 |
Thursday,
August 1, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Power sector mess J&K polls: the challenges MSP for sugarcane |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Powell-Musharraf connection
Magsaysay Award boosts Pandey’s hope
Botox parties: a hit with American women
Indians have highest rate of heart disease
Sowing the seeds of love
|
Power sector mess HOURS
after five states in western India were plunged into darkness on Tuesday night the officers at the western power grid were reportedly indulging in the exercise of passing the buck rather than identify what had gone wrong, why and where. The Grid Corporation picked up the refrain and blamed Madhya Pradesh for the crisis. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh promptly dug out facts and figures to the confusion. The fact of the matter is that the crucial power sector, down the line, is in the hands of inefficient and corrupt managements. Irregular and insufficient supply of power to key areas is among the primary reasons for the sluggishness in the Indian economy. From those in the Union Power Ministry down to the lineman in the small town, everyone knows what is wrong where, but no one is willing to talk. And why should they? If investment of public funds for augmenting power supply results in generation of personal wealth, the better option is to keep expressing concern without doing much for sorting out the mess in the power sector! There is corruption in power generation. There is corruption in power transmission. There is corruption in the recovery of dues from the consumers. Yes, the state of affairs in the power sector is indeed shocking. The dislocation of power supply from the western power grid is part of the continuing saga of inefficiency in this crucial sector. Of course, the harassment that the people had to undergo in Gujarat, Goa, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh because of the disruption in the supply of power is not going to make any difference to the powers that be. In Punjab and Haryana the populist measure of giving free power to farmers has proved counter-productive. If the two states had surplus power after meeting the growing demand of the paid customers, the measure may have had some credibility. In Punjab the administration has taken a strange decision to cope with the shortage in the supply of power - being attributed to the failed monsoon this year. It has ordered the closure of all educational institutions until August 4 for meeting the requirements of the farmers. An aware society would have given higher priority to education than to any other sector. Be that as it may, a point that needs to be understood is that the future of the country may be as dark as the night without a few hours of power supply in the five western states if urgent measures are not taken for introducing overdue reforms in the power sector. A Planning Commission report on the performance of the State Electricity Boards revealed that their commercial losses had tripled in the last five years — up to Rs 33,177 crore in 2001-02 from Rs 11,305 crore in 1996-97. Yes, stealing and leakage of power at the transmission and distribution level were responsible for the threefold jump in losses of the SEBs. There is total anarchy in management of the power sector. By overdrawing beyond the prescribed limit, as was done by some states that caused the snag in the western grid, both institutions and individuals only add to the woes of the creaky power sector. |
|
J&K polls: the challenges THOUGH the democratic exercise of holding elections in Jammu and Kashmir is not new for India, the coming poll has a special significance. It will be watched with increased interest by the international community because of the Indo-Pak dispute on Kashmir being in sharp focus today. Moreover, the USA wants to make it as the starting point for a fresh dialogue between the two neighbours for ending the Kashmir crisis. The military government in Pakistan has objected to the American viewpoint, but that is for the sake of weakening India’s claim on Kashmir based on so many factors and Kashmiris’ participation in all the previous polls being one of them. Even otherwise, Pakistan cannot afford to straightaway reject what the super power says under the circumstances. As India will complete the four-phase exercise in Jammu and Kashmir in October, Pakistan will also have acquired the facade of having an elected government by that time. The General-turned-President will then be in a better position to participate in the talks it desperately wants. At this stage India is not agreeable to a dialogue as General Musharraf’s government is yet to fully honour its commitment to end terrorist infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir, including the dismantling of the related infrastructure on the other side of the political divide. People’s