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| Thursday, July 5, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Waking up to safety aspect Cooling a face-off Cricketers on drugs |
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Developments in Indian Ocean region
A case of soul-searching for UTI chief
Sukhna lake: dam safety neglected
Governor visits Amrtisar
Arjun’s doubts and Krishna’s logic
Short hair suggests confidence
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Waking up to safety aspect IT requires the sacrifice of a large number of innocent lives to make a government organisation wake up to harsh realities. In the case of the Indian Railways, the wake-up call has come after the horrendous accident near Kozhikode in Kerala to set up a Rs 17,000-crore railway safety fund to be invested over the next five years. Of this, Rs 2,500 crore is to be spent this year itself. The Railway Minister has announced that there will be no immediate hike in passenger fares, but indications are that a nominal surcharge will be imposed on passengers soon. The amount of Rs 2,500 crore appears substantial, but considering the gigantic task that needs to be completed, it may prove to be too little, too late. The safety aspect has been conveniently ignored for far too long. Announcing new projects and carrying out gauge conversion, even if in a haphazard manner, gets media attention; safety does not. Decades of neglect have left the railway network in a precarious position. Half of the one lakh bridges are of 19th century vintage. More than 75 per cent of the bridges are more than 60 years old. As many as 550 of these have been identified as distressed, meaning thereby that these are unsafe. About 12,000 km of overage tracks has not been replaced. About 35,000 coaches and wagons which should have been taken off the rails long ago continue to trundle along merrily. It is a chicken versus egg situation. Bad tracks and bridges play havoc with the coaches; bad coaches harm the tracks. The end result is that a train journey ends up being a high-risk venture. The railway system is hopelessly overstretched. The number of trains has been increasing greatly. Their speed is also on the increase. But the safety measures have just not kept pace. Whether it is bridges, tracks, signals, rolling stocks or wagons, there is need for an overhaul everywhere. Financial factor is very vital but it is not the only one. The problem lies with the mind-set as well. The omnipresent red tape has made sure that the administrative machinery is extremely slack. Safety is given a low priority. Appointment to this section is considered a punishment posting where over the hill personnel are dumped. A hue and cry is raised after every accident. A few months later everything is forgotten. The Khanna committee constituted after the 1998 railway accident near Ludhiana which resulted in heavy casualties had recommended a safety fund. It has been given practical shape only now. As long as the casual approach continues, the situation cannot improve much, despite this allocation. |
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Cooling a face-off TAMIL
NADU Chief Minister Jayalalitha is strong-willed and never forgives or forgets. Yet on Tuesday she ordered the withdrawal of all cases against two Union Cabinet Ministers who threw their political weight behind her sworn enemy, Mr M. Karunanidhi. The twosome earned their freedom by defying the state police, refusing to walk out unless the cases were withdrawn. What is more galling for the AIADMK supremo is that the central government threatened dire consequences if they were kept in judicial custody. In other words, Mr Murasoli Maran and Mr T. R. Baalu had their way by challenging the iron lady and backed by angry threats of the Centre. In short it was not a voluntary action but one taken under constitutional duress. Ms Jayalalitha is not going to like it a bit. For the present she has sued for peace but in the months to come she will reveal her true personality and intentions. That is the time the real confrontation will unfold in its ferocity. Free from the threat of a possible destabilisation move, she will now concentrate on taking revenge on Mr Karunanidhi and his son, Mr M. K. Stalin, Mayor of Chennai. Here too the Centre can act if it really wants to be tough. Denial of basic human rights to a citizen, in this case a former Chief Minister, can be made an issue. And seeking to dissolve a democratically elected municipal corporation violates the spirit of the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution. But all this presupposes a strong and clear-headed Central government and not many will swear by it. The Union Government too has generously contributed to first building up an atmosphere of tense Centre-state relations and then to its defusion. The decision to issue a directive under the R.S. Sarkaria Commission report is the most innocuous. One under