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Thursday,
May 17, 2001, Chandigarh, India   |
Grain policy, what policy? Advent of Antony No to carryforward |
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Dismal message of the mini-poll
India's new pointman in Moscow
Theory of ‘karma’ and rebirth
Lowering cancer risk
This school is different
Oxen predict bountiful harvest
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Grain policy, what policy? MUCH was expected of the Abhijit Sen committee on long-term grain policy. Disappointingly, it has solely concentrated on suggesting ways to reduce the bulging stock (about 65 million tonnes by July) with the FCI. True, it is a pressing problem and the Agriculture and Food Ministries have no clue to solving it. But the Sen Committee should have gone beyond the present crisis and framed its findings on all aspects. It had impeccable credentials. Professor Sen had been chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices and has intimate knowledge of the sector. With the WTO regime taking hold, India has to take a hard look at the costs of production, storage and distribution. A rational approach to this issue is a better way to face the coming challenge than depending entirely on hiking import tariff. Finally, being a body uncontaminated by shortsighted politicians with their narrow interests, the Sen panel was in an excellent position to go on an open-ended search for a viable policy frame. It is unfortunate that the committee has not grappled with these exiting tasks. Its two main recommendations tinker only with prices. And prices are not the sole determinant of demand in so essential a commodity as foodgrain. It wants the sale price of wheat and rice to be brought down to boost the offtake from fair price shops. In the case of above poverty line buyers, the price should be 80 per cent of the economic cost, excluding statutory levies. In reality the prices will be three-fourths of the economic cost or the present price. For below poverty line card-holders, the prices should be 50 per cent and the entitlement must be increased to more than 20 kg a month if a family has more than four members. The first part is already in operation and the second part ignores the fact that not many daily wage earners can have Rs 100 in lump sum to lift his family’s quota. The monthly quota should be split into weekly parts so that the very poor buy as much grain as they need from fair price shops. The second novel proposal is for the Centre to pressurise the state governments to scrap all levies. In some states this works out to be as high as 12.5 per cent. In fact, the price reduction is linked to this. But this idea is based on a wrong premise. The Sen Committee says that the several levies are actually a transfer of funds from the Centre to the states and it should be properly treated as devolution of revenue. No, if all the grain the FCI buys is sold in the same year, the levies take a different form. The Centre pays the states but collects the levy from the consumer. It is actually a real source of revenue for the states and the Centre merely acts as the collection agent. In other words, the states gain but the Centre does not lose. With mounting unsold stocks it has acquired an ugly form but that is a different story. |
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Advent of Antony KERALA
has been the biggest success story for the Congress in the recent elections. Even more satisfactory for the party is the fact that the leadership issue has been settled far more quickly than was anticipated. The election of Mr A.K.Antony was neither "unanimous" nor "very very smooth" as the central observers, AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala Ghulam Nabi Azad and senior leader Motilal Vora, would like everyone to believe, but the party has made a "natural choice" indeed. In the faction-ridden Congress, a heartening spin-off of the huge victory margin was that the grumbling K. Karunakaran had no choice except to fall in line. The octogenarian leader did raise the banner of revolt against the central leadership, only to end up as a doting father. He has thrown in the towel rather easily, angling for consolation prizes such as the leadership of the PCC for his parliamentarian son K. Muralidharan and a possible Rajya Sabha membership for his daughter, who tried in vain to get the ticket for the Assembly poll. Such wheeling-dealing presents the once-formidable leader in a poor light. However, Mr Karunakaran has been done in by seat compulsions. The United Democratic Front has a brute majority of 99 seats out of 140, out of which the Karunakaran faction has 26 MLAs. With such an all-time record, if Mr Karunakaran were to pose a plausible challenge, he needed the support of various other factions and parties, which he obviously did not have. So, the 83-year-old leader meekly but sensibly settled down for the loaves of office for his family members. Mr Antony enjoys a clean image and also has wide acceptability. Tales about his simple living are legion. However, there are two difficulties. One, he did not prove himself as an administrator during his previous stints. And two, he is not a mass leader. Perhaps he will rise to the occasion this time on the strength of his experience. Kerala has a history of discarding ruling parties in every election. This fact should keep him on his toes. It also remains to be seen how durable the show of unity in the party is. Apportioning Cabinet berths will be a major test. Making Mr Muralidharan PCC president may not go down well with a large section. In any case, if he gets the post, he will try his level best to emerge as a rival centre of power because he has Chief Ministerial ambitions. That should generate enough heat to keep the factional cauldron bubbling. |
