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PM defends his record Graft charges |
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Malnutrition among children
Modals and nuances
CINEMA: NEW Releases
The secret to success
Much ado about nothing
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PM defends his record As
Prime Minister for almost
a decade, Dr Manmohan Singh has led the nation through a period of
high growth, next only to China, raising living standards in much of
India even as Europe and the US grapple with recovery from recession.
But as he nears the end of his second term, things are falling apart
and he appears weakened. The dual system of authority, put in place
for the Congress president's convenience, has enfeebled the office of
Prime Minister. The way Rahul Gandhi trashed the ordinance on tainted
MPs undermined Dr Manmohan Singh's authority. After the Congress lost
the assembly elections, some Congressmen blamed the PM and the party
leadership kept silent. At Friday's press conference, Dr Manmohan
Singh denied he was a weak prime minister and hit Narendra Modi pretty
hard: "If by a strong prime minister you mean you preside over
the massacre of innocents on the streets of Ahmedabad, that is not the
kind of strength I will like to have". Since Dr Manmohan Singh has ruled out a third term, his legacy can be assessed now. The UPA government has been reactive rather than proactive in dealing with the 2-G, CWG, telecom and Adarsh scams. The resignations of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Railway Minister Pawan Bansal, both considered close to the PM, dealt a blow to his image. He should have resisted the dominance of politics over economics. He backed Pranab Mukherjee's last budget, a disaster for foreign investment. A series of decisions and non-decisions contributed to growth slowdown. Delays in project clearances hit infrastructure building and job creation. The UPA has empowered citizens with the right to information, education, food, employment and the Lokpal Bill. The PM risked the future of his government while pushing the nuclear deal with the US. Running a coalition government for two terms is no mean achievement. History may be kinder in judging him than the contemporary media, but his failure to speak out more often on issues in public and tolerance for corrupt colleagues have hurt his reputation without harming his personal integrity.
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Graft charges Himachal
Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is facing a crisis of credibility as he scrambles to control damage from a series of leaks and reports that have detailed how he and his family members took payments, said to be loans, from the promoter of a power company, Venture Energy and Technology Pvt. Ltd. He was the Union Steel Minister at the time. His wife and children have shares in another company linked to the same set of people. The BJP's role in the expose is significant, and the party leader Arun
Jaitley, has demanded a probe. He also wants Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress party to act against the man who led the Congress to victory in the recent polls in Himachal Pradesh. Virbhadra Singh retains his hold on the people of the region from which he comes. Even as it may be the reason for the Congress to show some diffidence, the fact remains that he stands accused of serious misconduct. The Congress has backed him and insists that it was all above board, that there was no quid pro quo. However, in the absence of any logical explanation from the man at the centre of the controversy, it is only natural that people believe the worst. The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister should make public the explanation he gave his party about the charges of graft levelled against him. In any case, it is debatable whether such a clarification would cut any ice at this juncture. An anti-corruption wave is discernible and it is already making an impact on the socio-political environment of the nation. The "malicious propaganda" line does not hold water; only a thorough and transparent inquiry can put doubts to rest. Indeed, the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister has offered to submit to an inquiry by any agency. He should walk his talk and have such an inquiry done.
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Thought for the Day
Money just draws flies. — Mahalia Jackson
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The Punjab High Court scheme
The All-India Muslim League has passed a resolution in favour of raising the Punjab Chief Court to the status of chartered High Court. That is to say, the Hindu Conference and the Muslim League are united in their desire to have the status raised; and they would have nothing less than a chartered High Court. The local Legislative Council has practically expressed itself in favour of the proposal. In addition we have the general support of the Chief Court and of the late Lieutenant-Governor to the demand. The latter's scheme is said to differ from the existing chartered High Courts. But that is a matter of detail which we shall presently notice. The outstanding fact is the general consensus of all shades of opinion on the necessity of reform. When the necessity has been admitted public policy requires that the reform should not be delayed. This being the present position it is not clear wherein the difficulty lies for the execution of the reform. Dr Sunderland on social and political reform
In advocating at the Indian Social Conference a further expansion of elementary and higher education for women, Dr. Sunderland struck the keynote when he observed that proper social advancement was fundamental to political advancement, and it must go hand in hand with industrial advancement. He said he was in full sympathy with the work of the Congress which he characterized as splendid. Men from different provinces following religions belonging to different sects working for greater political liberties ought to be supported by all. We welcome Dr. Sunderland's testimony in this behalf which should be taken to heart by those whose only business is to cavil at the national movement. The true progress of the country requires that social and political reform should go hand in hand.
