Why Ram Nath Kovind was chosen by BJP to be the NDA Presidential election 2017 candidate

Ram Nath Kovind, Governor of Bihar, is the NDA government’s nominee in the Presidential election 2017 is likely to be India’s next President. The decision was taken after a BJP Parliamentary Board meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah with Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari in attendance. Ram Nath Kovind, 70, is a Dalit leader from Kanpur.

A two-time member of Rajya Sabha and former national spokes person for the party, Kovind headed the BJP’s Scheduled Caste Morcha between 1999 and 2002. The voting for the presidential election is scheduled on July 17, while the counting will take place on July 20, four days before current President Pranab Mukherjee’s term ends. While BJP hopes for consensus on its Presidential candidate pick, here are 5 reasons why Ram Nath Kovind was selected :

1. A dalit leader who fought for the cause of SC/ST:

Kovind has been a crusader for the rights and cause of weaker sections of the society, especially Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/ OBC/Minority/Land Women from his student days. In the year 1997, some Government Orders were issued by the Central Government which adversely affected the interests of employees of the Scheduled Castes/Tribes. Shri Ram Nath Kovind joined the movement of SC/ST employees against the Central Government and consequently succeeded in getting those Government Orders null and void by the passage of three Amendments in the Constitution of India during the first NDA regime. RSS is gradually building a platform to integrate entire hindu population by erasing caste divide.

2. Held important positions:

a) Ram Nath Kovind, served as Member of Board of Management of Dr B.R Ambedkar University, Lucknow.

b) He also served as Member of Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.

c) He represented India in United Nations (New york) and addressed United Nations General Assembly in October 2002.

d) Visited Thailand. Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, France, United Kingdom and the USA on Study Tour as Member of Parliament.

3. Served as a Parliamentarian:

Ram Nath Kovind was elected and became as Rajya Sabha MP in April 1994 from Uttar Pradesh and served for two consecutive terms for 12 years until March 2006. Shri Kovind served as Member on important Parliamentary Committees including Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes, Home Affairs, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Social Justice and Empowerment, Law and Justice and Chairman of Rajya Sabha House Committee.

4. Has been a highly respected Advocate:

Ram Nath Kovind, was the Central Government Advocate in Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1979 and Central Government Standing Counsel in Supreme Court from 1980 to 1993. He became Advocate-on-Record of the Supreme Court of India in 1978. He had practiced in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court for about 16 years till 1993.He was enrolled as an Advocate in 1971 with the Bar Council of Delhi.

5. Clean image, with no case of corruption:

Ram Nath Kovind, former President of the BJP Dalit Morcha has held a clean record and image and his work has spoken volumes. During his parliamentary tenure of 12 years, he emphasized on the development of basic infrastructure for education in rural areas, and during his Advocacy tenure, he took a leading role in providing free legal aid to the weaker sections of society, especially SC/ST women. These cases have earned him huge respect in the political circles in India.

 – Prakhar P Mishra  (The writer is our Political Editor)

Uttar Pradesh chief minister yogi Adityanath was sworn in as Uttar Pradesh chief minister at Smriti Upvan,in Lucknow, India, on March 19, 2017. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and other top BJP leadership was present on the occasion. the massive strength presented by BJP was phenomenal and unprecedented to showcase upsurge of right wing party. there are three prominent reasons for putting yogi in command of UP namely keep polarizing Hindu votes, put strong administer and non-compromising leader and to put development agenda upfront. It was analysed that a strong character can address the depleting law and order situation.

From everything we have heard about Yogi Adityanath’s way with votes, it would seem the man has never felt a tinge of electoral insecurity in his 19 year old political career. But it turns out Uttar Pradesh’s new chief minister had to work his way to “electoral invincibility.” Senior journalist Dhirender K Jha’s 35-page book, which reads like a meticulous magazine profile, details the lowest point in the five-time MP’s electoral journey to show why he may never fear losing an election again.

It was between 1998 when 26 year old Adityanath, would be mahant at the Gorakhpur temple, first won the eastern UP Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 26,000 votes, and 1999, when he fought the election again and found his vote margin down to 7339. the plunge in winning margin was especially hurtful because shortly after winning the Gorakhpur seat the first time, Adityanath had launched his first “apolitical” organization, Gau Raksha Manch, to consolidate the Hindu vote. the cow card was apparently not enough to polarize the voters in Gorakhpur. The young MP realized he needed to “develop a wider base among Hindus” to play the power game in UP.

His moment came in 2002. Drawing on the nationwide split between Hindus and Muslims after the riots in Gujarat, Yogi Adityanath decided to hit the ground anew. He began by changing the name of Gau Raksha Manch to Hindu yuva vahini and expanded its jurisdiction beyond cows to anything and everything “that could project minorities as the enemies of Hindus”, from their meat eating habits to their appeal among Hindu women. to give this new outfit a structure and mission, its presence was divided into multi level committees state, district, block and panchayat and young and restless Hindu men in villages in and around Gorakhpur recruited in large numbers. right from the first day, writes Jha, HYV ran a toxic campaign of religious politics, turning the smallest of incidents to sectarian wars. “there were at least six major riots in the region within the first year of HYV’s formation” and “at least 22 major riots in Gorakhpur and the neighboring districts till 2007.”

The plan paid off pretty soon. In 2004, Adityanath won the Gorakhpur seat by a margin of 142,000 votes; five years later, he claimed victory by 300,000 votes. Gau Raksha Peethadhiswar Parampujya Yogi Adityanath Ji Maharaj, as his disciples call him, has been unstoppable since. As Jha painstakingly outlines the saint politician’s “political fortune doesn’t depend on the BJP or the RSS but is fueled by a communal polarization of an extreme kind.”

 So who is Yogi Adityanath?

1.  yogi Adityanath was elected as the Member of the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998 from Gorakhpur constituency. He was the youngest legislator of the Lok Sabha. So far he has been MP from the same constituency five times. In 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, Adityanath won the elections by a margin of 1,42,309 votes.

2. Adityanath’s predecessor Mahant Avaidyanath was the president of Hindu Maha Sabha. Both of them kept Hindutva agenda at the forefront of their election campaign. His mission in life is to convert other religious groups back to Hinduism. In 2005, more than 5,000 people were converted in the town of Etah in UP. He reportedly said: “I will not stop till I turn UP and India into a Hindu rashtra”.

3. Adityanath’s original name was Ajay Singh. He changed his name after becoming a ‘sanyasi’. He has got a B.Sc. degree from HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, Uttarakhand. He is a very good orator and has the ability to attract eyeballs with his fiery speech. He has been quite vocal in the Parliament and has been raising issues with alacrity. It’s not that he raises issues related to Hindutva only. In fact, he has been equally concerned about issues that have the potential of impacting the lives of the poorer strata of the society.

4. In Gorakhpur riots of 2007, a Hindu boy was killed after some people opened fire on a Muslim procession that took place on the occasion of Moharam. When the youth succumbed to the injuries, Adityanath vowed to deliver justice to Hindus. He announced a torchlight procession and a “Shraddhanjali Sabha (pay homage)” on a busy road. The District Magistrate had forbidden him to do so, but regardless of his instructions he and his followers set off. For the first time in his life, Adityanath was jailed under Section 151A of the CRPC only to find later that he has also been booked under Sections 146, 147, 279, 506 of the Indian Penal Code.

5. yogi Adityanath of the BJP has several criminal cases pending against him. Some of the cases where cognizance has been taken are: 3 charges related to rioting (IPC Section-147); 1 charge related to Attempt to murder (IPC Section-307); 2 charges related to Rioting, armed with deadly weapon (IPC Section-148); 1 charges related to Act endangering life or personal safety of others (IPC Section-336); 1 charges related to every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object (IPC Section-149); 2 charges related to trespassing on burial places, etc. (IPC Section-297); 1 charges related to criminal intimidation (IPC Section-506).

6. yogi Adityanath is the founder of the Hindu yuva vahini. It is a social, cultural and nationalist group of young people. this group is very famous amongst Hindus of east Uttar Pradesh. Hindu yuva vahini has many dalit Hindus. After Adityanath’s arrest in 2007 for inciting Gorakhpur riots, his HYV launched retaliations. two coaches of the Mumbai bound Mumbai Gorakhpur Godan express was set ablaze on 30th January, 2007. Aggression is the hallmark of Adityanath. His opponents often charge Adityanath and his Hindu yuva Vahini of taking law into their hands. The Gorakhpur MP, however, gives diplomatic answer on this question. He says that if the law enforcement agencies fail to do justice to their roles then common man has to think of the alternative ways of getting justice.

