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| Saturday,
June 30, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Time to ignore Chohan Code for legislators A giant is born |
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A look at federal fiscal relations
The sparrows in captivity
Manipur: another story of neglect
How Musharraf may gain from India visit
“Wealthiest or poorest monarch”
Fertility technique doesn’t harm kids
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Time to ignore Chohan PUNJAB is not for Khalistan. Those who are making yet another attempt at reviving old bitter memories — they include Dr Jagjit Singh Chohan — are surely not friends of the people. Nor do they reflect the noble teachings of our great Gurus which tell us how to live in peace, love, brotherhood and in an atmosphere of mutual tolerance. Abandoned and rejected by his one-time supporters in a foreign country after the restoration of tranquillity and democracy in Punjab, Dr Chohan was desperate to come back to his roots and join the mainstream. Some of his statements gave an impression that he was sick and tired of his past and wished to start a new life in his homeland. But soon after his arrival in Chandigarh, he has tried to revive his old ideological belief, though he says that he is not a votary of violence to achieve his objective. Dr Chohan is entitled to his views. But he must not lose sight of two decades of the havoc he and his fellow thinkers and converts had caused to peace and development in Punjab. As many as 25,000 persons were victims of terrorism of all types. The question here is not of Dr Chohan's personal belief. At stake is peace, harmony and development of the state and its dynamic people. Punjabis will not forget the role played by certain militant leaders in connivance with known foreign forces whose destabilisation plan for this country is no secret. It is not certain what has prompted Dr Chohan to play the new game. The Central and state authorities are categorical in their observation that his remarks on Khalistan are nothing but a breach of understanding he had arrived at before his entry into India. Whatever might be his calculations, Dr Chohan has harmed the interests of Punjab. The people have already given their verdict against militancy. It must be said to the credit of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal that he was initially opposed to the separatist leader's comeback. Why and how he changed his stand is not yet fully known. For that matter, even the role of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in this context needs some soul-searching. It is all right to be carried away by momentary emotions. But Punjab cannot forget the price it had to pay for militancy which went against the very tenets of our Gurus. The people have the right to information. They must know who played what role and at whose behest. Meanwhile, the best course will be to ignore Dr Chohan and allow him to dump himself in the dustbin of history. |
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Code for legislators LOK
Sabha Speaker G. M. C. Balayogi while inaugurating the three-day conference of presiding officers in Chandigarh on Thursday performed the ritual of appealing to the elected representatives of the people to exercise self-discipline so that the legislatures are able to perform their duty. In the course of his address he made a number of high sounding statements which too have been made before by well-meaning leaders. It goes without saying that the political class does not need to find scapegoats for explaining the abysmal decline in what can be called correct parliamentary conduct. There is not a single political party which can claim to not have made a substantial or minor contribution in turning the legislatures into "free-for-all wrestling
rings". There was a time when schools used to take students for witnessing the proceedings of the legislatures. Not anymore. Why? Those who saw the strange incident of assault and battery involving the elected representatives of the people inside the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha a few years ago should be able to answer this question without much difficulty. There was enough video footage for instituting cases of attempted murder against the MLAs who turned the House into a den of law-breakers. Mr Kesrinath Tripathi as Speaker did not go beyond expressing concern and shock over the incident of violence inside the House. He is still the Speaker and must be in Chandigarh in connection with the presiding officers conference. It is still not too late for him to throw light on why punitive action was not taken against the MLAs caught by TV cameras throwing paper weights, uprooted mikes and chappals at each other. To blame only the members for the decline in the standards of parliamentary conduct would not be fair. The presiding officers should do a bit of honest soul searching during the conference about their own role in turning the legislatures into anything but forums for law-making. The problem is far too complex to lend itself to such easy solutions as were offered by Mr Balayogi in his inaugural address. The debate would, perhaps, be more focused and purposeful if and when the proposed meeting of chief ministers and chief whips, chaired by President K. R. Narayanan, for evolving a code of conduct for elected representatives takes place in Delhi. |