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No to carryforward THE
Securities and Exchange Board of India's decision to ban the carryforward system from July 2 will dampen the stock markets, drain liquidity out of the system, at least temporarily, and diminish much of the thrill associated with speculative trading. In the long run, however, the system will become, hopefully, more transparent. So popular has the carryforward system been that when earlier banned in 1993 it had to be reintroduced, though in a modified form. Under this system a trader could "carry" a scrip "forward" from one settlement to another by paying the margin money. This enables speculators to buy shares by paying a small amount without, in many cases, having enough funds to take the deliveries. So if the stock markets collapsed suddenly due to an unforeseen event or manipulation, as it happened recently, traders would get trapped. The 16 per cent price band on scrips blocked their exit route. The consequences: huge losses. SEBI has put an end to all this. All sorts of defferal trading under the automated lending and borrowing mechanism (ALBM), the borrowing and lending of securities system (BLESS), the modern carryforward system (MCS) and the continuous net settlement (CNS) will go from July 2. The price bands on stocks in the rolling settlement will also be done away with. Now instead of individual scrips, the entire market will be frozen if the index scrips swing sharply. For stocks not on the rolling mode, SEBI has introduced a uniform settlement cycle from Monday to Friday for all stock exchanges. Traders often avoided paying margin money by shifting positions from the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday to the National Stock Exchange and back to the BSE on Tuesday. In line with international trading practices the SEBI meeting held in Mumbai on Monday also approved the introduction of options on individual scrips. This is a new concept and small investors will take some time to adjust to it. Long-term players like foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and mutual funds are bound to welcome the SEBI initiatives to clean up the system. The moot point, however, is: why should a scam alone prompt the market regulator into action? |
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Dismal message of the mini-poll EVEN more sensational than the outcome of the Assembly elections in five states is the smooth manner in which Ms Jayalalitha, having swept the polls, swept into the office of Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister. She did so despite her dual disability of a conviction for corruption and the consequent disqualification for partaking in elections, and without evoking much protest or furore, leave alone outrage. This clearly is the most important of the several messages of the mini-poll involving just under a fifth of the country’s population. To put the matter bluntly, the essence of the melancholy message is that winning elections has become the be-all and end-all of Indian democracy. That democracy also entails holding fast to certain values, scrupulously observing democratic norms, showing unswerving respect to equality before the law, and abiding by both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution has become alien to Indian polity. On the contrary, victory in an election — the bigger the majority the better — is accepted as a licence to flout every basic norm of democracy with impunity. Over the years the society’s tolerance for this shocking state of affairs had risen incrementally while some stray voices of protest have also been raised. With the Jayalalitha episode, water has gone over the head, as the old saying has
it. The alarming situation is in dire danger of becoming irremediable. It is noteworthy that on Sunday when Ms Jayalalitha’s landslide victory and spectacular political resurrection became a certainty, some well-meaning people made a sound suggestion to her that would have served the country’s and her own interests better. They pleaded with her not to be in a hurry to “seize” the office of Chief Minister but to wait until she could occupy it with due dignity and credibility by getting her conviction and disqualification overturned through due process of law. Meanwhile, one of her loyal lieutenants could keep the gilded seat in Fort St George warm. A very healthy, indeed laudable, convention would have been set had the lady from Chennai’s Poes Gardens heeded the disinterested advice. But she chose to reject it out of
