EDITORIAL
Hero and villain
Any comparison between
Mahatma Gandhi and Osama bin Laden is odious. But for one
reason or the other their names have come up around the
globe of late --- of course, that of the Mahatma as the
anti-dote for all that the fanatic fountain-head of the
Al-Qaeda terror network stands for. Undoubtedly there are
quite a few who are looking up to Osama as a cult figure
built on the foundation of a religion. They are, however,
heavily outnumbered by the pure and simple followers of
Islam who are bewildered by the obnoxious phenomenon
being perpetuated in the name of their faith. The reason
why the Mahatma is being evoked with certain regularity
these days is because the question haunting everyone is
what he would have done in the face of the terrorism in
the globe at this juncture. Since another apostle of
peace, Dalai Lama, is presently on a world tour and he as
is his wont is often paying tribute to the Mahatma he is
being posed this query almost everywhere. As reports
suggest the Tibetan Buddhist leader would like all and
one to follow in the footsteps of the Mahatma. He himself
leaves no doubt that he has been encouraged by Mahatma
Gandhi’s vision, philosophy and adherence to ahimsa.
He is not quite sure what the Mahatma would have done to
rid the earth of its scourge. Like the millions,
nevertheless, he feels that had he been around the
scenario might have been different. He has expressed the
wish that the Mahatma was in our midst today. Clearly he
believes that the person who had stood up as one-man army
against the practitioners of violence and communal hatred
would have come up with a remedy to the cult of the gun.
There are no two opinions that the Mahatma’s life
and message have become relevant for all times. In this
context it is pertinent to mention that he was never
awarded Noble Prize for peace. He was recommended five
times but on each occasion a jittery British Empire along
with other imperial powers was said to have intervened to
scuttle the move. Looked from another perspective this is
much like what is happening to national Padma awards in
the country these days: invariably they are given to
those having proximity to the people in power and not the
deserving persons. But when the Dalai Lama was awarded
the Nobel Prize in the same category he gently reminded
the concerned people of the mistake they had made in the
forties. In his acceptance speech in Oslo on December 10,
1989, he minced no words while stating that he was
accepting the award "as a tribute to the man who
founded the modern tradition of non-violence action for
change, Mahatma Gandhi, whose life taught and inspired
me".
There is no such
commendation for Osama. It is doubtful whether there will
ever be any even if he apologises and makes amends for
his wicked ways (it may sound ironical but the Mahatma
alone perhaps could have forgiven him in keeping with his
perception of hating the sin and not the sinner). Unlike
the Mahatma who had preferred to face the worst of
violence in the full public view, Osama is seeking to
rock the world through brutality from a hideout thus
inviting an award of US $ 25 millions on his head. The
reason why the latter is in news these days is because he
has been keeping silent for too long His last videotaped
message was a warning to the Americans on October 29,
2004, that they could avoid a repeat of 9/11, 2001 if
they stopped threatening the security of Muslims. This in
turn has fuelled speculation of all types: is he a victim
of the October 8 earthquake in Pakistan and Afghanistan
(he is believed to be in hiding in the rugged terrain
between the two countries)? Their actual intentions
apart, United States counter-intelligence experts
don’t subscribe to this theory apparently for want
of evidence. There are other posers: has the tape meant
for recording his speeches been destroyed in the tremor?
Has he decided to change his spokesperson? Or, is it that
he is busy plotting another strike in the US? All seven
statements on behalf of Al-Qaeda so far this year have
been made by his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri.
The global aversion that
Osama has stirred up once again underlines the failure of
violence as a tool and attitude to achieve any objective.
In fact, his crude and vicious methodology has distanced
him from self-professed Islamic nations as well. Never
have those succeeded who have tried to make a career out
of killing others. Like Hitler and Mussolini they come
and go. One can’t visualise a different future for
solo adventurists like Osama either. On the other hand,
the Mahatma will always live in the hearts of the people
like a torch-bearer. That is why Albert Einstein had said
of him: "Generations to come will scarce believe
that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked
upon this earth". That again doubtless is the reason
that the Dalai Lama wherever he goes is called upon to
tell the audience more about him. What does this prove if
not that he is an all-time hero who will always guide us
how to take on or attempt to convert the villains like
Osama?