7. In March 2010, Adityanath was one of several BJP MPs who did not adhere to the party whip on the Women’s Reservation Bill. Few years ago, a video surfaced in which Adityanath was seen as saying that if one Hindu girl is converted to Islam then they will convert 100 Muslim women to Hinduism. When Rajat Sharma asked this question to yogi Adityanath in his show ‘Aap Ki Adalat’, an unapologetic Yogi Adityanath said that nobody has the right to practice forcible conversion. The Gorakhpur MP said that a person has to be answered in the same language that he understands.

8. Despite his prominence in the party, he has never been on good terms with the BJP. He has had a strained relation with the party for more than a decade. In 2007 UP Elections, BJP and Adityanath were at conflict. He wanted more than 10 seats in Gorakhpur region to go to candidates selected by him, but the party leadership would not agree. Subsequently a compromise agreement was reached by the RSS. He fielded 8 candidates of his choice. RSS’s intervention normalized yogi Adityanath’s relationship with BJP during the election season.

9. Adityanath, during India TV’s Chunav Manch conclave in February,said that he will make ‘love jihad’ an issue in the polls. Gorakhpur MP has been raising this issue for the past four to five years. He said, “”I have been raising this issue for the past four to five years. The menace first began in Kerala and has now spread to Western UP”. yogi Adityanath says he is not against Hindu-Muslim marriages provided it’s based on mutual trust and there is no element of deceit in that relationship.

10. the BJP had included him in the party’s list of star campaigners for polls. Adityanath raised the law and order situation extensively and made ‘love jihad’ a major poll issue. The BJP’s mega success in the polls has certainly cemented Adityanath’s hold in his party.

10 things UP CM yogi Adityanath did during his first week in office Just a week of Yogi Adityanath as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, the 44- year old has hit the ground running, grabbing headlines with a series of decision ranging from banning pan and gutkha at workplaces to cracking down on illegal slaughterhouses.

Here is a list of things he decided and ordered:

1)MINISTERIAL INCOMES: An hour after he took oath on March 19, Adityanath ordered all ministers to declare their income, movable and immovable properties within 15 days. He asked them to submit declarations to the CM secretariat. He also made them take an oath of cleanliness and honesty. He conveyed that his government would have zero tolerance on corruption and law and order.

2) CLEANLINESS: yogi Adityanath administered his ministers an oath of cleanliness and honesty. Also he fixed every Friday as the day when the state staff must tidy up work- spaces. He asked them to devote two hours per week to cleanliness. He also asked them to read up BJP’s 2017 poll manifesto and begin mulling over how to implement it in their respective departments. Also asked them to make budgetary provisions for it and begin preparing for the first cabinet meet.

3) PAN BAN: The next day, he ordered a ban on ‘Paan masala, Gutkha’ consumption in government offices, hospitals, schools etc.

4) MEAT CRACKDOWN: He ordered a crackdown on illegal slaughter houses and meat shops, and check cow smuggling. Many meat shops were burnt and businesses on strike with supplies drying up. the government has clarified that only illegal abattoirs would be targeted.

5) ANTI-ROMEO SQUAD: the CM also called for an end to road side boozing and asked for the setting up of ‘anti romeo squads’ across the state. When the anti romeo action created an outrage with the way police responded, Adityanath on March 25 ordered making of guidelines and said police should not be inhuman while implementing it.

6) SETTING AGENDA WITH MODI: On March 21, he went to Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss distribution of portfolios to his ministers. He also informed the PM Modi that MPs were lobbying for transfers, postings of officers. Modi, on March 23, ordered all MPs not to interfere in transfers, postings.

7) ACID ATTACK CRACKDOWN: On March 24, Adityanath visited an acid attack survivor. Gave her Rs one lakh aid and ordered the arrest of the culprits.

8) POT-HOLES: On March 25, Adityanth set a deadline of June 15 for making all UP roads pot-holes free.

9) METRO: the new CM has also announced Metro train projects for Gorakhpur (his Lok Sabha constituency) and Jhansi.

10) CRACKDOWN ON LAXITY: During a visit in Gorakhpur, Adityanath said those officers who cannot work 18-20 hours were free to leave. He also said that the state would promote regional dialects.

Inputs from Snigdha Poonam article published in HT & Dr Rahul Misra in Lucknow

In order to attract more international students to Japan, The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT) launched the “Global 30” Project for Establishing Core Universities for Internationalization and select- ed 13 universities to function as core institutions to receive and educate students from abroad. Under the Project, a student can obtain a degree from a prestigious Japanese university by taking programs taught in English, both in undergraduate and graduate levels.

To promote the Project and recruit prospective students, we are advertizing our newly established English courses abroad. Universities under the “Global 30” Project include Tohoku University, University of Tsukuba, The University of Tokyo, Nagoya University, Kyoto University, Osaka University, Kyushu University, Keio University, Sophia University, Meiji University, Waseda University, Doshisha University, and Ritsumeikan University (13 universities total).

Contents of the Seminars included.

(1) Presentations by the “Global 30” Project universities. Universities involved in the “Global 30” Project present brief overviews concerning their education systems, programs, admission procedures, etc.

(2) Lecture demonstrations – We hope participants will actively join in the lectures given by professors of the “Global 30” Project universities.

(3) Individual consultation For questions concerning educational systems and programs, admission procedures, characteristics, etc., the “Global 30? Project universities will have booths for advice and to answer questions of participants who intend to study in Japan. Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) booth will broadly inform participants about Study in Japan.

List of Universities participating in Delhi (India) /Bangalore (India) included:- ” Tohoku University, University of Tsukuba, The University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Osaka University, Kyushu University, Keio University, Sophia University (Bangalore only), Meiji University, Doshisha University, and Ritsumeikan University Japan Student Services Organization(JASSO)

‘Higher Education is Japan core strength that made it a global technology super power’

The iconic face of India in Japan is former Indian Ambassador to Japan Mr Aftab Seth who is playing the role of a catalyst to bridge the gap between unexplored land of opportunity for the Indian Gen-Next. Mr Seth highlights the tremendous depth of Japanese core strength that is yet to be tapped in India Higher education. Here are some of the most fascinating excerpts of his interview with Opinion Express associate editor Dr Rahul Misra.

Q Japan higher education system has been close knit hence globally people are unaware of its merits, kindly enlighten us about the cost factor, and Work culture of Japanese Universities?A. From the time of the Meiji restoration in 1868 the Japanese university system was opened to the world. As the first university was Keio, set up in 1858, 10 years university was Keio, set up in 1858, 10 years before the restoration, it was deeply influenced by knowledge acquired by the founder Yukichi Fukuzawa from the Dutch in Nagasaki in Kyushu. As other universities were set up in 1870s by the Imperial government they depended greatly on professors from the west, USA Britain and for medicine from Germany. Till the early 60s all medical students had to learn German because of the text books. It is thus not quite accurate to call the Japanese university system closed. It became like this later, but the early years were of openness.

So much so, that Tenshin Okakura an art historian and friend of Tagore, was able to write a book on Japanese tea in English and a play the “Silver Fox” in English directly. The xenophobia and hostility towards foreign influences was a product of the military dominated politics of the 20s and 30s and during the war till 1945. Under the American occupation from 1945 to 1952 all institutions including educational ones underwent reform to purge ideas which smacked of the Fascist interwar years. Universities were again open to foreign influence and to student exchanges. Japanese universities as a general rule offer high class education at a price which is less than private universities in the USA. State universities in Japan tend to be reasonable com- pared to top private ones like Keio or Waseda founded by Okuma Shigenobu in 1888.

Q. Japan is center of great cutting edge technologies, R&D labs etc. It is associated with several hi-ttech products and services yet its Universities are not internationally known brands, why?

A. The reason that Universities in Japan are less well known abroad is because of several factors. Japanese universities may not be known in India or the west but in China and the South East they have been well known since 1895 when Japan defeated China and in 1905 defeated Imperial Russia.

Several leading Chinese intellectuals like Sun Yat Sen studied in Japan and were influenced by Japanese ideas. Nationalist leaders of Vietnam struggling against French colonial rule established in the 1880s were deeply inspired by the Russo Japanese war. Phan Boi Chau one such leader traveled to Japan seeking help. Leaders such as Okuma and Inukai gave help by inviting 100 young Vietnamese boys to study at Japanese universities. Japanese technology has been known even before the war in East Asia. Korea a colony of Japan from 1910 to 1945 also had many generations of students who were educated in Japan. It is correct that top places like the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo University, Keio University with excellent R&D faculties are not well known abroad.

Q. English language is a deterrent to study in Japan?

A. The English language has been a deterrent so far. But this is changing. The Japanese have a complex about their inability to master alien tongues. Slowly but surely this changing and Japanese are acquiring huge skills in learning English language.

