It has not just changed the lives of people to a great extent but has changed their way of thinking and learning
In July 2015, the government launched the ‘Digital India’ initiative to improve the online infrastructure and increase internet accessibility among its citizens; thereby empowering the country to become more digitally advanced in almost all sectors and since then there has been no turning back. As we continue to advance in the 21st century, the rise of digital technology has become increasingly evident. We live in a world where modern technology has not only made our lives easier, faster, better but has also cleared the way for multi-functional devices such as smartphones and smartwatches.
Digital technology has affected almost every aspect of our lives. For instance, in the workplace, multiple hardware and software have increased efficiency and productivity, thereby allowing businesses to operate globally. In personal lives, the internet has opened a world of information and connectivity, making it easier to stay connected with friends and family.
With the advancements in the field of Science and Technology, electronic gadgets and devices play a vital role. Gadgets such as smartphones, laptops, e-readers, motion sensors, vacuum cleaners, sensor sprinklers, video doorbells, wireless lighting control systems, etc., have made our lives pleasurable and comfortable. Digital technology has modified almost every aspect of modern life so it is now rare to find an electronic device that does not consolidate digital technology in some way.
Most digital tools are more popular among children and likely among elders too. There is no denying the fact that these technologies enhance the learning process of learners by providing them with easy access to information, deepening their understanding of difficult concepts and helping them explore new opportunities with the click of a button. As technology continues to grow, learner starts developing knowledge of various technological skills at an early stage that they will need in the future. It will also make them good multitaskers and good decision makers.
However, if not put to good use, the same digital technology can also give rise to various physical and psychological issues such as excessive exposure to social media may cause eyestrain and the learner might face difficulty, focusing on important tasks. At times, it may even lead to serious health conditions such as anxiety or depression.
Today none of us can even imagine a world without the internet, smartphones, tablets, electronic games and other handheld devices. Social media, online gaming, and other forms of digital communication have become a part and parcel of our life. The digital world has made it easy to stay connected with friends, family, and relatives and work remotely. We can express our views, make videos, share opinions, and exchange ideas and strategies through social applications, websites and software, even if we are in two different corners of the world.
The use of digital technology has even helped in flourishing digital businesses. In a recent report, McKinsey highlighted that the ‘Digital India’ initiative is expected to boost the country’s digital economy to $1trillion by 2025. Digital technology enables the storage of large amounts of information such as videos, music, reports, etc in relatively small spaces or devices such as mobile phones or drives. Not only this, but with continuous advancement over time, the information stored, or the videos can also be edited.
The world of digital technology opens its doors to several learning opportunities. Anybody having access to the internet has the opportunity to the world’s knowledge.
Moreover, this technology is beneficial to people with disabilities and can give them regular access. Consumers today are demanding applications that can tell them on their phones how they are doing health-wise. The availability of hundreds of health applications such as HealthTap, WebMD, Apple Health, Pocket Pharmacist, Teladoc, headspace, Medicine and many more have helped patients to monitor their health and disease, thereby simplifying patient management at hospitals.
Digital technology has changed the lives of people to a great extent. It has changed their way of thinking and learning thereby making them more independent and knowledgeable in almost all aspects of life. Recent developments such as Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence have helped the government to a large extent in providing efficiency in the services they render. There is less paperwork as such technologies allow the government to keep its confidential records in a secure ledger.
Digital technology with digital learning when put to good use will open its gate to digital opportunity i.e. it will lead to the opening of new possibilities which will further lead to communication, social networking, collaboration, content management and access to analytics data, along with staff and customer satisfaction.
(Courtesy The Pioneer: The author is a teacher at a reputed school in Delhi)
Yogi Adityanath will have to rein in saffron activists if he wants the film city project to be successful
The Uttar Pradesh Government seems to be serious about its dream to make the state a film-making centre. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday met a number of leading lights of Hindi cinema on Thursday for the purpose. In fact, the state has been trying to attract the film industry for quite some time. Film City came up at Noida decades ago, but it eventually got occupied by television news channels. Undeterred by the failure of Noida’s Film City to become a major film centre, the Chief Minister interacted with several people from the film fraternity, including producer Boney Kapoor, actor Ravi Kishen (who is also Lok Sabha MP from Gorakhpur), Bhojpuri actor Dinesh Lal Nirhua, playback singers Sonu Nigam and Kailash Kher, actor Suniel Shetty, and filmmakers Chandraprakash Dwivedi, Madhur Bhandarkar, and Rajkumar Santoshi. A day earlier, the Chief Minister had met actor Akshay Kumar. After the half-an-hour-long meeting, Kumar said, “Many big production houses, producers, directors and actors are waiting for the UP Film City. The development of world-class film and infotainment city in UP will provide a new option to the cinema world.” If that happens, UP will see a lot of economic development and employment generation. As the largest Hindi-speaking state, UP is quite apt to have a film centre. With the state administration keen on a film city, it can become a reality in the foreseeable future. So far, so good.