large-scale participation in the September-October poll may, however, influence the thinking in New Delhi. In any case, India has never been opposed to negotiations across the table provided there is a conducive atmosphere. Thus, this is the most crucial time for the future of Kashmir. India does not have to prove its case. It has only to strengthen it. Therefore, when it says through its Election Commission that it is making the necessary arrangements for a free and fair poll, this does not mean that all the previous elections were not so. There might have been some aberrations here and there, but the world should know that the state has always had a democratically elected government with brief interventions by President’s rule owing to unavoidable circumstances. During the previous poll the percentage of the votes cast got affected because of the proxy war launched by Pakistan using terrorism as a weapon. India has to ensure that this factor fails to have its impact on the coming elections. The wrong feeling among the people that only a political party or group which has the Centre’s backing will win the battle of the ballot should be removed. They must be made to realise that they will get a government of their choice. It seems the Centre has succeeded in convincing Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah to agree to the idea of bringing the state under President’s rule in view of the circumstantial requirement. In that case the All-Party Hurriyat Conference will have no valid reason for boycotting the poll, as its main grievance will have been fulfilled. If the Hurriyat leadership still sticks to its negative stand, that will mean that it has no mind of its own. It will expose itself as a front functioning to further the interests of Pakistan, not the people of Kashmir. |
|
MSP for sugarcane THERE
are at least two reasons why the Rs 2.45 increase in the minimum support price for sugarcane for the 2002-2003 season, announced on Tuesday, is less than adequate. One, a higher MSP will promote sugarcane as a diversification crop and encourage farmers to break free from the wheat-paddy cycle. Two, it will compensate to some extent the farmers who have suffered from the onslaught of a drought. The area under sugarcane is growing in both Punjab and Haryana based on increasing returns from the crop. But there are hurdles which discourage farmers from taking to suagrcane in a big way and a remunerative MSP alone is not a sufficient attraction. Some of the state governments delay the announcement of “state advised prices”. First, the Centre announces the MSP, then state governments, depending often on political and non-economic considerations, revise the prices suitably. Sometimes to help sugar mills, the announcement of new sugarcane prices is delayed deliberately. As a result, mills procure sugarcane at the old rates. The Food Ministry has moved a proposal to discontinue the practice of having state advised prices. If the sugarcane prices are fixed well in time, then payments are often delayed to growers. This happened in Haryana and UP during the last season. According to press reports, sugar mills in Haryana owed Rs 100 crore to growers while the arrears in UP amounted to a staggering Rs 1,000 crore. The situation countrywide is so grim that the payment of sugarcane arrears to farmers was included in the Centre’s recent package for the drought-hit. Why the mills are unable to make payments is another story. The sugarcane prices, they feel, are fixed unreasonably high on political considerations. Bolstered by the high prices, the farmers increase the area under sugarcane. Their ancient seed varieties and outdated production techniques (growing sugarcane through tissue culture is almost unheard of) raise his production costs. The mills, themselves plagued by factors like irregular power supply, old machinery and expensive credit, fail to compete at the global level. They cannot tap outside markets. Instead, imports are cheaper but are discouraged by a high Customs duty. The distortions in the sugar industry are many and the market forces are not allowed to determine how much to produce, at what cost and sold at what prices. There is no professional trading system for commodities like sugar. As a result, both the mills and farmers suffer. Excess production forces
farmers to divert sugarcane to less remunerative options like khandsari and jaggery-making. Some of the mills are surviving by producing byproducts like power from waste. In the long run, demand and supply will have to be allowed to determine the production of sugarcane and the market forces to dictate the survival of the fittest mills only. The governments (both in states and at the Centre) will have to confine their role to putting up and maintaining an efficient infrastructure, providing farmers and mills a level-playing field. State intervention will have to be only during periods of crisis. |