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A giant is born EXCITING things are happening in the world of cellular telephone. First MTNL introduced its own mobile service named Dolphin at the lowest rate in the country. Now four major cellular phone operators have merged to form the biggest conglomerate in the country. This will spur competition and result in a reduction of back-up operations cost, leading to a lower airtime charge. There was once Batata, a curious name for the entity that arose out of the joining of hands of Birla, AT&T and Tata communication. Now BPL, the Bangalore-based electronic manufacturer, has joined this mighty entity. The new company will come into legal existence only after the respective boards of directors approve it and legal hurdles are out of the way. For instance, BPL is an operator in Maharashtra where Batata (or Tata, to be precise) already runs a service. So BPL has to delink this from the main company to honour the law which says that one company cannot run two cellular services in one city, called metro, or a circle which is coterminus with states. So BPL will sell the licence and equipment to be on the right side of law and, yes, make a neat profit. The new company, which is yet to get a brand name and management, has a dominant presence in Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In other words, in all states south of Madhya Pradesh. This contiguity is both the motivating force and the glittering attraction of the new behemoth. Drama really revolves around the rate war, as some economic newspapers have described it. In the past two years airtime tariff — that is, the money the subscriber pays for using the cellular phone or receiving a call — has crashed by 75 per cent. It is about Rs 2 now compared to Rs 8 then. Now Delhi MTNL has set a new cat among private cell pigeons. It is offering a monthly rental of Rs 250 for a cell phone which is the same for a fixed, or the normal, telephone. The airtime charges are attractively low if one could restrict his or her conversation to 30 seconds. It is actually a test of capsule conversation and frankly not many Indian are good at it. |
A look at federal fiscal relations CHIEF Ministers have been making a strong plea for the transfer of Centrally sponsored schemes (CSSs) to the states. The Planning Commission has been lending support to their demand. The latest mid-term Appraisal of the Ninth Plan reiterates the earlier perception of the Planning Commission in a stronger and more cogent manner. But despite the force of the Chief Ministers and backing by the Planning Commission, the number of centrally sponsored schemes has been growing year after year. There must be a stronger force if not reason that is sustaining these schemes with the Centre. A closer look at his somewhat curious phenomena is therefore needed. The number of centrally sponsored schemes has over the years gone up to as many as 210. The Budget allocation to CSSs in 1999-2000 amounted to Rs 34,257 crore. Including peripheral expenditure by the states on these schemes, the yearly expenditure exceeds Rs 40,000 crore. This is not a small amount. It accounts for 70 per cent of the plan budget of the Central ministries. It was only 30 per cent in the early eighties. The Central ministries’ control of Plan funds has more than tripled in two decades. Therein lies the nub and rub of the story. It is now a well-known fact that every time the Planning Commission came up with a proposal either for pruning or transfer to states of Centrally sponsored schemes, it has been met with strong opposition for the Cabinet Secretary downwards. These schemes have been sustaining at the Centre the posts of several secretaries and a large retinue of officials at all levels. It is clear they have developed a strong vested interest in continuing and enlarging these schemes at the Centre. The classic case is that of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation. Despite agriculture being a state subject, it has under it as many as 146 centrally sponsored schemes running. Looking after these are 182 wings with a work force of 7500 as of last year, according to the Planning Commission’s mid-term appraisal. In addition, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has an army of 30,000 under it. Similar is the case with other ministries that run Centrally sponsored schemes like the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Ministry of Welfare and the Ministry of Urban Development. All these are state subjects. Have they got any reason for being managed by the Centre? The decisions of the National Development Council and the Planning Commission could not have been blocked for years without the tacit approval of the political leadership at the Centre. The craving of the Central leadership and political parties in power to build up their image through the Centrally sponsored schemes apparently found a common cause in continuing and further enlarging them particularly on occasions of impending elections or while addressing the nation on Independence Day from the ramparts of the Red Fort. There are schemes given the names of departed national leaders as done in the past when the Congress party was in power like Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) launched in 