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Malnutrition among children Malnutrition
is the most persistent challenge for policymakers. According to the FAO, 18 per cent of India's population was undernourished in 2012. And worst, children are the most visible victims of under-nutrition, which is the underlying cause of diarrhea, malaria, measles, and pneumonia. Under-nutrition accounts for half of the deaths in children below the age of five years.
According to UNICEF, India houses one-third of the stunted/wasted (termed malnourished) children of the world and 46 per cent of the children below the age of three are too small for their age and 47 per cent are underweight. Under-nutrition can result from lack of nutrients in an individual's diet, a weakened immune system and inability to absorb nutrients. Under-nutrition increases the risk of chronic diseases and its impact lasts lifelong. Malnutrition is a complex multi-dimensional and inter-generational problem and needs multi-spectral as well as direct and specific interventions. In recent times, as these issues have been worrying global policymakers, there are new indices, different from the popular Global Hunger Index released annually since 2006 that are being developed to illustrate the complexity of hunger and malnutrition. Though these indices do not capture important national, cultural and political dimensions, they do highlight the problem. The Global Hunger Index (GHI), released recently, combines three equally weighted indicators into one index: (a) under-nourishment (b) child underweight and (c) child mortality. The multi-dimensional approach to measuring hunger reflects the nutritional situation not only of the population as a whole but also of a physiologically vulnerable group, children, who could be sick or stunted because of lack of nutrients. In terms of the GHI components, India has the highest prevalence of underweight children under 5 -- 40.2 per cent; the only worst country is Timor-Leste at 45.3 per cent. The proportion of under-nourished in India as a percentage of the total population declined from 21.3 per cent in 1999-01 to 17.5 per cent in 2010-12. The under-5 mortality rate is the worst in India. It is for the above reasons that the overall GHI for India is very serious and not because of hunger per se. The Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI), launched in 2013, compares the performance of 45 developing countries using 22 indicators of political commitment to reduce hunger and under-nutrition. It examines government action in terms of policies and programmes, legal frameworks and public expenditures. And also takes into consideration women's empowerment, social protection, food and agriculture, and health and nutrition environment. Overall, on HANCI, India is ranked 29th (2 ranks above its per capita GDP rank) below Brazil (4th), China (22nd) and South Africa (23rd). According to HANCI, there is low commitment by the government in India towards addressing the problem of stunting in children below 5 years of age. Banerjee and Duflo (2011) find that a typical poor household could spend up to 30 per cent more on food than it actually does and if it completely cuts expenditures on alcohol, tobacco and festivals. Further, even the money that people spend on food is not spent to maximise the intake of calories or micro nutrients. To illustrate, the poorest group in Maharashtra in 1983 would prefer to buy better tasting, more expensive calories rather than millets which provide calories but may not be good in taste. It is widely documented that poor people spend large amounts of money on weddings, dowry and christenings probably due to social compulsions. On nutrition, it needs to be debated whether India should distribute vitamin A and iron supplements or adopt bio-fortification of crops with essential micronutrients as researched under the Harvest Plus initiative? Pritchard, Rammohan, Sekhar, Parasuraman and Choithani in Feeding India (2013) argue that the problem of under-nutrition in India represents the inability of different institutions to deliver resources to individuals to adequately feed themselves. They also flag another important issue pertaining to gender-based differences in under-nutrition between girls and boys. Earlier, Virmani (2006) showed that much of the inter-state variation in child malnutrition (more precisely wasting and stunting) in India could be explained by the differences in the availability of clean water and access to toilets. Other causal factors were related to information, education and nutritional knowledge particularly of mothers. The role of the PDS system was ambiguous (positive/negative but non-significant), suggesting that the availability of cereals was not per se an important causal element in child malnutrition! Virmani (2013) showed that the same was true of cross-country differences in child malnutrition (stunting and wasting). Thus much of the outlier status in terms of child malnutrition was attributable to the absence of sanitation with lack of clean drinking water and female education playing a supporting role. In both the inter-state (India) and the cross-country studies, poverty rates were not a separate determinant of 'malnutrition' once these factors were accounted for! Other studies have also shown that hygiene, clean drinking water, level of mother's education and dietary diversification positively impact the balanced nourishment of the child. Angus Deaton (2013, The Great Escape) reiterates that in countries like India it is malnutrition, lack of clean water and prevalence of poor sanitation that is the main cause of high child mortality. In fact, according to Deaton, net nutrition, more than food, after making an allowance for nutrition lost to diseases like diarrhea, fevers and infections is important. The other cause of high mortality is unhygienic disposal of human waste, lack of protein, energy insufficiency, and lack of vital micro nutrients such as iron. On the basis of expert opinion, India needs a focused public health and nutritional policy with a concerted public campaign that would help in successfully achieving positive nutritional outcomes. The quick-fixes may not be sufficient and the need is for providing cleaner water and better sanitation. India can dramatically close the gap in child malnutrition (wasting) if sewage and sanitation are brought on a par with other countries, at least those with similar per capita income levels. Arvind Virmani is a former Chief Economic Adviser and Charan Singh is the RBI Chair Professor of Economics, IIM, Bangalore.