The Powell-Musharraf connection THE widely read Pakistani Urdu newspaper Takbeer carried an interesting report on July 22. It reported that Major Mohammad Amin, a former officer of the Pakistan Army who had resigned after the 1971 debacle and was now living in London, had said: “The fact is that two years ago General Musharraf had started using Omar (Syed Omar Sheikh now sentenced to death for his involvement in the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl) for uniting all jehadi outfits. I met Omar’s father and protested against it. The matter of great regret is that Omar’s father had failed to convey my message or convince Omar to refrain from such activities”. It is now an established fact that Omar was in regular touch with Brigadier Ejaz Shah of the ISI in Lahore after India released him during the hijacking of IC 814. Omar is also known to have met Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. When India took up the case for his repatriation with the Pakistan Government, the ever serious and parennially mournful looking Abdul Sattar told us that the Pakistan Government had no idea about his whereabouts. It now emerges that the Chief Executive and Army Chief of Pakistan, Gen Pervez Musharraf, was prepared to use a psychopath like Omar for promoting his jehad in Kashmir even as his esteemed Foreign Minister was piously denying Omar’s presence in Pakistan. Omar Sheikh has to be silenced and will be duly executed. He is the man who knows too much. His execution will also enable the USA to avoid inconvenient questions being asked about the terrorist connections of their present favourite General in Rawalpindi. Gen Colin Powell’s high regard for General Musharraf is no different from that of John Foster Dulles for Field Marshal Ayub Khan, Richard Nixon for General Yahya Khan and Ronald Reagan for General Zia-ul-Haq. And like his worthy military predecessors, General Musharraf will use his American connections to introduce his own brand of “genuine democracy” in Pakistan, debarring all politicians who have a base and reducing the Prime Minister to a puppet and parliament to a rubber stamp. But one sincerely hopes that Gen Colin Powell and his advisers will not expect us to share their assessment of the qualities of head and heart of their favourite General. Anyone with even cursory understanding of American priorities will understand that the Bush Administration believes that a substantive role for the Army in Pakistan’s national life presently suits their interests in the war against the Al-Qaeda and its supporters. But as far as India is concerned, it is dealing with a General who authored the Kargil conflict, proclaimed resort to low-intensity conflict and jehad as legitimate instruments of foreign policy and then flatly denied he had given any commitment to the Americans about permanently ending cross-border terrorism. General Musharraf’s predecessors like General Jehangir Karamat and General Asif Nawaz genuinely believed that dabbling in politics adversely affected the professionalism and morale of their men. General Musharraf has come to realise that apart from wielding power and acquiring wealth without responsibility, many of his Army colleagues genuinely believe that they have a divine right to wield political power in Pakistan. Thus General Musharraf’s own strategy is going to be based on seeing that his officers are well looked after not only while in service but also after they retire. Hence his desire to retain substantive powers, including those for appointment to high posts. He has found that Gen Colin Powell and company will be more than willing to play ball with him in this effort. General Powell’s silence on General Musharraf’s farcical referendum is in striking contrast to the homilies dished out to India about “transparency” and “credibility”. But how far will General Powell and company go in supporting General Musharraf’s external agenda is a question of more than just academic interest to us. Among the accomplishments that General Musharraf is trumpeting is the rise in Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves after he joined the American war against terrorism. With Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves having exceeded $ 6 billion thanks to large doses of debt rescheduling and international assistance, General Musharraf now believes he has more than enough foreign exchange to commence an arms buying spree. The Bush Administration has already assisted him by offering C-130 transport aircraft at a price of $ 90 million that is well below the market price. But this is obviously only the tip of the iceberg. General Musharraf is aiming for much more on July 23-24 American and Pakistani military officials met in Islamabad for a preparatory meeting of their Defence Consultative Group, that is now scheduled to meet in Washington