1989 and renamed in 1999 as Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY) for the scheme to provide rural employment and Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) for rural housing schemes, to name a few. Now under the NDA government as well new Centrally sponsored schemes have been launched. An integrated scheme of all-round social and economic infrastructure in rural areas named as Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY) and Rs 5000 crore have been earmarked in the 2000-2001 budget. This will be shared by respective ministries. Any major occasion is good enough to launch a new programme. The Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) and five allied programmes were merged into one in 1999 and named Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY). The ingenuity of the Central ministries to procreate new schemes and names is amazing. It would be impossible to keep track of all these unless the Central government brings out a dictionary for the hundreds of acronyms that have come into official jargon. What has been the impact of these schemes ? A Planning Commission study estimates that if the Rs 40,000 crore being annually spent on CSSs at present, is distributed straight away as cash to the five crore families that are below the poverty line they would get Rs 8000 per family in a year. That would be sufficient to lift them all above the poverty line. On the other hand, another estimate gives that the percentage of people below the poverty line has fallen by 20 per cent in the last two decades. That would mean all the schemes, including those funded by the states and other sources, could reduce the percentage below the poverty line by 1 per cent per year. The conclusion is obvious that the impact of poverty alleviation programmes is less than 1 per cent in a year. It is not that the near total inefficiency of the CSSs is not known. There are several studies by the governmental as well as outside independent agencies like the World Bank on the miserable performance of these schemes over the years. Quoting the reports of the controlling ministries and the state governments, the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India in his report on CSSs has listed the reasons for the poor performance. (1) There is neither will nor capability for the ministries to control the quantitative and qualitative execution of the schemes. (2) The funds are released to the state governments mechanically. (3) The ministries are concerned with only expenditure and not in the attainment of objectives. (4) The uniform models of the schemes are unrelated to state-wise economic and social differentials. (5) There are several schemes simultaneously run by different ministries targeting the same beneficiaries. (An example is the several schemes to help the disabled persons). The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is having a scheme by the name National Programme of Rehabilitation of Persons with Disability (NPRPD). It has appointed 32,000 rehabilitation workers, 3200 multipurpose rehabilitation workers, 160 district rehabilitation centres and apex institutions at the state and the national level. The Ministries of Health and Family Welfare, Human Resource Development, Labour and Rural Development also are having similar programmes to help the disabled. So much so that a conscientious senior official who had worked with several ministries and also the Prime Minister’s Office lamented at the “looting” of public funds that is going on. The suggestion by the Planning Commission to club similar schemes is only a palliative that would only result in more funds being wastefully spent under a different name as in the case of the Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana. There is a strong case for all the Centrally sponsored schemes to be transferred to the states. But there is a caution to be observed. The reports of the CAG also refer to large-scale diversion of funds particularly meant for the social sector by the state governments to non-plan expenditure. Several states have no matching funds and in general overestimate their Plan resources. The reports also suggest that the states generally overestimate the achievements. The Southern and Western states have shown full and better utilisation of Plan funds in recent times. The Planning Commission itself has to do greater and regular monitoring. But as Mr Appelby in his “Public Administration in India” had stated, “The power that is exercised organically in New Delhi is the uncertain and discontinuous power of prestige”. This has become truer now after the coalition governments have come into vogue at the Centre. The National Development Council formed as far back as 1952 has not achieved much. It has become more like the United Nations where Chief Ministers come to deliver prepared speeches presenting their respective cases. Though it also needs to be strengthened, the Regional Councils of States that have been formed under Article 263 of the Constitution with the Central government also represented in them could be better institutions whose role and strength in formulating and coordinating development plans will have a greater degree of success. While transferring the CSSs to states, the technical staff that is associated with them could be placed at the disposal of the Regional Councils. That would ensure not only more realistic Plans taking regional factors into consideration to be made but also greater attention in their implementation. |