hand. Coyly she argued that the people’s mandate was that she must be the Chief Minister, and this could not be disregarded. She then forearmed herself with a resolution of the 132 newly elected MLAs belonging to her party, the AIADMK, to the effect that they would not even consider, leave alone accept, anyone else as their leader. This virtually ruled out the use of Governor’s discretionary powers and persuasive skills to adopt a course different from what the AIADMK supremo had chalked out. Remarkably, expert and even lay comment on the Governor’s decision to administer the oath of office to Ms Jayalalitha has been favourable. “Ms Fathima Beevi had no other option” is the consensus. Now that Ms Jayalalitha is again in the saddle some embarrassing problems are bound to arise about the various prosecutions that are pending against her. The cases filed by the ousted Karunanidhi government in the state would come to naught even if they are not actually withdrawn. After all, something like that had happened at the national level in 1980 when Indira Gandhi returned to power in New Delhi. Then some of the complainants had suddenly retracted their charges, and at least two special judges had declared their own proceedings until then as “unlawful”. But then there are some CBI cases, including one of alleged violation of foreign exchange regulations, which are being handled by the Union Government. Ms Jayalalitha has declared that she wants “no confrontation” with the Vajpayee government. What its sentiments are about her would be watched with interest. All this having been said, it must be added, in all fairness, that to blame Ms Jayalalitha alone is wrong and
invidious. The behaviour and performance of those pretending to be holier than her is not much different for hers. If she is making use of technicalities to defeat the spirit of the Constitution and substance of democracy, pray what is the BJP, the core of the ruling coalition at the Centre, doing? On trivial technical grounds a judge has dropped all charges against Mr L.K. Advani, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and Ms Uma Bharati in connection with the demolition of Babri Masjid. A brief notification by the UP government is called for to bring them to trial again. All the honourable leaders of the BJP, in both Delhi and Lucknow, are declaring blandly that they would not issue any such notification. The principal opposition party, the Congress, has even propounded the astonishing theory that no allegation against the Congress President and Leader of the Opposition, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, can be investigated under any circumstances. Ms Jayalalitha’s refusal to be patient and refrain from holding high office until she had been cleared by appropriate courts is regrettable. But wasn’t a similar option open to Indira Gandhi in June, 1975, when the Allahabad High Court had set aside her election and the Supreme Court had refused to grant her unconditional stay of this verdict? Her reaction was to deliver Indian democracy the hammer blow of emergency from which it hasn’t fully recovered yet. Tamil Nadu now has the dubious distinction of having a Chief Minister who is a convict though her conviction is under appeal. The charge on which she has been sentenced is corruption. As a dejected Mr Karunanidhi has pointed out, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav was forced to resign as Chief Minister of Bihar as soon as charges were filed against him. Since nothing is more contagious than bad example, it would be no surprise if a demand for his restoration gathers momentum. This is by no means all. There is an even more reprehensible precedent that the country seems to have forgotten. In November, 1990, when Mr Chandra Shekhar became Prime Minister by Rajiv Gandhi’s grace, he included in his Council of Ministers a Mr Sanjay Singh. This gentleman, once an acolyte of Sanjay Gandhi, had also been convicted, not of corruption but of murder. He had filed an appeal, of course. Neither Mr Chandra Shekhar nor those who sponsored him for the post of Prime Minister evidently saw anything wrong in making him a minister. In short, the time seems to have come when even the greatest of optimists must realise that both corruption and criminalisation of politics have ceased to be an issue of any consequence to Indian elections. People apparently believe that all parties and all politicians are corrupt, and not all of them are averse to using the gangster’s muscle and unscrupulous racketeer’s black money for their purpose. These factors thus get cancelled out and the voters get divided on the basis of personal, caste, religious, sectarian or parochial loyalties. Not a very pretty picture, but that is the reality. Indeed, a second message of the elections is that national or even regional politics is fast becoming a thing of the past. Almost everywhere the political pattern has become state-specific. What holds good for Tamil Nadu — an intense anti-incumbency sentiment — is meaningless in West Bengal where the electorate has endorsed the Left Front for a record sixth term in succession. In Kerala, the tussle for the office of Chief Minister between the octogenarian Mr K. Karunakaran and Mr A.K. Antony was personal only up to a point. It was actually a manifestation of a