the constitutional provisions would have carried much weight. Again, the directive will only demand action against those police officials who trampled on the human rights of the two Union Ministers. The squashing of the cases by the police weakens the force of the directive. New Delhi is really angry over the ill-treatment to Mr Karunanidhi, leader of the National Democratic Alliance in Tamil Nadu. The Centre cannot afford to be seen as too weak to protect so important an ally as the DMK. But the Constitution is not very helpful; it actually protects the state’s autonomy to ensure law and order. But there is an escape valve. A Chennai court has castigated the police for the shabby way it treated Mr Karunanidhi despite its clear instructions. More important, it has found no documentary evidence of corruption or collusion in a corrupt act by the former Chief Minister and his son. The Centre can skilfully use this to demand and secure the release of Mr Karunanidhi, its most prominent face in the state of Tamil
Nadu. |
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Cricketers on drugs JUST
when Indian cricket was beginning to emerge from the shock of the match-fixing controversy an upmarket Delhi-based English newsweekly has come out with the startling disclosure about some players taking performance enhancing drugs. In this age of instant communication the disturbing news has already reached Harare where India and the West Indies played an inconsequential league match on Wednesday before the final of the one-day series on Saturday. The magazine singled out Javagal Srinath, Rahul Dravid and Ajit Agarkar as the main culprits on the basis of an “alleged interview” with former Indian coach Anshuman Gaekwad. Of the three, Srinath returned home after the two-Test series against Zimbabwe. However, Dravid, who is also the vice-captain of the team, and Agarkar are in Harare for the one-day series. The two players were understandably upset by what the team management described as baseless charges. Agarkar reacted rather sharply by stating “me on drugs? no way”, but Dravid refused to be drawn into the controversy without first-hand information about what the magazine had written about his being on drugs. The latest controversy can be split into two parts. One concerns the use of performance enhancing drugs by international players. The game of cricket is currently not covered by the strict international code of conduct against the use of drugs by sportspersons. The match-fixing controversy forced the International Cricket Council to set up an anti-corruption unit for dealing with the cheats among the cricketers. In the light of the revelation about players taking performance enhancing drugs the ICC should take appropriate measures for dealing with this menace as well. The second part of the drugs controversy concerns the violation of the ethics of journalism. Anshuman Gaekwad has reportedly denied having said what has been attributed to him by the magazine. In any case, what an individual, even if he is a former national coach of the cricket team, allegedly said about other players should not have been the basis for going to town. At best Gaekwad had given a lead which the magazine should have followed for obtaining evidence against the named and even unnamed players. The same magazine had accused players of being involved in fixing matches on the basis of claims made by Manoj Prabhakar without an iota of evidence to back his charges. The lid from the can of worm was removed not because of the efforts of the magazine, but because of the remarkable work done by the Delhi Police. If it had the good of the game of cricket at heart, why did it not do a comprehensive story on the subject with an international perspective? |
Developments in Indian Ocean region AS India prepares to embark on a path of accelerated economic growth of 8 per cent, reforms in two crucial areas need to be undertaken. We have to recognise that a higher growth path will not be achievable unless hard decisions are taken in reforming the power sector and in amending our labour laws. While we strive to achieve a domestic consensus on these issues, our foreign policy and security establishments would need to focus increasing attention on issues of energy security in the Indian Ocean region, from where we source our energy supplies. While the USA and the European Union have been progressively reducing their energy dependence on this region, the energy requirements of regional countries and major consumers like China, Japan and South Korea are increasing rapidly. China was a net exporter of energy during the past world oil crises in 1973, 1979 and 1990-91. It has, however, emerged as major importer of petroleum products since 1993. Given the extensive development of our indigenous coal resources, our overall import dependence for energy is at present around 14 per cent. This dependence is likely to increase to around 40 per cent by the end