The sparrows in captivity THE caged sparrows that we have in our house long for liberty, but we intend to provide them security in these troubled times. They have traversed miles and miles in the blue sky to come to this land where security is more important than liberty. The two pairs share the same swing for hours and live happily under one roof. They warble in the morning, sometimes in unison, feed themselves on bajra unhurriedly and splash water in the other saucer as and when they are in a jovial mood. Even in captivity they gladden our hearts by producing white eggs, at regular intervals, which are never hatched for want of space. Sparrows have always roused the curiosity of human beings. To a child, in order to catch its attention, the parent would say “Ik si chiri, te ik si kaan.” (There was a sparrow and a crow too.) The crow, of course, is a villain, whereas the sparrow is a docile creature. The child’s sympathy is roused for the sparrow that is always wronged by the villain. On the other hand, the crow is the target of the child’s hatred and is always condemned for wrong-doings. Still the same circle goes on undisturbed, rousing the curiosity and then dumping it in spleen. The other day I read a Punjabi short story, “Chiri vichari ki kare” (What should the poor sparrow do?), and felt miserable. The girl loses her husband at a young age and is coaxed to marry the teenaged son of her husband’s elder brother who exclaims at the suggestion, “You mean my Chachi?” All this and all that for the sake of the landed property that must not be claimed by the sparrow as her inheritance. It should produce the white egg, even in captivity, to perpetuate the family heir-line. There are always some means to an end and the be-all and end-all is the triumphant crow. Into our folklore, too, the sparrows have winged their way imperceptibly but surely. The girls playing in the courtyard and then on the village green are bound to fly away sooner or later to the destinations outlined by destiny. They are like “Chirian da chamba” (a flock of sparrows) marking time to grow up and then fly away while the blessings are showered on them in abundance in the form of “good riddance.” They will come back now and then for a short stay but then they will go back to their haunts, where they will be provided all the security that a sparrow needs. They must pretend to be happy so as to keep others happy and this duty they must perform for their own benefit. She need not raise her eyebrow when the crow spoils the eggs in the nests of others but should ensure the safety of the egg in her own nest. In troubled times she should take the brood under its wings, disdainful of the crows hovering over. Incidentally, the words “kurian” (girls) and “chirian” (sparrows) mingle together many a time in the casual talk. One would say “kurian chirian da ki ae, ajj aethhe te kal othhe” (What of girls and sparrows, sometime here and sometime there). It bespeaks of the volatile nature of both and indicates the shifting of places generally associated with them. Now the girls, who were a protected and pampered lot not long ago, are in endangered species in this part of the world. The crow is pecking at the eggs, else it is treating the sparrow as a cook for “khichri” (rice and dal cooked together) or a dish in itself. If given a chance, the sparrow on its wings can become a hawk and snub the haughty crow. The caged sparrows in our house can face the storm, I hope, if set free with full faith in their prowess. |
Manipur: another story of neglect THE Indian North-East remains a mystery to me as it does to most Indians. My limited connections to that part of our country come from a couple of short trips to Assam and Meghalaya and some information I gleaned about Mizoram from a bureaucrat called V.S. Jafa who knew the North-East well. Recounting the story of Mizoram’s insurgency, he told me that it erupted mainly because of a famine in the sixties that Delhi neglected to do anything about despite being warned by the Mizos that it was coming. He said that in Mizoram everyone knew that when the bamboo flowers bloomed it was a sign of looming famine. That year, the bamboo flowered but since Delhi was too arrogant (as usual) to listen to the warnings the famine came as a surprise. It was left to ordinary people to provide famine relief in Mizoram’s remote and desperate villages and it was these same ordinary people who went on to become insurgents. They found it to be the only way to express their anger against Delhi for the years of neglect Mizoram had faced. Something similar had happened in Manipur but, this time, the people are venting their anger against their own politicians. What aroused my interest was not just those TV pictures of the legislative assembly in flames but the sight of angry students announcing a boycott of their elected representatives. Most of these elected representatives are currently sitting in Delhi desperately trying to find a solution through the intervention of the central leadership and it is from talking to them that I have pieced together yet another story of neglect and political chicanery for which, yet again, Delhi is to blame. I went first to meet Jaya Jaitley of