However, it takes more than political will and administrative support to develop a film city; it also requires a socio-cultural milieu in which creative arts can flourish; and it is here that the shoe pinches. UP, like most other parts of the Hindi heartland, is dominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its front organisations. One of the biggest ailments that the saffron party is afflicted with is a kind of split personality disorder. Party leaders and Government functionaries talk about world-class infrastructure, state-of-the-art facilities, the latest technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, and so on; they also walk the talk, as evident from the various policies and programmes that the Centre and BJP Governments in states are implementing. Anyone viewing such developments would say that these guys belong to the 21st century. But, unfortunately, many of them also belong to the 17th century; one just has to notice their views on cows and mythology to realise this fact. Many centuries live in the BJP. The 21st century BJP may want UP to emerge as a prominent film centre, but will the medievalists let that happen? That is the moot question. It is a well-known fact that cinema gets the worst treatment from the enemies of free speech; also, most of these enemies are from the Hindutva camp. The folks who scrutinise Ravan’s looks and Deepika Padukone’s dress may not like the ways of filmy people in their state. If Adityanath can control that, the film city project may become successful.
Bharat Jodo Yatra takes a break. It is time they think about the Yatra’s future course and beyond.
After walking for almost 3000 kilometers Rahul Gandhi and his entourage are resting in Delhi before they march again on January 3 towards their final destination in Kashmir. Rahul Gandhi has come a long way both physically as well as metaphorically. It has been a welcome transition from a shy boy eight years ago to a confident-looking gentleman who is daring to take on his opponents and braving all attacks on him. Indeed Bharat Jodo Yatra has been a game changer at least for him if not for his party. It would indeed be much more to revive the party at the hustings and win the elections. Winning hearts does not automatically translate into winning elections. A lot more goes into it like strategy, groundwork, ideology articulation, and of course an articulator. No doubt the party which was lying almost dormant is awake and even its workers look energetic and confident. The same party which took all the jibes without any fuss is now retorting to every criticism of Yatra and Rahul and succeeding in pushing the BJP back. What is more, this yatra has shown that the party’s organizing skills are intact and it can manage to mobilize its workers on the ground across the country. Another comeback has been in terms of coverage and media attention. Though the media is not friendly to him it has certainly taken note of it. It could not ignore him for the sheer consistency and magnitude.
The big question is what is next. Now that the Yatra would resume on January 3, its organizers would have time to review its progress and what it lacks. Though the people’s participation in the rally has been phenomenal, the opposition has remained cautious and skeptical and hasn’t come along. The party has done well to invite Akhilesh Yadav and other parties to walk along things might change. If the congress party wants to make a comeback it would have to think beyond Yatra and devise a strategy to reap the harvest and channelise the goodwill generated by the Yatra. Another drawback the congress party has and which is not going to wither away by yatra is internal bickering which is harming its prospects. Gehlot – Pilot feud is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more disgruntled leaders in the party who have to be pacified. Last but not least Prime Minister Modi Is still far ahead of Rahul Gandhi in popularity and as a charmer and that would be the toughest challenge for Rahul Gandhi and his party to counter.
Amitabh Bachchan airs Bollywood's pain as he talks about censorship and moral policing
The anguish of Bollywood came to the fore in the inaugural address of Kolkata film festival when the veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan chose to speak about the censorship that is taking away creative freedom and jeopardizing freedom of speech. Though it was a veiled attack, he did not mince words in saying that jingoism was ruling the cinema world today which is detrimental to the film industry. He also talked about the need to have an inclusive environment in which all shades of opinion could grow and find a voice. He implored his fraternity to fall back upon the three stalwarts of the cinema, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, and Ritwik Ghatak whose films he said showed society as it was and did not bother about the consequences. Shahrukh Khan whose film ‘Pathan’ is in the eye of a storm also talked about the need to have a robust system where a multitude of voices and ideologies thrived. While Amitabh Bachchan emphasized free speech, and censorship in the film industry, superstar Shah Rukh Khan spoke about the “narrowness” driving social media.
Bollywood is going through a tough time. Most films it produces are tanking at the box office. Not because the film standards are down or people’s tastes have changed but because a large section, politically motivated, is trying to choke it to death. While some films which are pro-Hindutva and harp upon the Hindu-Muslim division, historical or contemporary, are allowed and even promoted the other films which go against it are subjected to boycott campaigns. Shahrukh Khan Starrer “Pathan” is being targeted because it has Shahrukh Khan in it and allegedly Deepika Padukone is part of ‘tukde tukde gang’. The righwing would like to dethrone the Khans from the industry. But that doesn’t seem to be working as the popularity of Khans remains intact despite the propaganda against them. The fact remains that when you ban or boycott a film you don’t work only against the filmmaker or the actors but also hundreds of people whose effort goes into the making of the film. When films don’t earn money, it is they who are out of the job and suffer. This is truer when unemployment is at an all-time high and economic growth is slowing down. It is about time we think about the direction we are going in. Do we want to live in a country where only one philosophy, one ideology flourishes and others are censored, or gagged to death?
