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EDITORIAL Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit is on entirely different pedastal than the visit of US President Bill Clinton. There are different priorities which call for entirely different approach. One thing however is amply clear that no country howsoever small or big is prepared to sacrifice its relations with others just to please India. American President balanced the act by paying five hour visit to Pakistan. Likewise, Putin also visits Pakistan. In this context Russian Ambassador to India refers to traditionally.....more The petro price increases would undoubtedly fuel inflation. Rajasthan Government is the first to announce 13% hike in bus and other fares. Soon, other States would announce the hikes. J&K too should fall in line without waiting for any agitational approach by the vehicle operators. Once these fares go up Railway too would be hard put to levy surcharge on all traffic. It is estimated that for every one ..more |
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Adolescence Education: Emerging Issue By Sanjay Kumar The Brahmastra of OPEC Will the Pandits return By O N Koul By Shree Venkatram |
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EDITORIAL Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit is on entirely different pedastal than the visit of US President Bill Clinton. There are different priorities which call for entirely different approach. One thing however is amply clear that no country howsoever small or big is prepared to sacrifice its relations with others just to please India. American President balanced the act by paying five hour visit to Pakistan. Likewise, Putin also visits Pakistan. In this context Russian Ambassador to India refers to traditionally strong relations with this country. Just as Clinton or return visit of Vajpayee to USA does not affect Indo-Russian relations, there is no cause for having any apprehensions as regards Putin's visit to Islamabad. The visit thus has to be viewed in the backdrop of what has been stated in the recent past and what the relations have been all these years. First, Vladimir Putin showers enough of accolades just a couple days before his arrival in New Delhi. He terms India as a 'great power' and source of stability worldwide. He goes on to say that Russian interests are best served if India becomes a mighty, developed and independent State which would help create a balance in the word. This is perhaps meant to address to the Russian concerns of unipolar character of the world dominated by USA. Russian President during his visit to China has rejected this concept and declared in the joint communique to take steps for 'multi-polar' order. So mighty India is viewed as much as answer as mighty China. In their individual and collective capacities, together they can ward American hegemonic designs based on the sole super-power status of America. Second, Russian President says that India is the fitting contender for UN Security Council seat. Russia fully backs up its claims. During his visit to Japan, Russian President has gone in for similar claim for Japan as permanent member of the UN Security Council whenever it is expanded. So it may be Putin's way of pleasing all. After all, expansion programme is yet elusive. The third aspect specifically hyped by Putin is the terminology used for describing Indo-Russian relations as 'natural partners and allies'. How natural such partnership has been stands best manifested by two events. When India faced Chinese aggression in 1962, the then all powerful First Secretary of the Communist Party Mr Krushchev appealed to Chinese 'brothers' and Indian 'friends' to stop hostilities. This was despite the fact that under the Treaty of Friendship, each country was supposed to come to the succour of the other when under attack. The second event is the cooling of special relations in the post cold-war period from 1991 onwards. Yeltsin never took India seriously while America remained annoyed for India's neutral or pro-Russian policies. This cooling off is yet to end. It stands best manifested in that from $ 5.5 billion trade before 1991, it is paltry $ 1 billion presently. So it is premature to understand the deeper meaning of 'natural partners and allies'. According to Putin the 'Strategic Partnership' agreement to be signed during his visit does not imply militaristic nature. This partnership in fact reflects economic, technological and scientific spheres. At least 15 agreements in these areas are slated to be signed during Putin's visit. Fourth, the all important relationship till recently has been in the field of weapon systems supplied to India. In fact, our inventory is Russian in all the three services to a very large extent. Due to balkanisation of Soviet Union into 13 Republics, a lot of spares problems, supply schedules and even quality of equipment has come under strain. India thus has been looking outward for balancing its inventory. Bad Russian economy and fragmentation of its armament industry cannot meet the modern warfare sophisticated requirements. It this follows that Mig-21 being upgraded will have many French and Israeli avionics as much as the Aircraft carrier Gorshakov being fitted with State of art gadgets. This area can best be strengthened through tie-ups for mutual research and production and joint export to third countries. India's economy also does not permit very large investment that defence equipment industry requires. For instance India has not been able to produce even a single Light Combat Aircraft despite having consumed hundreds of crores. Defence cooperation thus needs different direction keeping in view the sophistication level acquired during the decade. Indo-Russian trade has also been not of any consequence. While Indian importers prefer to buy elsewhere, the Russian importers also look for cheap goods in other countries. It is to be seen how both ways trade can be given boost. Russian Ambassador to New Delhi gives some inkling of it. Russia could export arms and India which has excelled in IT can export it to