Q. 4. Group 30 Universities from Japan recently established an office in India to attract Indian students to Japan, why this initiative is taken at this time? What road map and benefits shall be made to Indian students intending to go to overseas destinations with this initiative?

A. The G-30 initiative by PM Fukuda in 2008 is aimed at increasing the number of foreign students in Japan from the present 130000 to 300000 by 2012. The Ritsumeikan office established in October 2010 at the Japan Foundation building is part of this initiative. Waseda has an office in Vietnam and other Universities have been given responsibility for other territories. As part of this work we helped the G30 in January 2011 to invite students from top schools in Delhi and other cities to attend a seminar addressed by the representatives of leading Japanese universities. I inaugurated this seminar. The purpose is to attract young talent to study in Japan. The benefit Indian students would derive from such study are explained at such seminars. To make it easier some universities like Keio have started English medium classes at the Fujisawa campus which teaches all high tech subjects such as IT, Energy, environmental science and others. Keio has a separate initiative GIGA which aims to attract bright youth to study at the undergraduate level. Post graduate schools in many leading universities have been conducting their classes in English for some years now. This is a trend that is growing.

Q. Any synergies that are possible between private universities between India and Japan with this Group 30 University consortium?

A. PM Abe in 2007 organised the first University Vice Chancellors conference in Delhi to bring together leaders of 12 top universities in both countries. The conference which I attended, as the international adviser to Keio which was the Japanese Co Chairman with the UGC Chairman on the Indian side, led to Keio signing MOUs with 11 top Indian universities including 5 IITs. The synergy between our institutions was well demonstrated by this event.

– OE News Bureau

President Honorable Kailash Purryag & then Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius in a earlier recorded interview. The Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Rajkeswur Purryag explains why he is hopeful of stronger India Mauritius relations in the future.According to Mr Purryag, the present government of Mauritius under its dynamic leader Hon. Navinchandra Ramgoolam is committed for building even stronger ties between the two countries. Here, Mr.Rajkeswur Purryag in an exclusive interview with Rajiv Agnihotri touches all the relevant issues.

It is with great pleasure that, at Opinion Express, we have learn that Mr. Rajkeswar Purring has been elected fifth president of the Republic of Muritius. It is, we feel, the culmination of a rich political career after he has served as Speaker of the National Assembly. It is said of him that he exercised his duties as Speaker with objectivity and impartiality and this goes to his credit.From modest beginnings Mr. Purryag has patiently worked his way up to reach where he now is. This is no mean achievement. Mr.Purryag can serve as example for those who have a goal in life. He illustrates what can be achieved with dedication and a sense of purpose.

Mr.Purryag became attorney in 1973 and joined the Labor Party. He stood as candidate for the general elections in 1976. He occupied different ministerial posts in the course of his political career. We can recall that he was Minister of Social Security from 1980 to 1982, Minister of Health from 1984 to 1988, Minister of Economic Development and Telecommunications from 1995 to 1997. From 1997 to 2000 he was Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Commerce. He became Speaker in 2005.

Our best wishes are with Mr.Kailash Purring now that he is President of our Republic. We have no doubt that he will “uphold the standard of the Presidency with a decorum that his office demands” as the Jon. Prime Minister, Dr. Navinchandra Ramona said in the Assembly. Opinion Express congratulates Mr.Rajkeswar Purring wholeheartedly. His loyalty to the Labor Party has been rewarded. We have no doubt that he will exercise his new responsibilities with joy and the acumen that go with them. He is well aware of the task that awaits him as he embarks on another stage of his already rich career. We are aware that he reads Opinion Express regularly.This, no doubt, adds to our pleasure that he is now at Le Redid.

OE. It under the leadership of Hon. Navinchandra Ramgoolam, that the relationship between the two countries has grown manifold, what future do you foresee for strengthening the relationship even further in sectors like tourism and economy?

KP. Yes, I think the relationship between India and Mauritius has been further consolidated by Dr. Navin Ramgoolam and we are working together to set the economic sector within the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation and we know this initiative was put forward by Mauritius, and that today Mauritius, India, Australia and other member states of the Indian Ocean Rim are playing a very important role to promote the economic interest of the member states. I think within that association, our relationship is further consolidated in the economic sector. As for our tourist sector, we have recently received many Indian businessmen who have come to Mauritius to invest in the tourist sector and I know one or two groups who are actually constructing hotels. Once this construction is over, it will enhance the relationship between our two countries.

OE. Mauritius has done exceedingly well on the economic front in the last few years. The Island being the gateway of African continent can work as a catalyst between the Asian & African economic areas but unlike Hong Kong, Mauritius till date is not recognized as it should be, what special efforts are being undertaken by your government to pro- mote this vital issue on the global scale?

KP. Yes, you see that Mauritius has done very well not for the last two or three years but in the last two decades.

Since our independence, we are striving very hard to put in place a strategy for the socioeconomic development of the country and after thirty years of independence, today we can say that we have achieved a certain level of economic development as you know that and today Mauritius is considered as a success story of the African continent. Earlier Mauritius was not known neither in the African continent nor in the international community. It is now that Mauritius is being cited in all foras despite being the small island, we have achieved tremendous growth in the economic front. Therefore, we are doing everything possible within our means today to position ourselves as a hub of economic activities and poised to become gateway between Asia and Africa. In that context, we are creating a free port, as the Government of Mauritius has invested a lot of money for the port of Mauritius just to create support to attract business here and we are trying to develop a very strong service economy. So, we are trying to re engineer our economy in such a way that we have skills in Mauritius to be able to become a service economy and to provide necessary manpower. Again I must say that we have come out with a plan of action to review our educational system so as to adapt it within our concept of economic development and cater to our needs both in terms of infrastructure as well as human resource development. We are doing a lot of work to prepare ourselves in order to position Mauritius as a hub to provide link as a gateway between Asia and Africa.

OE. Mauritius is an international tourist destination but the exchange of tourists between India and Mauritius is in single digit percentage to their overall tourist strength. What measures are being taken at the Government level to boost tourist exchange between the two countries?

KP. You have rightly said Mauritius is an international tourist hub. Today we receive more than 500,00 tourists mainly from Europe. From India we have very little tourist inflow. We are doing our best to get Indian tourists to come to Mauritius but it all depends on the tourists themselves.

Mauritius has established a reputation as a tourist destination which is known in India. I think that Ministry of Tourism will perhaps hold certain manifestation in India to promote Mauritius as a tourist destination in the Indian community.

OE. Indian businessmen are very keen to invest in Mauritius through Free port and MOBAA, what are the incentives that Mauritius offers?

KP. There is a package of incentives that has been put in place to attract businessmen in Mauritius specially in MOBAA. We have a bilateral agreement with India, which is one of the most favorable agreement. I think we have a very interesting package which has to be taken into account by future investors who want to invest in Mauritius.

OE. What is your message for the people of India on the occasion of 50th year of their Independence?

KP. Well, we must say that India has made a lot of progress in the industrial field and the progress has been so much that India today has become an industrial power in the world. India is an economic power in waiting, what is important is unity, peace and stability along with the economic progress because unless you have peace, stability and unity, economic progress in real sense can not be achieved. Similar conditions are existing in Mauritius, for example coordination with all the main communities here, we have been able to create a political and social stability in order to make the economic development. So I think that India since independence has made a lot of progress that needs to make more progress in order to cater for its population and for this you need to have peace, stability and unity.

-BY RAJIV AGNIHOTRI FOR OE NEWS BUREAU

Emirates center for strategic studies and research ECSSR is an independent organization, intellectual arm of the UAE government. ECSSR conduct studies and research on topics relevant to the national security and socioeconomic well being of the United Arabic Emirates in specific and the gulf region in general with relevant international concerns. ECSSR provide the community services with highly scientific activities with the convening of symposia lectures and conferences in topics related to the research agenda actively assists the professional development of UAE nationals through training programs. ECSSR support to the government decision progress by preparing reports for the best policy scenario mix and ECSSR provide qualitative research for the decision makers.

In a rapidly changing world, with new horizons and challenges expanding the scope of human activity at every turn, the wise leadership of the United Arab Emirates envisioned the creation of an advanced and independent research institution that would not only keep abreast with new developments at the political, economic and social spheres of human endeavor, but would also formulate the most suitable responses and strategies for keeping the UAE society ahead in the race of modernity.

It was with this vision that the UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, established the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR), a premier institution of its kind in the Middle East, which has ever since set new bench marks of excellence and expertise in the field of strategic studies and research.