dangerous conflict between the Nairs and Syrian Christians. The Congress has much to be happy about after its success in Kerala and Assam though its mahajot in West Bengal with Ms Mamata Banerjee has turned into a mahajoke. But the question is whether it can build up on what it has achieved. After all, it frittered away similar gains in November, 1998. The BJP’s smugness, despite the rout of such useful allies as the DMK, is pathetic and pitiable. Sure enough, there is no danger to the NDA’s majority in the Lok Sabha. In fact, there may be accretion to the alliance’s strength because too many political orphans are hungry for ministerial office. But is it all that matters? Aren’t top leaders of the BJP bothered about their party’s prestige and credibility that have taken a very hard knock, indeed? The writer is a well-known political commentator. |
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India's new pointman in Moscow EVEN
after losing its super power status Russia occupies a unique place in India's scheme of things. India's defence ties with Russia remain as strong as ever. There is, however, some uneasiness in Moscow after the clearly noticeable warmth in Indo-US relations, specially with India's supportive stance on the American national missile defence plan. It is in this context the diplomatic abilities of India's new Ambassador, Mr K. Raghunath, will be on test immediately. Though this country tried to allay Moscow's fears during Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov's recent visit to New Delhi, Mr Raghunath will have to further convince India's all-weather friend, when he takes up his new assignment, that nothing will be done at the cost of the well-tested ties. The new envoy will have to make it clear that India appreciates Russia's security concerns and approves of its position on the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty and, therefore, the Russians should have no apprehension about India's intentions under the changed global scenario. Besides these strategic issues, Mr Raghunath will have to find ways how to further expand trade and economic relations with Russia. The hosiery goods industry in various parts of India, particularly in Punjab, pins great hopes on his understanding of the Russian situation and the markets in the former Soviet republics. Mr Raghunath, a 1962 batch IFS officer, has a very rich experience of dealing with governments and peoples with different cultural backgrounds. He is not new to Russia. From 1975 to 1980 he served in the Indian Embassy in Moscow with distinction. Mr Raghunath, a former Foreign Secretary, has been a keen student of Russian affairs. His fluency in Russian, besides in French and German, must have been his most valuable asset in his efforts to
strengthen the bridges of understanding between the two proud
peoples—the Russians and the Indians. Even when he was Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry he took enough pains to build close ties with Russia and the former Soviet republics. He has seen with his own eyes China's evolution after Mao's Cultural Revolution. His most preferred language was Mandarin when he joined the India Foreign Service. After taking over from Mr Salman Haider on June 30, 1997, he looked after India's interests in world capitals with distinction. But he is no exhibitionist. He believes in accomplishing the tasks assigned to him quietly and gracefully. One hopes he brings laurels to his country while functioning in Moscow under today's trying circumstances. Computer jyotishis But for their computers and technical jargon, the exit poll wallahs will be dubbed modern practitioners of mumbo-jumbo, or unreliable con men of the prediction brigade. And they still survive because people prefer excitement to exactitude. Once the vote is cast, voters want to know how others have done. Don’t bother whether the information is right or wrong. It is curiosity and not craving for knowledge. It is here that exit polls and in fact even pre-poll surveys prey on. The theories of all surveys are based on western social realities and that is the major reason for their failure. Mr Pranoy Roy came up with his index of opposition unity and that fell by the wayside once the Congress ceased to be the main claimant to power. Further, except for DRS of Narasimha Rao, all retired from exit poll to avoid the ignominy of wrong forecasts. But he waded into it because of the money involved in it and the chance to sell his findings to two channels, Doordarshan and Zee. Exit poll works admirably in western countries and for different reasons. In the USA, ideology has taken a back seat and an unexplicable thing like charisma has taken hold. And this thing charisma (together with its efficient packaging and marketing) has an appeal across classes (rich and middle class), races (whites, blacks and hispanics), and regional variants (rural and urban). Not so in India. Here there is communal vote, caste vote, parochial vote and whimsical vote. Often wives vote differently from husbands, neighbours vote differently. It is this bewildering contrasts that make exit polls a popular but well-loved joke. Should they be banned, as the mighty T.N.Seshan tried to do? No, strip the exit polls