Russia. So Russia is another India IT buyer. It may be mentioned that India has already sold one super computer Param-10000 to Moscow. Till date Japan, France, Germany, Great Britain, China besides America have mentioned tie-ups with Indian IT giants besides importing Indian professionals in large numbers. With Russian economy being in bad shape and its armament market going down quality-wise the only probable thrust left is in the field of tackling terrorism. Here too Russian stress is on tackling Afghanistan's Talibans rather than Pakistan's jehadis. MQM's spokes-person has also mentioned Afghanistan as the hub of terrorism whereas both Clinton and Putin tends to turn Nelson's eye to Pakistan's sinister role as the largest sponsor of global terrorism. Putin's visit can thus be best viewed for its concerns addressed to rejection of unipolar world and somehow assigning itself the super power role, albeit with China and India as the Left and Right flanks. The petro price increases would undoubtedly fuel inflation. Rajasthan Government is the first to announce 13% hike in bus and other fares. Soon, other States would announce the hikes. J&K too should fall in line without waiting for any agitational approach by the vehicle operators. Once these fares go up Railway too would be hard put to levy surcharge on all traffic. It is estimated that for every one rupee increase in diesel price per litre, Railways have to face Rs 200 crore bill. This means, Railways shall have to find Rs 600 crore. So some hike is inevitable. Once these charges go up, it will have cascading effect on all items ferried by either train or trucks or bulk carriers. The multiplier effect shall soon start unfolding in cost inputs to the industry. In fact the projected increase in industrial production may suffer slide down. One of the NDA partners Trinamool Congress has already caused instability to the NDA with resignations by Mamata Banerjee and Ajit Panja who want the price hikes to be rolled back. This stand has not been appreciated and such behaviour is no different from that of Jayalalitha who held the first NDA Government to ransom with repeated threats of withdrawal of support. Once part of the Central governing apparatus, Mamata should stop behaving like a regional satrap to play to the W. Bengal galleries. NDA Government has to look after the national interests as a whole. As regards inflation, there is bound to be between 1.5 to 2% increase. The impact however gets diluted in as much as it has been bumper crop and ready availability of all goods. To that extent impact may not be massive but only marginal which the economy and the people can easily absorb. As on now there is no possibility of double digit inflation as forecast by some 'prophets of doom'. After all this is not the first time petro prices have been hiked. It has been happening regularly ever since dawn of independence. |
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Adolescence Education: Emerging Issue By Sanjay Kumar Adolescence education has emerged in response to the critical needs and concerns of adolescent development, which is a complex process of physical, congnitive, emotional, social and moral maturation of individuals from childhood to adulthood. Its introduction in the educational curriculum has been inhibited owing to apprehensions on the part of educators and parents regarding the socio-cultural sensitivities of certain aspects of its subject matter. The educational curriculum accepts the criticality of adolescent years in preparing the children for adult roles in almost all aspects of life. But, it has not adequately addressed so far the crucial needs and concerns of adolescents related to the process of their growing up from childhood to adulthood. Adolescence is a period of growth and development from the onset of puberty of maturity. It begins with the period of rapid physical and espacially sexual development called puberty. And it ends when an adolescent reaches reproductive maturity. While the age at marriage is increasing, the age of the onset of puberty is advancing because of better health and nutritional care of children. These developments have led to the increasing gap between childhood and adulthood. Now there is a considerably long period when the individual is neither considered a child nor given the status of an adult. This period is known as adolescence. According to the recent statistics more than 50 per cent of the world population is below the age of 25 years, and about one-fifth of the global population comprises adolescents. In the countries of Asia and the Pacific region also adolescents constitute over one-fifth of the total population. In the South Asia (SAARC) region there are over 260 million adolescents in a total population of over 1.5 billion. The number of adolescents in most countries of this region, like many other developing countries, will continue to grow for the next 30 years because of population momentum. It is estimated that the adolescent population in the SAARC region will increase by 18 per cent, from nearly 263 million in 1995 to 311 million in 2020. In India, there are over 190 million adolescents, which is nearly one-fifth on the total population of the country. While the adolescent population in almost all developing countries including that of the SAARC region is on the increase, in India it shows a decreasing trend. Since adolescents need information regarding the changes and developments in them, they fall back upon the peer group or cheap literature, which provide wrong information. Being misinformed they fall prey to myths and misconceptions which adversely affect the process of personality development in them. They confront problems because of their inability to properly manage the sudden development of their interest in the opposite sex. In the absense of any adult intervention to help them understand and appreciate the problems and issue, they turn towards the peer groups. Generally adolescents are vulnerable to peer group pressure and number of them are pushed into an action without giving any thought to its consquences. They