of this decade. While our import dependence on oil is around 40 per cent today, this is likely to rise to 70 per cent by the end of this decade. The demand for natural gas is also likely to fast outstrip supplies, resulting in dependence on imports rising to around 43 per cent by the end of this decade. Given the competitiveness of the coal resources of countries like South Africa, Australia and Indonesia, these nations are likely to emerge as growing suppliers of coal, particularly to our coastal states during the coming years. In these circumstances, clear strategies need to be devised for diversifying our sources of energy supplies and working bilaterally, regionally and in cooperation with other major importers to ensure that our energy needs are met. It also becomes imperative for us to ensure the security of the maritime routes between the Straits of Malacca and the Strait of Hormuz. We are still to devise comprehensive strategies to develop hydroelectric projects with neighbours like Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. While the Mahakali Treaty of 1996 would result in an additional power supply of around 6800 MW, it is imperative that we should work cooperatively with Nepal for developing other projects like the Karnali hydel project of 10800 MW. While the 336 MW Chukha project with Bhutan has been successively implemented, there are still several projects like the ongoing 1020 MW Tula project and the 4060 MW Sankosh project that need to be expedited. The development of the proposed Chindwin River hydroelectric project with Myanmar will likewise be of immense importance for the development of our northeastern states. Sub-regional organisations like the growth quadrangle comprising India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal and the BIMSTEC grouping comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand need to be activated and made project-oriented as part of this effort. While we have traditionally obtained the bulk of our oil supplies from Iran, Iraq and the Arab Gulf States that are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, there are economic and geopolitical imperatives to diversify the sources of both oil and gas imports. A number of power projects based on liquefied natural gas (LNG) have been approved in our coastal states. One hopes that any comprehensive policy that is approved for such projects would seek to diversify the sources of supply and make use of the vast resources of natural gas available in the Asia-Pacific region in countries like Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia. In the meantime, every effort should be discreetly made to assist Bangladesh in finalising viable policies to utilise and export its considerable gas reserves. Projects for energy cooperation with Myanmar are now being realistically considered. We should also develop cooperative arrangements with Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council on energy-related issues. Given the instability in Afghanistan and the threats posed by the ISI-Taliban nexus, it would take a number of years before major oil companies would venture to build gas pipelines from Central Asia through Afghanistan to Pakistan’s Makran coast. We would, therefore, have to cooperate with Iran to strengthen its role as the most viable transit route for supplies of Central Asian gas and oil. A few years ago a senior officer of China’s navy remarked: “The Indian Ocean is not India’s Ocean”. The Persian Gulf region contains 65 per cent of the world’s proven oil reserves and one-third of its gas reserves. China will increasingly depend on this region for its energy requirements. While the comments of the Chinese naval official were construed earlier as seeking to justify a quest for naval facilities in Myanmar, it is now becoming clear that what the Chinese are seeking naval facilities in Pakistan, at the very entry to the Persian Gulf. China is now finalising plans to develop the deep sea Gwadar port in the Makran coast of Baluchistan. This project that could involve an investment of up to $ 1.5 billion and would include the building of a coastal highway in the sparsely populated Makran coast makes little economic sense, given the fact that cash-strapped Pakistan already has enough port capacity to meet its own needs. General Musharraf proclaimed on May 15 that main objective of letting the Chinese develop the Gwadar port was that “when needed, the Chinese navy would be in Gwadar to give a befitting reply to anyone”. Ships operating from Gwadar could pose a serious threat to our energy supplies from the Persian Gulf, especially in crisis situations. The proposed Iran-India gas pipeline has to be viewed in the context of the overall strategic scenario in our neighbourhood. It was estimated some months ago that a 30 billion cubic metre per year 2700 km overland gas pipeline through Pakistan would cost around $ 3.1 billion. India would have to bear around $ 1 