At the heart of the Center’s mission is its adoption of a strategic and rational approach in addressing today’s and tomorrow’s pivotal and pressing issues. It also places a premium on rigorous discipline in the triumph of academic and scientific enterprise. In addition, the ECSSR’s core research group involves a cadre of well educated nationals that derive a qualitative benefit from a specially designed program. The dedication and a sense of duty that characterize these young professionals is remarkable. In their development, they have cultivated a sense of initiative and courage that will undoubtedly light the path to an even greater future.H.H. His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, appreciates the role of ECSSR in imparting quality planning to government for delivering world class governance to its people. According to President of UAE  “As the United Arab Emirates is not isolated from these developments, it has striven to adopt essential measures for keeping pace with the requirements of the age, including the establishment of a prominent scientific research institution, the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR). The Center has demonstrated in past years that it is one of the most dynamic and effective bodies in the United Arab Emirates in monitoring global events.

The Center is concerned with tracking, analyzing, and investigating local, regional, and international developments on a structured scientific and methodological basis that guides appropriate decision-making. This process is inspired by the sound directives and the exclusive, unstinted support given to ECSSR by UAE government, borne of the need to earnestly enhance the intellectual skills of UAE citizens and help them develop their potential as progressive citizens of the modern world.

Through its many concrete achievements, ECSSR has proven its ability to surmount all challenges and obstacles, and has consequently become a well established intellectual institution not only in the United Arab Emirates but also in the Gulf and the Arab world. Furthermore, ECSSR has acquired distinguished academic and research status at the international level. Hence, there is a need to continue our support for the Center within the context of strengthening scientific and intellectual traditions that lay the foundation for building of modern societies that aspire to follow the path of accelerated development and progress.

Dr Jamal Sanad Al Suwaidi Director General ECSSR, the visionary intellectual brain behind ECSSR has pioneered great road map for framing policies that created UAE in the recent times. Dr Jamal spoke about ECSSR and the role of ruler of Abu Dhabi ” Center?’s varied achievements and contributions could not have been realized without the honorable patronage of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the constant support and laudable interest of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

They have also spared no effort in supporting ECSSR, sponsoring its various activities and closely monitoring them with great interest, enriching the Center’s course with their sound directives, and promoting its activities and achievements. God willing, this support will help the Center to enhance its performance towards achieving excellence. The visionary leadership of Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed government of Abu Dhabi with Dr. Jamal Sanad-Al Suwaidi have envisioned making ICT sector the fifth pillar of the economy. The advent of Abu Dhabi knowledge hub, Opinion Express Group of companies has presented its solutions with programs that can enhance bilateral ties between UAE and India in Information Technology sector. Mr Prashant Tewari Executive chairman of Pantal Technologies and Opinion Express group of companies has visited Dr. Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi with Dr Mohiba Khalil to present IT solutions in the ICT sector that can cover health care, Bio-matrix identity cards, micro credit scheme and cash less society, national security services and national identity cards and similar possibilities. This will lead to better ties between the two friendly nations. According to Dr KhalilUAE society is a shifting towards knowledge domain, the vision of its great leader Sheikh Zayed had laid the foundation years ahead. Mr Prashant Tewari strongly feels that the ICT sector can fuel tremendous growth of the UAE economy. Pantel Technology with its consortium partners would like to coordinate with ECSSR to facilitate following reference to achieve the objective.

Excellent IT and Communication infrastructure

Infrastructure facilitating good quality of life

Availability of skilled human resources for all categories of IT jobs.

Cost effective operations

Facilitative policy, regulatory and institutional framework

The UAE is setting a pioneering model for constructive interaction between the leadership and the people gives top priority to the interests of the citizens and spares no effort in providing them with a decent life. highly appreciated by the citizens who are willing to play an active role in national development and boost nations of the world.

The interaction of His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu D Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, with UAE citizens in Al Dhaid on Friday is an example of the close leaders and the people and a true reflection of the policy of openness which this relationship is based Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who was keen to learn about the needs of the citizens, said that His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Supreme Commander of the (God protect him) to public concerns, and His Highness the President believes in providing a decent considers the true treasure of this nation.”

The UAE’s wise leadership strongly believes that the human capital is the most invaluable resource and contribution to the development process is the means for national progress and prosperity. His Highness Gbin Zayed Al Nahyan’s statement made in Al Dhaid that “our leaders are keen to communicate with the p them a better service to both the nation and citizens” demonstrates the UAE citizen as central to the visio by our wise leadership.

The human resources, the main engine of development, are the country’s most invaluable asset. This ex wise leaders to listen to the citizenry and make efforts to promote their welfare, in areas such as modern medical care and social services to provide citizens with a decent life. It is the tangible manifest at. Stage launched by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan by “providing an empowerment of citizens in order to contribute to their social and political life.”

During their meeting with His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, citizens express satisfaction and loyalty. There was reciprocity of mutual affection and appreciation between the leaders the magic mantra for the security, stability and welfare of the UAE.

 – Report filed by Mohiba Khalil from ECSSR HQ, Abu Dhabi

I am not a soft engineer and so cannot speak with authority on the global significance of late Steve Jobs' contributions to information technology. But, I do use the computer for a lot of my research activities, as also for writing the first electronic book on agriculture in the world on important tree crops of the developing world, followed by another on the world's two most important spices - black pepper and cardamom - and the most recent planned one on medicinal spice plants.

And I am working with the most advanced Microsoft system, and I know how tiresome, mentally and physically, it can get at times, sitting in front of the monitor for something like 15-16 hours a day, with just half an hour break for lunch or dinner, compiling such a vast body of scientific information onto the electronic pages.

What I wish to write about in this article is the frenzy one sees in the world today about Steve Jobs, and his unfortunate, though anticipated by himself, death in October. Some of his global admirers almost want "sainthood" bestowed on him! As he said, he considered every day of his life, after he was diagnosed for a malignant and incurable tumour in his pancreas, as the last day of his life and so worked with devilish frenzy.

Take these examples. A young boy in China sold one of his kidneys in order to afford to buy an I-pod, one of Jobs' supposedly "miraculous" products. His biography by Walter Isaacson is selling like hot cakes in China. At close to Rs 800 a piece, here in India, almost every "IT techie" or " IT coolie" (as someone very respected and knowledgeable here in India referred to our IT engineers working in the US - please note, the term is not mine) would grab a copy of the book.

I have often reflected about life and what it does to people. Sometimes "greatness" gets thrust upon oneself, birth being the common route - "born with a silver or golden spoon", as the case may be. Sometimes "greatness" is achieved, and only those who achieve it know what it takes to "achieve". In a number of cases, however much one tries to achieve greatness, one is swept down by the winds of hostile history. A common factor in all these cases, more often than not, is that the public at large sees only what it is told to believe. Here in India today, the media plays a pivotal role in the "making" or "breaking" of someone, depending on whether it "likes" or "dislikes" the individual involved.

Only when the person is no more, real skeletons fall out of the cupboard! It might interest the reader here to note that, when Walter Isaacson set about writing the biography of Steve Jobs, the latter was quite indifferent at first. But a point came when Jobs insisted on knowing every bit of detail in the planned book, so posterity would know what Jobs had done. Six months before he passed away, Jobs said at one of his public meetings "Remember, there is only one Steve Jobs". What a gigantic ego! So, let us take a look at what Jobs had done. Here I go.

Jobs' most important contribution was to adapt technology to human needs, make it abundantly simple, rather than the normally path of technology companies trying to educate people to use their products via a two inch thick tome - the "user manual". Take the case of the desktop computer. Without spending so many hours to educate myself, I could not have started using the most advanced Microsoft system to enable me to write the electronic book I am now writing. If one critically examines all the desktop computers available in the market today, all are basically the same in technical construction, not adding any significant or unique pride in their ownership, because there is nothing new or very unique about the new model.

But in the field of IT technology, Jobs brought a unique "individual touch" to the product he designed. He did this through Jony Ive, head of the design section of Apple. Jony Ive was almost ready to quit Apple in the mid-1980s when Steve Jobs persuaded him not to quit. Jony Ive was inspired by a German designer who had worked for the famous German electronics company Braun, whose driving principle in design was "Less but Better". This is what Jony Ive and Steve Jobs tried to accomplish together. Would Jobs have been able to replicate the same individuality in, say, an industry like automobiles or fashion designing? No. He would have ended up being "one" among the very best, but, never the "only one".

To go further in critically looking at Jobs' contributions to IT, one has to understand what was happening in mid-1990s when internet simply did not exist. In 1993, John Sculley, a top employee of Apple (the company Steve Jobs and his high school friend Steve Wozniack founded in the 1970s in a car garage) brought out the "Newton", which formed the core idea for the development of the subsequent I-phone and I-pad, the I-series, which is now is the craze of the world.