Be alert
Hardly a day has passed of
late without one or more earthquakes not rocking the
State. According to an estimate there have actually been
100 so far after we were badly hit by the one on October
8. The epicentre of almost all of them has been on the
other side of the Line of Control in the
Pakistan-occupied territory, a major part of which has
been virtually reduced to debris, and Pakistan both of
which are stated to have witnessed as many as 1190
aftershocks during the last one month. At the same time
it can’t be any cause for comfort for us that
Srinagar has been placed among the most earthquake-prone
regions in the country and the Jammu region is just one
category below the Summer Capital in what should be
called the danger list. It is well known by now that
nothing can be done in the face of a quake. However,
measures can be taken to mitigate its harmful aftermath
by conducting a quick statewide survey of crowded areas,
existing constructions and available open spaces. The new
Government in the State should wake up to this reality
before it is too late.
The
hit and run media
By Vijay
Satokar
The Oxford
dictionary explains it as 'denoting a
road accident from which the perpetrator
escapes before being discovered and
without lending assistance or, denoting
an attack or aggressive enterprise from
which the aggressor withdraws rapidly on
achieving his goal.
The
expression is often used by the media to
describe the increasing number of
accidents where the victim is left to die
as the driver speeds away.
Some may
term it as the most appropriate
description of the media scene and some
may oppose but Prime Minister Dr Manmohan
Singh chose the expression 'hit and run'
while giving vent to his anguish about
the media behaviour.
Newspapers
are in the news. Rather the media in
general itself is making news. Dr
Manmohan Singh's description of the media
following the controversial ''news
break'' has sparked off a debate, a
healthy one, on the media in the country.
The news
break in question had said that the
continued bull run in the stock markets
had made the Prime Minister summon a
meeting of the concerned authorities. The
markets panicked and the sensex plunged.
The PMO rushed with a clarification that
no such meeting had been called but the
news had already taken its toll.
The Prime
Minister, as reported by the media,
himself gave the reply at the silver
jubilee function of the Press Club of
Chandigarh when he said that with the
rapid expansion of the media in recent
times and the race for capturing markets,
qualitative development has not kept pace
with the quantitative growth as
journalists were being encouraged to cut
corners, taken chances and resort to
''hit and run'' tactics. ''How many
mistakes must a journalist make, how many
wrong stories, how many motivated columns
before, professional clamps are
placed?'', the Prime Minister asked.
As editors
and columnists commented on Dr Singh's
broadsides, experts at a symposium in
Chennai were discussing 'the erosion, if
any, in the sanctity of the print media
which is perceived to be under threat
from satellite television, the internet
and blog journalism. Organised jointly by
the Media Development Foundation and the
Australian High Commission the seminar
saw experts delivering on this point too.
How does
the Indian media look at itself ?
Participants
at the seminar felt that although India
had emerged as one of the fastest growing
media market the growth pattern was on
the back of 'filmsy economics'. As N
Muralia, Joint Managing Director, The
Hindu, put it, predatory price wars and
excessive dependence on advertisement
revenue had disturbed the economic
stability of newspapers and journalistic
independence''.
''What is
happening at market place defies all
logic and there was a need to bring back
sound business principles. Unless
newspapers are priced right, the frenetic
growth may not be sustainable'', he
added. He felt that the Indian media was
headed the American way with news being
increasingly doctored to suit
advertisers. There was a steady erosion
of journalistic freedom and trivalisation
of content necessitating safeguards, he
opined.
Dr Singh
may be hinting at the same. Newspapers
must have a larger role, the Prime
Minister felt when he cautioned that they
cannot be mere platforms of entertainment
and gossip.. They cannot be mere
purveyors of prejudice and petulance.
They must have a larger purpose and
contribute to a nation's intellectual
vibrancy.
Does the
media follow what the PM was saying ?
''In the old days, if a train detailed,
16 people died and 30 plus injured, it
would be a first lead the next morning.
On TV it would certainly be a running
story'', wrote media analyst Sevanti
Ninan in her column. The Bundelkhand
Express mishap, she said was a big news
only in a couple of newspapers and an
''also -ran'' for the Hindi news
channels. The first lead was a toss up
between the Supreme Court allowing loud
speakers to be used till midnight during
Navratri in Gujarat.
News
judgement these days involves abandoning
the old yardsticks and second-guessing
what people are interested in, Ninan
wrote. More TRPs for the television
channels and more circulation for the
newspapers. Trivialisation of content and
'hit and run'' tendencies creep in here.
