Thought/Nrao on Political and Social Systems

Economic Origins of Democracy

2010-03-26T00:29:00.000-07:00

An incomplete draft of the book by Acemoglu and Robinson can be accessed from

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/pg/modules/ec928/details/arbdist.pdf

National Youth Day of India - 12th January 2010

2010-01-12T09:00:00.001-08:00

A Speaker and Mr. Yogendra Sharma, the representative of youth, who organized the get-together

Narayana Rao at the beginning of the get-together

The persons present just before the start of proceedings of the get-together

Some more photos of the meet will be added and a report of the proceedings will be posted.

January 12 - National Youth Day of India

2010-01-10T01:33:00.000-08:00

It is Swami Vivekananda's Birth day.

Let us do something to improve some tangible things in the society and do something to improve intangible things - our behaviour and behavior of our community members.
Some details of the days celebrations are being collected in an article

http://knol.google.com/k/narayana-rao-k-v-s-s/national-youth-day-of-india-12-january/2utb2lsm2k7a/2139

Give your opinions and any details of celebrations.

CPM's Own Men Deserted the Party in 2009 Lok Sabha Elections

2009-05-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

Economic Times carried an interesting article on 30 May 2009 on Page 3

In West Bengal CPM claims a party membership of 3.21 lakh and a mass organization membership of 3.43 crore.

But CPM got only 33.1% of the vote share.

About 70 to 75% of the states 4.89 crore electorate cast its vote this year. This means CPM did not get votes to a large extent from its mass organization members.

Reason: I keep arguing is that party members (Of all political parties in India) are not meeting nonparty people systematically.

In Kerala, the party membership is over 3.64 lakh and mass organization membership is around 1.42 crore. Kerala's electorate is two crore. Around 60% voted and CPM got 30.48%. Once again party members could not even mobilise their mass organization members.

The combined membership of all mass organizations belonging to CPM increased to 6,17,93,166 at the time 2008 party congress. The earlier party congress figure was 4,91,54,970.

Is there a need for party members to develop intimate contact with nonparty persons. Yes it is there. People in general will welcome if political party members take interest and meet them regularly.

Members of a Political Party - What Should They Do?

2009-05-22T21:29:00.000-07:00

Members of a political party have to take on the role of a representative of people. No doubt members of legislative assemblies are the formal representative of the people elected by the people.

But each member of a political party has voluntarily come forward to represent the people and when a political party admits him into the party, it has approved his voluntary action and gives him the right to represent the party to the people whom he wants to represent.

I advocate that each member of a political party has to be given the responsibility of contacting 50 households to carry out the task of representing people as well as that of a party member. To fulfil this responsibility, the member has to meet each of the households at least once in a year formally. In this interaction, he has to find the desires and wishes of the household in the area of social issues, public works and public policy. He has to inform them his party's current stand on various issues and his party's programmes. He has to report to the party machinery, the issues raised by the households. The inputs given by the members based on such visits will be very useful information to the party to undertake local tactical issue based activities and to develop policies and programs on large scale.

Lenin on Party Members

It is our task to safegaurd the firmness, consistency, and purity of our party. We must strive to raise the title and significance of a party member higher, higher and still higher.

We communists, (implying party members) are looked upon as a model in everything - n work and behavior. We have to live and work in such a way that the working person coud say: Yes this is a real communist...

Unaffiliated working people often judge the party by the behavior of its members. Every party member is the party's representative in any work collective, and he acts not only be explaining party policies and by proclaiming slogans, but by primarily by showing a good example in work, social and political activities, and everyday life.

In work collectives, everyone sees the communists' (party members) attitude towards their work: whether they are exacting of themselves and their party comrades, how irreconciliable they are toward, say self love, avaric, hard drinking and other infringements of discipline and the law and order and toward indifferent attitudes to people's needs and doings.

(Source: Yevgeny Bugaev, What is The Party?, Progress Publishers, Moscow,1986

About - Communist Party of India (Marxist)

2009-05-22T02:21:00.000-07:00

The CPI(M) was formed at the Seventh Congress of the Communist Party of India held in Calcutta from October 31 to November 7, 1964. The CPI(M) was born in the struggle against revisionism and sectarianism in the communist movement at the international and national level, in order to defend the scientific and revolutionary tenets of Marxism-Leninism and its appropriate application in the concrete Indian conditions.

The CPI(M) has grown to 9,76,622 in 2007. The Party has sought to independently apply Marxism-Leninism to Indian conditions and to work out the strategy and tactics for a people's democratic revolution, which can transform the lives of the Indian people. The CPI(M) is engaged in bringing about this basic transformation by carrying out a programme to end imperialist, big bourgeois and landlord exploitation.