As a citizen of an independent country, I feel trapped amid the chaos spread by the country’s top 1% especially during the election period. They behave like some authority on humans and try to bet on almost everything that could affect the voting numbers and ultimately win the so-called Democratic election. Candidates are behaving ruthlessly and saying whatever is possibly effective in their lane. From the distribution of candidacy to their vibrant (violent) rampage-like campaigns casteism accelerates shamelessly. Every candidate is organising dialogue meetings with deceptive schemes to persuade people from almost every caste, while simultaneously cramming them in their so-called notorious community halls where selfish decisions are made and separate events and festivities are held in order to capitalise on their centuries-old tendency to appear more civilised than others. Free samosas and tea are served. l have different demands and requirements, and candidates are literally promising them in an old-fashioned way. It feels like diversity within diversity. It is nothing new to know politics divides people, but this is happening again and again in every election. They all have the same approach. From candidacy to policies; caste comes first. Those in the majority nominate their candidate or fight within their caste to establish liaison and lobbying. There is no single discussion about unity or bringing people from all castes and religions together.
Poor citizens think that the person who roams around in a Mahindra Scorpio, a Toyota Innova, or Fortuner will understand their social and economic dilemmas and bring changes. That same person will sit down with millionaire builder friends or business partners and help them to evacuate the encroached or partly legalised lands or housing societies of middle-class people. A video of an MLA shamelessly beating and kicking a woman on the side of a road in self-defence in Ahmedabad went viral, but not a single action was taken. Another one was practicing giving remdesivir by filling a syringe with injection, dropping it, and laughing in front of a nurse and other hospital staff members in Surat, just to get pictures and videos published. There was a barrage of criticism from political circles and social media but nothing happened. Nothing ever happens.
All parties have the same approach to caste-based, ignoble and hollow politics. Roaming around the streets of cities, towns, villages, and remote areas. Despite their difficulties in approaching certain regions, they have not given a single thought to what they have done to this country and its people. During campaigns, wearing a mask or handkerchief to protect one’s face from the stench of overflowing gutters and garbage dumps, or avoiding waters offered by certain people. IT cells from all parties have set up war rooms for target posting and igniting online users for heated debates and a slew of intolerable posts and proclamations.
Inequality exists within party structures as well. Top members, like the financially powerful and top lobbyists, enjoy perks ranging from greeting star campaigners on helipads to having special seats on stage or hiring private photographers to flaunt themselves online. Giant SUVs to go and attend meetings from here to there. Free accommodations at circuit house. The lowest level of the party ‘Karyakarta’ is allocating templets and flyers from door to door under the boiling afternoon sun. I noticed one party member was assigned to feed and take care of the helicopter pilot. They hardly get access to meet top members and even special food served in executive rooms. In the evening, they have to wait for snacks, and their daily wages, ranging from 200 to 500 rupees.
It is Painful to know that after 75 years of independence, they are still talking about water and electricity in their manifesto other than pollution, malnutrition, inequality, social justice, the quality of food and beverages, alleviating poverty, and taking action against companies for blatant profiteering. For instance, I personally witnessed a poor illiterate farmer being continuously exploited by a finance company over a tractor loan, charging interest after interest due to a few missed installments, and charging 950 rupees just to get his own statement on a single piece of paper; in the end, they confiscated the tractor on which his livelihood depends. He went bankrupt, and leased his own farm to another politician, and paid back the loan. As far as equality and the moral principles of democracy are concerned; not even political parties are practicing equality within themselves. i.e., they find it very difficult to even elect their own party leaders, which is an injustice to the party workers Even today, in villages or small towns average boys and girls attend average government schools and leave without being able to read a storybook, calculate sums, or learn the basic use of a computer.
The times have changed a bit in an appreciative way. Empty chairs during shrill speeches of big faces, empty roads during rallies, dubious unresponsiveness, hidden intuition, dissidence over policies, and long-held grudges are clearly visible on the surface. It seems like citizens are holding cards now to decide for themselves, but there should be no space for panglossians I’ve crossed my fingers in the hope to see minor changes in Gujarat state. Obviously, they have to choose the least arbitrator and least corrupt and cocky person to take action on such issues, and there are some new young neophyte faces to bet on. Broadcasters are endlessly feeding the Internationalen news of a single state. Of course, the results will determine the hold of the current prime minister and will reflect on the upcoming 2024 general election.
The last eight years have been momentous in India’s tumultuous history as an independent nation. They have seen India’s image soar high in the world and the nation gains geopolitical importance and respect. The Narendra Modi Government has to be complimented for the visionary steps taken to accelerate the nation’s overall development. But when we see the progress and pace of this process, we feel humbled by the comparison with our neighbouring country China whose economic status was at par with India till 1992 when the per capita GDP of both countries stood at around USD 350. But China’s rapid progress after 1995 saw its economic growth surge to catapult it to the status of the world’s second-largest economy in less than 30 years. Today China’s economy is nearly six times that of India and its per capita GDP is also that much higher at around USD 12500.
If India is to become a USD 5 trillion economy by 2025 and the world’s #2 economy by 2047, it has to do different things. China is certainly not the model for such things. China is a totalitarian state which has reached a high stage of development through a nondemocratic approach, an approach not in line with the natural pattern of human development. But more specifically, it is India’s weaknesses and lacunae in its administrative setup which require to be removed. Unfortunately, this matter has not caught the attention of the extant government so far.