in December. The American delegation led by Air Force Colonel Jeffrey Paulk had a series of meetings, including one with Defence Secretary Lt-Gen Hamid Nawaz Khan. Colonel Paulk hoped that the revival of the defence dialogue would “help both countries in moving forward on bilateral relations enabling things to move faster and further”. While one should not normally be too concerned about the acquisition of conventional weapons by Pakistan, we cannot ignore and institutional revival of the Pak-US military sales relationship. Such a relationship often involves supplies of weapons ostensibly from Pentagon stocks at throwaway prices, as was the case with the supply of M 48 A5 tanks in the 1980s and the C-130 aircraft recently. The Pakistan wish list also involves a requirement for 28 F16 fighters that the USA had refused to supply earlier. Despite assurances to the contrary, Pakistan rewired the F 16s supplied earlier to enable them to carry nuclear weapons. There is little doubt that they would do likewise when and if they get more F16 aircraft. Given Pakistan’s propensity to attempt nuclear blackmail on every conceivable occasion and the readiness of the USA to press panic buttons and evacuate their citizens and diplomats whenever they do so, one wonders how Gen Colin Powell will rationalise such supplies with the professed commitment of the USA to counter nuclear blackmail. It is good that New Delhi has persuaded General Powell that there can be no question of a dialogue with Pakistan until General Musharraf fulfils his promises to permanently end cross-border terrorism. Apart from ending support to his jehadis and closing down terrorist training camps, General Musharraf will have to disband ISI-supported outfits like the United Jehad Council and also persuade us that his colleagues in the ISI have finally decided to call it a day on efforts to “bleed” India in Kashmir and elsewhere. Only then can India really be persuaded that the General intends to match his words with his deeds. But both India and the USA have to make a conscious effort to ensure that their relationship does not get bogged down in the quicksand of Indo-Pakistani differences. It is primarily because of the stated policy of President Bush not to get involved in a “hyphenated” relationship with India that there has been a measure of optimism in the future of India-US relations. We need to look at a broad framework within which we cannot only expand cooperation bilaterally but also look for a wider strategic partnership in the Indian Ocean region. As tensions in the Persian Gulf grow with the Bush Administration’s determination to deal with Saddam Hussein, and Al-Qaeda-backed terrorism spreads to South-East Asia, there is need for a more intensive dialogue between India and the USA on a very wide range of issues. |
Magsaysay Award boosts Pandey’s hope
Sandeep, who hails from Lucknow, has been busy with various projects for the uplift of the poor and downtrodden. In fact, when the award was announced by the Magsaysay Foundation in Manila on July 29, the 37-year-old social activist was busy with an important project at a tiny hamlet in Hardoi. Sandeep always believes in helping the poor and downtrodden sections of society. During the last few years, he has been specifically involved in improving the general well-being of poor children. Incidentally, he was instrumental in founding an organisation called “Asha” or Hope. This group has been supporting various educational and livelihood projects for poor children, particularly the Dalits. Sandeep’s wife, Arundhati Dharu, seems to have doubly proved the adage ‘behind every successful man, there is a woman’. Arundhati has been extending a helping hand to Sandeep in almost every welfare project that he has undertaken over the years. She is said to have been an immense source of inspiration for the Magsaysay awardee. Sandeep’s father, U.S.Pandey, a senior Indian Revenue Service officer at present, and mother, Uma Pandey, wanted him to try for the Indian Administrative Service as they believed that the IAS would offer him greater scope and opportunities to serve the country better. However, Sandeep had different plans altogether and was obviously not attracted by the glamour or the glitz and glitter of the IAS. Clearly, the distinction he has achieved at a very young age demonstrates that the field Sandeep has chosen is much more brighter and scintillating than the IAS. In particular, his total involvement with the activities of “Asha” holds a lot of promise and hope for the poor and neglected children. Mamata caught in her own trap Leaving no escape route in her battle with the NDA government and Union Railway Minister Nitish Kumar in particular, she might have to part ways with the coalition arrangement at the Centre. Even if Ms Banerjee does not break away from the NDA immediately, the inevitable cannot be stalled for too