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‘Time for multi-alignment’ Ashok Tuteja talks to Dr Shashi Tharoor Lok Sabha member from Thiruvananthapuram
How do you look at the relevance of NAM,
especially in view of the crises in West Asia? With the end of the
Cold War, there are no longer two rival blocs to be non-aligned
between, and many have questioned the relevance of a movement that
signifies the negation of a choice that is no longer on the world's
geopolitical table. But NAM embodies the desire of many developing
countries to stake out their own positions distinct from the West-led
consensus on a host of global issues like energy, climate change and
trade. The ongoing "Arab Spring" has affected several NAM
members. The countries that have undergone the most significant
changes — Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Syria — are members of NAM.
The movement should be a vehicle to pursue a resolution of the issues
swirling around the turbulence of the region. But its members can’t
forge a common position and the anti-Assad views of many of them on
Syria, for instance, are not very different from those of the West.
How do you look at the US constantly nudging India to reduce its
engagement with Iran in view of its N-programme? The US is entitled
to its view, and we to ours. We should pay attention to the
international community in formulating the details of our own
position. But our calibrated position - where we support some
strictures on Iran, but insist on maintaining essential trade links -
is right. How important is Iran for India to protect its strategic
interests in Afghanistan? Iran's views on Afghanistan have largely
been compatible with ours. Since Iran is Afghanistan's western
neighbour, it is an asset in our Af-Pak policy. Do you think normal
relations with Pakistan? If we continue hostility with Pakistan, we
shoot ourselves in the foot because hostility to Pakistan hurts us.
Our foreign policy ought to be about our domestic interest, which is
to develop our country and ensure the security and well-being of our
people. It's in our interest to have peace with Pakistan. We won't be
able to focus on development if we have troubled borders. Investors
are not going to come to a war zone; trade will not flourish; and a
constant threat from Pakistan will act as an albatross around our
neck. Peace is in our interest, far more than in Pakistan's perhaps.
But we must do so with our eyes wide open. There are reasons to
mistrust elements of the Pakistani power structure. You suggested
there should be a separate foreign service exam. The current
approach to recruitment — which requires all entrants to come
through civil services examination, the same one that produces
administrators, tax officials and police officers — has limitations.
A diplomat should not be someone who fell short of his or her goal of
becoming an administrator, a customs official or a crime-busting
sleuth. We need internationalist-minded young Indians. We need
diplomats, not bureaucrats — young people with an interest in world
affairs, an aptitude for languages and an engaging personality. How
do you see the recent SMS war against people from the North-East?
The only way to prevent panic is by a sustained public education
campaign making all Indians feel welcome everywhere in India and by
tough action against those who threaten people from other states.
How do you look at the India Against Corruption (IAC) campaign
against the UPA government? It is wrong to politicise the battle
against corruption, which is a national cause in which every Indian
has a stake. The UPA is against corruption. But we may have a
different view about the suitability of the IAC's Jan Lokpal Bill as
the best way to tackle it. Tell us something about your new book Pax
Indica. There hadn't been a substantive book on India's relations
with the world. My vision of foreign policy is a means to enable the
transformation of India by accelerating its growth, preserving its
strategic autonomy, and protecting its people. We need to move beyond
non-alignment to multi-alignment. My metaphor is that of the World
Wide Web. In this increasingly networked world, we are going to have
to work through multiple networks, and the networks will sometimes
overlap with each other, but sometimes they will be distinct; they all
serve our interests in different ways. How do you look at your
association with the IPL in hindsight? I wish I had been blessed
with greater foresight when I first got involved with IPL. How do you
see your future in politics? Bright but unpredictable, like every
optimistic politician's!
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During her intense field work, surveying more than 4,000 groundwater uses, Dr Aditi discovered that farmers with small holdings in water-abundant eastern India were being prevented by certain policy restrictions from gaining access to resources needed for irrigating crops. She worked closely with farmers to ensure that their concerns were heard by policy makers. Dr Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, says: “Aditi has demonstrated qualities that emulate Dr Borlaug’s ingenuity and perseverance in transferring his scientific breakthroughs to farmers and hungry people around the world through the gateway of government policy and action.” “Like Dr Borlaug, she has shown persistence, innovation, effective communication, contribution to science and application of that science for policy change to improve lives and livelihood,” he says. Dr Aditi says her accomplishments have required a combination of field work, data collection and collaboration with other researchers and policy makers. “Access to affordable and timely irrigation is a powerful tool of poverty alleviation. What inspires me is the impact that one’s research can make on the lives of the poor by providing more food on their table—something that Dr Borlaug showed us years ago. He is my role model,” she says. Her research led to the enactment of two critical policy changes in the past two years —to remove a restrictive permit requirement for operating low-power irrigation pumps and reduce the power cost to run pumps. As a result, farmers now have easier access to groundwater and will be able to intensify their cropping systems and earn better livelihood. Dr Aditi took her research data to the government, meeting the head of the Planning Commission, who then included her in an official delegation to meet the West Bengal Secretary of Water Resources, and the Secretaries of Agriculture, Finance and Rural Development. The evidence she presented was convincing and a new groundwater policy was enacted. She showed that the old policies that effectively banned the pumping of groundwater by poor farmers had a huge impact in increasing poverty and malnourishment among large segments of the population. Dr Quinn says that an independent jury of experts selected Dr Aditi from an impressive group of candidates who were evaluated on the basis of attributes and accomplishments that reflect those demonstrated by Dr Borlaug during his work in developing high-yielding disease-resistant wheat and introducing wheat varieties in India and Pakistan, for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. Dr Aditi was educated at Presidency College Calcutta; Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi; and the IIT, Mumbai. She completed a PhD degree in human geography at the University of Cambridge.