the Samata Party because it was shortly after the Samata government led by Radhabinod Koijam fell that the state erupted into violence. Ostensibly it was the ceasefire with the Muivah group of Naga militants that caused the eruption but there is much more to the story than immediately meets the eye. Jaya did not openly blame the BJP but admitted that the Samata government had fallen because of dangerous political games played by the local BJP unit. When Koijam sought a vote of confidence on May 21 this year, the BJP’s central leadership assured Samata of its support. Senior BJP leaders like Jana Krishnamurthy and Kushabhau Thakre told Jaya that a three-line whip was being issued and there would be no question of BJP MLAs not supporting the Koijam government. When the opposite happened, the same leaders offered the stupidest of excuses. They said that a whip had been issued but somehow this vital message was not communicated to the MLAs so they voted against Koijam. Having toppled the Koijam government, the BJP then admitted into its ranks 18 MLAs from local parties with links to Manipur’s militants and made a bid for power. If you think this was a bad thing to do in one of our most sensitive border states, wait till you hear the rest of the story. Without going into too many details of the political wheeling and dealing that has gone on in Manipur since assembly elections were held in February last year, suffice it to say that the Congress government led by Neepamacha Singh made a serious mess of things. By October it was clear that there was virtually no governance going on and most parties agreed that even a spell of President’s rule would be better than what they had. The Centre was reluctant to put Manipur under direct central rule. So a new coalition was put together with Koijam, a man of impeccable credentials, at the head of a government that included five BJP ministers. Koijam, whom I went to see after my meeting with Jaya, said that his first priority when he took over as Chief Minister on February 15 this year, was to restore the state’s financial health. Salaries had not been paid for months and the treasury was bankrupt so he appealed to Delhi for help. The Finance Minister readily agreed to give Manipur a grant of Rs 200 crore. Had the money come, Koijam might have been able to provide at least a semblance of government but the money was stopped, for unknown reasons, by the Home Ministry. I tried contacting Home Secretary Kamal Pande to find out why this was done but he was unavailable and when last heard of the Home Minister himself was holidaying in Turkey. Money is a crucial part of the Manipur story and unless the Home Ministry wanted the Koijam government to fail it makes no sense why the state was starved of it. Manipur, according to Koijam, is one of the states bankrupted by Inder Gujral’s infamous decision as Prime Minister to implement the Fifth Pay Commission, Instantly, this doubled Manipur’s salary bill from Rs 327 crore a year to Rs 768 crore or Rs 75 crore per month. When you consider that Manipur’s annual revenue — mainly from power tariffs — is between Rs 60 and Rs 70 crore a year you understand how serious the problem is. Koijam does not hesitate to admit that “the Fifth Pay Commission destroyed the state’s finances”. Unsurprisingly there has been no development in the state and unemployment is so huge a problem that 17-odd militant groups operating in the state have extortion — not independence — as their main goal. Manipur is the second most literate state in India — after Kerala — with 85 per cent literacy so there is political awareness as well as a non-functioning economy. It’s hard to think of a better recipe for militancy. Into this smouldering cauldron of disaffection the Central government chose to throw its ceasefire with the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN), a group led by a Naga from Manipur who clearly dreams of eating up half of Manipur to make his Nagalim. Even then the trouble could have been contained, says Koijam, if the Central government had chosen to declare a ceasefire with all the militant groups instead of just one. Why was this not done? Who knows, just as who knows why the BJP would go out of its way to destabilise a sensitive border state. The Prime Minister has since tried to assure Manipur’s mainly Hindu (80%) Meitei population that it will not be put under Naga rule but the damage has been done. Thirteen people lost their lives in the violence that erupted on June 18. Our north-eastern states are among the most beautiful places in the world. One way to restore the economy — and perhaps even end the militancy — is for the Central government to encourage tourism to the region. It does the opposite. Under the excuse of security it allows no foreigners in at all without a special permit and itself does nothing by way of development of investment. So you do not need me to tell you that this latest ceasefire is unlikely to bring lasting-peace or prosperity. But the least we can demand from the BJP is an explanation for its bad behaviour. |