of their claim to scientific basis and treat them as election result-eve entertainment. Good to relax with and dangerous to rely on. Italy’s Jayalalitha Mr Silvio Berlusconi has won a thumping victory to become Italy’s Prime Minister. This despite the stiff opposition of The Economist of London and the enviable record of the outgoing centre-left coalition. The winner in Sunday national election is accused of a long list of misdeeds. He faces 12 criminal cases and three of them have reached the final stage of hearing. The charges include money laundering, complicity in murder, mafia links, tax evasion and bribing politicians, judges and the tax police. Three of the senior executives of his holding company, Fininvest, have been jailed for tax evasion and bribing tax inspectors. The re-entry into politics and the electoral success of Mr Berlusconi have divided the country. A majority of the voters, as the verdict shows, think that a very successful self-made businessman is the man of the hour for the country struggling to become a modern capitalist state. But worries remain. He is the richest man of the country and the 14th in the world. Is it safe to entrust the country to him? He has interests in virtually all aspects of daily life. He owns a popular television station and will now control the state-owned Rai channel, giving him control over 90 per cent of viewership. In the television-driven world this is anti-democratic. Then there is his alliance partner in the House of Freedoms combine. Gianfranco Fini is a throwback to the fascist days of Benitto Mussolini. This frightens the European Union members who expelled Austria after it elected a Nazi lover as its Prime Minister. Should Italy be meted out the same treatment? At one time an opinion was getting crystallised that Italy under Berlusconi is not honourable enough to sit across the other members. There have been second thoughts and with the Berlusconi camp showing that it will mend its ways, a talaq, talaq, talaq situation can be avoided. So Italy’s Jayalalitha lives to fight another day. |
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Theory of ‘karma’ and rebirth ALMOST all religions and sects of the world believe in the theory of “karma” and reincarnation in one form or the other. In our country like the Hindus and Buddhists, the Jains also believe in reincarnation. Jainism is an ancient religion going back to 600 BC, and has much in common with Hinduism and Buddhism. The Jains believe that it is ‘karma’ that causes a soul to reincarnate. As we pick up many vicious habits and traits and accumulate debts, these have to be paid off in our future lives. One easy way of atoning for the past is to live a life of austerity whereby all desires, passions and bondages as well as vicious habits and traits can be overcome, and the soul is enabled to return to its former state of complete purity. Originally the soul is pure and perfect, but its many physical habitations mean that it is overloaded with impurities. However, it remains pure underneath. Jainism shows how to regain the original purity, and true liberation occurs when the soul is freed from the worries of physical matters. In simple words all humans possess an eternal non-physical element which can never die, but which will enter a succession of suitable bodies. The element which reincarnates is completely non-material. It has no dimensions and cannot be seen or touched, yet it is the most important part of our existence. Call it the soul or the spirit. Those who believe in reincarnation compare the physical body to a suit of clothes. When the clothes become old and worn out, these are discarded and replaced by new ones. To understand reincarnation, we take the example of “Small Children who Remember Previous Life”, a book written by Ian Stevenson M.D. in which the author gives many detailed cases. Of these Gupta’s case seems totally authentic and proved. He remembered his previous life as Shaktipal Sharma. Gopal Gupta was born in Delhi, on August 26, 1956. Soon after Gopal began to speak when he was between two and two-and a half years old, the family had a guest in their house, and Gopal’s father asked Gopal to remove a tumbler that the guest had used. Gopal startled everyone by saying: “I won’t pick it up. I am a Sharma” (Brahmin) (Hum oonchi jat ke hain, joothe bartan nahin uthainge). Saying this, he ran into a temper and broke some glasses. Gopal’s father asked him to explain his rude behaviour. He then related many details of his previous life that he claimed to remember having lived in Mathura as Shaktipal. Gopal said that he had owned a company and gave its name as “Sukh Sancharak”. He said that he had a large house and many servants, that he had a wife and two brothers, and that he had quarrelled with one of his brothers, because he was asking for money. Actually Shaktipal was ready to give money to his brother but his wife had stopped him and because of this his brother had shot him dead. Gopal’s claim to being a Brahmin in his previous life explained his refusal to pick up the tumbler, because Brahmins would not ordinarily handle utensils that a member of a so-called lower caste had used or touched. A friend of Gopal’s father vaguely remembered