E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Not in the right spirit
THE all-party meeting’s outright rejection on Monday of the Election Commission’s directive to implement the Supreme Court’s May 2 ruling on checking the antecedents of candidates with a view to rooting out the criminalisation of politics is most unfortunate. The issue of electoral reforms has been with us for well over three decades. 

Gujarat needs a healing yatra
ONE would have to be exceptionally naïve to expect Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani to have any harsh words for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his handling of the communal violence, that too at this late stage.

Musharraf’s brand of democracy
PAKISTAN President Pervez Musharraf often quotes from the Quran to make a point. Does that make him a practising Muslim? No. A practising Muslim would apply the instructions of the holy book as also the traditions of Prophet Mohammad to his own life before going public with his utterances.

OPINION

Unending corrupt practices
Transparency and accountability can save the system
Poonam I. Kaushish
FROM making a mountain of a molehill to a molehill rising to the heights of Mount Everest. India witnessed these contradictions last week. While Prime Minister Vajpayee’s much-hyped Cabinet reshuffle turned out to be a damp squib, the mountainous sleaze has surpassed all else. Which continues to be “Xeroxed” day in and day out!

MIDDLE

A losing battle
Vijay Oberoi
WE moved into our spanking new house a couple of months back. Like practically everyone else, we had put in a fair amount of time planning and designing it and agonising on the right colours and shades, as also the furnishings and other paraphernalia, which go into making a house a home.

REALPOLITIK

BJP: will Advani-led growth work?
P. Raman
THERE are three interpretations about the likely outcome of the recent changes in the government and the BJP. None expects anything spectacular from the rather messy reshuffle which has only enraged most NDA allies. Similarly, the change of guard at the party headquarters on Ashok Road can have any meaning only if the new President gets adequate backup from the two top party bosses.

School’s skirt-only rule challenged
YOU thought female pupils in India faced dress code problems. Well, Britain’s not far behind. The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) is planning to sue a school on charges of sex discrimination for a “skirt-only rule for its female students”.

TRENDS & POINTERS

Insulin pills, sprays on anvil
INSULIN shots may go the way of blood-letting leeches as medical science closes in on ways for diabetes patients to simply swallow or inhale the human protein.

• Thatcher ‘beheaded’ at art gallery

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

EDITORIALS

Not in the right spirit

THE all-party meeting’s outright rejection on Monday of the Election Commission’s directive to implement the Supreme Court’s May 2 ruling on checking the antecedents of candidates with a view to rooting out the criminalisation of politics is most unfortunate. The issue of electoral reforms has been with us for well over three decades. The commission has been doing something from time to time but no comprehensive measures have been taken to plug the loopholes in the electoral laws, which is the prerogative of Parliament. It is the failure of the political parties to appropriately tackle the problem that has led to the entry of criminals into our representative institutions, forcing the Supreme Court to step in and ask the Election Commission to issue the directive in this regard. The Election Commission’s instructions, on the advice of the Supreme Court, need to be viewed against this backdrop. The respective jurisdictions of the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, the three pillars of the Constitution, should surely be respected in letter and spirit. But when the legislature does not rise to the occasion and perform its role, and the executive is casual in its approach and shows lackadaisical attitude towards plugging the glaring loopholes in the electoral system, the judiciary has had to intervene to stem the rot. The commission’s directive issued to the political parties reflects its anxiety to introduce the necessary course corrections in the electoral system so that we not only have a clean electoral process but also a crime- and criminal-free election. Not surprisingly, it has defended its directive, saying that it would be enforced in the election for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Maharashtra on July 25.