Unfortunately, today no one remembers John Sculley, and all credit goes only to Steve Jobs. Talking about "Newton", John Sculley had said in the 1990s when it was just launched, that "people need to communicate quickly in highly informal network-based organizations". That Newton did not live to fulfill its promise was because there was no technology to support it - mainly because, internet was not invented at that time. Were it so, it would have been John Sculley who would have ruled the world of IT innovation, and not Steve Jobs.

It is a great pity that neither Steve Jobs nor anyone in Apple has acknowledged the revolutionary role Newton played in the production of I-pads and I-phones ("I" devices) that we have now come to accept as simply Steve Jobs creations! That is the irony of life, of great inventions and discoveries.

Today in the world of science, quite often the reward of a Nobel Prize may not reach the simple technician working in a team from whose brain the best idea might have originated. The prize always goes to the team "Leader". Steve Jobs was that kind of a "Leader", driven by a maniac desire to rule and win - no matter how much he trampled on the minds of people around him.

The clearest proof of this is seen in the outburst of John Sculley's wife, who said in 1993 when Steve Jobs was pushed out of Apple as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), "When I look into the eyes of most people, I see a soul. When I look into your eyes, I see a bottomless pit, an empty hole, a dead zone".

What insightful words coming from a lady whose husband created the unique Newton, but who failed to live up to the glory of inventing such a unique piece of technology!! That was Steve Jobs. Working in the 1980s as a Professor in the world-renowned Justus von Liebig University in Giessen, Germany, where the chemistry department had more than 25 Nobel Prize winners over the years, I used to be wonderstruck by the brilliance of some technicians. But, the "Leader" always usurped the idea of the lowly technician!

The material success of Steve Jobs was a ruthless combination of the "burning desire to be number one in the world". Many have wondered how, behind a company that makes products which mean so much to people around the world, there was someone as mean as Steve Jobs.

Even his family members wondered whether he simply lacked the filter that restrains people from venting their wounding thoughts on others, or will-fully bypassed them. I have often thought that sometimes you need to be brutally honest to get where you want to be. And Steve Jobs was honest to the core, in that sense. He wanted to make the best product in the world, wanted to be the number one in the world in his chosen field, and wanted the world to remember even after he left it.

And, of course, wanted all the money that poured out of it. If not, why would he take the production unit to the suburb of Shanghai in China, where dawn-to-dusk, lowly paid Chinese workers whose individual dignity was trampled down, sweated it out to make all the I-devices? He didn't want the production unit to be located in the USA.

Perhaps it is because of that burning passion for an "afterlife" (he was never sure whether God existed or not - it was always 50:50 for him!) that he never wanted an "On -Off" switch in his products. The urge to live on, at least in his consciousness, after the body is gone… Seems closest to what Krishna told Arjuna in the eighteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita!

The author is an international agricultural scientist.

The insurgencies that impacted the Indian landscape till early this decade were generally in isolation. Though, they like all insurgencies had external links, the internal linkages between them were at best tenuous.

The Khalistan insurgency could be extinguished because of its unidimensional nature. It was confined to a specific geographic area and was supported by a specific group of people, easy to identify. Their cadre base was low.

The Kashmir militancy had not fully reared its head. The ISI patronage and support was well-known. The pioneering ideologues of the movement were based abroad and did not belong to the segment of the community, which provided the foot-soldiers.

The objective of the insurgency was to carve out another theocratic state.

The same can be said about insurgencies in the Northeast (NE). They too were supported by China, but in a manner that the deniability factor could be maintained. A separate country was their objective and not the destruction of the Indian state. The acts of terrorism in these insurgencies were to intimidate the local populace and preempt any support to the security forces.

Over the years, there is fusion of insurgency and terrorism. It first took the shape of proxy war with territorial objectives. Therefore, when the Indian Security establishment was faced with the Kargil misadventure, it initially appeared bewildered because it could not appreciate that a low-intensity conflict could assume the shape of a conflict, which was constricted in limit and scope due to internal and external considerations and pressures.

The overall military superiority that India enjoyed vis-a-vis Pakistan could not deter the latter.

Convergence of Terror

The proxy war waged by Pakistan and China are now converging on Delhi. This proxy war has various terrorist groups as its main tool. The main instruments of this war are none other but some Indians who are allured by ideology or money or both.

They have been convinced that India in its present form is a demonic state and needs to be destroyed.

The Maoists, Pakistan based terrorist groups, and terrorist groups in Northeast, Punjab and J&K are now in collaboration. They have forged a nexus for training, procurement of arms, establishing external linkages and providing safe-havens to each other. They are leveraging on one another's strength and reach.

Their common objective is to destroy the Indian State.

When the Army Chief talks about a two-front situation, he must realize that India is already facing a multi-front situation in terms of proxy war being waged by China, Pakistan and other inimical powers. This multi-front proxy war is rendering the country hollow from within. The inimical elements within the country are debilitating both our military resolve and our conventional capability.

The security of a country is the harmony between internal security and external security. Pakistan is collapsing because it always viewed internal security from the prism of external security. India on the other hand has been notorious in ignoring the external dimensions of internal security problems and treating them as that of law and order.

If the Maoists, who are trampling the heart of India, and the Pak sponsored jihadis of Kashmir as well as terrorists groups in Punjab, and the China-backed insurgent groups of Northeast, who have been trying to severe the head and limbs respectively, are now acting in concert, the internal security situation is grim.

A Super Power like the Soviet Union with its massive military capability, col-lapsed because it could not harmonize internal security with external security. India must not repeat the mistake. The Indian Army must revisit its threat perception and the very definition of 'enemy'.

Joint terrorist training camps

The arrest of two Peoples' Liberation Army (PLA) leaders of Manipur Arun Kumar Singh and Dalip Singh in October 2011 exposed the emerging links between the militant organizations in the NE, Kashmir, LeT, and the Maoists. They revealed the ongoing effort on part of these groups to form a 'Strategic United Front' since they had the common objective to overthrow the Indian government.

They reckon that it is only collectively that they would be able to take on the might of the Indian State. They also revealed the plans of setting up a 'Joint Training Camp' in Myanmar. The Times of India on 08 October 2011 quoted official sources "ISI and PLA are in-touch and supply Maoists with arms. They are supposedly using China as the alternative route."

The official sources also claim to have photographic evidence of Maoist cadres from six Indian states being trained by the PLA of Manipur, in Orissa and Jharkhand.

This author has learnt through top intelligence sources that the Chinese have supplied a weapon manufacturing facility to the Kachin Insurgents in Myanmar. This facility is manufacturing replicas of AK-47, which is being supplied to all terrorist groups in India including the Maoists.

The latest recovery of explosives from a car on 12 October 2011 has also exposed the links between ISI, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Babbar Khalsa. Their objective was to target Delhi.

Taking into consideration, the seizures made by the security forces in the last few years, two important facts emerge - first, that Babbar Khalsa, the militant outfit, which carried out the killing of the Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh has been under the revival mode, under the patronage of ISI, and second, that the organization has no dearth of sophisticated arms and explosives supplied by the ISI.

The revival of Babbar Khalsa and Khalistan insurgency received impetus after the creation of the Pakistan Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee under the Chairmanship of Lt Gen Javed Nassir, former ISI chief. He is instrumental in forging the link between LeT and the Babbar Khalsa.

In October 2010, the Indian government had alleged that the Maoists of Nepal (PLA) had been imparting training to Indian Maoists on Nepal's soil. Further, the Maoists were receiving training from LeT instructors in these camps. There was information of 234 Maoists training in Nepal under the supervision of Naxalite leaders like Vinod Gurung, Prakash Mehto and LeT members like Razak Khan and Latif Khan, who hail from Karachi. In August 2010, Karnataka and Andhra Police, following four arrests in Hyderabad and two in Bangalore that the ISI through the 'D-company' had managed to establish links with the Maoists terrorists in the country. There were plans to invite Maoist leaders to Dubai to coordinate terrorist activities in India.

The spearheads of the modern terror network are people, who enjoy or have been conferred respectability by way of international awards or member-ship of NGOs ostensibly engaged in public cause. Some of these ideologues are active in forging links between various military groups. A noted Human Right activist, based on telephonic intercepts, has come under the scanner of intelligence agencies for trying to bring together various terrorist groups at the behest of Pakistan.

Even in the national capital the ideologues of the Maoists, Kashmiri and NE separatists have come together on a common platform on many occasions.

Their agenda is common, i.e. to weaken the resolve of the Indian State to fight terrorism. It is in this backdrop that their diatribes against the state, the security forces, and the Armed Forces Special Power Act should be viewed. This Act, they feel is the most robust tool in preserving the unity of India.