billion for pipeline costs with the remainder being borne by Iran and Pakistan. It is estimated that Pakistan will have to be paid around $ 200 million as transit charges every year when gas is transmitted through that country. A 2900 km offshore pipeline would cost around $ 4.4 billion, with India having to bear around $ 2.2 billion. As transit charges to Pakistan would not have to be paid for gas supplies through an offshore pipeline, the overall cost difference for gas supplies from Iran to India over a long-term between the two options would be marginal. New Delhi should make it clear to Iran that it would entirely be Iran’s responsibility to deliver the natural gas on Indian soil. It would, therefore, be for Iran to seek and obtain guarantees from Pakistan on the security of supplies and settle issues such as transit charges with its eastern neighbour. India should not get involved in this process. Those who seek instantaneous decisions on such projects just to please the visiting President of Pakistan would do well to remember the CIA’s assessment of our neighbour. The CIA’s “Global Trends 2015 Report” states: “Pakistan will not easily recover from decades of political mismanagement, divisive politics, lawlessness, corruption and ethnic friction. Nascent democratic reforms will produce little change in the face of opposition from Islamic political activists, who may significantly increase their role in national politics and alter the makeup and cohesion of the military — once Pakistan’s most capable institution. In a climate of continuing domestic turmoil, the Central Government’s control will probably be reduced to Punjab heartland and the economic hub of Karachi”. One can only hope that those in our western neighbour who proclaim that India has yielded to American pressures and the military onslaught of their jihadis in Jammu and Kashmir by inviting their President to New Delhi, Agra and Ajmer will develop a sense of proportion, realism and sobriety by reading and digesting the contents of this report. |
A case of soul-searching for UTI chief A day after the coutry’s largest mutual fund was tanked, UTI big boss P S Subramanyam takes the extreme step of bidding adieu because of Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha’s decision to “scrutinise” the reasons resulting in more than 20 million investors being left high and dry. UTI insiders maintain that the Chairman was stung by Mr Sinha’s statement to transgress into the day-to-day functioning of public sector financial institutions, an approach which goes against the very tenets of economic reforms and bureaucratic red tape. What, however, Mr Subramanyam fails to answer is the very high exposure to corporate equity — a portfolio management approach primarily initiated by his predecessor, Mr S A Dave. Today more than 88 per cent of US-64 funds are exposed to corporate equity. Minutes after the all-important announcement on Monday, a visibly agitated UTI Chairman lashed out at the country’s corporate world by saying that US-64 was a mirror of corporate India. If it is not doing well, it is poor reflection on the performance of Indian corporates. Mr Subramanyam, perhaps, was expecting backlash from all and sundry. Otherwise how could one explain the decision to rope in a brand management firm, Rediff, to shore up the image of the UTI. For the UTI Chairman, whose resignation was accepted promptly, it may be a case of soul-searching, let alone job-hunting. To the rescue of quake-hit Even if they are few and far between, there are Good Samaritans who work without much fanfare for rehabilitating the people having suffered the trauma of natural disasters. The case in point pertains to Hingaria village in Kutch which enjoys the distinction of becoming the first sleepy place in Gujarat to get on its feet after the devastating earthquake of January 26 this year. This has been possible largely because of the efforts of the Indian American Foundation and its Chairman, Mr Gopal Raju. From his base in New York Mr Raju announced that the foundation would rebuild the devastated village in Kutch consisting of 105-odd families. That set in motion the foundation’s 75-day project at Hingaria during which 106 earthquake-resistant houses were built. The village now has its own infrastructure — a creche with a children’s park, a library, a school, a grocery store, a medical centre and a road. Though no one was killed in Hingaria, all the houses there were razed to the ground. The village was rendered unfit for habitation. It has since received donations from politicians cutting across party lines, the State Bank of India and NGOs, who now intend to create irrigation facilities so that the villagers need not depend on rain-water to raise two crops a year for their sustenance. Troubleshooter par excellence Friday has special significance for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He was not only born on this day in a prominent family of Ghana, Africa, 63 years ago but was also recommended by the Security Council on a Friday to occupy the top UN post on January 1, 1997. Before his five-year term could end on December 31 he is going to be re-elected, on a Friday (tomorrow), by the 189-member UN General Assembly. All five permanent members of the Security Council have already endorsed his candidature for a second term. The honour has come to him not because he has been an inconvenient world body chief for the USA and its allies. He has been accepted as the best international