The reservations voiced by political parties (except the Shiromani Akali Dal, which has pledged its support to both the Supreme Court ruling and the commission’s directive) were not entirely unexpected. For instance, reference was made to the Returning Officers’ fairness and ability to scrutinise the candidates’ antecedents as mentioned in the affidavits filed along with the nomination papers. If there are genuine misgivings among the political class about the modus operandi to be adopted for the scrutiny of nominations and the problems involved in filing the statement of assets and liabilities along with the affidavits (especially in the case of those candidates who are bank loanees), a suitable alternative could have been suggested to the commission — or even the Supreme Court — to overcome them and help the contestants. The same is the case with regard to the distinction between criminal and political cases. Politicians are worried that even if they are arrested in the normal course of their political activity under Section 144, Cr. PC. and do not mention such details in their affidavits, their nomination papers will be rejected as per the commission’s directive. Similarly, if the fairness of the electoral officers is in doubt, there are suitable laws to deal with them and, even otherwise, political parties can as well suggest ways and means to handle such problems. Surely, there was no reason for them to unilaterally reject the commission’s directive lock, stock and barrel. In any case, the directive should not be seen as yet another confrontation between the legislature and the judiciary or between the legislature and the commission. Pursuing the path of confrontation by messing up some finer facets and the spirit of the Constitution, far from helping the political parties, will only jeopardise their interests and further erode their image and credibility among the public.

Gujarat needs a healing yatra

ONE would have to be exceptionally naïve to expect Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani to have any harsh words for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his handling of the communal violence, that too at this late stage. Instead, he has once again given an almost clean chit to the much-maligned Chief Minister, claiming that the bloodshed was so widespread that it was just not possible for the administration to control it in three or four days. But he does admit that there have been gaps in the handling of the riots. He also concedes that even though peace has returned to the violence-affected areas, the sense of security among people is missing and the state government should accord high priority to it. Coming as it does from Mr Advani, even this mild statement is damning enough. The fear in the minds of the victims of violence is palpable indeed. Whatever justifications may be given, the fact remains that the administration has been deaf to the entreaties of the victims at best and downright hostile at worst. Most of the relief and rehabilitation work has taken place in files alone. On-the-spot reports suggest that a majority of victims belonging to the minority community feel shortchanged. It is this loss of faith in the impartiality of the government that has been the biggest negative contribution of the Gujarat happenings. Unless this bond of confidence is restored, it will be very difficult to make communal amity a reality.

May be, the Home Minister’s exhortation will galvanise Mr Modi into action, but so far he has shown no inclination towards being a leader with the healing touch, even for form’s sake. In fact, most of the sufferers perceive him to be the man responsible for the unfortunate happenings. Ironically, he seems to take this distrust as some kind of a badge of honour. He sees himself to be a leader in the mould of Sardar Patel and it is this grandiose notion that made him think of a now-postponed Gujarat “gaurav yatra.” He was bent upon going ahead with it despite widespread apprehensions that it would trigger communal violence. Only he can divine what has been so glorious about his performance to deserve such a yatra. If at all he is serious about making a valuable contribution to the state, he has to start with another kind of yatra, through which he can know the real problems of the people and solve them post haste. That will be the real march of pride. A Chief Minister is not supposed to be the leader of a particular caste or community but of the entire populace of his state. If he comes to be seen as partisan, rightly or wrongly, he can never discharge his duties effectively. 

Musharraf’s brand of democracy

PAKISTAN President Pervez Musharraf often quotes from the Quran to make a point. Does that make him a practising Muslim? No. A practising Muslim would apply the instructions of the holy book as also the traditions of Prophet Mohammad to his own life before going public with his utterances. General Musharraf says that he is committed to restoring democracy in Pakistan and elections will be held in October. However, the amendments he has introduced in the election laws give away his true intentions. He gives the impression of being a well-read person. Our native languages have a tradition of converting the dominant attributes of prominent persons into an adjective. Anyone who behaves like the Pharaohs of Egypt is said to be practising “firrauniyat” [Pharaoh-like tyranny]. The Egyptian king ordered the slaying of all the first-born male children in his realm to defeat the prophecy of the end of his dynasty at the hands of such a child. However, in the end he was destroyed and so was his evil empire. The Pakistan President’s recent set of orders have a strong element of “firrauniyat” in them. They have been issued not to ensure the return of democracy but end the political careers of politicians who still have a following in the country. His style of functioning is indeed similar to the tyrants of yore. His long-term political agenda is to stay put until the death of Pakistan as a state through prolonged misrule or his own — whichever comes first.

