest empires of the world and most of the religions of men. Arnold Roynbee, the historian, says: “One glance at history from the Indus basin told me more than 50 years of my studies.” According to Sir John Marshall, India and the Middle East were closely united by common bonds of civilisation. The pioneers of Mohenjodaro and Harappa, and later the Aryans, were in touch with the Sumerians, Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks and Persians. They influenced each other. Over the years, these contacts were snapped one by one by the destruction of Persepolis, the capital of the Persian empire by Alexander, of Egypt by the Romans, Baghdad and Damascus by the Mongols and, finally, Persian power by Arabs in the 10th century. Scholars have done little to unearth these past bonds, which is why the peoples of the region remain strangers to each other. This alienation must be overcome if new bonds are to be established. That there was considerable interaction among the peoples of this region is now beyond doubt. They borrowed extensively from each other. This disproves popular claims by Semitic religions that they are in some way unique. They are not. They have been heavily influenced by the Indian civilisation. A few instances may be cited: the conflict between gods and titans, between devas and asuras, between good and evil — perhaps the earliest myth — can be traced back to the conflict of Chaos (Tiamat) and Order (Marduk) — a Sumerian myth. In god-making, the peoples of the region produced at first the nature gods and then invested them with moral and super-human qualities. India was the first to expound monistic ideas. Similarly, magic, a concept as old as man, can be traced to the Magis (magicians) among the Medes (an Iranian tribe). The word became “magos” in Greek and “magnus” in Latin. Being ahead of others in thought, India was more often the giver of ideas. When Iranians were composing the Avesta, India had already reached the pinnacle of its philosophic quest, giving way to the skepticism of Buddhism and the Samkhya philosophy. Industry was better organised in Mohenjodaro and Harappa than anywhere else in the world. Thus, India was like the sun radiating its civilisational influence throughout Eurasia. There is no doubt that the Aryans played the most historic role in the region — from Turkey to the Indus. Sanskrit was in a way the mother of all languages. The caste system was common to India, Iran and Greece. Iran built the most powerful empires, which spread the civilisation of the region to the entire Eurasian continent and beyond. A universal empire (the first in history) came into being under Cyrus extending from Libya to India. Commerce and culture followed the course of the empire. Darius built a palace, for which he drew building materials from as far as Egypt and India. And he recruited his soldiers from India, and he clothed his soldiers with cotton dress procured from India. Strabo tells that Indian goods were borne down the Oxus to Europe by way of the Caspian and Black Sea. In 975 BC Hiram, king of Tyre, sent a fleet to Ophir (at the mouth of the Indus) to buy ivory, peacocks etc so that he could present them to Solomon for the temple at Jerusalem. The Mauryan empire was in touch with all the Greek provinces founded by Alexander, and Ashoka sent Buddhist missionaries to the Greek governors with a view to converting them to Buddhism and to promote his mission of world peace. In any case, Ashoka’s empire itself extended beyond Kabul. His stupa, found in Kandahar, contains his edicts in both Greek and Aramaic, the two “international” languages of the region in those days. The royal road from Pataliputra to Taxila and beyond was well trodden in those days by merchants and scholars. Bukhara became a major centre of Buddhist learning and had a great library. Ibn Sina (Avicenna), a great philosopher of Islam, was born and educated here. He was familiar with Indian thought and achievements. After Ashoka’s death, the Bactrians (Greeks) established themselves in Punjab. Menander (2nd century BC) was the greatest of them, and his conversion to Buddhism is recorded in Milinda-Panha (questions of Milinda), a Socratic dialogue in Pali, in which sage Naga Sena plays the role of Socrates. The Bactrians left a profound legacy — the Gandhara school of art and architecture, of which we had some of the finest specimens in Afghanistan not long ago. Afghanistan was a major Buddhist country till the 9th century AD, when Islam overpowered the whole region. With the decline of the Mauryans in India, and Greeks in Bactria, the Sakas and Parthians (Iranian tribes) poured into India. This was followed by the Kushanas from Central Asia, whose empire, with its capital at Peshawar (Purushapura) reached its maximum expansion under Kanishka. Although a Buddhist, Kanishka respected all religions. His seal carried the imprint of both the Buddha and Siva. Charaka, one of the greatest men of medicine, was his court physician. And the first sculptors in India were made by Greek artists attached to his court. The role of the Buddhists in the region is yet to be assessed. Clement of Alexandria attests to the presence of Buddhist scholars in Alexandria and how the Greeks “stole” the Buddhist philosophy. The Deadsea Scrolls indicate the existence of a colony of Buddhist — the Essene near Jerusalem. This shows that the life of the Buddha