A government functions through its administrative machinery, the bureaucracy and the laws and rules that apply to the working of that bureaucracy. But if the laws and rules are antiquated, obsolete and obstructive to progress, what results can we expect? The Indian bureaucratic apparatus is modelled on the archaic Indian Civil Services Act of 1861 which was enacted by the vainglorious British after crushing India’s war (mutiny) of Independence in 1857. The British Parliament decided that India will be governed by proper Acts and laws made there through a bureaucratic framework that will systematically serve their ends—exploitation and economic plunder of their colony. The vertical hierarchy bureaucratic system designed by the British was the result of the above thought. And it served them excellently till they left the shores of India in 1947.
This system was unfit for sovereign India and should have been discarded when India began its journey as a sovereign state. Both India’s Constitution which was a patchwork out of the Indian Independence Act 1935 and the British time Acts needed to be thrown to the dustbin and replaced by a Constitution and Acts in sync with India’s cultural milieu to serve as an effective and progressive governance apparatus.
It is not difficult for anyone to observe that corruption and inefficiency have plagued Indian bureaucracy all through and even during the last 8 years when the political leadership is far more honest and committed than that before 2014, our bureaucracy is not producing good results and shows practically the same old inept and corrupt behaviour. Despite some creditable steps taken by the government—repeal of many redundant minor laws, the promulgation of IBC, establishment of the GST and digitization of many processes, fast economic growth has eluded us due to antiquated administrative and judicial systems unfit for free India. The present political dispensation in India has taken some unprecedented, bold measures to give a push to the development process but bigger, bolder and broader reforms cry to be carried out. These will produce far-reaching changes in our legislative, executive and judicial systems to give a vibrant, new India in which the pulse of the people will throb in sync with these systems.
It may be mentioned in this connection that nowhere in Western Europe or another developed world do we find the vertical hierarchy bureaucracy. It is either a horizontal spread or hybrid type of bureaucratic structure in evidence in most of the developed countries. The vertical hierarchy model of bureaucracy is a sucker model as it attaches to the higher administrative echelons more power and less accountability.
We must change this bureaucratic system in India sooner than later. This should be preceded by Constitutional reforms to give a new Constitution suitable for a progressive sovereign India, a Constitution which will also be in line with the original draft prepared by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar but mutilated and spoilt by the intrigues of the top political leadership at that time. It must be stated here that India is the originator of political democracy of purest form—in the form it was first blueprinted by Lord Manu in the primeval scripture Manusmriti. This scripture also delineates the proper laws that need to be promulgated in a democratic state for perfect governance. The original draft of our Constitution had taken threads from Manusmriti and some other prominent Indian scriptures but regrettably, the machinations of the British and their Indian stooges undid what good work had been done in the first drafting of our Constitution. No wonder, the final Constitution only facilitated the continuation of the archaic British time Acts even in independent India. It needs to be emphasized here again that all these Acts were made for India as a British colony to be plundered and were entirely unsuitable for India as a sovereign state.
I can state with confidence and certainty that a new Constitution and Acts in line with the above suggestions along with a reformed bureaucracy in line with India’s pristine political ideology will catalyze India’s development, giving it a momentum of economic growth even faster than that of China. It will be in sync with the native culture of Indians and will give this ancient nation its strong pristine identity. It will speedily establish India as the sole economic and geopolitical superpower, its rightful place in the comity of nations—a place it has proudly maintained for millennia in the course of global history.
( Atul Sehgal is the writer based in New Delhi and can be contacted at atul4956@gmail.com)
Tamil Nadu since independence has been infamous for the Hindi agitation; Kaveri river water dispute; and the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi - all these to protect the so-called ‘Tamil culture’. However, this region is also famous for its vernacular ‘Tamil’ cinema. The medium of cinema is an important tool and Tamil cinema has produced thousands of movies with a peculiar genre; and has churned out a considerable number of politicians as well. The comedy tract of Tamil films finds an important place and comedians have been enjoying Tamil people’s patronage. One such Tamil film comedian was ‘Cho’ Ramaswamy.
Srinivasan Iyer Ramaswamy (1934 - 2016) popularly known as ‘Cho’ was a man of versatility: lawyer, political satirist, editor of a popular Tamil magazine, powerful orator, playwright, theatre and cine comedian, author and parliamentarian and in short “a persistent criticiser of political authority and their misdeeds.” As a man of a creative artist, Cho pitched against the rigid policies of the Congress, Communists, Socialists and the Dravidian ideologist of Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu encountered a makeover in politics in late 1960s, due to the change of political authority from the Congress party to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and it was considered as a triumph of the Dravidian movements. The two major Dravidian political parties of Tamil Nadu namely the DMK and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) have attained in 2017 the credit of uninterrupted rule of Tamil Nadu for 50 years. Though, both DMK and AIADMK are political rivals however, they have the same pedigrees from the said Dravidian movement. It is a known fact that basically the champions of Dravidian political parties are promoters of language politics in the name of social justice which is in some respects against national integration and regional unity. Amid these political developments, particularly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, emerged Cho Ramaswamy.
Cho has scripted nearly 23 stage plays and all were mega hits. The formula of his plays is very simple and related to mundane subjects such as caste issues, prostitution, truth vs. money or muscle power and bribery or corruption. He was a fan of western writers such as Bernard Shaw and Charles Dickens basing some of his plot points and characters on their novels especially his Manam Oru Kurungu was based upon Pygmalion and Vande Mataram related to Tale of Two Cities. Some of his dramas like Washingtanil Nallathambi and Coovam Nathi Karaiyinile are without strong plots but are based on the current political scenarios.