trouble-shooter and a great champion of human rights. His role in the West Asian theatre has highlighted his qualities as a diplomat who knows how to produce results. In March, 1998, it was Mr Annan who prevented a second military onslaught on Iraq by the USA and its allies. The superpower was bent on launching another destructive campaign against Mr Saddam Hussein and his "hidden lethal weapons". The provocation was the Iraqi leader's refusal to UNSCOM (United Nations
Special Commission) inspectors to carry on their investigation at eight Presidential palaces and certain other places where Mr Hussein's feared weapons were believed to be stored. Mr Annan assured the USA that a negotiated settlement of the problem was possible and he proved right. But for making this "impossible" task possible he had to contact all influential world leaders at great speed before securing an agreement with the Iraqi strongman. The USA got the "immediate, unrestricted and unconditional" access to the demanded sites for the UNSCOM team, and Mr Hussein had his self-respect and Iraq's "sovereignty" unchallenged. That
unbelievable success pushed Mr Kofi Annan to the pinnacle of glory. Besides his role as an excellent peacekeeper of the world, he has also been a good administrator. Mr Annan is credited to have introduced far-reaching reforms to improve the functioning of the UN bureaucracy. He has managed to bring pressure on the US administration to honour its financial commitments to the UN body, which has been in financial straits for a long time. With so many feathers in his cap, it was difficult for any member-nation to bring a
formidable challenger to his position in March this year when he made his intention for a second term known. |
Sukhna lake: dam safety neglected THE flooding of areas downstream of the Sukhna lake due to the operation of the regulator gates has led to the lodging of a complaint by the Punjab Government with the chief administrator of Chandigarh, Lt-Gen (retd) and J.F.R. Jacob, as reported in the print media. The complaint relates to the flooding of the Bishanpura area falling in the assembly constituency of Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister of Punjab. Due to a wrong operation of the gates of the Sukhna dam, nearly 50 families residing on the banks of the Sukhna choe, got affected by the flooding in the early hours of June 23. Villagers had a tough time saving their valuables and getting away to safe areas. The incident has forced the authorities to have a “deep look” into the O&M system of the dam. The Sukhna Lake, a man-made lake was built by the Punjab Irrigation Department in 1958 at a cost of Rs 98 lakh. It had a water spread of 380 acres and created a storage of 380MC3. The compacted earth dam was more than 5,250 ft long having a curved shape in the plan. The dam had a maximum depth of 45 ft above ground at the deepest point. The dam tapped three “flashy torrents” or choes of Sukhna, Kansal and Saketri. A spillway regulator has been provided at the extreme left end having surplusing capacity of 1500 cusecs through three bays of 60 ft width each and equipped with radial gates of 12 ft depth. These gates provide a depth of 12 ft above the crest elevation of El 1148 and the maximum flood level at the lake was to be maintained at El 1160 ft. These gates were designed and fabricated at the Nangal workshop. Unfortunately at the Sukhna, all attention has been devoted to the lake and its silting problems and the related desilting operation. The safety of the dam and the appurtenant works had been assigned a secondary place. In November 1980, the Fifth Irrigation Ministers Conference, keeping in view the importance of safety of dams, big or small, resolved that the state governments should “constitute their own dam safety organisations, with a view of building up appropriate expertise at the state level.” Consequently, the Central Board of Irrigation & Power (CBIP) organised a workshop on dam safety in October, 1983, and framed a set of recommendations to be applied to dams in the interest of their safety and best regulation. Some points of relevance from these recommendations are cited next. It was decided that each dam should have an operational & maintenance manual, which should contain detailed instructions, procedures and rules for the operation and maintenance of the dam and its appurtenant works. The manual should also include