How Musharraf may gain from India visit NO one is expecting much from the coming Indo-Pak summit. Yet there is great enthusiasm in Pakistan. The reason: even the emergence of an atmosphere of talks between the two neighbours is an achievement. It may lead to the easing of the subcontinental tension, which means reduced pressure on the country’s economy, already knee-deep in debt. If there is an agreement on the withdrawal of troops by the two countries from the Siachen glaciers, as expected, the resources thus saved may come handy to boost the sagging economy. This may, in the process, help President Musharraf in trouncing those forcing him to leave the scene after holding a general election by October, 2002, as directed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The socio-economic climate that prevails today disfavours the ruling General to continue in power by or without holding the long-awaited elections. Contrary to the people’s expectations, he has failed to deliver the goods on almost all fronts, particularly economic revival and removal of corruption. Employment opportunities have become scarce. With the tightening grip of poverty, the noble cause of restoration of the democratic political process is under a serious threat of losing its appeal. President Musharraf is obviously not as much interested in reviving the political process as in perpetuating his rule by generating hope of better days ahead. However, the budget presented by his government made little promise on providing new employment opportunities despite the fact that over 40 per cent of the 140.5 million population of Pakistan lives below the poverty line. The Khushal Pakistan Scheme and Khushal Bank are too weak to make any dent on poverty. There are also a food subsidy scheme and the Zakat Fund to fight poverty, but nothing has worked so far. The General does not have a magic wand to change the situation when he is faced with a tottering economy and the compulsions to guard his interests from the feudal political class baying for his blood. Today Pakistan’s public debt stands at Rs 3,200 billion, 101 per cent of the GDP. Over 60 per cent of the government revenue is used for debt servicing. Besides this, Pakistan spends a major part of its budget (at least one-fifth) on defence. Improved relations with India will release the much-needed resources to fight the poverty reduction battle, taken less seriously so far. It is, however, yet to be seen if poverty replaces Kashmir as the top issue in Pakistan. Fatwa against dam Fatwas (religious edicts) issued by religious personages on
different matters have become the subject of an intense debate in Pakistan. In a country where the literacy rate is very low and people’s understanding of religious matters is poor, any fatwa is bound to have its impact. So far there is no authority to regulate the issuing of
fatwas. Though only a mufti is considered as the properly qualified person to
pronounce his opinion in the form of a fatwa on a given subject, the people in general are not in a position to find out who is who. They simply prefer to go by a religious edict. This may lead to serious complications, as pointed out by Mr B. A. Malik in the June 19 issue of The Nation. He has listed certain interesting cases: “Recently an edict declared that neither nikah (religious marriage bond) nor funeral prayers would be permitted of such women as would vote or stand for local body elections in Dir (May 28). The result was that all 204 seats reserved for women remained vacant. “Another fatwa against some participants of the International Punjabi Conference held here (Lahore) in April last declared their nikah void and that no Muslim would attend their funeral.” Some time ago a fatwa was given on a subject like the construction of a dam. According to Malik, the religious edict issued by a mufti had it that the Kalabagh Dam issue was a religious one. “Its construction was declared against Sharia. Hence ‘haraam’. Moreover, since God gave panj (five) rivers to Punjab for her sole use and the Sindhu river (the Indus) exclusively for Sindh, all Punjab barrages and canals on the Indus are ‘haraam’. In order to escape Allah’s wrath and punishment in hell in the hereafter, it demanded of the Punjab people to abandon the idea of ‘haraam’ KBD (Kalabagh Dam) and to demolish all ‘haraam’ barrages and canals on the Indus.” |
“Wealthiest or poorest monarch”
London: The Times Berlin correspondent says: The vigorously conducted campagin to decide whether the ex-Kaiser will be the wealthiest or the poorest monarch ends on Sunday, when the confiscation referendum will be polled. it is recalled that the ex-Kaiser's representatives were alarmed at the growing public anger and hinted their readiness to reduce the ex-Kaiser's claim to $52,000,000 as compensation, but scornfuly rejected the Government's offer of $9,000,000. The Republicans do not expect to poll the 20,000,000 votes necessary to pass the referendum. Their aim is to poll enough to frighten the ex-Kaiser and stiffen the back of the Government and finally eliminate the monarchist versus republican issue. |
Fertility technique doesn’t harm kids A