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Good news
Geeta of Sirsa had a tough start as a mom, finding her firstborn had special needs, but that only made her reach out to other children in similar state
Geeta
Kathuria was like any other happily married woman till she realised there was something not quite right with her firstborn, a girl. While other children her age would throw tantrums and cry when they were hungry or not allowed to play with a toy of their choice, her little girl Guddu would not react at all. Geeta’s small world came crashing down when it gradually sank in that Guddu was a special child with special needs and that her little bundle of joy will never be like other children. Geeta was heartbroken, but at the same time, she resolved not to go under with grief. Instead, she was determined to reach out to other special children and help them live a life of dignity by devoting herself to their cause. Adversities make some people wilt under pressure. But there are a few like Geeta who emerge even stronger and take hard times as a challenge. Geeta fought back with courage and sheer grit, working relentlessly and selflessly for special children.
The road was not easy. Coming from a humble background and married to a man who was trying to settle in a small business in the early 80s, Geeta had to struggle hard to shape the lives of hundreds of special children. Today, Geeta can say with pride that she has made it. Little Guddu is 26 years old and Geeta has won accolades at the national level for her service to special children through her NGO Disha in Sirsa. Another blow
Geeta felt special children needed a separate school — a school where they could be trained to take care of themselves, but there was none in Sirsa. She motivated her younger brother to pursue a degree in mental health and later, she enrolled for a diploma course in special education. But destiny had other plans. Just as she was about to complete her diploma and was planning to start a school, her brother died after hitting the floor of a swimming pool while diving. Geeta was devastated, but held on to her dream. She completed her studies and started an NGO (Prayas) for special children under the District Child Welfare Council. “I got immense support from P Raghavendra Rao, who was the Deputy Commissioner of Sirsa in 1992. But when he left, no other officer took any interest,” says Geeta. In 1998, she founded Disha with the support of some local prominent figures. “It is alarming that approximately 2.5 to 3 per cent of the total population is mentally challenged, which in most cases is a lifelong condition. Some parents think of such children as a burden. Proper handling and treatment can make the children self-reliant to some extent. These children function at an intellectual level that is below average and have difficulties learning daily living skills,” she explains. Imparting life skills
At Disha, hundreds of children suffering from autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities have received training in self-help skills, besides personal, social, recreational and occupational skills. The children are provided services in speech and physiotherapy and are also made to participate in behaviour modification programmes. Pre-vocational and vocational training is also being provided to them in different trades. Free computer training is being given to 50 special children and 160 women from the weaker sections of society. Vocational training courses like embroidery and typing are also offered free of cost. The institute is registered with the National Institute of Open Schooling, New Delhi. Besides receiving commendation certificates and letters of appreciation from the district authorities on several occasions, Geeta was awarded silver medal by the Haryana State Child Welfare Council in 1995-96. Her NGO was bestowed with the outstanding achievement award by the National Trust for best residential care centre (2004-05); National Trust award for Samarth Project (2006-07) and award for best local-level committee for special children (2007-08). She was felicitated by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on International Women’s Day. Her NGO functions as a nodal agency of the National Trust for all NGOs functioning in this field in Haryana.
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Hindi news channels are biased against me and are showing a lot of things without understanding the issues. They should stop commenting on me or we know how to stop their game. Raj Thackeray,
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief On his reported hate speech against migrants *
* * Sanjiv Bhatt, suspended
IPS officer Open letter to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi *
* * Mary Kom, boxer On a Bollywood film being made on her *
* * Ramdev, yoga guru On Congress general secretaries *
* * Mira Nair, film director Talking about her college days
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A
former Minister of State for External
Affairs and former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations,
56-year-old Shashi Tharoor is the prize-winning author of 13 books,
including the classic The Great Indian Novel (1989), India
from Midnight to the Millennium (1997), Nehru: The Invention of
India (2003) and most recently Pax Indica: India & the
World of the 21 st Century (2012). In 2006, he was India's
candidate to succeed Kofi Annan as the UN Secretary-General, and
emerged second out of seven contenders. He has won India's highest
honour for Overseas Indians, the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, and
numerous literary awards. 
A
Delhi-based scientist has won the prestigious Norman Borlaug Award in Field Research and Application. Thirtyseven-year-old Dr Aditi Mukherjee was picked for the award for her work in transforming access to water for thousands of farmers in West Bengal. The international award is conferred by the World Food Prize Foundation, started by Dr Norman Borlaug, the father of Green Revolution in India. The Borlaug Award is restricted to scientists under 40 years of age. 
Have you ever looked at the real face behind the mask? Have you even once thought about the plight of the wives and children of your adulators who have been condemned for life?
It won't be that simple to play me. The actor has to be mentally and physically tough, and look beyond glam and glitz. Having said that, I love fashion and all the other girly stuff!
It is a straight fight between a minister and a pauper. As a sanyasi it is my duty to defend my country. They are like bulls on the rampage with no control on language.
I always got to play the boy's mother while my friend Lillete Dubey got to play the sexy girl. I used to eat onions before my love scenes with Shashi Tharoor because he was so pompous.