Source: http://cpim.org/ - Introduction

The working class and its parties have to equip themselves ideologically, politically and organisationally to wage a relentless struggle against imperialism and its exploitative order. The unity of the Left, democratic and progressive forces around the world must be forged to fight against imperialism and defeat the ruling classes who seek to sustain and perpetuate the present unjust global order. As a Party based on proletarian internationalism, the CPI(M) is committed to fight against imperialist hegemony and expresses solidarity with all the forces in the world who are fighting against the imperialist-driven economic order of globalisation and for peace, democracy and socialism.

3.14 The working class has borne the brunt of the heavy burdens imposed by the capitalists and the government. The real wages of the workers do not rise because of the ever-increasing prices. With the crisis in the industrial sphere becoming endemic, the workers face the onslaught of closures and retrenchment. The labour laws supposed to safeguard the rights of the workers are defective and even these are not enforced; violation of laws by the employers is the norm. The recognition of trade unions by secret ballot and the right of collective bargaining are denied. The offensive of liberalisation and privatisation has rendered lakhs of workers jobless without any social security to fall back upon. The deregulation of the labour market is demanded as part of the policy of liberalisation. Benefits and rights earned by workers through prolonged struggles are sought to be curtailed. Permanent jobs are being converted to contract or casual jobs. Working women get less wages and are the first to be retrenched. Child labour has increased and working children are subjected to the worst forms of exploitation. Outside the organised sector millions of workers get no protection from the labour laws and are deprived of even the minimum wages set by the government. The plight of the labouring men and women in the huge unorganised sector is one of drudgery. They work for a pittance for long hours, often in hazardous conditions with no social security. It is the unremitting labour and the exploitation of the working class which has provided the profits for the bourgeoisie, the big contractors and the multinational corporations.

Programmes in the field Industry and Labour

Take steps to eliminate Indian and foreign monopolies in different sectors of industry, finance, trade and services through suitable measures including State take-over of their assets.
Strengthen public sector industries through modernisation, democratisation, freeing from bureaucratic controls and corruption, fixing strict accountability, ensuring workers participation in management and making it competitive so that it can occupy commanding position in the economy.
Allow foreign direct investment in selected sectors for acquiring advanced technology and upgrading productive capacities. Regulate finance capital flows in the interests of the overall economy.
Assist the small and medium industries by providing them credit, raw materials at reasonable prices and by helping them in regard to marketing facilities.
Regulate and co-ordinate various sectors of the economy and the market in order to achieve balanced and planned economic development of the country. Regulate foreign trade.
Improve radically the living standards of workers by: a) fixing a living wage, b) progressive reduction of working hours; c) social insurance against every kind of disability and unemployment; d) provision of housing for workers; e) recognition of trade unions by secret ballot and their rights of collective bargaining as well as right to strike; and f) abolition of child labour.
Provide maximum relief from taxation to workers, peasants and artisans; introduce graded tax in agriculture, industry and trade; and effectively implement a price policy in the interest of the common people.

7.13 The working class and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), while not for a moment losing sight of their basic aim of building the people's democratic front to achieve people's democratic revolution and the fact that they have to inevitably come into clash with the present Indian State led by the big bourgeoisie, do take cognisance of the contradictions and conflicts that exist between the Indian bourgeoisie including the big bourgeoisie and imperialism. Opening up the Indian economy to the unbridled and free entry of MNCs and foreign finance capital will intensify this contradiction. The Communist Party of India (Marxist), while carefully studying this phenomenon, shall strive to utilise every such difference, fissure, conflict and contradiction to isolate the imperialists and strengthen the people's struggle for democratic advance. The working class will not hesitate to lend its unstinted support to the government on all issues of world peace and anti-imperialism which are in the genuine interests of the nation, on all economic and political issues of conflict with imperialism, and on all issues which involve questions of strengthening our sovereignty and independent foreign policy.

7.14 Reactionary and counter-revolutionary trends have existed even after independence. They make use of the backwardness of the people based on the immense influence of feudal ideology. In recent decades, making use of the growing discontent against the Congress leading to its steady decline, they are making serious efforts to fill the void left by the Congress Party. The Bharatiya Janata Party is a reactionary party with a divisive and communal platform, the reactionary content of which is based on hatred against other religions, intolerance and ultra-nationalist chauvinism. The BJP is no ordinary bourgeois party as the fascistic Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh guides and dominates it. When the BJP is in power, the RSS gets access to the instruments of State power and the State machinery. The Hindutva ideology promotes revivalism and rejects the composite culture of India with the objective of establishing a Hindu rashtra. The spread of such a communal outlook leads to the growth of minority fundamentalism. This has serious consequences for the secular basis of the polity and poses a serious danger to the Left and democratic movement. Besides, a substantial section of big business and landlords, imperialism headed by the USA, is lending all-out support to the BJP.