was well-known in the region, which is why aspects of his life are reflected in the religions and literatures of the region. The Christian Gospels must be seen in the light of the stories of the Buddha in Lalita Vistara. For example, the miraculous conception and birth of the Buddha, the star over his birthplace, the prophesy of the aged Asita, the temptation by Mara, the 12 disciples (12 is a magic number) etc. The parables and miracles are even more similar. There is the Buddhist disciple who walks over water, but sinks as his faith falters. In Jataka, Buddha feeds 500 of his followers out of a single cake. These stories came to be absorbed by Christian and other compilers. It is also said that the rosary, the veneration of relics and asceticism of Alexandrian Christianity can be traced to Buddhist influences. Gnosticism, which gave Christianity many of its humane aspects (love, compassion, grace), was a deliberate attempt to fuse Christian, Platonic and Oriental ideas. Neoplatonism, which influenced St Augustine, was considerably influenced by the Upanishads. Apart from its religious and philosophic thoughts, India gave to the region its astronomy, numerals, knowledge of mathematics, chess and fables. The Indian fables were first translated into Persian and then into Arabic. The Judgement of Solomon, an Old Testament story, for example, is an exact reproduction of an Indian fable. Mas’udi, the Arab Herodotus, talks of Arabian Nights as a collection of Greek, Indian and Persian fables. The best known of these — Sindbad the Sailor is of Indian origin. The Nestorian Christians and the Academy set up by king Nushirvan in Persia, and even Greek teachers played a major role as catalysts of the culture of the region. |
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Singapore Airlines sued for
crash TWO Indian American families have filed lawsuits in the federal court of San Francisco against Singapore Airlines for negligence in the October 31 crash that claimed the lives of 82 victims. The suits seek claims for “mental anguish, terror, fear of death and severe physical injuries suffered by the victims,” according to a statement released by Brian Panish, the attorney representing the families. The lawsuits were filed by infant Surya Narayana Marellapudi’s family and by Janardhan and Neelima Vuppala and their 8-month-old son Akash. Janardhan and Neelima of Simi Valley were returning home after taking their son Akash to visit their family in Surayapet in Andhra Pradesh. Flight 006 was bound for Los Angeles when it crashed moments after take-off. “Despite typhoon conditions, Singapore Airlines allowed Flight 006 to depart from Taipei’s Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport from a runway under repair, rather than face costly schedule delays,” Panish said in the release when the lawsuits were filed in US District Court in late February. “This is another deadly example of profits over safety,” said Panish. “The pressure on the pilots to stay on time, along with inadequate warning, lighting and safety measures on the runway, proved to be a lethal combination.” James Boyd, a Singapore Airlines spokesperson based in Los Angeles, said it was the company’s policy not to comment on current litigation. Boyd, however, did say Singapore Airlines still stood by its offer of compensating the family of each victim $400,000 plus $25,000 for immediate expenses. The crash was the result of the pilot taking off from a runway that was undergoing repairs. “To avoid costly line-up delays, a portion of the runway under construction was used for departing aircraft,” according to the statement from Panish’s office. Panish represented the plaintiffs who in 1999 won $1.2 billion against General Motors Corporation over an explosion in a Cheverolet Malibu gas tank in a crash.
India Abroad News Service |
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Trends and
pointers INDISCRIMINATE consumption of sildenafil citrate (main ingredient for Viagra) by men suffering from erectile dysfunction could be fatal, Chief Sexologist at the Rajasthan Hospital says. “I won’t be surprised if there are two or three casualties in every state within a month’s time by the consumption of this drug (sildenafil citrate) if taken without doctor’s advice, Dr Paras Shah told PTI. Cautioning that its free availability without the doctor’s prescription, was a cause of concern, Dr Shah, who has done his post-graduate medical studies from the USA, said in the USA also, where this drug was launched two years back, there are reports of as many as 133 deaths following its consumption. In the last few days about four pharmaceutical companies based in Gujarat have been issued licences by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), also approved by the Commissioner of Food and Control Administration, Gujarat Government, to manufacture and sell tablets containing sildenafil citrate to treat erectile dysfunction in men. The four companies, which have been issued licences, have come out with tablets bearing different brand names like “Penegra (Zydus Alidac), Cadila Pharm), Androz (Torrent) and Edgra (Sun Pharma)”. Commissioner of Food and Drug Control Authority S P Adeshara said many drug shops in Gujarat were allegedly violating the rules by falsely propagating that the drug could be sold as over the counter (i.e. without the doctor’s prescription) medicine.