The Maoist agenda

It is pertinent to note that when Anna's agitation was at its peak, the eternal fast of Sharmila Irom of Manipur, was consistently highlighted. The focus was not she, but the removal of Armed Forces Special Power Act from Manipur.

One of the active members during the agitation is known for his ULFA links. During the same period, the so-called Lawyer civil activist and core member of the Team Anna, in one of the television channels, had categorically stated that the days of elected representatives are over, thereby implying that the India must jettison multiparty democracy.

He was only articulating the Maoist agenda. He also had then spoken that it is the Kashmiris who should decide whether they want to be part of India or not. Such was the hysteria during that period that these statements were lost in the din and did not receive adequate attention. The same gentleman has now advocated plebiscite in Kashmir and repealing of the Armed Forces Special Power Act.

One of the members of the Team of interlocutors on Kashmir has enjoyed the hospitality of Fai Foundation, headed by Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai the face of the Kashmir separatist cause in the United States. The Fai Foundation is funded by the ISI. It was a foregone conclusion that the team of interlocutors would recommend more autonomy for Kashmir. The timing of the submission of the report and utterances of the lawyer is not a mere coincidence.

The most formidable spearheads for convergence of terror in India are there in the media and amongst people who fancy to be called as intellectuals. The 'terrorism economy' is also formidable and has the ability to sustain some big media houses and other public platforms. They decry the Indian State, but 'Misuse the Freedom of Speech'.

The entire region in the surround of India is in unprecedented geopolitical flux. The US-Pakistan strategic partnership, which ensured the survivability of the latter since its inception is now under tremendous strain, arguably on the verge of collapse.

The internal problems of Pakistan seem to be intractable. The specter of the country's split is haunting. Pakistan's strategic maneuver space is getting increasingly constricted. The conventional tools available in the hands of Pakistan in leadership to alter the dangerous geopolitical discourse are in disarray or blunted.

It is not India, but Pakistan's machinations in Kashmir and Afghanistan, which has brought the country to this juncture. The emerging strategic partnership between India and the US, and India and Afghanistan has unnerved a tottering Pakistan. The only recourse available to Pakistan is to destabilize India by leveraging on all terrorist groups, i.e. the Maoists, who are active in one- third of India, and the terrorist groups in Kashmir, Punjab, Northeast, and Pak based terrorist groups and crime syndicate of the Dawood Ibrahim.

In this there is a congruency of interests between Pakistan and China. China too is not comfortable with the Indo-US strategic partnership and consequently the direction of the geopolitical discourse in the region. It has very high strategic stakes in Pakistan as well as in the Indian Ocean, particularly in the Bay of Bengal, where it is seeking presence by way of ports on Myanmar's western coast for convenient supply of oil from Gulf for its energy needs.

It is for this reason that China is engaged in thwarting India's 'Look East' outreach by increasingly brazen sup-port to Northeast terrorist groups and the Maoists.

Economic consequences

The convergence of Pakistan and China backed terror and spearheaded by the ideologues has dangerous portends for India. While the aim of this terror is to paralyze India, its main focus is shifting to its heart, i.e. the National Capital. In all probability terrorist attacks in India are likely to become more vicious, more deadly, more wide-spread and more frequent.

This proxy war has disastrous economic consequences. There is a thriving parallel terrorist economy. The Maoists are disrupting train services at will. Bandhs orchestrated by Maoists are having crippling effect on the economy and the livelihood of the people.

Corporate houses are paying ransom to the Maoists because the State cannot enforce its writ in large chunks of the hinterland. The Maoists menace is making thermal power plants starve for coal. India is becoming a dangerous place on this earth. Investors are being deterred. The Indian state machinery has become inured to the insecurity of the people. It probably feels that time itself will resolve the problem. The internal war against terror is being fought in a disjointed and half-hearted manner. The resolve mechanism and instruments to fight this convergence of terror is in disarray.

If this war is not won, India despite its conventional war-making capability, will collapse. We are fighting the war with wrong tools, wrong mindset, and misplaced ideas of war, oscillating between law and order approach and internal security approach. While there is convergence of various terrorist groups, the Indian authorities have a compartmentalized approach on the specious argument of federalism.

It's a war and given its import and spread, the internal enemies can only be defeated, if the Indian Army is in the forefront.

The writer is a former military intelligence officer who later served in the Research and Analysis Wing, or R&AW. The author of two books: Asian Strategic and Military Perspective and Military Factor in Pakistan, he is also Associate Editor, Indian Defence Review.

The iconic face of India in Japan is former Indian Ambassador to Japan Mr Aftab Seth who is playing the role of a catalyst to bridge the gap between unexplored land of opportunity for the Indian Gen-Next. Mr Seth highlights the tremendous depth of Japanese core strength that is yet to be tapped in India Higher education. Here are some of the most fascinating excerpts of his interview with Opinion Express associate editor Dr Rahul Misra.

Q Japan higher education system has been close knit hence globally people are unaware of its merits, kindly enlighten us about the cost factor, and Work culture of Japanese Universities?

A. From the time of the Meiji restoration in 1868 the Japanese university system was opened to the world. As the first university was Keio, set up in 1858, 10 years university was Keio, set up in 1858, 10 years before the restoration, it was deeply influenced by knowledge acquired by the founder Yukichi Fukuzawa from the Dutch in Nagasaki in Kyushu. As other universities were set up in 1870s by the Imperial government they depended greatly on professors from the west, USA Britain and for medicine from Germany. Till the early 60s all medical students had to learn German because of the text books. It is thus not quite accurate to call the Japanese university system closed. It became like this later, but the early years were of openness.

So much so, that Tenshin Okakura an art historian and friend of Tagore, was able to write a book on Japanese tea in English and a play the “Silver Fox” in English directly.

The xenophobia and hostility towards foreign influences was a product of the military dominated politics of the 20s and 30s and during the war till 1945. Under the American occupation from 1945 to 1952 all institutions including educational ones underwent reform to purge ideas which smacked of the Fascist interwar years. Universities were again open to foreign influence and to student exchanges.

This trend continues to grow.Japanese universities as a general rule offer high class education at a price which is less than private universities in the USA. State universities in Japan tend to be reasonable compared to top private ones like Keio or Waseda founded by Okuma Shigenobu in 1888.

Q. Japan is center of great cutting edge technologies, R&D labs etc. It is associated with several hi-tech products and services yet its Universities are not internationally known brands, why?

A. The reason that Universities in Japan are less well known abroad is because of several factors. Japanese universities may not be known in India or the west but in China and the South East they have been well known since 1895 when Japan defeated China and in 1905 defeated Imperial Russia.

Several leading Chinese intellectuals like Sun Yat Sen studied in Japan and were influenced by Japanese ideas. Nationalist leaders of Vietnam struggling against French colonial rule established in the 1880s were deeply inspired by the Russo Japanese war. Phan Boi Chau one such leader traveled to Japan seeking help. Leaders such as Okuma and Inukai gave help by inviting 100 young Vietnamese boys to study at Japanese universities. Japanese technology has been known even before the war in East Asia. Korea a colony of Japan from 1910 to 1945 also had many generations of students who were educated in Japan. It is correct that top places like the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo University, Keio University with excellent R&D faculties are not well known abroad.

Q. English language is a deterrent to study in Japan?

A The English language has been a deterrent so far. But this is changing. The Japanese have a complex about their inability to master alien tongues. Slowly but surely this changing and Japanese are acquiring huge skills in learning English language.

Q. 4. Group 30 Universities from Japan recently established an office in India to attract Indian students to Japan, why this initiative is taken at this time? What road map and benefits shall be made to Indian students intending to go to overseas destinations with this initiative?

A. The G-30 initiative by PM Fukuda in 2008 is aimed at increasing the number of foreign students in Japan from the present 130000 to 300000 by 2012. The Ritsumeikan office established in October 2010 at the Japan Foundation building is part of this initiative. Waseda has an office in Vietnam and other Universities have been given responsibility for other territories.

As part of this work we helped the G30 in January 2011 to invite students from top schools in Delhi and other cities to attend a seminar addressed by the representatives of leading Japanese universities. I inaugurated this seminar. The purpose is to attract young talent to study in Japan. The benefit Indian students would derive from such study are explained at such seminars. To make it easier some universities like Keio have started English medium classes at the Fujisawa campus which teaches all high tech subjects such as IT, Energy, environmental science and others. Keio has a separate initiative GIGA which aims to attract bright youth to study at the undergraduate level. Post graduate schools in many leading universities have been conducting their classes in English for some years now. This is a trend that is growing.

Q. Any synergies that are possible between private universities between India and Japan with this Group 30 University consortium?