instructions regarding the maintenance of record of observations relating to O&M work of the equipment and instruments installed at the dam and the appurtenant works. Useful data, including the general layout of the dam and its salient features, should also be included in the manual. Detailed observation listed in the manual be carried out and observed data faithfully published so that all concerned get to know the state of its health. While preparing the manual, the interests of downstream riparians should be fully involved so that there is no cause of grievance that releases made from the dam affect the downstream population adversely. Any modification considered necessary, as a result of field experience in following the instructions contained in the manual, will be proposed by the field engineers to the design office. All amendments considered necessary by the design office “shall be done after getting the approval of the competent authority.” Guidelines for the safety inspection of dams have been framed by the CWC (Central Water Commission), New Delhi, for the annual inspection and relating to the trouble spot noticed. The appointment of dam safety organisation at each dam, big or small, is essential. The staff of the Dam Safety Organisation (DSO) should be specially trained for the job and regular training programmes be held for the staff posted so that their state of knowledge is updated regularly. To ensure that floods downstream do not create any problem. It is essential that the carrying capacity of the channel be carefully worked out and revised every five years by a fresh survey. Based on the data so obtained, the probable flood levels for various release patterns from the dam should be made known. Proper flood warnings should be given when releases are likely to be made from the dam. The gates and gearing of the dam need to be properly maintained and checked before the flood season every year. The working of the spillway gates should be specially checked before the onset of the monsoon so as to ensure that they do not get stuck or jammed when operated. A certificate about such a check having been carried out should be recorded in a proper register maintained for the purpose. If these instructions had been followed by the authorities in charge of the Sukhna dam, the trouble which occurred at Bishanpura would have been avoided. It is hoped the UT Administration would take steps to set up a Dam Safety Organisation at the earliest. In this help of the CWC may be obtained as also from the downstream riparian state. |
Governor visits Amrtisar
His Excellency the Governor paid a flying visit to Amritsar this morning. He was accompanied by Mr Langley, Commissioner, Lahore Division, both of whom along with Deputy Commissioner motored to the Bazar in the vicinity of the Golden Temple. After spending a few minutes there, His Excellency motored back to Lahore. Sir Malcolm Hailey visited Amritsar this morning and His Excellency is returning to Simla, having decided to postpone his visit to Rawalpindi until the investigations now proceeding have reached a further stage, and the facts regarding the outbreak are more fully elucidated. The Durgiana Temple was among the places inspected at Amritsar by the Governor, who also saw the Head Constable who was wounded by an Akali during the arrest of persons at Akal Takht. |
Arjun’s doubts and Krishna’s logic IN his inaugural address distinguished for its wide learning and lucidity delivered at the Indian History Congress, Kolkata, early this year, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen discussed the importance of evaluating events and their consequences that flow in the course of history. In his analysis of the conjunction of circumstances that determine events, he referred to the prince warrior Arjun’s reluctance to fight his cousins, the Kauravas, who had wrongly usurped his kingdom. Sen appreciated Arjun’s avoidance of war rather than Krishna’s justification of it. Arjun’s attitude towards war is beautifully narrated in the first and second discourses of the Bhagavadgita, the Gita for short, one of the greatest philosophical poems of all time to come. Eventually by his persuasions and tact Krishna dispels Arjun’s doubts, and pushes him into the war which the latter wins by vanquishing the Kauravas. The last discourse of the Gita emphasises that the war waged was just and righteous for which there was no reason for any remorse or regret. The Gita defends Krishna’s actions, while rejecting Arjun’s apprehensions; but in the Mahabharata, there are two reasonable sides to the argument on war. Generally speaking, Arjun’s argument has gone by default. Krishna’s conduct has won all-round appreciation. The debate on war between Arjun and Krishna took place around the second and third century before Christ. Arjun thought that the war would result in great suffering and disaster. His encounter with the Kauravas would involve him in killing his own