His venture into Tamil film as a comedian was equally incredible and acted in nearly 200 films. Cho himself has accepted that he is not a good actor despite acting in the movies directed by K. Balachander, the doyen of Tamil filmdom. But for a while, he was a popular comedian and his comedy is also limited to very few films however, his political comedy did well in some films. His ‘Muhammad bin Thughlak’ (1968) a classic satirical play, was his magnum opus and smashing success that later made a popular movie as well. His political magazine, Thuglak (1970), was named after this play, which became a classic of modern literature for political satire, writings, editorials, essays, and cartoons.
His journalistic assignment deserves great appreciation. Apart from expressing personal views, there are only a few writers in Tamil Nadu who mock the society to make people understand their mistakes and Cho is one among them. His intelligence and humour make the audience not only laugh but to ponder deeply about society. Through his Thuglak magazine, Cho vehemently criticised the implementation of the Emergency rule and Dravidian political parties especially the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu Karunanidhi and his corruption. During the Emergency period, Thuglak magazine got censored and when it resumed its publication, it was dared enough to publish the issue with just a black front cover as a mark of protest. It is surprising to note that he was neither arrested nor put in jail despite his continued severe criticism against the Emergency period and exposing the corruption of Karunanidhi. In fact, his perseverance made Thuglak magazine an institution.
As a political commentator, his views are very sharp and to the point. His opinions are not easily changed. It is to be highlighted that all his political comments were expressed them with good humour. He had great respect for Kamaraj, the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and according to Cho the Kamaraj period of Tamil Nadu was the golden age. Cho was the only journalist who mentioned the terrorist activities of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and he rightly predicted that the Tamil Tigers would not let the Rajiv-Jayawardene accord go through. Though he had a cordial relationship with Jayalalitha later on due to political differences he entered into conflict with her. To oppose Jayalalitha he supported DMK and Tamil film superstar Rajinikanth.
When the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as an alternative to the Congress Cho become associated with its top leaders and he was the first person to propose Narendra Modi as a prime ministerial candidate. From his point of view, the BJP will be good if it comes to power because Modi has made Gujarat a corruption-free state. There is a lot of growth there. A common man can easily see him. As a Chief Minister of Gujarat Modi has attended a couple of Thuglak magazine annual readers meetings which were an unprecedented editor reader interface. PM Modi in one of his addresses stated that “I’m a fan of Mr Cho. I heard his name during the Emergency when he stood for democracy, he fought for democracy. My colleagues were giving me information during those days because I was underground at that time. I was also fighting for democracy.”
Overall Cho was a great scholar more particularly a prophet in politics. He will be remembered as a playwright, and as a courageous political satire. Yet, the void he left in the Tamil intelligentsia remains gaping and stark.
Manuvelraj Ponnudurai is an independent researcher based in Delhi who obtained his PhD degree in Art History from the School of Arts & Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
The introduction of a private member bill on the implementation of a uniform civil code(UCC) across the country witnessed vociferous protest from the opposition members in Rajya Sabha on Friday. Article 44 of our constitution says that “The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.” And what is constraining to implement UCC in our country are the personal laws. Personal Law is the law by which an individual is governed in respect of various matters such as principles relating to marriage, divorce, maintenance, adoption, inheritance, guardianship, succession, etc. These personal laws in India are based on religion. And what UCC is trying to guide is that irrespective of their religion everyone should be governed by the same laws with respect to marriage, inheritance, divorce, adoption etc. The bone of contravention here is that it may come in way of Article 25 ‘Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion’. And also the cultural rights of minorities.
What UCC can do?
The greatest thing UCC can do is that to bring justice to the age-long sufferings of women in every community. Every religion joins hands when it comes to the suppression of women. But what should be noted is that UCC cannot end the patriarchal system of society, it cannot prevent Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which is still practised in some parts of our country, it cannot prevent domestic violence from happening, and the most important thing is that UCC can never adopt Article 15 of our constitution which says “Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth” in the minds of our people as it said so.
As some may say that Equality before the law can be achieved but is it truly so? Equality, Liberty, Fraternity and Secular is all there written in our constitution but is it there in the hearts of our people? Will a Hindu parent marry their son to a Muslim girl if they love one another? or vice versa? Is it possible for a lower caste to marry a so-called higher caste in today’s India even after 73 years of adoption of our constitution? So merely a law cannot change the tradition of our society (in some cases), our people themselves should develop these rich values of fraternity and secularity and the State should promote this through value-based Education and through its secular activities.
What can be done?
And this is what our 21st law commission reports “Resolution of this conflict does not mean the abolition of difference. This Commission has therefore dealt with laws that are discriminatory rather than providing a uniform civil code which is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage. Most countries are now moving towards recognition of difference, and the mere existence of difference does not imply discrimination, but is indicative of a robust democracy.”