long. Having made the controversial issue of bifurcation of Eastern Railway a prestige issue, she has fallen flat on her face with the Union Cabinet rejecting the plea for reviewing the decision taken six years back. Ms Banerjee wants to prop her sagging image among her constituents in West Bengal by focusing on the bifurcation issue and taking the agitational route in her home state. That the Vajpayee government’s decision to go ahead with the creation of new zones in the gigantic railway system is highly political is not in doubt. Clearly, the BJP-led NDA can do without the Trinamool Congress as Ms Banerjee’s graph is on the decline and the saffron brigade is hardly a force to be reckoned with in West Bengal. With the general election due in 2004, the BJP and the Samata Party are eying Bihar in the hope of breaking the stranglehold of RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav in the backward state. Mr Kumar’s ambition is to occupy the Chief Minister’s chair in Patna, but considering the existing position in the state assembly, this seems to be a wishful thinking. Chandigarh-born is new
president of Zee TV Based in Mumbai, Apurva’s brief in Zee is to consolidate the profitability of the channel. She is not scared of
competition. On the contrary, she welcomes it to boost revenues. She maintains that one will have to work in tandem with advertisers and viewers. The bottom line is the content as that is what attracts advertisers and keeps viewers glued to a TV channel. She is also of the view that Zee needs a block-buster show without cloning other successful programmes. Though her interests are diverse, she likes reading thrillers and writing crime stories to unwind after a hard grind in office. She is married to Sanjay, who is Cadbury’s General Manager (Marketing) and the couple have a nine-year old son. Apurva’s one ambition is to go around and see the world before she grows too old. |
|
Botox parties: a hit with American women THE so-called Botox or anti-wrinkle parties have captured the imagination of American women like never before. In fact, such is the craze that women have started inviting their closest friends over to their place for Botox injections. Doctors offer their services in homes for groups of mainly women, who gather together at one place to make the occasion festive. And in order to solicit clients, some doctors are even sending out invitations advertising the Botox party concept. However, the trend is causing some worry among many doctors, who warn that the procedure should be taken more seriously because not only can there be unwanted side effects from poorly done Botox injections, doctors are walking a fine line of medical ethics. “It heralds a real degeneration of ethics in medicine. What’s next? At-home liposuction? If we don’t draw the line, this could become more and more pervasive until patients are really being put at risk,” Dr Lisa Donofrio, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine, was quoted as saying by HealthScout. Says Dr Melanie Grossman, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Columbia University in New York, “When you take something out of the office setting, you’re setting yourself up to be more casual and less safe. And I would never mix alcohol with any medical procedure.” According to Dr Grossman, in rare cases, people can faint at the sight of a needle or have a dangerous allergic reaction to the procedure. Only a physician can legally buy Botox. However, Dr Donofrio says she knows of cases in which physicians buy it, and then permit nurses and even medical assistants to administer the injections. “They’re using their office as a money-making factory. For example, spas often have a medical director. However, the doctor may rarely be there and, instead, medical assistants do the
injections. Improperly done, Botox injections can cause partial facial paralysis and drooping eyelids,” says Dr Donofrio. According to Dr Gustavo Colon, chief of the division of plastic surgery at Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans, Botox is being over-hyped as a cure for facial wrinkles. “Botox is not the end all be all. It’s just one more arrow in the quiver of rejuvenation. The ultimate thing to remove facial lines and wrinkles is surgical procedures such as face-lifts. It’s the only thing that will correct sagging skin and take away lines. For facial wrinkles around the mouth, Botox won’t work. It only works in certain areas of the face, and is only good for some people. A woman who comes in with a lot of wrinkles and a lot of sagging skin, she may not be a good candidate for Botox,” says Dr Colon. Dr Donofrio says patients should carefully check the credentials of the physician doing the injections, and receive an individual evaluation before the procedure. People with certain neurological disorders should not receive Botox injections, she adds.