kith and kin, teachers, and grandsons for whom he had love and reverence. Arjun realised that war would mean destruction of families and disruption of the social order. The thought that the men fighting on the battlefield would leave behind many widows in a terrible plight horrified Arjun. ‘Better in this world to eat even the beggar’s crust than to slay these noble Gurus’. Shaken by the ghastly scene about the impending war and its consequences which his imagination conjured up, Arjun in desperation threw away his weapons and refused to fight. Krishna was Arjun’s friend and counsellor. He greatly admired Arjun’s valour and integrity of character and thought that virtue lay on his side. As a charioteer in the battle car, Krishna took Arjun to the Kurukshetra battlefield. Belonging to the royal family, Arjun was sophisticated. A man of high and clear principles, he was high-minded and self-governed, and had even conquered sleep. He was ambidextrous and could use both his hands at the same time at once in battle. In sheer fighting power and skills, he was peerless. In courage and loyalty he could never falter. He feared none but God. These rare virtues endeared him to Krishna. According to Krishna, Arjuna must fight the war which he thought was just and righteous as otherwise it would be a dereliction of duty on his part. Krishna’s demontology has been deeply influential in moral debate, and generally accepted and repeated again and again in Indian moral philosophy. The question as to who took the right decision, Krishna or Arjun has somewhat puzzled moral philosophers. Could war be avoided by compromise or tricks of diplomacy? Or was there a possibility of a limited war in the situation? These questions still agitate us. Like a moral philosopher Krishna saw the whole issue of war, in moral terms. He thought that Arjun’s ethical duty was not to relent but to fight so that the war must end in the total surrender of the Kauravas. To Krishna the Kauravas were the aggressors and their aggression was latent. They had misbehaved with impunity — they even went to the extent of disrobing Draupadi in open court. Krishna was fully convinced that the war was just and every sacrifice must be made to win it. But what is a just war? Is war ever just? History shows that war for righteousness has become the favourite device of war mongers. It has often been seen that the slogan of a righteous war, which has a particular sinister application, acts as a type of stimulus, and tends to whip people into moral indignation. This view may be shared by postmodern writers who ridicule evidence and the narratives that record events. The avenging force of fact is that seldom in history has any country or nation admitted fighting an unjust war. All wars are seen as just! What is equally important is not only the Mahabharata war but its significance historically and philosophically. Krishna is the Divine teacher and a friend of the human peoples, and Arjun the struggling human soul in quest of Truth, and it is the symbolic companionship and interaction between them through the dialogue in the Gita that unfolds the meaning of life, resolves our conflicts by dispelling ignorance and apathy, and steels our will to weather the storms of life in the topsy-turvy world of today. In this context therefore, the Gita turns into an allegory of the inner life that engages with the battles of the soul and the powers that strive within us for perfection. There is no question of recoil nor is there a need to surrender ourselves. Therefore the path that lies before us is one of self-cultivation, self-realisation and self-illumination. It is this inward growth and development that is built up to wrestle with the manifold problems of life. Krishna is not so much concerned with Arjun’s outward mode of action but primarily with his state of mind. That is why Krishna thinks that Arjun needs a different set of values to face life. Krishna is thus the leader of the sorrows of man. The Gita by its message has exercised a powerful influence on the religious mind of India in its spiritual quest by the blazing lamp of knowledge and meditation. There may not be much wrong in what one does but there is something fundamentally wrong in what one becomes. It is this mind-set that has to be tended to in order to meet nobly the challenges of life through energetic will and ceaseless efforts. Because of the richness and diversity of themes that it deals with, we cannot say that a particular discourse embodies the essence of the Gita. We have to wrestle with it at every step, and more we put into it, the more we get out of it. Ambiguity at places, stimulates our curiosity for further elucidation. Krishna insists that one must do one’s own course. Such an attitude reflects a detached and disinterested spirit of mind which remains undisturbed by world’s praise or neglect. Hold to Krishna, the God head, says the Gita while retaining the elasticity of mind to settle the problems of life fearlessly. Not physical asceticism but inner spiritual elevation is the way to happiness and well-being of humankind. |