having heard about a murder in Mathura that corresponded to Gopal’s statements. Once by chance Gopal’s father went to Mathura (in 1964) for a religious festival, and while there he found Sukh Sancharak Company and enquired from its sales manager about the accuracy of what Gopal had been saying. Whatever Gopal’s father said, impressed the manager, because some years ago one of the owners of the company had shot and killed his brother whose name was Shaktipal Sharma. This murder was widely reported in newspapers. The manager told the Sharma family about the visit of Gopal’s father and explained the reincarnation of Shaktipal as Gopal Gupta. Some of them then visited Gopal in Delhi and after talking to him, invited him to visit them in Mathura, which he did. Gopal recognised different persons and places known to Shaktipal Sharma and made statements that indicated considerable knowledge of his confidential and private affairs. Gopal’s knowledge of intimate matters, his other statements, and his recognising persons known to Shaktipal Sharma convinced the members of the Sharma family that he was Shaktipal Sharma reborn. |
Amritsar: It is understood that the two parties of the Akalis have come to a mutual settlement. Gyani Sher Singh, in a statement to the press, observes that he and Baba Gurdit Singh have arrived at a settlement. If the party of Sardar Baghadur Mehtab Singh agrees to give effect to the resolution of the SGPC passed on the 4th November, 1925, relating to the release of the Gurdwara prisoners, Baba Gurdit Singh will drop the question of Sarbat Khalsa Conference as well as other agitation and propaganda in connection with the present dispute. He will also press the Akali Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal to act upon the settlement, Gyani Sher Singh has, however, consulted Sardar Bahadur Mehtab Singh and other friends, and declares that they would work according to the resolution of the 4th November.  |
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Lowering cancer risk HORMONE
replacement therapy given to women with breast cancer was associated with a lower risk of recurrence of the disease, researchers said on Tuesday. The therapy is used by women to replace female hormones such as estrogen that drop off at menopause. But there was concern among doctors that estrogen could trigger a recurrence of breast cancer, so the therapy has been avoided in women who have had breast cancer. Researchers at the University of Washington found that women who had undergone hormone replacement therapy experienced about half the risk of recurrence as women who had not had the therapy, as well as one-third the risk of death from breast cancer and half the risk of death from any cause. The study appears in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study looked at 174 women who had undergone the therapy and four times that number who had not. All had been diagnosed with breast cancer between 1977 and 1994. Hormone replacement therapy is used by women to address menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes. The researchers said the study did not definitively determine that such therapy taken after the diagnosis of breast cancer was beneficial and said more research was needed.
Reuters Blood clots may affect one in 10 passengers The controversy over the safety of long-haul air travel has been reopened with the publication of a study showing one in 10 passengers developed early signs of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) after intercontinental flights. Although none of the passengers suffered ill effects, the finding surprised the researchers because of the high number affected. It is certain to alarm travellers and the airline industry, which is already facing compensation claims for millions of pounds from people claiming to have suffered DVT from flying. A comparison group of passengers who wore elastic stockings below the knee during their flights, similar to those issued to hospital surgical patients, showed no signs of DVT. John Scurr led the study. He is consultant surgeon at University College Medical School and the Lister Hospital, London, and is Britain’s leading expert on the condition. He recommended yesterday all long haul passengers wear the stockings. “I do it myself,” he said. But the study was criticised by medical experts from Canada who described the findings as “startling” and “unlikely” and said it had failed to resolve the issue. The Lancet, which published the study and the critical commentary of it, has had the findings for six months while they were subject to intensive peer review because of their sensitivity. It headlined its press release: “Link between deep vein thrombosis and long- haul air travel still in doubt” to damp down public concern. The link between long-haul flying and DVT - blood clots that form in the veins of the leg and can travel to the lungs with fatal results - has been suspected for almost 50 years but hard evidence has been scanty. Wrongly known as “economy class syndrome” because it is thought to be associated with cramped seating, it affects travellers in all classes and on all modes of transport that involve long periods of immobility, including coach, rail and car.