fertility technique that enables men with poor quality, or low, sperm counts to father children does not seem to cause developmental problems in their children, researchers said on Friday. A study of babies who had been conceived through intracytoplamic sperm injection (ICSI), in which a single sperm is injected into the egg, showed they were just as healthy as other children of the same age. “This population study did not show any significant difference between children conceived after ICSI and their naturally conceived peers in terms of physical health and development,” said Dr Alastair Sutcliffe, of London’s Royal Free and College Medical School. In a report in The Lancet medical journal, Sutcliffe and his team compared the development of 208 17-month-old ICSI babies with that of 221 toddlers conceived naturally. Although the ICSI babies were more likely to be delivered by Caesarean section and had lower birth weights, their physical and mental development was similar to that of their peers. Sutcliffe’s findings contrast with a Swedish study which found the technique was linked to an increased risk of birth defects, although most of the abnormalities were associated with multiple births. ICSI has been hailed as a revolutionary treatment for male infertility, which accounts for about 40 per cent of fertility problems. More than 20,000 babies have been born worldwide through ICSI since it was developed in Belgium in the early 1990s. Sutcliffe and his colleagues plan to assess the children again when they are four to five years old. “The evidence to date suggests that the majority of children conceived after ICSI are healthy and developmentally normal,” Sutcliffe added. In a separate study in the weekly medical journal, Scottish scientists said in-vitro fertilisation, in which an egg is fertilised with sperm in the laboratory, was more successful than ICSI for couples whose problem was due to the woman. Both the implantation rate of the embryo in the womb and the pregnancy rate per menstrual cycle were higher in couples who had been randomly selected to receive IVF instead of ICSI. “ICSI offers no advantage over IVF in terms of clinical outcome in cases of non-male factor infertility. Our results support the current practice of reserving ICSI only for severe male-factor problems,” said Siladitya Bhattacharya, of Aberdeen University in Scotland.
Reuters
Bengal reverses decision on English
West Bengal’s ruling Communist coalition is again debating if it should reintroduce English at the primary level in government-run schools. The Left Front, after it took power for the first time in 1977, abolished the teaching of English till the fifth grade in state schools to “encourage and promote” the Bengali language. For more than a decade, students passing out of government-owned or aided schools remained wanting in their knowledge of English. The state government’s move evoked widespread resentment from students, parents and opposition parties. No survey was done among students who were directly affected to know whether they were happy with the decision. For years, otherwise brilliant students floundered in job and other interviews because of their poor command of English. Students of government schools, who are in a majority, complained that they were at a disadvantage while competing with students from private and missionary-run schools where English is taught right from the beginning. Government school students in the state begin learning rudiments of the English language like sentence construction and basic grammar from the sixth grade. They have complained that as their foundation in English remains weak, grasping the intricacies of the language in later classes becomes “very difficult”. It was only after this resentment among a major section of the middle class turned into a political referendum against the Communists in the urban belts that the government decided to right a wrong. The government has accepted that going by the popular sentiment, it was “a wrong decision” to withdraw English from the primary schools and decided to reintroduce the language. But not all Communists — especially Primary Education Minister Kanti Biswas — are happy with the decision, and so the debate rages on.
IANS |
The original root of the word “sex” means division. If you are divided inside then sex will be there. When you hanker after a woman or a man, what is happening? Your one part is hankering to meet the other part but you are trying to meet the other outside. You can meet for a single moment, but again you will be alone, because outside there can be no eternal meeting. Sex is bound to be just momentary because the other is the other. If you meet your inner woman or man inside then the meeting can be eternal. And when all divisions are lost this meeting happens. — Sex. Quotations from Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (compiled and edited by Ma Amrit Chinmayo) ***** Misery is the real death. Physical death is only a change. ***** The tussle between the daivi (divine) and the assuri (devilish) tendencies and between happiness and misery has been there from times immemorial. He who becomes an objective
seer of this interplay of the opposites is healthy in the true sense. ***** All of us keep swinging between the two extremes of happiness and sorrow throughout our lives. The feeling of transient joy arouses in us the desire for an everlasting bliss. The main receiver of all positive and negative experience is our mind.... Everlasting bliss is possible only for a realised soul. ***** There is no sadhana (practice) in the world that can give immortality to the human body.... The practice of Yoga is for keeping both body and mind healthy, so that we may live and die happily. — Sudarshan Kumar Biala, Yoga for Better Living and Self Realisation |
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