The latest order barring anyone from holding the office of Prime Minister for more than two terms is not to usher in electoral reforms but keep away Mr Nawaz Sharif and Ms Benazir Bhutto from returning to power. Both are currently living outside Pakistan because of the conditions of hostility created against them by the military dictator. They have both served two incomplete terms as Prime Minister. The report of their meeting must have disturbed the General. Reports say that Ms Bhutto and Mr Nawaz Sharif have decided to bury their political differences and launch a joint movement against President Musharraf. Ironically, General Musharraf was responsible for the Muslim League leader not being able to complete a second term as Prime Minister. If he was serious about introducing electoral reforms, he should have first put into place a mechanism that gave an uninterrupted full five-year term to the National Assembly and the state legislatures. Otherwise, the same order that he said would strengthen democracy would actually end up creating political instability in Pakistan. He is moving surely but in the direction of installing a puppet as Prime Minister after holding sham elections. Street protests or campaigns will not make any difference. There is only one power on this planet that can remove the General. And that power answers to the name of the USA. But why should it change an arrangement that serves its regional interests? The world’s most powerful democracy evidently enjoys doing political business with dictators more than it does with equally strong democracies!

OPINION

Unending corrupt practices
Transparency and accountability can save the system
Poonam I. Kaushish

FROM making a mountain of a molehill to a molehill rising to the heights of Mount Everest. India witnessed these contradictions last week. While Prime Minister Vajpayee’s much-hyped Cabinet reshuffle turned out to be a damp squib, the mountainous sleaze has surpassed all else. Which continues to be “Xeroxed” day in and day out!

In a land where public morality is non-existent, what corruption are we talking about? Aren’t we accustomed to paying bribes for everything from getting a ration card to a driving licence or a telephone connection. What’s the big deal about being rotten? Give me a break. Just pin it down to a system’s failure. And carry on as always. Don’t even bother to point an accusing finger lest four point back at you. And believe me that will only get your blood pressure up. What else? Let the loot, bribe and deals continue, while national affairs remain in limbo and money burns holes in the common man’s pocket.

But what does one do when the state itself is corrupt. Weep? Join the melee? Dismiss it as India is now a land of looters! Be an island in a swarming sea of red faces or reconcile oneself to a fresh round of laws. The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws! The laws are for us, while our powers-that-be continue to be a law unto themselves!

In the last few days, our leaders have once again conclusively established that the system is rotten with none interested in reforming it. How else should one react to the wholesale corruption which has corroded the pillars of democracy. True, bribery, money laundering, incentives, fees for services rendered and scams have become a way of life. But, alas, today it has embraced recruitment for public services wherein we are training the next generation of babudom to be corrupt. Worse, it has seeped into international trade in these days of a liberalised and growing economy. Wherein India’s brand equity has been Xeroxed as corrupt. Now naked, unashamed, public and brazen.

Take the recruitment scandal first. The way the system works, the Public Service Commission of a state holds an examination and only the meritorious who qualify are selected to serve the public. A straightforward selection. Till a smart Alec comes as Chairman and turns the entire process on its head — in Punjab. His modus operandi was simple: leak the question papers to his agents at a designated place for an exorbitant price (Rs 5 lakh and above). Voila, a duffer turns into a topper.

In this conversion the Chairman netted mind-boggling crores. Bringing things to such a pass that it was raining money for days in Punjab. Drenching various netagan, many bureaucrats and even three judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court who had reportedly paid for their wards’ recruitment in the Provincial Civil Service (PCS).