Rather than going for Uniformity, we can appreciate the diversity of our nation as all community within a religion does not follow the same culture. Even though it looks complex for our judges to interpret law accordingly to those personal laws, no one size fits all approach should also be considered unless and until those are not discriminatory in nature. Removing those unjust practices like recently in triple talaq cases and property for women sounds better and safe than UCC. As the Father of our constitution Dr. B R Ambedkar, while formulating the Constitution had said that a UCC is desirable but for the moment it should remain voluntary, and thus Article 35 of the draft Constitution was added as a part of the Directive Principles of the State Policy in part IV of the Constitution of India as Article 44. It was incorporated in the Constitution as an aspect that would be fulfilled when the nation would be ready to accept it and the social acceptance of the UCC could be made.
Our constitutional makers sought some sort of unity in diversity and that’s the reason they have kept UCC in directive principles of state policy as well as Article 351. But they never mentioned on what grounds a common civil code should be made. Some say that UCC can bring unity among the people but marriage, succession, and adoption are purely personal and how can it bring unity among the community? Before implementing Article 44, there are other DPSPs that are untouched by our leaders like Article 47 -prohibition of the consumption of intoxicating drinks! We have been fighting for the upliftment of women and social justice since 17th century. And still, we cannot overcome the curse of Indian society – caste. Hence it is proved that a hundred laws may not prevent injustice and laws cannot reform the hearts of the people. The part of the government is done, now it shall be the duty of every citizen to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.
All Indians are shocked by the death of Cyrus Mistry, an eminent businessman and scion of Shapoorji Pallonji group in a road accident. It seems that Late Mistry’s car was at a speed of 130 kmph and hit a divider while trying to overtake a vehicle from the left side. It is also suspected that the road was narrowing and the divider was also slightly protruding outside contributing to the accident. The rear occupant not wearing a seatbelt including Sh Mistry, died on the spot, while the rest were seriously injured and hospitalised. There is the huge brouhaha over rear passengers not wearing a seatbelt and the resultant death which though justified to an extent seems to miss a much larger issue” Could we have avoided the accident in the first place”.
As per the world bank report, India tops the world with 11% of global death in road accidents, in spite of a vehicle population of only 2.5%. Road crashes claimed over 1.55 lakh lives across India in 2021. If we include the number of people who are maimed, we will realise that this is a tragedy of gigantic proportion and need action on a war footing. According to UN Study, India loses 3% of its GDP to road accidents every year. Imagine becoming the fastest-growing economy just by eliminating accidents and also saving many precious lives.
Police official after the initial probe said that the deceased were not wearing seat belts, also adding that overspeeding and an “error of judgment” by the driver caused the accident. This approach of only blaming the victims will not help us in making our road safer for all. Many developed countries are able to eliminate accidents by looking at all the possible causes and trying to address each one of them. When I was living in Finland twenty years back, there was an accident at a nearby crossing and a person was injured. Within a few days, the local authorities revamped the whole crossing by introducing signals, signages, speed limit, divider etc. This type of holistic approach has enabled developed countries to achieve minimum possible accidents in spite of much higher vehicle density and allowable speed limits. I am pretty sure that India can also achieve it provided we are really sincere and give road safety the importance it deserves.
Let's try to look at all the angles which might have contributed in various measures to the accident and death / serious injury of the occupants.
Speed- In all developed countries, the speed limit is regulated very seriously by authorities because overspeeding is dangerous for other road users also. There are surprise checks 24 x 7 with the help of speed radars and vehicles found speeding are penalised.
However, we also need to also look at various causes why people are forced to drive at a much higher speed than allowed. In India, it's difficult to plan the journey due to various bottlenecks. There are multiple reasons for the unexpected delays including huge queues at toll gates, potholes, slow vehicles driving in the fast lane, vehicles coming from the opposite side, stray animals, no signals at junctions, dangerous road crossing, narrow roads, changing the number of lanes, haphazard parking etc. This sometimes not only causes delays but traffic jams and then people are forced to drive fast to make up for the lost time.
The government’s initiative for constructing new highways is laudable however Government should ensure that all bottlenecks are also addressed on a war footing for the existing highways. We should realise that It's much better to have a road where you can drive constantly at 60 KM per hour instead of a road where you can drive most parts at 120 kmph and some parts barely at 10 kmph.
Overtaking from the wrong side- In developed countries, road users use lanes depending on their vehicle speed. In many countries, the first lane is exclusively used for overtaking. Unfortunately, In India, the first lane of all the highways is occupied by heavy-duty trucks, containerised trucks moving at very slow speeds. We have an upper-speed limit but vehicles are free to drive at low speeds without any problem. This forces all the car drivers to overtake from the wrong side, which is not only dangerous but can lead to serious accidents. It's time we penalise all the slow-moving vehicles driving in the wrong lane. This will not only make driving comfortable but quite safe for everyone as the need of overtaking would be minimised.
Road Signage & Dividers- We have no best practices for road design, well-proven system and guidelines to ensure that dividers are placed at regular intervals with good visibility. Also, the width of the road and lane is not uniform and causing challenges for vehicles running at high speeds.
In all the developed countries, there is ample visible road signage and people are warned in advance about changes in road conditions. It's time we create and follow the best engineering practices for road construction throughout the country.
Emergency response- Passer-by, in this case, called their friends who luckily owned a private ambulance and could reach them immediately. In a developed country, there is a highly efficient network of emergency response with a trained paramedic to administer first aid, which can make a life-and-death difference in critical situations. In India, people still prefer to call their relatives instead of calling an ambulance. It's time the government takes responsibility for creating the necessary medical infrastructure so any witnesses can call the ambulance helpline and be sure that the injured will get the best possible medical care.