A. PM Abe in 2007 organised the first University Vice Chancellors conference in Delhi to bring together leaders of 12 top universities in both countries. The conference which I attended, as the international adviser to Keio which was the Japanese Co Chairman with the UGC Chairman on the Indian side, led to Keio signing MOUs with 11 top Indian universities including 5 IITs. The synergy between our institutions was well demonstrated by this event.

-BY OPINION EXPRESS

Mixed-bag beginning for Mamta in Kolkata

The firebrand leader is now the people's chief minister. Since May 20, when she walked into Writers' Buildings to take over the reins of the state, Mamata Banerjee has played the role zealously, often throwing protocol and norms out of the window to take up issues close to her heart. She works late, calls frequent meetings, keeps top officials on their toes, makes surprise visits to hospitals and government offices and takes decisions with an urgency rarely seen in the government headquarters.

As CM, she is just as unpredictable and at times restless. She springs surprises like the Darjeeling treaty, takes key decisions in haste only to roll them back, such as Singur ordinance. She shocked doctors when she stormed into Bangur Institute of Neurosciences and suspended its director, SP Ghorai, without issuing him a show-suspended its director, SP Ghorai, without issuing him a show-cause notice, on grounds of "insubordination".

Mamata is yet to take firm steps on curbing political violence with the opposition Left Front knocking at the governor's door to stop atrocities against its cadres. She hurriedly introduced an ordinance for returning land to Singur farmers only to be called back due to procedural lapses. Later, the Singur Land Bill was passed by the Assembly to enable her return land to unwilling farmers in Singur.

The first month in office has been eventful, to say the least. She has managed to make ministers proactive, bureaucrats prompt with files and senior officials anxious about being ticked off for inaction. On her very first day in office, she worked well past midnight. She followed it up with a major announcement of an imminent merger of the Salt Lake municipality with Kolkata. The next day, she went on a sudden tour of the city.

She has also managed to throw up solutions. The separatist movement in Darjeeling, for instance, which has been festering for the last three years, was "solved". Gorkha Janmukti Morcha agreed to withdraw its demand for statehood for the time being. Critics may still question the pact, but the peace pact left the Hills euphoric. On the way to office from her residence, Mamata's convoy has been taking a different route every morning and halting at a new destination. Her security men have been kept guessing. She has paid a series of surprise trips to hospitals on the way to Writers'.

Apart from the return of Singur land - an issue that was key in catapulting her to power - she has invited Justice Sachar to the state for a fresh status report on the minority community, aimed at improving their condition and finding more jobs for them. She has announced setting up of a 25- member core group to sort out problems faced by the industry and work out plans for investment. The panel will have 17 members from various chambers - including three from CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM - apart from state finance minister Amit Mitra, industries minister Partha Chatterjee and six departmental secretaries.

DIDI'S MAJOR STEPS...

RETURN OF SINGUR LAND

It was Mamata's first decision after taking over as CM. The issue had propelled her to power and Singur Land Bill was passed in the Assembly

EDUCATION GETS PRIORITY

Amartya Sen and historian Sugata Bose chosen mentors of Presidency University. A panel set up to revamp higher education. Mamata announces recruitment of 46,000 primary teachers. All teachers to now get their salaries on the first day of the month.

HEALTH WATCH

West Bengal Health Service Recruitment Board set up to recruit staff and doctors. Mamata makes surprise visits to government hospitals. Announces plans to set up four super-specialty hospitals in Birbhum, West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura (the last three are Maoist hit ), plus a neuroscience hospital in Rajarhat township 4.

CITY UNIFICATION

Salt Lake's Sector V (tech hub) and Joka (where IIM Calcutta is located) on the outskirts of the capital brought under the jurisdiction of Kolkata Municipal Corporation

FINALLY, BEAUTIFICATION

A project to beautify the Hooghly riverfront. The stretch from Dalhousie to Esplanade will be redone in tune with the BBD Bag heritage zone. Laldighi, a 300- year-old lake in front of Writers' Buildings, will be illuminated.

DARJEELING ICE-BREAKER

Within three weeks of taking charge, Mamata persuades GJM to sign a treaty for a hill council with greater powers. The Left Front government had tried the same solution but could not get GJM to agree. Mamata succeeded. Her education minister Bratya Basu already met Union HRD minister for an IIT or IIM in Darjeeling.

TRANSPARENCY

Paid Rs 2 lakh from her own account on renovation of CM's chamber at Writers' Building.

NEUTRAL ADMINISTRATION

Senior bureaucrats asked to function in a neutral manner; police told to work impartially in the wake of political violence across the state.

AND THE MISSTEPS

Hurriedly pushing with an ordinance on return of Singur land to unwilling farmers. The ordinance fell through because of procedural lapses. Later, the Singur Land Bill was passed in the Assembly Says she will make public the Singur deal struck by the Left Front govt, when a case is pending in the Calcutta high court over the disclosure of the contents of the deal Suspends Bangur Institute of Neurology S P Ghorai without issuing a show-cause notice.

Comment

Mamata Banerjee popularly known as Mamata Didi has just started her political innings in West Bengal, ironically the state of WB is with left since last 34 years but a tremendous effort by Mamata Banerjee has forced a new regime there. The domestic and overseas observers are watching the initial progress and her style of governance closely largely from an investors prospective. WB in general and its capital Kolkata in specific were the center of business hub post-independence but the scenario forced industry to get shifted to other states due to labour unrest and lockouts instigated by left governments, now Mamata Didi with an economist as the finance minister is trying to turn the tables. Already, she has achieved a major breakthrough in settling the Gorkha-land issue via talks with good results. WB government has listed priorities in EDUCATION, INDUSTRY, HEALTH CARE hence Japan G 30 initiative, Japan Business Chamber of Commerce & Embassy must draw a strategy to coordinate with the state government..

(Bureau Chief - Kolkata)

The entire world is watching as Indians attempt to purge India of corruption using classically Indian means of protest. Hindutva and Sanatana Dharma represent the only viable cures to the cancer of corruption which is destroying the entrails of our civilisation. Corruption in India is now a major concern because of the gigantic and mind-boggling amounts illegally appropriated in the Satyam, IPL, CWG, and 2G Spectrum scams. By all objective criteria, India today has by far one of the most corrupt governance. The 2G Spectrum Scam, the title of my new book released on June 11, is the most shocking rip-off of all.

As I have pointed out in the book, my curiosity was first fired by the fraud and forgery that became apparent in the sudden divestment of equity stake in Swan Capital Company by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani, the owner of ADAG who strategically controlled Swan, in favour of the Shahid Balwas-run DB Realty Company, and reportedly on then Telecom Minister A Raja's behest. DB Realty then sold the controlling shares of Swan to Etisalat.This latter company was considered in a Home Ministry report to be a front for ISI and Dawood Ibrahim. Shahid Balwas was held by the Ministry to be an undesirable person. Yet, Etisalat was allowed by the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to buy out the Swan undesirable person. Yet, Etisalat was allowed by the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to buy out the Swan Telecom at eight times the price paid by Swan for the 2G spectrum license. National security was seriously compromised for greed of money. I had written to the Prime Minister a letter dated November 29, 2008, for sanction under Section19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (1988) to prosecute Telecom Minister A. Raja by filing a private complaint before the Designated Sessions Court. Thus began my venture into the 2G spectrum scam. The PM's procrastination led me to the Supreme Court.

Thereafter, a Bench of Justices Singhvi and Ganguli, by their meticulous reading of the briefs and documents filed and by their crisp orders and directions have changed the national public mood from despair and despondency to hope and expectation. This judicial intervention came none too soon. An international watchdog committee conducted a study on the illicit flight of money from India, perhaps the first-ever attempt at shedding light on a subject steeped in secrecy, and concluded that India has been drained of $462 billion (over Rs 20 lakh crore) between 1948 and 2008. The amount represents nearly 40 percent of India's gross domestic product.

The unanimous view throughout the world today is that corruption is no more the inevitable grease or speed money to be tolerated in any system, but a cancer that could cause the death of a society by continuous debilitation - unless it is cured at an early stage. The Indian financial system also suffers from a hangover of cronyism and corruption that have brought the government budgets on the verge of bankruptcy. This too needs fixing. India's infrastructure requires about $ 150 billion to make it world-class, and the education system needs 6 percent of GDP instead of 2.8 percent today. But an open competitive market system can find these resources provided the quality of governance and accountability is improved. Obviously a second generation of reforms is necessary for all this.

One of the worst problems with corruption in India is the creation of "black money"- money that is used in such transactions and is obviously unreported, hence is neither taxed nor is spent openly. It travels to secret bank accounts abroad, or, worse, is used by the corrupt to indulge in gross luxurious consumption and bribery. Such black money stock also creates inflation by enabling easy finance for hoarding of supplies even as the GDP growth rate accelerates.