If it was Punjab yesterday, it is Maharashtra today and, God knows, 24 other states tomorrow. In Mumbai the modus operandi of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission for recruitment went a step further. Instead of leaking the question papers to the candidates, the answer-sheets were changed after the examination. Changed sheets of roughly 400 “favoured” candidates have come to light. The chosen ones were given blank answer-sheets to answer the question afresh which would fetch them high marks and a high job. For some, marks had been fudged. For example, it is easy to numerically convert one into four and one into seven. This came to light when the total marks awarded to a candidate were 127 out of 100. Plainly put, the contrast is stark. The Punjab scandal was managed at the pre-examination stage and Maharashtra’s post-examination.

Additionally, like in Punjab the kingpin of the job racket in Mumbai seems to be the Chairman himself. Prior to being appointed the MPSC Chairman he was the Vice-Chancellor of Mumbai University. Heads reportedly have rolled of his cahoots too. The Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly has resigned and so also a middle rung police officer. Who says corruption doesn’t pay!

If this is bad news, worse followed. American office equipment giant Xerox Corp disclosed that its Indian subsidiary had made “improper payments” — a euphemism for bribes — to government officials to push its sales over the years. “We estimate the amount of such payments in 2000 alone, the year when the activity was stopped, to be approximately $ 60,000 to $ 70,000 (Rs 3.5 crore),” a company spokesman said. However, he did not comment on the amount paid before 2000. Authoritative sources aver that the cumulative amount paid aver the years runs into millions of US dollars.

Sadly, this news has made no damn difference. Remember, the power giant Enron which spent $ 20 million to “educate” Indians. Did anyone think for a minute that this money was spent on “education” and did not go into the pockets of netas and babus. But such is their “bonding” that the two committees they set up to investigate charges of kickbacks struck dirt.

Today, too, it is the same story. The Department of Company Affairs is going through the motions. It has ordered an inspection of Xerox India’s books and the Central Vigilance Commission has shot off letters to all government departments, seeking details of those dealings with the firm. Relax, in the next few days, after copious file notings the Xerox copies will be dumped into the dustbin of history!

The same fate awaits the two recruitment scandals. Both Punjab and Maharashtra governments are going through time-tested, established stereo-typed motions. The Chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission has been suspended, charge-sheets filed and prosecution is pending. The state government has cancelled the recruitment of the candidates selected. Enough to hoodwink the people that the powers-that-be would come down with a heavy hand on corrupt practices. Before one applauds come the rider — the Punjab Government transferred three senior intelligence sleuths who had unearthed the recruitment scam. Reportedly, a “routine transfer” at that! Next, a few months down the line the Chairman may be well assigned some other task and the merry-go-round continues!

In Maharashtra, the state government is flummoxed. Even as Chief Minister Deshmukh asserts that he will get to the bottom and spare none, so far only a DSP has been arrested. And the house of the ex-Chairman and now a UPSC member has been sealed. His return from abroad is awaited.

With allegations and counter-allegations flying thick and fast, the culture of plunder continues. In the bargain, the lion-sized corruption continues to gorge itself on the vitals of the nation.

The question then is: how does one eradicate this scourge from public life? There are many remedies. What the people want is transparency and accountability. That is the crux of the problem in our polity, which has so far been only preached but seldom practised. The top has to be clean to make the lower levels clean. But the people at the top are somehow not keen on anti-corruption drives. Unless they themselves are clean, they cannot enthuse or enforce discipline. The stench, which fills the political class cannot be cleared by mere personal assertions, abuses or denials.

Indeed, if the government is seized of the urgency to purge the malaise now is the time to introduce probity — and not the low cholesterol committees and laws. One can only recall Professor Galbraith who said years ago: “There is nothing wrong with Indian laws, nothing wrong with its (socialist) economy, or with its political and judicial institutions. What ails India is its moral poverty”. Galloping corruption and the lack of integrity at higher levels needs consideration without further delay for the health of our democracy.

MIDDLE

A losing battle
Vijay Oberoi

WE moved into our spanking new house a couple of months back. Like practically everyone else, we had put in a fair amount of time planning and designing it and agonising on the right colours and shades, as also the furnishings and other paraphernalia, which go into making a house a home.