PTI
Males wake up Kharberia is a village in South-West Bengal with a predominantly Muslim population. This village can be a role ‘model for those propagating gender sensitisation among men. Male peer workers go from house to house advising householders on healthcare, the danger of multiple pregnacies and use of condoms. The poor workers also advise their friends and family heads about how they should look after their pregnant wives, not let them do heavy work, what food is nutritious and how they can help around the household during the confinement. It has been a slow process but Child in Need Institute (CINI), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which has been working with the rural poor for more than 25 years, can rightly take credit for this change of attitude. The CINI initiative vindicates what has been the experience of people working in family planning and reproductive rights: that, without male participation in the patriarchal social milieu of the subcontinent, the end result often falls short. A short documentary film titled “Jagaran” (Awakening) by Jayabrato Chatterjee and funded by the MacArthur Foundation is a telling account of the positive work being conducted at village Kharberia. “Jagaran” can also be a learning process for villagers and NGOs operating in other parts of the country. WFS
Unexplained radiation in homes Powerful, unexplained electromagnetic fields have been measured in homes in Britain that are nowhere near electricity pylons, scientists reported on Tuesday, throwing further confusion on possible links with cancer. Long-term exposure to high levels of electromagnetic radiation, such as that found near pylons, is associated with a possible two extra cases of child leukaemia each year on average, 0.4% of the total in Britain, the report said. But this did not prove that electromagnetic radiation caused the cancer, said Sir Richard Doll, head of the report team. Nor was there evidence that the extra cases existed. He would “bet money’’ on a statistical quirk being responsible for the association. The team’s most startling finding was that only four-fifths of the estimated 275,000 Britons exposed to high levels of electromagnetic radiation lived close to pylons; the rest might be experiencing the effects of their domestic wiring, or the local electricity distribution network. “The discovery that most high exposures are away from power lines is new,” Sir Richard said. “It was quite a surprise.” The report was prepared for the national radiological protection board. Stuart Allen, an NRPB expert who acted as consultant for the inquiry team, said he suspected mains supply lines to homes were involved, but could not be sure. Electromagnetic fields are measured in teslas. A high domestic exposure is considered to be an average 0.4 microteslas or more. Household appliances generate much higher levels, but only at very short distances. The combined effect of scores of electric motors and pumps in a home would not be enough to bring the average exposure to children up to 0.4 microteslas.
Guardian |
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75 YEARS AGO An extremely critical situation has arisen in France on account of the resignation of M. Briand’s Government following a vote of the Chamber separating, by 274 votes to 221, tax payments from the Finance Bill, which the Government had made a question of confidence. It is difficult to exactly foretell all the disastrous consequences to France that may follow in the wake of this event, but the fall of the present Government at this stage is sure to push France still lower and unless a miracle happens an abrupt fall in its value resulting in ruin to millions is not an unlikely event. The position created by the Cabinet’s fall is unfortunate from another point of view too. M. Briand has refused to go to Geneva with such a parliamentary opinion behind discussion that is going on at the meeting of the League Council, and it is not importable that the meeting may have to be dissolved without coming to any decision on the important matters now pending before it. |
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IF the governing principles of contentment are not within us, no material success, no pleasure or possession can make us happy. Happiness comes from within. It rests most securely on simple living and high thinking. No one is known to have gained it without a philosophy resting on ethical principles. D.R. Vij, Happiness Within or Without ***** Were a man to live through the four ages, or even 10 times longer. Though his reputation were to spread over the nine shores. Though the whole world were to follow in his train. Though he were to be universally famous, Yet lacking God's grace, in God's presence Such a man would be disowned; Such a man would be merely a worm amen vermin And his sins will be laid at his door.... ***** By hearkening to the Name The disciple becomes a Master, A guide, a saint, a seraph; By hearkening to the Name The earth, the bull that bears it And the heavens are unveiled. ***** By hearkening to the Name Man's vision may explore Planets, continents, nether regions, Death vexes not in the least Those that hearken to the Name; They are beyond death's reach. ***** By hearkening to the Name Mortals obtain the godliness Of Shiva, Brahma and Indra; By hearkening to the Name The lips of the lowly Are filled with His praise. Guru Nanak Dev, The Japji, 7-9 |
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