Short hair suggests confidence IF you’re female, hair is a topic of which you can never tire, but — as with so many of those subjects that used to be strictly for the girls’ washroom — hair has now been elevated to the category of zeitgeist expression and personality signifier. A Yale University study (believe it) has found that short hair suggests a confident yet carefree woman, while long straight hair denotes a polished, narrow-minded character. Hair, and how you wear it, has taken on quasi-political significance. “Pay attention to your hair because everyone else will,” Hillary Clinton said recently when addressing graduating students — at Yale again. (Any hairdressers out there who are feeling unloved, you know where to go.) In this new hair-aware climate, people are out about their “procedures” in a way that they would never have dared to be in the dark ages before saline bags and botox. Now it’s not only perfectly normal to have your hair dyed to hell, ironed and knotted in with a crochet needle (gone are those days of clandestine highlighting appointments that your natural-loving boyfriend could never know about), it also demonstrates that you are in touch with what counts. The actual process of having your hair cut by someone with such well-documented powers of transformation is super thrilling, especially when you’re out of reach of a mirror. For a full hour you can believe that you really are being remodelled and when it turns out that it’s still just you, you’re not disappointed.
The Guardian Detecting Down’s Syndrome in embryos AUSTRALIAN researchers have said they have developed a DNA fingerprinting test that would allow doctors to detect Down’s Syndrome in embryos. Down’s Syndrome is a common genetic disorder that is usually diagnosed when a foetus is about 16 weeks old using amniotic fluid taken from the pregnant woman. The new test, presented at a European fertility conference, uses a single cell to detect Down’s Syndrome during in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment before the embryo is implanted in the womb. Scientists at the Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development in Melbourne said the test could allow couples undergoing pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PDG) for other genetic disorders to determine whether the embryo had Down’s Syndrome at the same time. “We want to be able to offer women over 36 years old the possibility to eliminate Down’s Syndrome,’’ Mandy Katz, one of the researchers, told the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology on Monday. The Australian scientists combined the Down’s test with PDG screening for cystic fibrosis, a hereditary lung disorder caused by a single gene. Early tests showed the Down’s test was accurate and reliable.
Reuters |
As water descending on mountain crags wastes its energies among the gullies, so he who views things as separate wastes his energies in their pursuit. But as pure water poured into pure becomes the selfsame — wholly pure, so too becomes the self of the silent sage, Of the one, O Gautama (sage), who has understanding. — Katha Upanishad *** True merit lies in absorbing holy teachings with faith and devotion; in these take the holy purifying bath of the soul. God! all noble qualities abide in Thee, none in me; there can be no true devotion without cultivating noble qualities. *** By good qualities comes about union, thereby Truth is created in the self. *** He, my Lord who made me utter the unutterable and drink the nectar; made all other fears depart (save His) and I merged in His Name. Why should I fear then, when all fears are dispelled by the fear of the Lord; and through the perfect Guru, the Word is revealed in me. He whose heart treasures the Lord’s Name is blessed as is the natural law. They whom He puts to deep slumber, day and night; they the self-willed ones, are bound to extinction here and hereafter. They in whose heart is the Lord, night and day, are blessed ones; oh Nanak, meeting with the Lord their doubts are cast off. Japji Sahib *** To be foolish and to recognise that one is a fool is better than to be foolish and imagine that one is wise. *** A spoon cannot taste of the food it carries. Likewise, a foolish man cannot understand the wise man’s wisdom even if he associates with a sage. *** Fresh milk is often slow to curdle; so sinful actions do not always bring immediate results. Sinful actions are more like coals of fire that are hidden in the ashes and keep on smouldering, finally causing a greater fire. *** A man is foolish to desire privileges, promotion, profits or honour, for such desires can never bring happiness but will bring suffering instead. —
Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, The Teaching of Buddha |
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