The next stage was that of coping with teething problems, which always crop up in all new houses and ours was no exception. From switches not working to those which gave a powerful shock when touched, faucets dripping or the water pressure mysteriously reducing drastically when the shower was put on.

Another bugbear was understanding the intricacies of the automatic water pump, which would switch on many times during the day, but would, at times, forget to switch off when it should, resulting in the flooding of our little green patch, known grandiosely by the name of a lawn. This always got us rebukes and much shaking of his head by our “mali”, who now blames everything wrong with our little garden on our inability to control the pesky water pump.

While things continued to go wrong with fitments, gadgets and all the work done by the numerous specialists — carpenters, electricians, painters et al, my wife decided that the new house had to be kept in good trim by a special clealiness drive. So we went on a buying spree and picked up every gadget in the market, which was even remotely related to cleaning.

I still do not have the expertise to list all the esoteric items, which were stocked up, in addition to mundane ones with which we all are familiar. Such familiarity has now vastly increased, with half the TV time being used exclusively for cleaning gadgets, detergents, chemicals and the like. Suffice it to say that if an item has been advertised, you are bound to find it in our house, either tucked away in what my wife calls “emergency storage” or in use for banishing dirt and associated rubbish from the house. This platoon of workers, in which our grandchildren are also press-ganged, is all over the house every morning, till about 10 a.m., which is the magical hour, ordained by the better half. The next round starts at 4 p.m., but it is rather short and not worth mentioning, as the afternoon tea and gossip, being even more important, eclipse it.

At the end of 100 days of operation clealiness, the results are somewhat mixed. The house smells and looks like the VIP ward of a military hospital, but I discern listlessness in the foot soldiers. The grades of my grandchildren have fallen, although they have become experts at dusting and cleaning. The servants periodically succumb to rare diseases, which invariably need bed rest. As for me, I have lately discovered that golf is played best in the morning and it is healthy and therapeutic to linger over a post-golf beer at the 19th hole.

My wife is unfazed and unperturbed with these actual and implied desertions from the cleaning brigade. Not only is she recruiting new soldiers but is also extolling the virtues of cleanliness to anyone who has time to listen.

The other day when I hinted about the slowing down of this crusade, she scoffed at the suggestion and instead wanted me to take out an advertisement in the newspapers, preferably full page with photographs, so extol the virtues of cleanliness, a la the style of sundry politicians and their achievements in the first 100 days of office. It is obvious that this new determination does not augur well for the peaceful retired life I was contemplating!

REALPOLITIK

BJP: will Advani-led growth work?
P. Raman

THERE are three interpretations about the likely outcome of the recent changes in the government and the BJP. None expects anything spectacular from the rather messy reshuffle which has only enraged most NDA allies. Similarly, the change of guard at the party headquarters on Ashok Road can have any meaning only if the new President gets adequate backup from the two top party bosses. Hence all eyes are trained on new Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani.

Of the three views on the outcome of the Advani-led rejuvenation of the BJP, the most pious expectation within the BJP is that from hereafter Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will ensure a full-fledged coordination on all matters. Under this proposal, everything concerning the party and the government will be tackled under a joint command. The friends of the BJP, not those scheming apparatchiks and hanger-ons, expect that such a harmonious arrangement alone could improve things for the party.

But others rule out any such meaningful arrangement. The two leaders always had a love-hate relationship but never worked against the other. They are not used to working so close on a day-to-day basis. All that they expect is a sort of loose division of duties between them. While Vajpayee can continue with his full control of the government affairs, Advani can be assigned more responsibility in running the organisation. His better rapport with the RSS bosses will be an added advantage.

The third view, inspired by those in the inner circle and who are well aware of the intricacies, looks rather naive. They want us to believe that what is being done is a neat arrangement under which Advani can keep the Hindutva sections happy even while Vajpayee through his ‘liberal’ image can deal with the allies. This is sheer moonshine.