The views are personal
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Modals and nuances Language & grammar are the distinctive human attainment. They make possible almost everything we value as human —
David Foster Wallace
1. To indicate suggestion, the central modal verb "shall" is used. a) We shall celebrate your birthday at home. b) Shall we celebrate your birthday at home? The use of "shall" in sentence a) indicates simple prediction of a future act or a promise for it. Sentence b) with the yes/ no question begins with "shall" and is followed by the subject "we". It indicates suggestion which can sometimes be done with the mere mention of "Shall we?" 2. To indicate time reference of future-in-the-past, the central modal "would" is used. a) He would give Hina a mobile phone. b) He said he would give Hina a mobile phone. In sentence a) the use of "would" indicates the willingness of the speaker with certain tentativeness to perform an action in the future. In sentence b) reported speech is used along with the modal "would" to indicate a point of time in the past through the word "said" for an action in the future; i.e. to give a phone. 3. To indicate obligation, the marginal modal "ought to" and the central modal "must" are used. a) You ought to pass the test in your first attempt. b) You must pass the test in your first attempt. Sentence a) expresses duty but with the possibility for non-action. Sentence b) indicates duty with no possibility of non-action. 4. To indicate lack of courage, the marginal modal "dare" is used. a) Colleen dare travel abroad on her own. b) Colleen daren't travel abroad on her own. While sentence a) would be considered unacceptable, sentence b) is fine displaying "haven't got the courage to". As a modal verb, "dare" can appear without "to" in an interrogative sentence and a negative sentence. A sentence with a "to" is generally not used, as in "He did not dare to challenge me." When seeking permission, "may" is considered to be more formal than "can". In other situations, "might" is looked at as tentative and "must" as assertive. "Would" is polite compared to "will". Modals express modality capturing nuances of meaning in communication.
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CINEMA: NEW Releases  Joe senseless hai! Nonika Singh a
bumbling detective, a ‘dreaded’ terrorist who suffers from multiple personality disorder, a pretty cop whose unbuttoned police uniform is meant to elicit attention and a smothering mother who is blind as a bat.... you think the recipe for the fun cookie is just right. So, welcome to the absurd world of Mr Joe B Carvalho (Arshad Warsi), a detective who can’t distinguish between smack and flour, who hauls up criminals only to serve them a bill of cheating on a cable connection. On the other hand, there is an African lookalike ruler of some godforsaken country besotted by a beauty whose marriage he intends to stall. He hires goons most notably the Carlos (Javed Jaffery) who appears in various female avatars to kill anyone who dares to utter his name. His path is bound to cross with our naive sleuth whose skills are as limited as his abilities challenged. In between there is mix up as the police led by none other than Inspector Shantipriya (Soha Ali Khan) is on his tail. Now mistaken identities have been the stuff that many rib-tickling delightful comedies of errors have been made of. Here the attempt to garner the same not only falls flat, but goes right into an abyss. The stray funny dialogues too are lost in the din of clumsily handled plot and clumsier characterisations. As the director creates too many comic characters, none work. Arshad Warsi despite all his earnestness and talent can’t pull off his act and looks more jaded than enthusiastic. Ditto for Javed whose lollypop- sucking, split personality character simultaneously talking to his parents, barely gets to you, let alone make you laugh. His catchphrase is so banal that it does not even warrant repetition. The only line of his that brings a smile to the face is when he tells the good for nothing Joe, “You are not even fit to catch thieves who steal chappals outside temples.” As for Soha neither her Dabbangg action nor her bikni act can salvage the film. Post interval, just briefly, the film perks up and a few gags do tickle you. But it’s a classic case of too little too late. Theatre of the absurd can be successfully replicated in cinema as many movies have shown with flair and dexterity. Here the line between funny and foolish not merely blurs, but doesn’t quite exist rather veers completely towards nonsensical. If you think accidentally knocking off people or making a blind woman fall off terraces is funny... go amuse yourself. We are clearly not by many such antics that border on insanity, with no laughs counted. Even for a film that clocks under two hours, we anxiously await its climax. And when it does and when Joe tells his darling sweetheart, “Don’t tell my mother she can’t see,” how we want to scream jo bhi karva lo loh yeh picture mat dikahao... only if we had been seized by temporary blindness during the course of the film. So our suggestion, turn a blind eye to this one unless your funny bone is tickled at the slightest or no provocation at all.