Seat belt- A seat belt is the first line of defence in case of an accident. Even an unbuckled person can seriously injure, other occupants, wearing a seat belt. This is very easy to address and good to know that authorities have already started working on amending necessary legislation. The bigger issue is how to ensure that number of passengers is not more than the vehicle capacity so each one can wear a seat belt. It's a very common sight in India to see kids sitting in the lap of their parents. Their parents don’t realise that these kids will act like a balloon in case of an accident and have no chance of survival. Even a child should mandatorily have a special seat in the car to make seat belts effective because every unbuckled person is not the only risk to themself but also to other occupants. How about buses and trucks plying on the highways? None of them have a seat belt for all the passengers. It is time that government makes it compulsory for every vehicle to have the requisite amount of seat belts so that everyone is buckled.
Lastly, We need to have a reasonable penalty for all offenses. High penalties never lead to compliance. Numerous studies have established that certainty of fine acts more as a deterrent than a huge penalty. It is not possible for a country of India’s size to be monitored by understaffed police. We need to develop an army of people (Retired, Senior citizens, unemployed etc) who wish to make a difference and train them about best road practices. These people can be equipped with technology to record all traffic violations. Technology can easily be used to upload these traffic violations and penalty collection can be also automated. These people can also be easily compensated from the collection of the penalty amount. We also need to develop a scoring system to allow a negative score for each offense and then suspend the license temporarily/ permanently depending on the overall score. This can also act as a huge deterrence and force people to follow safe driving practices.
As the Indian economy is growing, we can expect huge growth in the population of vehicles. It's time we draw the right lessons and work towards Accident prevention and take necessary corrective actions to make roads safer for all of us. Then we can be sure that we are not missing the wood for the trees.
Thoughts on the eve of 147th birth anniversary of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan
Beyond the normal human equation, a metaphysical question arises as to what could be the mission behind the life and career of Mohammad Ali Jinnah. A former correspondent of the Pakistani daily Dawn who was stationed in Delhi, but now has settled in the UK, says: “Partition saved Hinduism”.
We say that without Jinnah, Partition was unlikely to have been possible. There was no other leader amongst the Muslims who could argue or negotiate with the British Viceroys and officials. Jinnah was the only Muslim who could argue and negotiate with the taller Congress leaders like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Bhulabhai Desai and of course, Jawaharlal Nehru. Nor did any other Muslim Leaguer have an all-India stature. None else had shown acumen in a tactical scheme that could lead to Partition, such as the Direct Action of July-August 1946, which convinced the British as well as the Hindus that an undivided India would be a scabbard with two swords. Little wonder therefore, that Viceroy Mountbatten coming to Delhi was convinced that there was no alternative to Partitioning India before the British departed.
Jinnah was a second-generation Musalman. His grandfather was Poonjabhai Thakkar, a businessman, prominent in Dhoraji, not very far from Rajkot. Yet, as businesses do fluctuate in their fortunes, Poonjabhai’s happened to dip; he diversified into fish trading. This upset his vegetarian Lohana caste. Poonjabhai had no alternative for survival, except to stick to the trading of fish. The friction between the caste and its members led to Poonjabhai’s expulsion from the Lohana fold. On the rebound, Poonjabhai converted to an Ismaili Khoja, a follower of Sir Aga Khan. The post-conversion unease eventually led to the family’s migration to the port city of Karachi. His father Jinahbhai continued in his paternal trade, although he wanted his son to become a chartered accountant from London. Jinnah’s passport read “Mohammad Ali Jinabhai” and began to be known as such among his early acquaintances in London. “Jina” in Gujarati means tiny, and “bhai” means brother. Before long, he realized that accountancy was not his cup of tea. On the suggestion of his ‘dig’ or hostel mates he tried his hand at attending lectures and having dinners at the Lincoln’s Inn of law, which he liked. After he passed the Barrister-at-Law two years later, Jinnah learned that he was too young to be presented with his certificate. He had to wait till he was 21.
The other activity Jinnah pursued was attending sessions of the House of Commons whenever he could and also assisting politicians. He served as a secretary of Dadabhai Naoroji, who became a Liberal Member of Parliament representing the Finsbury constituency from 1892 to 1895. All in all, Jinnah enjoyed life in London and became a brown Englishman before he returned to India. There is little evidence of his having evinced any interest in religion or matters of spirituality. His legal career dazzled as he progressed at the Bombay High Court. Many of his friends were Hindu, and he particularly enjoyed the company of high-class Parsis. His brother Ahmed Ali told his friend and my grandfather Dharamdas Vora that “Culturally we brothers are Parsi. We did not pray nor did we have suitable clothes until Mohammed was made life president of the Muslim League”. Most Muslim Congressmen were members of the League, just as many Hindu Congressmen attended Hindu Mahasabha meetings. Until the Congress’ 1928 plenary session in Calcutta, Jinnah was a secular politician. The manner in which he was booed at the 1928 session left him sour and while leaving Calcutta, he told his friend Dewan Chaman Lal with tears in his eyes, “This is the parting of ways”. From Bombay, Jinnah migrated to London to pursue a full-time legal practice. He was already the highest-paid barrister in all of the British Empire.