7.18 The Communist Party of India (Marxist) strives to achieve the establishment of people's democracy and socialist transformation through peaceful means. By developing a powerful mass revolutionary movement, by combining parliamentary and extra parliamentary forms of struggle, the working class and its allies will try their utmost to overcome the resistance of the forces of reaction and to bring about these transformations through peaceful means. However, it needs always to be borne in mind that the ruling classes never relinquish their power voluntarily. They seek to defy the will of the people and seek to reverse it by lawlessness and violence. It is, therefore, necessary for the revolutionary forces to be vigilant and so orient their work that they can face up to all contingencies, to any twist and turn in the political life of the country.

Source: http://cpim.org/ Programme

The sites given in the references was accessed on 22.5.2009

My Comments

CPI(M) has around 10,00,000 members. According to me each member should be in touch with 50 households, which means at least 100 voters. This would mean 10 crore voters. But is CPI(M) getting 10 crores votes. It is not getting. Why? because its members are not going and meeting people on a planned basis.

In my 35 years of adult life, so far no CPI(M) party member contacted me. Even though I am an employee all my life that to an employee of government or public sector, the CPI(M) party members have not shown an interest in meeting me. Not only me, even many of the friends I know were never met by the party members. Of course, the blame is not on CPI(M) alone. It is the same with all political parties. Political parties have not given priority to contacting people on a regular basis.

http://kvssnrao-pss.blogspot.com/2009/05/members-of-political-party-what-should.html

Shivsena - Ideology

2009-05-21T02:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.shivsena.org/

http://www.shivsena.org/LoksabhaVachannama.pdf

What is the ideology of Shivsena?

To be explored.

Want to Bunch of Thoughts of M.S. Golwalkar - Guruji of RSS

2009-05-20T03:01:00.000-07:00

Visit

http://www.archivesofrss.org/index.php?option=com_gurujibook&task=showPDF&bookid=33

RSS Pratinidhi Sabha Resolutions

2009-05-20T02:44:00.000-07:00

2000 : A.B.P.S.

From Resolution 1

The A.B.P.S. therefore, ardently desires that the various Hindu religious bodies come together and evolve a concerted plan to not only halt the rampant conversion, but also to bring back to our fold those that were converted to intolerent faiths by force, fraud or allurement. To achieve this home coming we have only to change our mindset and open the doors of our hearts and homes, and welcome them back as our loving brethren.

http://www.archivesofrss.org/index.php?option=com_prastav

From Resolution 2

The RSS views that conversion is the biggest irritant. Neither the Sangh nor the law of the land accepts that the right to propagate means right to convert. The Supreme Court of India is unequivocal on this behalf. The Sangh has nothing against Christian brethren or Christian faith but certainly against the plan of the Church to "reap a great harvest of faith in Asia". In certain North Eastern regions, such as East Arunachal and Tripura, where the Hindu is vulnerable, conversion is forced at the point of gun. Divisive political consequences follow religious conversions. Further, conversion is not merely a change in the form of worship but a change in the priority of loyalties. It also disrupts social harmony and cultural traditions. Therefore, the Hindu views conversion as an aggression on the Hindu society. Another major source of irritation is the Christian style of preaching denigrating Hindu gods and goddesses, which deeply hurt the Hindu sentiments.

It is worth noting that the Hindu society has exercised restraint in spite of all such provocations. To mistake it as Hindu weakness is to betray ignorance of the working of human nature. The ABKM calls upon the Christian Church to cultivate the goodwill of the Hindu. That is the greatest guarantor of the long range of interests of the Christians themselves.

http://www.archivesofrss.org/index.php?option=com_prastav

From Resolution 2 of ABPS

The ABPS urges the Central Government to initiate legislation banning slaughter of Cow and her entire Family throughout the country . It is a fact well recognised that the Cow occupies a unique place in the national psyche . It is held as sacred and deep religious sentiments govern the attitude of our countrymen .In fact.it is called "kamadhenu" . The economic advantages implicit in Cow- protection compels us to consider the question with all earnestness .

From Resolution 4 of ABPS

The A.B.P S. also calls upon the Swayamsevaks and all people conscious of our cultural eminence to keep their family atmosphere free from this cultural pollution. Let the noble and the great values from our glorious past sanctify our domestic atmosphere and save our people from the impending danger of considering the glamorous, but devoid of any moral values as modern and fell a prey to it.