are found experimenting with smoking, alcohol or drugs for various reasons including peer group pressure. Among the HIV infected persons the adolescents constitute the largest number, a trend which is likely to continue if appropriate interventions are not made. It is pertinent to note one of the findings of the National Family Health Survey (1992), according to which the knowledge of HIV/AIDA and STDs is very low among girls in the age group of 13-19 years. The socio-economic profile of an Indian adolescents is also far from satisfactory. Although two out of three boys and two out of five girls in the 10-19 age group are literate and the level of literacy among them is steadily rising, the incidence of gender discrimination is common and evident. There is twenty per cent gap between the literacy rate of boys and girls. Adolescents are generally perceived as a homogeneous group, which they are not. Despite a number of common characteristics Indian adolescent, like those in most other countries, are in fact a heterogeneous groups. The nature of different groups of adolescents is significantly influenced by their respective socio-cultural settings in which they grow, develop and get socialised. It is primarily because of this feature that the needs and requirements of Indian adolescents are diverse and vary from one cultural setting to another. India, like many other countries, does not have an authentic and comprehensive data-base in respect of adolescent reproductive health and behaviour. The effort made so far to meet even their educational and healthy needs have been far from adequate. The social, economic and health costs of such a neglect may prove enormous. Adolescence education is about adolescence which is a period of growing up from childhood to adulthood. This transition period reveived recognition as a distinct phase of the life-span of humans only by the turn of the twentieth century. For thousands of years the human life-span had been viewed as a tripartite age-continuum -- Childhood, Youth and Old Age. As the adolescents stands at the threshold of adulthood, they need authentic knowledge that helps them understand the process of growing up in particular reference to their reproductive health needs, so that they are well-equipped to cope with the problems which they confront during the transitional phase. It is in this context that the need for an educational intervention is strongly felt. This need is particularly felt in India, because the educational curriculum here does not include the crucial elements of reproductive health such as sexual development during the period of adolescence, HIV/AIDS and drug abuse. There are contents on the biological aspects of the reproduction system, but education is these element cannot be complete by giving simply the biological information. There is a need to focus on physiological, emotional and socio-cultural dimensions of the adolescent reproductive health in a holistic manner. Since the present educational curriculum already incorporates a number of element relating to adolescent world, the general framework of adolescene education focuses only on those aspects of adolescent reproductive health, which are not incorporated in the existing educational curriculum. The most important determinant of success of an educational programme like adolescence education is the teacher. The role of teachers in adolescence education assumes critical significance because of still more important reasons. Most of the elements of adolescence education are very sensitive, delicate and value-laden. Interaction with students on these elements can be effective only when a holistic approach is adopted. It is the human factor, the personal interaction that can make this educational programme successful, and that human factor in a school environment is most predominantly personified in the teacher. It is also necessary for teachers to perform the functions of a counsellor. Since the elements of adolescence education are related to the most intimate aspects of individuals, the students may be confronting some individual problems, which may not be discussed in groups. Since teachers are trusted by students, they can conveniently gain the confidence of students and ably act as counsellors. Parents in particular are primary educators and play a critical role in shaping the individuality of the child. This is concept of 'partnership of family and school in education' has been recognized by the Indian society since ages. Like many other societies, in India also, the issues related to sex and sexuality have been carefully kept out of the education process even within the family. In the present context, it is felt essential for parents to appreciate the urgency of imparting adolescence education to their growing children and play an important role as primary educators. Since adolescence has not been receiving due attention as a distinct phase of life requiring special care, the parents have to recognize the crucial needs of their adolescent children. An adolescent is not to be treated by his or her parents as a child nor are his or her needs akin to an adult's. The parents, therefore, are expected to appreciate the changes that are required to be reflected on their interactions with their adolescent child. Adolescents need to be
encouraged by parents to get involved to positive
activities to channelise their energies to proper
direction. These activities give adolescents a feeling of
competence and self-confidence and help them develop
useful and enjoyable skills. It may be sports, scouts,
music, electronics, pets or any other hobby, whatever
really interests them. For doing this the parents should
not wait until their child is well into his or her
adolescence. It is never late to begin, but the earlier
the child starts the better it would be. |