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This school is different EL Puente means “the bridge” in Spanish, and this action sums up what this unusual state school is all about. Founded in 1993 in one of New York’s toughest neighbourhoods, its aim is to build bridges between different communities and to live by the precepts of peace, justice and human rights. The fact that the school gets great exam results — around 95 per cent of students go on to university — is, says founder Luis Garden Acosta, incidental to the main purpose of promoting human rights and fostering good community relationships. Can the alternative model of El Puente teach us anything? This school has received praise from educational analysts and both Acosta and Principal Frances Lucerna have received the prestigious Heinz Foundation award — a localised US version of the Nobel Prize — for their successful work at El Puente. “People ask me what our secret weapon is in achieving academic success and an absence of violence,” says Acosta. “The answer is we don’t have one. Our approach is simply to love and care for students.” This is made possible because the school is far smaller than most American high schools, with just 130 students aged 13 to 18. Class sizes can be as low as 15 and are no higher than 25. Alfa Anderson says while there are violations of school rules, the smallness of the school allows teachers to keep a close eye on pupils’ behaviour before things get out of hand. “If there are problems with behaviour we sit with the students and talk to them. There are a few dropouts along the way, but we don’t expel them, we refer them to other agencies who can help them. We have a waiting list of around 40 students,” says Anderson. Potentially difficult pupils are not weeded out by covert selection. Acosta came to establish El Puente after a chequered career. He trained at a Catholic seminary, went to medical school at Harvard. It was when he took on a job as a manager at Greenpoint Hospital in the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn and observed the devastating toll of gang and gun violence on young people that he felt he had to do something. He established El Puente in 1982 not as a school but as a community organisation with a health and arts centre. The school was founded a decade later and built on the successes of the health and arts initiatives. The New York Times has described El Puente as “a bridge from hope to social action”. It is open to parents and other community members as well as to students, and people in the community are encouraged to become El Puente members by pledging to offer at least one day of community service or action and signing a contract “to strive for excellence in body, mind, spirit and community”. In one example of community involvement, parents have forged links with farming communities in upstate New York to set up an organic market in the neighbourhood. The school’s aims are to integrate book learning with community projects, to build a positive sense of self amongst students and to give something back to the community, thus nurturing a sense of responsibility. |
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Oxen predict bountiful harvest THAILAND can expect a bountiful harvest this year, two sacred oxen predicted at the annual royal ploughing ceremony on Wednesday. At the ancient Brahmanic ceremony, held in front of Bangkok’s Grand Palace, the oxen chose to eat beans and grass, a sign that the country will be fertile and produce bumper crops due to ample rainfall, an official interpreter announced. “The royal oxen ate grass, which means there will be ample water, good crops and good livestock,” the master of ceremonies at the ritual told Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, who presided over the ceremony. The oxen ate the same items at last year’s ceremony, which mark the beginning of the planting season. The oxen had seven types of nourishment to choose from, including rice, alcohol, sesame seeds, water and corn, all of which signify different things. According to tradition, if the animals had chosen to eat sesame seeds or corn, bad weather could follow. The ceremony, which was broadcast live on national television, was witnessed by more more than 10,000 government officials and onlookers. The ritual, dating back several centuries, was reintroduced to Thailand in 1960 and has been performed annually since then.
Reuters Philanthropist gives it all away For 80-year-old forklift operator Mat Dawson, the thrill of having money — since, as everyone knows, you can’t take it with you — is being able to give it away. This is what Dawson — dubbed the “blue-collar benefactor” in local media reports — has been doing since 1995. He has donated roughly $1 million to help deserving students complete a four-year college education. And Dawson, who had to drop out of school after the eighth grade, intends to keep on giving until the day he dies. “As long as I live I’m going to support education,” he told Reuters at the Ford Motor Co.’s Rouge assembly plant in this gritty Detroit suburb. “It makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something in life, and this is what I want to do.” Dawson, who still works at the Rouge plant, has seen his wages rise from less than $7 a day to about $27 an hour since he started work there in 1940. It was a time, he says, when foremen barked out orders from inside protective steel cages and “gold and silver” standards meant that black workers like himself were paid less than their white counterparts. But it is Dawson’s history of wise investment choices, a relatively frugal lifestyle — and miles and miles of heart, friends say — that have allowed him to give so much away.
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SPIRITUAL NUGGETS The threat to the peace of the world and the life and property of the citizens in general becomes all the more real and dreadful when we look at the moral degeneration on the part of those who are supposed to preside over the destiny of nations and shape the future of civilisations. — Kirpa Sagar, The Choice Today ***** All human beings are inhabitants of the same earth, receive light from the same sun. All the dividing humanity are man-made. — From Baba Hardev Singh's lecture in Hong Kong, July 20, 1994, Enlightening World. ***** The Qutab may change its base, let it. The Himalayas may blow up with the winds. The ocean may ablaze in flames of a fire-fly with its twinkling tale. The sun may set before its destined time. Let not the determination of the man fail. Let not the tongue be twisted even by mistake. — Impossibilities Challenged, 12. ***** One who has fondness for diverse, sour, sweet, pungent, saucy foods will find his mind always lured by prolonged cravings, says Mangat. ***** Always eat pure food and have noble thoughts ...your mind will then think of the glory of God. Do not get drowned in the lust of the tongue for diversity of tastes. Shri Mangat says this is a hellish pit, which can cause lot of sorrow. — Mahatma Mangat Ram ji Maharaj, Samata Prakash |
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