The media
industry in India has witnessed a
phenomenal growth during the last decade,
a striking contrast to the trends in the
west. There has been a growth in the
number of channels churning out
round-the-clock news. Multi-edition
newspapers have mushroomed selling more
copies and claiming more readership. The
war in Mumbai among the media giants that
saw Mumbaikars being offered goodies
along with the morning news is a case in
point.
The Rs
1800 crore Bhaskar group's tie up with
Subhash Chandra's Zee group and their
launch of DNA, The old lady of Boribunder
launching Mumbai Mirror and New Delhi's
Hindustan times taking a plunge in the
huge Mumbai market threw up interesting
statistics. Mumbai's print media rakes in
an estimated advertising revenue of Rs
1300 crore every year and more than half
of it accounted for by the Times group
alone. No doubt it makes business sense
to grab a portion in the pie and then
everything is fair in love and war. Hit
and run included.
Where does
the reader/viewer stand in the war ?
''Not only
is 24x7 news unncessary, it has made
journalism more sensational'', wrote
columnist Hasan Suroor. In their bid to
be the first with the news competing news
channels end up hyping stories which are
then picked up by newspapers.
Because of
the amount of time that rolling news
channels mustfill, TV reporters have
started to sound like cricket
commentators who-when nothing is
happening on the field are reduced to
discussing the hats worn by the ladies in
the members' stall at Lords, he wrote.
No
surprise then that the print media next
morning, worried that the live television
has shown it all, decides to publish what
they think would catch the eye of the
reader. As another columnist wrote
instead of its traditional role of
inform, educate and entertin, the media's
priorities have now become entertain,
entertain and entertain.
Indian
media had hardly had time to take a look
at itself. It has grown and the market is
still huge. The finest reportorial
writers are truth tellers, wrote
journalist Lillian Rose in her book
'Reporting Back'. There is a magical
power in factual details she wrote
emphasizing that she subscribed to the
classic who-what-when-where-why and how
guidelines. What should be crucial for
the media planners is the fact that media
can ill afford to lose its credibility.
With the advent of the internet and blog
journalism, it will not be long when the
reader/viewer will shift loyalties from
the traditional media.
PTI Feature
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Plunder
of Indian antiques
By M. K.
Laul
Long
romanticised as genteel larceny, plunder
of art heritage in India has touched
scandalous proportions. And nobody is
losing sleep over it.
Experts
believe more than a thousand antiques
valued at Rs. 100 million are smuggled
out of the country annually. In spite of
elaborate legislative protection and a
host of recently introduced fancy
measures of interception the racketeers
are operating in a state of near total
impunity.
Even as
the revenue intelligence officials were
claiming that the problem has been more
or less solved because no case of the
smuggling of antiques had come to its
notice during the past one year, the
crime branch of the Delhi police made a
sensational seizure of 1,500 antiques on
way to different European destinations.
The police claimed that the antiques had
been procured through a national network
of touts and agents.
On the
other hand, since 1976, proceedings have
been initiated only against 58 cases
involving a total of just about 1,461
antiques. A top official of
Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI)
said "a lot has been done of late to
stem the rot but it has not been possible
to evolve a foolproof system so
far."
The ASI
has recommended a set of proposals
seeking amendment to the existing laws.
Besides
making smuggling or theft of antiques a
cognisable offence, it was also proposed
to amend the law to make punishment more
stringent, shifting the onus of proving
innocence on the possessor of the antique
and compulsory registration of FIR within
two days.
Conceding
that cent-per-cent check was not
possible, officials say unscrupulous
dealers steal from unprotected monuments
and temples and also dupe unsuspecting
villagers in possession of antiques. The
problem has been compounded due to
financial constraints and the fact that
Indian antiques fetch an enormous price
on the international market.
The Union
Minister of Human Resource Development
and Culture, Arjun Singh told parliament
that there was a proposal to amend the
Act to make it more effective.
The law
makes provisions for compulsory
registration of a notified category of
antiques, issuing licences necessary to
deal in antiquities and procedural
provisions for acquiring antiques or art
treasures. Any artefact more than a
century old is to be considered an
antique and as such cannot be sold,
exported or displayed privately.
Antiques,
according to the law, are sculptures in
media, paintings of all kinds,
illustrated and illuminated manuscripts,
woodcarvings having figure in round and
in relief. They are to be compulsorily
registered with the ASI.