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Will the Pandits return to the Valley ? By O N Koul Will the resumed exercise on bringing the Kashmiri Pandit migrants back to their homes and hearths in the Valley succeed? Past experience gives little hope. The first effort in this regard was made in 1997 within less than a year of the return to power of National Conference. A Committee, headed by senior State cadre IAS officer M L Koul, held detailed discussions with the leaders of the organisations of the minority community in Jammu and Delhi. The report submitted to State cabinet envisaged expenditure of a whopping Rs 2,900 crore on the return of the Pandits to the Kashmir valley and their rehabilitation. The report was neither discussed nor any action initiated thereafter on the return of the migrants. M L Koul was subsequently transferred to head the Institute of Management and Public Administration (IMPA). However, central and state leaders continue to declare that Kashmir is incomplete without the Pandits. Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and his colleagues also kept on saying that financial implications of the rehabilitation of Pandits had been conveyed to the Centre. The exercise was resumed early this month by revenue minister Abdul Qayoom, who exchanged views with the representatves of different Kashmiri Pandit organisations. While Panun Kashmir reiterated its demand for a separate homeland with union territory status, other organisations confined themselves to asserting that the creation of conditions conducive to return to the Valley was the responsibility of the Government. According to Qayoom, the discussion led to an agreement that an ''action plan'' would be formulated and circulated among all concerned for evolving a consensus. He offered to resurrect and implement the Koul Committee report which, among other things, provides for cash assistance for reconstruction/repair/renovation of the residential units abandoned by minority community members in Kashmir valley. This may emerge as the main snag in the implementation of the proposed action plan. For, most migrants have disposed off immovable assets they left behind in the Valley way back in 1990-91 and thereafter. The process accelerated since the restoration of an elected Government in the State even as the new Government sought to discourage it through legislation. Property disposed off by migrants includes houses, orchards, paddy growing land and other immovable assets. The simple process adopted for the purpose is to execute a power of attorney in favour of the buyer. Formal government permission to effect transfer of property is secured by property dealers who have mushroomed in the last four years. Court papers and other formalities are also completed by these agents, with the migrant signing on the dotted lines after receipt of the predetermined amount. Details are not available of the number of such deals executed since the mass exodus from the Valley of Kashmiri Pandits or during the last three years or so of the National Conference rule in the State. But a visit to lower courts at Mubarak Mandi complex in Jammu at any point of time or on any working day testifies to the magnitude of such transfer of property. Over, 30,000 migrant Kashmiri Pandit families have been living in Jammu, Delhi and some other parts of the country for the last 10 years. The then Governor Jagmohan in 1990 ordered that migrant government servants would get their pay and perks on a regular basis and other migrants would get relief in cash and kind. The arrangement continues with a number of migrant families having been shifted from camps to one-room tenaments constructed with financial assistance provided by Government of India. Cash relief presently works out to Rs 700 per month per member of a migrant family. At least 10,000 Kashmiri Pandit Government employees have retired during the last 10 years. They have invested their provident fund along with other pensionary benefits on the construction of houses in jammu or purchase of flats in Delhi or other places, besides education and marriage/settlement of their children. Accounting for at least 50,000 Kashmiri Pandit migrants, they would hardly opt for a second displacement as it is with others of this category. Yet, the State and Central Governments occasionally go on record to say that the return of migrants is a priority for them. This is because a development of the kind would be a major indicator of the return of normalcy in Kashmir valley. To that extent, it only falls in the realm of expectation. Resumption of consultations with migrants' leaders would, however, appear to have much to do with the recent interventions/observations of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). A report suggests that the State Government is under severe pressure on this account from Union Home Ministry. While Panun Kashmir persues 'separate homeland' demand with ever-increasing tenacity. Almost all Kashmiri Pandit organisations remain unenthused by the revived proposal of return to the Valley. Ruling National Conference Minority Cell vice president Chander Dhar and general secretary Bushan Bhat kept away from the meeting, convened by Qayoom. Follow up action on the deliberations at the meeting has, interestingly, been assigned not to Koul Committee report's author but to another senior State cadre IAS officer Vijay Bakaya, principal secretary of the Finance Department. National Conference Minority Cell leaders want a formal status for association with the resumed exercise. The resumed exercise
would, thus, appear to be beset with new problems created
in the last four years despite legislation to prevent
sale of property held and owned by Pandits in Kashmir
valley. |