Then there are others who have jumped to the conclusion that the centre of gravity within the BJP has already shifted to Prithviraj Lane and the formal endorsement of L.K. Advani’s new status signifies the BJP’s eventual return to the old politics of religious hatred. To prove this sudden reversion to ‘back-to-basics’, the appointment of Vinay Katiyar, the Bajrang Dal boy, as the UP BJP chief and the proposed new role for Uma Bharati in Madhya Pradesh are cited. However, a closer look will reveal that rather than the hardline background, other factors have worked in their favour.

Immediately, the question now is not what can Advani achieve if he gets a freer hand or where he will take the party to. His ability to tide over the crisis and readiness to take political risks have never been in doubt. But the real question is how serious Vajpayee has been when he said “Advani will share more responsibilities”. Assigning the Deputy Prime Ministership itself does not mean much. For, there has never been any doubt about his number two position. What is important is how will Vajpayee devolve the vast powers he enjoys within the party and the government to his chosen successor.

Empirical evidence so far does not suggest any new signs of coordination between the two. True, unlike on earlier occasions Advani has been active during the recent Cabinet and party reshuffle. But then others like George Fernandes and Pramod Mahajan were also equally active. Fernandes was credited with playing a crucial role in getting in the deputy title to Advani. In any case, there has been no special interaction between the two since then, at least until this was written. On the other, a couple of instances point to the continuing lack of cohesion between the top two even on crucial organisational matters.

Apparently, the PM camp continues to be lukewarm to the surge of support from the rank and file to Advani soon after he was anointed as deputy. The heaps of garlands, customary sweets-feeding, blessing by the pundits, congratulatory messages and the speeches make it look that L.K. Advani has already taken over from Vajpayee. Hyped by the friendly TV media, even some of the senior leaders were led to believe that henceforth the party organisation will be under Advani’s charge. The way Advani himself was making pronouncements on issues like the Mamata muddle — at times contradicting colleagues like George Fernandes — prompted others to believe that the leader has assumed some delegated authority.

As of now, there are enough indications that all this has not gone well with the PM camp. Sources explain that ‘responsibilities’ do not mean over-activism. So far no special responsibility in the organisation or areas of work (other than Home Ministry) have been assigned to the Deputy Prime Minister. On the issue of Narendra Modi’s rath yatra, the PMO took pains to explain that the directive to call off the campaign was made by Vajpayee himself, and no one else. Before this, there were vague moves from the North Block to give the impression that it had contacted Modi in this regard.

The PMO insisted that during meetings with officials and a team of public men, Vajpayee had realised the dangerous fallout of the yatra and thus acted promptly on his own. It was also pointed out that Advani had originally endorsed the yatra plan, and was to flag off a section of the procession. Going by the decades-old complex relationship between the two, no immediate moves like Vajpayee handing over the organisation to Advani or a return or Govindacharya is likely.

The newly appointed BJP President has a good rapport with both Advani and Vajpayee. This renders the need for an in-charge at the highest levels unnecessary. However, Vajpayee can any time assign special responsibilities to Advani as has been done even earlier. Apart from this, Vajpayee is unlikely to provide any such role to his deputy. Same is the case with Vajpayee abdicating some of the prime ministerial work in favour of the heir apparent.

For four long years Vajpayee had doggedly resisted assigning any special position to Advani. This was in spite of discreet suggestions from senior leaders in this regard. The shift came only after the worried colleagues threw fresh suggestions in view of the Prime Minister’s ill-health. Instances of inaction and incoherence were cited. Therefore, an expanded role for Advani depends purely on developments on this count. The present mood in the PM camp is against any immediate devolution of powers and responsibility to others.

However, within the BJP hierarchy there is a growing feeling that the omnibus programme based on the halo of Vajpayee that had brought rich dividends to the party in the past two Lok Sabha polls has lost its utility. These sections feel encouraged by the prospects of an enhanced role for Advani. Reshuffles and new appointments in states can at best keep the ranks active. But without an effective poll plank little can be expected from such peripheral changes.