ANI |
Indians have highest rate of heart disease INDIANS around the globe have the highest rate of heart disease, usually two to three times higher than Americans, Europeans, Chinese and Japanese, according to a study. Researchers have determined that Indo-Americans face a higher risk of heart disease despite the fact that nearly half of them are vegetarians and lack many of the disease’s other traditional risk factors, a Berkeley study has said. Among those younger than 30 years of age, the coronary artery disease (CAD) mortality among Indians is three-fold higher than the Whites in the UK and 10-fold higher than Chinese in Singapore, the study said. About 25 per cent of heart attacks among men of Indian descent occur when they are younger than 40, unheard of in other populations, reported San Jose Mercury News. A research carried out in the UK years ago began to suggest a genetic link, but there had been little push for early screening in the US Indo-American community, with relatively few education campaigns.
PTI Sweet smells make women feel less pain Pain can be reduced by sweet smells, but only if you are a woman, according to scientists at the University of Quebec in Canada. The scientists asked 20 men and 20 women to keep a hand immersed in painfully hot water for as long as they could. At the same time they were exposed to various odours. The researchers found that the sweet aroma of roses or almonds caused women, but not men, to experience significantly less pain. Unpleasant smells such as vinegar seemed to work the opposite way and slightly intensify the pain, the New Scientist reported. Both sexes felt happier in the presence of good smells whereas bad smells put them in a worse mood. The scientists concluded that emotional changes could not account for the women’s perception of pain, otherwise men would have responded the same way. Women are typically more sensitive to odours than men but those in the study did not rate the intensity of smells differently from men.
DPA |
Sowing the seeds of love THE world presents a dichotomy. A duality in human nature. Man can be abject. Also august. He can be mean and petty. Also elevated and exalted. In a moment of anger, he can be bad and brutal. When happy, he can be grand and godly. He can create barriers and hate his fellow beings. He can forget all borders of birth and breed. Love can give life and make it worth living. With love, man can make a heaven on earth. Hatred can make this world hell. May I tell a story? An adviser once mentioned to Abraham Lincoln — “Mr President, you treat your enemies with such kindness. It would seem to me that you should want to destroy them.” “My dear fellow,” said the President, “I do destroy my enemy when I make him into a friend.” A word of love can make a friend out of an enemy. With love, one can even woo and win a woman. Man is a thinking animal. He reasons. But he is not always reasonable. In the present scenario of changing values, man has become a wealth grabber. A pleasure seeker. A power-wielder. Often, he is authoritarian, intolerant and narrow-minded. There is greed. Not gratitude. Hatred. Not love. Greed and hatred are the vices of narrow souls. We must learn to give and forgive. Today, materialism has overtaken the human society. We measure a man by his lodger. Not his life. By what he has. Not by what he gives. Hatred, ill will, strain and stress have crept into our daily lives. These cause fatigue to the body and mind. Man’s desires destroy him. There is despair and disgust. We face grief. In the existing environment of tension, we have to look for stress busters. Small things can help. A gentle touch. A kind word. A pat on the back. A smile. A little support. A tender look. A word of encouragement. Individually, all these acts may be small. But these are not insignificant. A painter asked “to draw the picture of a friend having blemish on one side, would picture only the other side of his face. It is a noble and great thing to cover the blemishes and to excuse the failings of a friend; to draw a curtain before his stains, and to display his perfections; to bury his weaknesses in silence, but to proclaim his virtues from the house-top”. Small, but meaningful gestures. These are the seeds of love. Let us learn to sow them. Man is remembered for his actions. Not by the wealth by accumulates. By his work. Not the word. Let us learn to spare and share. To love. Not hate. We may stoop. Only to support. Not to suppress. The world can be broadly divided into two categories. The rich and the poor. The haves and the have-nots. But all are God’s children. One side of the face can never smile when the other is pinched. I cannot be happy if my neighbour is sad. We see the poor people live on pavements. The stinking slums exist along with the posh colonies. This disparity between the rich and the poor is a reality of our times. It is a stigma on the face of the civilised world. The sick and suffering are also a part of the human species. Their cause should be a matter of concern for the whole community. The soul of man lives in love. ‘I have enjoyed the happiness of the world. I have lived and loved,’ is an old saying. Love is like a beautiful flower. Its fragrance makes the world a place of delight. We must love a person for what he is. Not for the wealth he has. The Christians say — ‘Love is the Lord’s livery.’ Macleod said, “Love cannot stay at home; a man cannot keep it to himself. Like light, it is constantly travelling. A man must spend it, must give it away.” Love does not mean acquire. It means — abandon. Giving happiness is the way to be happy. Love purifies the heart. It strengthens and ennobles the character. Gives a higher and nobler aim to every action of life. Makes every human being courageous, noble and strong. Love is not all logic. It is not based on result or reward. ‘Life is a flower of which love is the honey.’ Love is to life, what spring is to season. It produces a music in the air. One who has room in the heart shall have it in the house too. The true measure of love is to love without measure. Sacrifice is the secret of a successful life. Love is correct conduct in action. It is truth in thought and peace with people. Give it unconditionally. Like the mother to her child. Love all. Serve all. Without worrying about the caste or creed. Return or reward. Luther Burbank, a great horticulturist of yester years, used to talk to his plants. Once he said, “The secret of improved plant breeding is love. While I was conducting experiments to make ‘spineless cactus,’ I often talk to the plants to create a vibration of love.” He would tell the plants — “You have nothing to fear. You do not need your defensive thorns... I will protect you”. Thanks to his untiring efforts, “gradually the useful plant of the desert” had “emerged in a thornless variety”. If plants can be persuaded to shed their thorns, why not man? The world is a mirror. It reflects what it sees. Frown at it. You will see people making faces at you. Smile. The world would laugh with you. One gets what one gives. If we give love, we shall get love. God has given us two hands to help. A heart to love. Let us raise our hands to help. Let us be like the bee. It drinks nectar and gives honey. Not like the mosquito. It sucks blood and gives disease. |
There can be no happiness for a creature nor can his mind know any peace even in a dream so long as he does not relinquish lust, that abode of sorrow, and worship Rama. — Sri Ramacharitamanasa, Sundara Kanda
*** Brother, there are three evils, most formidable of all — lust, wrath and greed. In an instant they agitate the souls of sages that are the very repositories of wisdom. —
Sri Ramacharitamanasa, Aranya Kanda
*** Can he with a heart bent on hostility towards every creature or he who is under the spell of infatuation, an enemy of Rama and a slave of lust, even dream of enjoying prosperity, good omens and peace of mind? —
Sri Ramacharitamanasa, Lanka Kanda
*** Listen Uma; the most unblessed of men are they who abandon Hari and become attached to carnal pleasures. — Sri Ramacharitamanasa, Aranya Kanda
*** Lustful passion is generated among male members when they come into contact with women — it is a natural law. This is why the wise men are always careful while dealing with them. The women are capable of dragging the opposite sex on the wrong track whether they are wise or fool. — Manu Smriti
*** Those who are lustful and covetous are afraid of everyone, like a crafty crow. — Sri Ramacharitamanasa, Bala Kanda
*** Let him who desires his own welfare and glory, good understanding, a good destiny after his death and joys of various kinds, turn his eyes away from the face of another’s wife as men turn their eyes away from the moon on its fourth night. — Sri Ramacharitamanasa, Sundara Kanda |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
IT
was a pleasant surprise for Sandeep Pandey, who has won this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award. Sandeep, a former professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, bagged the award in the Emergent Leader category. A simple person with a service-minded approach, he has never aspired for an award. Naturally, he was surprised when he was told that he had won this year’s prestigious honour, considered the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
Firebrand Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee finds herself trapped in a situation of her own making with the Left Front government in West Bengal emphasising that it does not want to do anything with her. She is literally left to fend for herself now. 
It is no mean achievement that Chandigarh-born Apurva Purohit is the new President of Zee television. Relatively fresh to television, she is a product of IIM-Bangalore and associated with the world of advertising and media. One who likes to take up a challenge, the sprightly 35-year-old Apurva believes that she has it in her to turn around Zee TV despite the shenanigans of doom.