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By Shree Venkatram We know the way widows suffer in India. But few of us are aware of the subhuman conditions they are subjected to in some parts of Africa. Like in India, these women are considered bad omens, excluded from auspicious events and made to undergo torturous rituals. They have no right to inheritance or custody of children, can be 'inherited' by other men in the family and are sexually abused. It was at the recent Beijing Plus Five Session in New York, that the credit of bringing the condition of widows to the world attention goes to a small group of women. Dr Eleanor Nwadinobi of the Widows Development Organisation (WDO) who has been trying to improve their lives, says in South East Nigeria, a widow is held responsible for her husband's death even if he may have died a natural death. She is made to go through traumatic rituals - her hair is shorned off, she is permitted to speak only in whispers, is denied a bath for a year and is confined naked in a room for months with nothing but palm leaves to sit on. This prolonged ritual makes most women ill and they die. Some are driven to suicide. But it is only if a womna survive this torture, is her innocence proved. "In contrast widower is pampered by society, given the choicest food to eat for he is lonely and a mate is quickly found for him," she adds. "The language does not even have a word for a widower, for a man never remains one for long as he quickly remarries." A woman gets no share in her husband's or father's property. The very word 'girl' in the language means 'burdensome' while the word 'man' denotes 'God's creation.' The word 'husband' would translate as 'the patient one' for he has to put up with the 'burden', Dr Nwadinobi says. Sarah Longwe from Zambia says women across Africa are disfigured upon becoming widows, their heads shorn and they no longer have the right to look 'good'. Some may also be subjected to a very humiliating ritual cleansing by sex and are always robbed by other men in the family. Madhu Bala Nath from India who chaired the session said the number of widows is rising due to a number of factors including HIV/AIDS. A study carried out by UNIFEM in Zimbabwe in 1999 showed that among the 412 respondents, 109 had lost their spouses to HIV/AIDS. Of these 92 per cent were women. Margaret Owen, who has researched their plight in ten countries, said: "Even in the United Kingdom where I come from women lose their social status on the death of their husbands, are among the poorest of the poor and constitute 43 per cent of women in the over 65 category. The poverty of the widows is inflicted on their children causing irremediable and long -term disadvantages." She says widowhood is the most neglected and hidden aspect of a woman's status. As women live longer and many men older than them, there are more chances of a woman becoming a widow than a man losing his spouse. While widowers remarry, widows rarely do. In developing countries their numbers are higher. In Zimbabwe, for example, there are 88 widows for every 12 widowers. This would be the case in most of Africa. Last year, in Tanzania, says Margaret Owen quoting a Helpage International Report, 500 women, mostly widows were killed, some stoned to death and accused of using witchcraft. Women during armed conflict for example in Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, Indonesia were deliberately targeted by the enemy for rape impregnation. Rape can be a deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing or a military strategy. The widows group, Widows of the Genocide, are now losing 2 members a week to AIDS following the rapes 6 years ago. They have discovered that the transmission of the virus was a determined plan, Owen disclosed. Are there more widows in the world at the turn of this millennium than there were ever before? If one had the statistics. The answer would probably be yes. With large scale instances of armed conflict and ritual cleansing and the spread of the AIDS pandemic, widowhood is becoming widespread. Most of these women are driven into penury and poor health, isolation and sexual abuse. In fact the World Bank's development report on poverty notes the disproportionate representation of widows among the very poorest of the poor in developing countries. The children of widows form another disadvantaged group with regard to nutrition, health and access to education. In intervention programmes, special attention needs to be focussed on them. There is very little literature available on Indian widows, says Nisha Sahai Achuthan, former member of the National Commission for Women and now a professor of women's studies at Long Island University. She cites the 1991 Census which puts the number of widows in India at a staggering 33 million. Significantly in terms of prevalence of widowhood, India ranks among the highest in the world for all age groups. And about 14.8 million are in the 60 plus age group. What is worse, is that 90 per cent of them are illiterate and a large majority lives below the poverty line. In some countries, India too, laws provide widows with some inheritance, but most often they are unable to exercise any control over their property because of social practice. In Bangladesh for example, Muslim women should under the law obtain in a share of their father's husband's estate, but a study found that only 25 per cent of the widows actually received their entitlement. The panel brought many spontaneous responses from the audience -- the plight of the Vrindavan widows, of war widows and those who have lost their husbands in armed conflict or to the AIDS pandemic across continents were discussed. A participant from Sweden said the Swedish Government had whimsically cut off the pension of widows. And this was the amounts they had saved before the death of their husbands. About 52,000 women had been affected. The panel felt it was necessary to highlight the abuses experienced by widowed women so that effective interventions can be formulated. In fact, widows were left out of the Beijing Platform of Action, the document that lists the 12 critical areas where women need special attention, and did not find mention in the outcome document of the Beijing Plus Five session too. They are not mentioned even in the list of the most vulnerable groups. The panel appealed to all
Governments to listen to widows' voices, cease tradition
as an excuse for their omission and protect them from
criminal acts within the family, punish those
perpetrating widow abuse and ensure legal reforms in
inheritance and land ownership. It still remains to be
seen in whether their voice will be heard by the world. |
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