Unlike Vajpayee, his deputy has many bright ideas to uplift the party. The latter has displayed his ability to take political risks when an experiment fails. The next year’s assembly elections are going to be crucial for the BJP. An influential section in the parivar feels that in case the party fails to make the mark, the only way is to try an Advani-led rejuvenation. This, however, wholly depends on Vajpayee’s readiness to accommodate such perceptions.

School’s skirt-only rule challenged

YOU thought female pupils in India faced dress code problems. Well, Britain’s not far behind. The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) is planning to sue a school on charges of sex discrimination for a “skirt-only rule for its female students”.

The EOC demands that schools across the country change their uniform policies and give female pupils the right to wear trousers too.

The EOC has confirmed that it is going to bring legal proceedings against a school for “sex discrimination” because of a “skirt- only rule for female students’’, a case that could “threaten the future of the traditional ‘English’ look favoured by many parents, here and abroad,’’ The Guardian has reported.

EOC Chairwoman Julie Mellor was quoted as saying that it was time for headteachers and governors to “face the realities of modern working life” and allow girls an alternative to skirts.

“Now that smart trousers are such conventional dress for women in most professions, it seems out of step for girls not to have the option of wearing them. I believe that preventing girls from having the option of wearing trousers is unlawful sex discrimination,” she added.

“It is vital we encourage young people not to be limited by old-fashioned, stereotypical ideas on roles in society. Dress codes play an important part in how we see ourselves. It’s important school rules on uniform are consistent with the realities of modern life,” the report quoted Ms Mellor as saying.

The EOC had scored a notable victory over dress code in January 2000, when Judy Owen, who had resigned her job at the Professional Golfers’ Association headquarters after being ordered to wear a skirt, won a claim of unfair dismissal in the court.

Claire Hale, Professor of Clinical Nursing at Leeds University sums it up: “I think it’s a shame there are still schools taking an outdated view of what women should wear. It’s not rational. I think it’s all about power.” UNI

TRENDS & POINTERS

Insulin pills, sprays on anvil

INSULIN shots may go the way of blood-letting leeches as medical science closes in on ways for diabetes patients to simply swallow or inhale the human protein.

Some diabetes patients can use pumps that deliver under the skin a steady stream of base-level insulin, but scientists have been working for years on ways other than painful, inconvenient injections to give the short-term doses needed at meal times to convert starches, sugar and other food into energy.

Early success is being seen with several different insulin-delivery options, including pills, a mouth spray, and different types of inhaled insulin, according to studies presented at a meeting in San Francisco of the American Diabetes Association. Still, all of the products are at least several years away from being commercially available. Reuters

Thatcher ‘beheaded’ at art gallery

Margaret Thatcher lost her head in a London art gallery when a man decapitated a new statue of Britain’s former Prime Minister.

The 2.6-metre (eight-foot) marble likeness — unveiled only in May and destined eventually to grace the House of Commons — was left headless after the man walked into the gallery and battered it with a steel scaffolding pole.

No further details were available about the assailant. Reuters

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

Meditation - whatever the form - is a technique. It is an exercise to be used; specifically devised for work on Being. It is never an end in itself.

Meditation could be likened to a knife... The knife is only worth what it can do — if it does not cut, it is useless: throw it away and get another one.

With meditation a fine line can be cut right through the illusions in mind, deeper and deeper it can travel — to the very heart of Being. The more often the technique is practiced, the more sure the line becomes. It is a lifetime's work. But you will not become "top of the form" in meditation. Never.. When your period of meditation has been nothing both thinking and thinking, round and round in ever increasing circles.... do not despair! Do not even judge! It is sufficient that you sat quietly and tried to hear the sound of the Self calling from within.

The trying is all; the attempting is all. What more can we ever do?

— William Corlette and John Moore, The Hindu Sound

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— The Hindu Sound