BJP and Its Ideology -Is It Committed to It?

2009-05-20T02:18:00.000-07:00

There are certain personality based parties and there are certain ideology based parties in India.

BJP and Left parties are considered as ideology based parties.

Lallu Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav have parties with socialist background but at the moment they are more personality based parties rather than ideology based parties.

What is the ideology of BJP?

BJP is a part of Sangh Parivar? Hence its ideology is based on ideology of RSS. What is the ideology of RSS?

RSS is engaged in making hindus socially conscious. According to it, Hindu society was defeated in military struggles because it did not understand the importance of social solidarity and cohesion. Hindu society is highly fragmented on the basis of sects and castes. Individual and family issues are getting the preference both for religious issues as well as for economic issues and society is not getting the attention it deserved from Hindus. RSS is trying to create a more cohesive hindu society. It also dreams of a very wealthy and prosperous India. BJP is a political organization within the outfits promoted by RSS persons has a role to play in accelerating the cohesion among Hindus.

On an ideological basis, social issues dominate BJP's policy. It has to take care of economic development of the country. But somehow, BJP governments in power are not able to do much in the area of furthering the social transformation. They are getting engulfed in economic issues and going on the path shown by congress party persons. BJP is losing vote share because of that. It is not able to take care of the aspirations of its support base.

Some parties have as their support base people who want some money and some distribution of liquor for some days to give votes. BJP's core support base is not built on money and liquor. But BJP is unable to fulfil the needs of its support base in terms of its ideology and probably some party candidates are trying the money and liquor route.

For instance, can any BJP state government claim significant increase in Sangh Parivar acvitiy in its state due to its being in power in the state?

Ideological parties cannot progress further if they are not promoting their ideology.

Today Hindustan Times carried an editorial article with the caption there is no Hindu Vote? Who is responsible for such a state of affairs? It is BJP. It is there to develop a Hindu Vote/ It is its mission? Has it failed?

BJP websites

2009-05-19T02:37:00.000-07:00

http://bjpkarnataka.org/

http://www.saurashtrabjp.org/bjphistory.htm

Bharatiya Janata Party is today the most prominent member of the family of organisations known as the "Sangh Parivar". And RSS has always been dubbed "communal", "reactionary" and what not by its detractors. Sanghs of swayamsevaks have of course always shaken off that criticism like so much water off a duck's back. They have never had any doubt that the organisation is wedded to national unity, national integrity, national identity and national strength through individual character and national character.

http://www.saurashtrabjp.org/bjphistory.htm

Is Left Irrelevant Now?

2009-05-19T02:24:00.000-07:00

I think left parties are relevant.

But they are not sticking to their core ideology.

Their core ideology could be ushering in communism or socialism.

In a democratic setup their ideology could be promoting public sector as an economic agent and supporting working class in defending their rights as well as to create political leadership from working classes.

Are the left parties doing these things successfully? One comes across very rarely in the media any success stories of left parties in the area of public sector.

Even in the area of supporting woring class, the left is inactive nowadays. Have left promoted political leadership in working classes recently. Once again it is difficult to find examples in every day news.

What is left doing? It is into manipulative politics with congress and caste based parties. It will be good for the society if left focuses on its ideology.

Even BJP has the same problem.In stead of politics that promote its ideology it is promoting personality based strategies. The isse is not whether Advani became a prime minister or not? The issue is how far the ideology of the party was promoted? Have they lost an opportunity to promote their ideology? Have they used their last term in the office to promote their ideology?

Congratulations - Congress Team

2009-05-17T01:02:00.000-07:00

The congress public team is Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Abhishek Singhvi, Veerappa Moily, Manish Tiwari, Jayanti Natarajan and some more.

They all deserve congratulations for coming up as victors. They have the responsibility of steering the policy and programs of the country for five more years.

Rahul Gandhi is credited with reviving congress in UP. It is good that he has participated fully in reviving the party. He is not inherting someone else's good work. He is doing the hard work himself and in the process may be learning many issues related to managing masses - their desires and ways of satisfying them.