While Jinnah led an upper-class life living in his own elegant house at Hampstead, he did miss his politics. In 1934, when Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan came to visit London, he had dinner with Jinnah to propose that the Qaid-e-Azam return to India to head the League and pump life into it.
Having ascertained that he was welcome, Jinnah returned to Bombay in 1935. Thereafter, the new president’s mind was focused on what aim and strategy thereof was needed for the League to be able to make its mark. The well-known Pakistan Resolution was passed in the open session of the League on March 23, 1940. The resolution said that “The Hindus and Muslims are, opposite communities and cannot coexist in the same country. The answer, therefore, was the partition of the country into Hindustan for the Hindus and & Pakistan for Muslims”.
Since Jinnah knew only English and some Gujarati, he addressed mass meetings in English, but yet set out to campaign for Partition. Partition, therefore, ended up becoming an event that was for the name and fame of Jinnah and his place in history as the founder of a nation.
(Prafull Goradia: The writer is a well-known columnist, an author and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. The views expressed are personal.)
Dr. Hari Prasad Kanoria, Chairman, Kanoria Foundation and Sri Hari Global School, Asansol, has organised an event on “Human Values in Education” at Srihari Global School, Asansol. The event was part of a series of events on universal human values in the education system between Kanoria Foundation and the International Meditation Foundation.
The chief guest at the event Swami Advaitananda Giri, Chairman of the International Meditation Foundation said that “Education is that which liberates, education is that which leads us to the flowering of our utmost potential as human beings. In order to achieve this Vision India has taken a major step forward with its National Education Policy 2020 by the addition of universal human values, making education practical with the inclusion of life skills, teaching the right history, nature education, a mechanism to address commercialization & corruption, connecting with the subconscious mind by education in the mother tongue, developing a scientific mindset, a mechanism for stress management, anger management, etc…”
For the effective implementation of the National Education Policy 2020, we must have one class period every day dedicated to the practical transmission of human values in our schools & colleges. This one class period every day will make Human Values as the foundation of the education system instead of ambition driven blind race right now. This is the ONLY practical way by which in 10-15 years we can have a peaceful world, he said.
Swami Advaitananda Giri further explained that “Just by losing a football match in Indonesia more than 174 people died in riots by fans. In the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Colombian player Escobar was murdered just for a mistake of a self-goal. In the world’s most developed nation America, US CDC 2022 reports that 32.3% overall population is affected with Anxiety or Depression disorders, out of this 50.9% of youth in the age group of 18-29 were also reported to be affected with Anxiety or Depression disorders.”
He further explained that If 32.3% population is having serious mental health issues like anxiety or depression then it can be safely presumed that to have an anxiety or depression rate of 32.3 %, there must be a need for at least 3 times more sad people in the population, this leads to 32.3% x 3 = 96.9% of the total population. If 96.9% population is sad then there is a likelihood that 99.99% population must be experiencing the emotions of worry, fear, the feeling of failure, etc.
The feeling of worry forms the basis of sadness, sadness leads to anxiety or depression, and further anxiety or depression results in the very serious act of suicide or violent behavior. Depression or anxiety doesn’t occur directly. It is caused in progressive stages out of the feeling of sadness or dejection etc… As the sadness or dejection type of emotions deepens then only it will take shape of depression or anxiety, not straightway. This means that depression or anxiety is an outcome of the prevalence of sadness among the larger population. For example, if one person has been diagnosed with depression or anxiety that means behind this there must be at least three people or more who were already experiencing sadness or dejection type of emotional imbalance, Swami Advaitananda Giri explained.
“What has gone wrong, and why we are like this,” he asked.
Dr. Hari Prasad Kanoria, Chairman, Kanoria Foundation and Sri Hari Global School, Asansol
said “The gap in the quality of teachers in the roll-out of this type of programme can be addressed by online video materials. All who specialize in it should come forward and help Government in the development of open-source training modules for teachers, students, and parents. The modules should be playful, maximum practical than theory & should cover different age groups. The training modules for human values should be able to practically transmit the wisdom to be loving, truthful, honest, and overall, a good human being. The National Education Policy 2020 is a great step forward in this direction however the policy will be as good as it gets rightly implemented”
Dr. Hari Prasad Kanoria emphasised on the need for “ Sanskara “ – natural values like work, righteousness, spiritual power, delight, service, humbleness, prosperity, and fearlessness are needed in education along with holistic, intellectual, technical, health, and moral development.
At Kanoria Foundation our tagline is “Work with devotion righteously, selflessly for welfare”. We involve the students in sustainable development. Life is a joyous adventurous journey. Students are being taught to treat all equally as they want to get treated themselves. They are divine and have oceanic strength and infinite knowledge, he said.
For more information, please contact:
Swami Aseemananda
Manager,
International Meditation Foundation,
Rishikesh, India.
Mobile: +91 9975675620
www.yoga1.org |hisholiness@www.yoga1.org
Mr. Kamlesh Mishra, CEO
SRIHARI GLOBAL SCHOOL
Shristinagar, Behind Sentrum Mall, Asansol – 713305, West Bengal, India.
Mobile: +91 70048 34829
srihariglobal.com enquiry@srihariglobal.com
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