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The secret to success
to
begin with, this reviewer is no great admirer of Ben Stiller. But in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which incidentally has also been directed by him, he does an excellent job, putting to shame his earlier directors for not using him correctly. This film is a remake of the one in which Danny Kaye played the lead role and is based on a book of the same name by James Thurber. And Walter Mitty (Stiller) is an employee of ‘Life’ magazine in the photography unit, who in all his sixteen years has never lost a single negative. But the boss (Adam Scott) is mad about the loss and has already started downsizing the staff. Mitty’s head is on the block, and he has to move heaven and earth in his efforts. But Mitty isn’t known for his intelligence. He is a sort of dreamer and some of his dreams confuse the audience. Thankfully, poor Walter has to go on a long search as O’Connell is always on the move and hard to trace. It takes Mitty to Iceland, Greenland and even to our own Himalayas. Some shots of a serious Mitty with a frosty moustache are telling, as is his encounter with O’Connell looking for the snow leopard. The latter is sure to thrill wildlife enthusiasts! For dramatic relief, we also come across Mitty’s feisty sister Odessa (Kathryn Hahn) and cool mother Edna (Shirley MacLaine), and their reaction to his escapades. Ben Stiller is excellent in underplaying the role and is ably supported by Adam Scott, his bearded boss. Kristen Wiig has a minor role and so does Sean Penn; seeing the ageing Shirley MacLaine is an added bonus.
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Much ado about nothing Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada) is the one who asks the half-breed for help. There are twenty minutes of action, but the remaining 90-odd ones are lacklustre with director Carl Eric Rinsch struggling with the legend. Mika (Kou Shibasaki) is Kai's sweetheart kept away from him and he has to win her back. The climax is a Japanese version of The Graduate and quite easily anticipated, but it is much ado about little and that about says it all.
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Saturday January 4
Singh Sahab the Great, is a Hindi action drama film directed by Anil Sharma. The film features Sunny Deol, Amrita Rao, Urvashi Rautela and Prakash Raj as main characters. It is a story about a common man, who takes pride in his honesty. ZEE CINEMA 11:21AM Shiva: The Super Hero MOVIES NOW 10:20AM Ocean's Thirteen MOVIES OK 2:25PM Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge STAR GOLD 11:30AM
Sivaji: The Boss SONY PIX 9:02AM Rogue Assassin Full Throttle 9:00PM The One INDIA TALKIES 9:30AM Paheli FILMY 11:30AM Infomercial
Sunday January 5
8:00pm INDIA TALKIES ZEE CINEMA 11:28AM The Real Tiger MOVIES OK 9:10AM Fun2shh ZEE ACTION 10:30AM Operation Duryodhana STAR GOLD 9:45AM Bal Ganesh ZEE CLASSIC 12:25PM Shirdi Sai Baba INDIA TALKIES 1:00PM Billu FILMY 9:00AM Dil Maange More
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New kid on the block
Actor Amit Sadh, for whom year 2013 brought in a miraculous career turn-over, will now be seen as an oddball Haryanvi character in Subhash Kapoor's Guddu
Rangeela.
Full on fun
The New Year seems to have started on a good note for Subhash Ghai. The filmmaker saw parts of his new movie Kaanchi and it left him with a smile.
We’re back
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones reunited to ring in the New Year with their children. They took a temporary break from their 13-year marriage in August.
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Controversies
Indeed, on the surface the unusually titled Mr Joe B Carvalho often confused as jo bhi karva lo has all the ingredients for a laughter riot. Alas, what you get is listless, colourless and worst of all, humourless narrative whose only plus — its short length — too can’t prevent it from becoming a drag.
the
Love Aaj Kal is a 2009 Bollywood romantic comedy drama film starring Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone in lead roles with Rahul Khanna, Rishi Kapoor and Giselli Monteiro in supporting roles. The film is directed by Imtiaz Ali and produced by Saif Ali Khan and Dinesh Vijan. The film portrays the feeling of pure love which never changes.