The ASI
official added that complete
documentation of all types of antiques
would be of immense value as it would
serve as a handy national catalogue. But
such would have its disadvantages too, as
it would also serve as a ready compendium
for art thieves and smugglers.
Officials
feel that enough publicity has not been
done for registration of antiques. The
result is that only 300,000 antiques have
been registered with the ASI so far.
The
Government flaunts an impressive list of
measures taken by it to protect India's
art heritage.
Expert
advisory boards have been set up in
important towns to examine the objects
meant for export to find if any of them
is an antiquity in terms of the law.
The Tamil
Nadu Government has constructed icon
preservation centres where modern gadgets
and sophisticated lighting arrangements
have been installed.
According
to experts, art thieves broadly fall into
three categories.
The first
is the professional thief who is
commissioned to steal specific works of
art. In such cases the stolen item may
wind up in a private collection for
years, or even generations, and no money
changes hands except the fee paid by the
collector to the thief.
The second
type though less common is the collector
who steals art himself and indulges in
shoplifting.
Professional
thieves, who are knowledgeable about art,
fall in the third category. They normally
don't steal well-known pieces of art
because it proves difficult to sell them.
They steal
mid-range art, preferably works that are
similar to others by the same artist.
Such pieces can be easily sold to
unscrupulous or unwitting dealers who
don't conduct thorough checks. INAV
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Hospital
standards
By Dr Arun Sharma
Recognizing that
the care of the sick is their first
responsibility, hospitals must at all times
strive to provide the best care and treatment to
those, who are in need of hospitalization. Some
hospitals, in very early times, accepted certain
values and principles that conformed to high
professional standards. Other hospitals seeking
similar goals soon joined them. This led to the
development of definition of principles,
responsibilities and standards in patient care,
ultimately encompassing almost every aspect of
the hospital including its design, construction,
operation, maintenance and environmental safety.
Standards are used to describe the broad bases
and fundamental policies as well as specific
details for levels of patient care. They also
apply to supportive and administrative services
that are directly or indirectly concerned with
patient care of affect it one way or the other.
In the beginning,
all standards were voluntary standards without
any authority of law. Imposed upon themselves of
their own accord and acting in concert with other
institutions that shared common interests and had
similar purposes, many hospitals established
standards in every area of hospital operation.
Standards were also promulgated by professional
organizations based on professional ethics and
ideals. These were applied for purposes of
approval, registration, and accreditation and for
the promotion of professional ideals. For
example, in the US, a whole gamut of basic
principles must be complied with for a hospital
to be accredited by the Joint Commission on
Accreditation of Hospitals.
Mandatory
standards are those established by the
Government/licensing/regulatory body that derives
its authority from a basic law. They represent
what a legally constituted agency deems to be
necessary for the welfare of the people and are
reasonably attainable in the light of generally
accepted ethics, competencies, methods and
resources. However, a standard does not
necessarily represent the ideal. Legal standards,
for example, generally state the minimum that
should be adhered to under the penalty of the
law, and the tendency is to attain just that.
For voluntary
standards they represent the starting point
towards excellence at the other end of an
ascending scale. In some areas or sections, it
may be desirable, even necessary, to exceed the
minimum standards for optimum function. For
example, the standard door widths of inpatient
patient rooms are 3'8'', which satisfies most
applicable codes to permit passage of patient
beds. However, wider widths of 3' 10'' or even
4'0'' may be desirable to reduce damage to doors
and frames where frequent movement of beds and
large equipment may occur.
A standard may be
defined as a measure of quality established on a
voluntary basis by those subject to it, or
imposed upon them by a legal authority. One of
the most dramatic achievements of the American
College of Surgeons was the ''Hospital
Standardization Movement'' initiated early in the
twentieth century. With high ideals, the founders
drew up, what is known as the ''Minimum
Standard'' which became a veritable constitution
for hospitals, in which were set forth
requirements for the proper care of the sick. The
usage of the term ''hospital standardization''
paralleled the emphasis on standardization in
industry. The standard was made effective by an
annual survey of all hospitals having 25 or more
beds. When the first survey was conducted, only
89 hospitals in the United States and Canada
could meet the requirements. Thirty-three years
later, 3,353 hospitals were complying with the
requirements. This is significant considering
that compliance with standards was voluntary.
One of the reasons
that prompted the surgeons in particular to
spearhead the programme was the most
unsatisfactory state of medical records in the
early years of the century. They were so meager
and poor that most applicants for Fellowship in
the College could not produce satisfactory
reports of 50 major operations and 50 minor
operations required as part of the credentials to
accompany their aqpplications.