Corruption, therefore, impacts on economic development of a nation in five dimensions:

1. Decisions taken for corrupt motive sub-optimises the allocation of scarce national resources and hence, in the long run, lowers the rate of growth in GDP.It also encourages buccaneers instead of innovative entrepreneurs.
2. By the use of bribe money which escapes the tax net and is mostly stashed away in banks abroad or in trunks in safe houses, is deployed in luxury goods purchase, ostentatious life, splurging in five-star hotels, real estate, and on partying. This raises demand for luxury production and services, and in turn distorts investment priorities. In India, 70 percent of the investment goes directly or indirectly to sustain the luxury sector.
3. Unaccounted bribe money is lent to hoarders and speculators who then cause artificial shortages and thus inflation and property bubbles.
4. Since the most in corrupt activities would be in public office, they enact laws to not only to safeguard the booty by lax criminal investigations and prosecutions, but to enable earning interest or return on the bribe money. The invention of Participatory Notes (PNs) and the Mauritius Tax & Capital Gains exemption treaties is aimed at that sordid objective (see below).
5. Corruption enables beneficiaries to involve foreign governments seeking influence and criminal gangs resident abroad to launder money and provide protection.

The view of Integral Humanism as propounded by Deendayal Upadhaya or what we have for centuries have called as Sanatana Dharma is that a society is healthy only if there is a harmonisation of material pursuits and spiritual advancement in a human being. The social structure called Varna, till it degenerated into a birth-based social cartel, was designed to downgrade wealth as the indicator of status and elevate sacrifice and simplicity as a desirable value. But now greed is driving all of us as it has become in the globalisation process. Materialistic progress alone however does not guarantee national security of a nation. What is essential is the character and integrity of its citizens. Hence, besides the objective of acquiring knowledge and getting employment that require cognitive intelligence, the youth must be motivated in other dimensions of intelligence that of emotional, moral and social.

In the United States, as Business Week has recently reported, these concepts have become highly popular in the corporate world, and have been incorporated in the best-selling books written by Daniel Goleman, Deepak Chopra, Anthony Robbins, among others. In brief, our National Policy for integrating spiritual values and organisation leadership can be achieved by measures by which we can create a modern mindset in the youth of India, not only to motivate the youth to acquire technical competence, but to develop emotional, moral social and spiritual values that will make that person a self-reliant individual of high character, patriotic, and possessing a social conscience.

Our goal has to be thus the efficient use of resources, human and physical, hardware and software by an able and human spiritually guided and ethically organizational leadership in a framework of competitive market economies. Hence, concisely stated, for a corruption-free society to be achieved on a long term basis the Indian economy should be founded on a harmonisation of efficient organisational leadership and abiding spiritual values which we call as Sanatana Dharma. That can be nurtured only bottom-up i.e., educate our growth accordingly to synthesise material pursuits with spiritual values which lauds simplicity and eschews greed.

Ultimately it will also be decided by how we vote in elections. But we need a new ideology to combat the cancer of corruption in our system. For this, we need a new breed of Indian leaders- educated, courageous, and rational risk-takers. That we can get only if the ethos of our people changes from the purely individualist pursuit of material pleasures and goals, to an integral outlook. Corruption is the cancer today in our society but Hindutva (Hinduness) or Sanatana Dharma imbibed character is the cure.

The writer is President, Janata Party

In order to attract more international students to Japan, The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT) launched the "Global 30" Project for Establishing Core Universities for Internationalization and selected 13 universities to function as core institutions to receive and educate students from abroad. Under the Project, a student can obtain a degree from a prestigious Japanese university by taking programs taught in English, both in undergraduate and graduate levels. To promote the Project and recruit prospective students, we are advertizing our newly established English courses abroad.

Universities under the "Global 30" Project include Tohoku University, University of Tsukuba, The University of Tokyo, Nagoya University, Kyoto University, Osaka University, Kyushu University, Keio University, Sophia University, Meiji University, Waseda University, Doshisha University, and Ritsumeikan University (13 universities total).

Contents of the Seminars included.

(1)          Presentations by the "Global 30" Project universities.

Universities involved in the "Global 30" Project present brief overviews concerning their education systems, programs, admission procedures, etc.

(2)          Lecture demonstrations

We hope participants will actively join in the lectures given by professors of the "Global 30" Project universities.

(3)          Individual consultation

For questions concerning educational systems and programs, admission procedures, characteristics, etc., the "Global 30" Project universities will have booths for advice and to answer questions of participants who intend to study in Japan. Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) booth will broadly inform participants about Study in Japan.

List of Universities participating in Delhi (India) /Bangalore (India) included:- " Tohoku University, University of Tsukuba, The University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Osaka University, Kyushu University, Keio University, Sophia University (Bangalore only), Meiji University, Doshisha University, and Ritsumeikan University

Japan Student Services Organization(JASSO) university was Keio, set up in 1858, 10 years before the restoration, it was deeply influenced by knowledge acquired by the founder Yukichi Fukuzawa from the Dutch in Nagasaki in Kyushu. As other universities were set up in 1870s by the Imperial government they depended greatly on professors from the west, USA Britain and for medicine from Germany. Till the early 60s all medical students had to learn German because of the text books. It is thus not quite accurate to call the Japanese university system closed. It became like this later, but the early years were of openness.

So much so, that Tenshin Okakura an art historian and friend of Tagore, was able to write a book on Japanese tea in English and a play the "Silver Fox" in English directly. The xenophobia and hostility towards foreign influences was a product of the military dominated politics of the 20s and 30s and during the war till 1945. Under the American occupation from 1945 to 1952 all institutions including educational ones underwent reform to purge ideas which smacked of the Fascist interwar years. Universities were again open to foreign influence and to student exchanges.

This trend continues to grow.

Japanese universities as a general rule offer high class edu- cation at a price which is less than private universities in the USA. State universities in Japan tend to be reasonable compared to top private ones like Keio or Waseda founded by Okuma Shigenobu in 1888.

1. Japan is center of great cutting edge technologies, R&D labs etc. It is associated with several hitech products and services yet its Universities are not internationally known brands, why?
2. The reason that Universities in Japan are less well known abroad is because of several factors. Japanese universities may not be known in India or the west but in China and the South East they have been well known since 1895 when Japan defeated China and in 1905 defeated Imperial Russia.

Several leading Chinese intellectuals like Sun Yat Sen studied in Japan and were influenced by Japanese ideas. Nationalist leaders of Vietnam struggling against French colonial rule established in the 1880s were deeply inspired by the Russo Japanese war. Phan Boi Chau one such leader travelled to Japan seeking help. Leaders such as Okuma and Inukai gave help by inviting 100 young Vietnamese boys to study at Japanese universities. Japanese technology has been known even before the war in East Asia. Korea a colony of Japan from 1910 to 1945 also had many generations of students who were educated in Japan. It is correct that top places like the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo University, Keio University with excellent R&D faculties are not well known abroad.

1. English language is a deterrent to study in Japan?

A The English language has been a deterrent so far. But this is changing. The Japanese have a complex about their inability to master alien tongues. Slowly but surely this changing and Japanese are acquiring huge skills in learning English language.

Group 30 Universities from Japan recently established an office in India to attract Indian students to Japan, why this initiative is taken at this time? What road map and benefits shall be made to Indian students intending to go to overseas destinations with this initiative? The G-30 initiative by PM Fukuda in 2008 is aimed at increasing the number of foreign students in Japan from the present 130000 to 300000 by 2012. The Ritsumeikan office established in October 2010 at the Japan Foundation building is part of this initiative. Waseda has an office in Vietnam and other Universities have been given responsibility for other territories.

As part of this work we helped the G30 in January 2011 to invite students from top schools in Delhi and other cities to attend a seminar addressed by the representatives of leading Japanese universities. I inaugurated this seminar. The purpose is to attract young talent to study in Japan. The benefit Indian students would derive from such study are explained at such seminars. To make it easier some universities like Keio have started English medium classes at the Fujisawa campus which teaches all high tech subjects such as IT, Energy, environmental science and others. Keio has a separate initiative GIGA which aims to attract bright youth to study at the undergraduate level. Post graduate schools in many leading universities have been conducting their classes in English for some years now. This is a trend that is growing.

1. Any synergies that are possible between private universities between India and Japan with this Group 30 University consortium?
2. PM Abe in 2007 organised the first University Vice Chancellors conference in Delhi to bring together leaders of 12 top universities in both countries. The conference which I attended, as the international adviser to Keio which was the Japanese Co Chairman with the UGC Chairman on the Indian side, led to Keio signing MOUs with 11 top Indian universities including 5 IITs. The synergy between our institutions was well demonstrated by this event.