In 1952, the Joint
Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals took
over the programme, accepting as its initial list
the roster of hospitals furnished by the College.
The founder member organizations of the Joint
Commission were the American College of
Physicians, the American College of Surgeons, the
American Hospital Association, the American
Medical Association and the Canadian Medical
Association. This is how standards came into
being in American hospitals and since then they
haven't looked back. The focus of all efforts in
hospital standardization was the patient. The
objective was to give him the best professional,
scientific and humanitarian care.
Standards are
performance-oriented for desired results. For
example, experience has shown that it would be
extremely difficult to design a patient room, an
operating room or a coronary care unit smaller in
size than the generally recognized standard and
then have space to satisfactorily perform the
functions and procedures normally expected to be
performed in those rooms.
Quality, a synonym
for standards, is of paramount importance to
hospitals. At no time in history have hospitals
been under so much attack for failure or
deterioration of quality as they are today.
Malpractice suits are becoming common and there
is growing criticism of hospitals for their
various acts of commission and omission.
Negligent and unethical practices in patient
care, mismanagement, lack of probity and
accountability, unhygienic conditions in and
around the hospital, high incidence of hospital
acquired infection because of lack of quality
assurance programmes, environmental pollution
caused by hospital's waste disposal, to name just
a few.
For businesses
across the world, quality has become a strategic
imperative and a formidable competitive weapon--
their very survival depends on it. They have come
to realise that in this volatile business world
engaged in cutthroat competition, rivalry and
competition should focus not so much on price as
on quality. If they do not take heed of
customer's satisfaction by offering quality goods
and services, they are doomed to fail. To protect
their interests, manufacturers and service
providers give guarantee and warranty against
manufacturing defects or shortcomings in service.
If quality is
important to manufacturing industry, how much
more should it be to the hospitals! There is no
guarantee or warranty in hospitals against
quality failure. A defective surgery, a negligent
act on the part of a doctor, a nurse or a
technician can put the happiness of the patient,
even life, in jeopardy. The ill effects of such
mistakes could be costly, permanent and
irreversible.
In the patient's
mind, service is tantamount to quality. Only
quality assurance in hospitals can bring
happiness, satisfaction and delight to patients
and restore the smile on their faces. Sadly,
there are no standards in Indian hospitals. And
given the poor facilities in and the condition of
a vast majority of our hospitals, it would be
laughable even to think of accreditation by the
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals of
USA (JCAHO) or its international arm. The Joint
Commission International (JCI) whose standards
are stringent and quite simply, unattainable. And
the cost is unconscionably high said to be USD
100,000 for a 600 - bed hospital and recurring
cost of re-accreditation every three years, not
to mention the high cost needed for upgrades
which only a handful of cash rich corporate
hospitals can afford.
Ultimately, this
cost will surely be passed on the patients. As of
now only Indraparashta Medical Corporation and
Teleradiology Solutions have the distinction of
being accredited, the former by JCI and the
latter by JCAHO.
In a country,
where charitable and not-for-profit hospitals
abound, most of them struggling to stay afloat,
even the standards set by the National Board for
Testing and Calibration of Laboratories (NABL)
have not found many takers. High cost is said to
be the deterrent. Moreover, if the exercise of
getting accreditation by JCI and JCAHO is to
attract foreign medical tourists, it is a pretty
unconvincing reason for the huge investment that
is involved. If hospitals are spruced up with
cutting edge facilities to cater to foreign
customers, making them unaffordable to the common
man in the process, who cares for millions of our
own patients ?
Conversely, there
are quite a few hospitals across the country
without JCI and JCAHO accreditation, which have
been healthcare destinations for foreign patients
nevertheless. This means that these hospitals
have the potential for becoming centers of
excellence if only they have standards. In the
considered opinion that, what India needs are
standards that are reasonably attainable and
affordable. They should be made mandatory minimum
standards that should be adhered to under the
penalty of law.
However, no
standards would work on the ground unless they
are enforceable and audited for compliance. The
Quality Council of India (QCI) which is said to
have been entrusted with the task of drafting
standards, or the Indian Healthcare Federation
should be asked to set standards that are
tailor-made for Indian hospitals. Hospitals that
pursue excellence and higher standards will of
course of their own accord go beyond the minimum
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