Parliament Elections 2009 - Mumbai Thane

2009-05-17T00:52:00.000-07:00

1) Mumbai North Sanjay Brijkishorlal Nirupam (Cong) defeated Ram Naik (BJP) by 5779 votes

2) Mumbai North West Ad.Kamat Gurudas Vasant (Cong) defeated Gajanan Kirtikar (SS) by 38415 votes

3) Mumbai North East Sanjay Dina Patil (Cong) defeated Kirit Somaiya (BJP) by 2933 votes

4) Mumbai North Central Dutt Priya Sunil (Cong) defeated Mahesh Ram Jethmalani (BJP) by 174555 votes

5) Mumbai South Central Eknath M. Gaikwad (Cong) defeated Suresh Anant Gambhir (SS) by 75706 votes

6) Mumbai South Deora Milind Murli (Cong) defeated Bala Nandgaonkar (MNS) by 112682 votes

7) Thane Dr.Sanjeev Ganesh Naik (Cong) defeated Chaugule Vijay Laxman (SS) by 49020 votes

8) Kalyan Anand Prakash Paranjape (SS) defeated Davkhare Vasant Shankarrao (NCP) by 24202 votes

Kirit Somaiya and Ram Naik have proved their standing in the political life of the city. Mahesh Jethmalani and Ram Jethmalani always make things difficult for the party and people by taking up cases of many criminal suspects. They combined defending high profile criminal suspects with politics successfully but the unease in the party and people is very clear.

Shiv Sena seems to have been hurt with the division in their leadership ranks.

Dr. Sanjeev Ganesh Naik, got a doctorate (probably honorary) from a Tamil university in USA which has four pages in its web site and says it is a distance education centre of some Indian universities. But he has used it consistently in all his publicity material.

Some professionals have entered fray this time. They may not have got many votes. But it is welcome trend. They should contest once again for assembly this time and this election experience will come in handy for them in doing much more adequate campaigning. We need fresh faces in assemblies and parliament all the time.

2009 Elections - Forecast for BJP's Performance

2009-05-11T03:28:00.000-07:00

Anantha's forecast

Things look grim for the BJP. As per my latest calculation, I can't see the lotus bloom in more than 130 seats. That's 8 seats lesser than 2004. Here's the statewise break-up as I see it:

NORTH - 26/126
Uttar Pradesh - 6/80
Uttar Khand - 4/5
Punjab - 3/13
Chandigarh - 1/1
Himachal - 3/4
Haryana - 3/10
Delhi - 4/7
J&K - 2/6

WEST - 72/143
Maharashtra - 18/48
Goa - 1/2
Daman - 1/1
Dadra Nagar - 1/1
Madhya Pradesh - 17/29
Chattisgarh - 7/11
Rajasthan - 9/25
Gujarat - 18/26

SOUTH - 14/131
Kerala - 0/20
Karnataka - 14/28
Tamil Nadu - 0/39
Pondichery - 0/1
Andhra - 0/42
Lakshadweep - 0/1

EAST - 26/143
Bihar - 10/40
Jharkand - 8/14
West Bengal - 0/42
Orissa - 3/21
Assam - 3/14
Arunachal - 1/2
Tripura - 0/2
Mizoram - 0/1
Manipur - 0/2
Meghalaya - 0/2
Nagaland - 0/1
Andamans - 1/1
Sikkim - 0/1

TOTAL - 130/543

Source: http://unantha.blogspot.com/2009/03/2009-election-analysis-bad-news-for-bjp.html

Could it be like this

NORTH - 36/126
Uttar Pradesh - 16/80
Uttar Khand - 4/5
Punjab - 3/13
Chandigarh - 1/1
Himachal - 3/4
Haryana - 3/10
Delhi - 4/7
J&K - 2/6

WEST - 88/143
Maharashtra - 18/48
Goa - 1/2
Daman - 1/1
Dadra Nagar - 1/1
Madhya Pradesh - 24/29
Chattisgarh - 7/11
Rajasthan - 15/25
Gujarat - 21/26

SOUTH - 26/131
Kerala - 0/20
Karnataka - 22/28
Tamil Nadu - 0/39
Pondichery - 0/1
Andhra - 4/42
Lakshadweep - 0/1

EAST - 32/143
Bihar - 10/40
Jharkand - 8/14
West Bengal - 1/42
Orissa - 5/21
Assam - 5/14
Arunachal - 1/2
Tripura - 0/2
Mizoram - 0/1
Manipur - 0/2
Meghalaya - 1/2
Nagaland - 0/1
Andamans - 1/1
Sikkim - 0/1

TOTAL - 36+88+26+32 =182 out of 543

This figure looks interesting. No doubt Times of India is giving on 145 to BJP but is giving 152 to Congress. But on paper it is not difficult to visualise 175 for BJP.

Log On, Switch Off, Make a Difference

2009-01-23T21:41:00.000-08:00

A new trend of campaigns, courtesy technology, allows the public to take action against politicians and corporations. It signals better times ahead as the real power now seems to vest with the common man.

Pratik Kanjilal, Publisher of The Little Magazine
pratik@littlemag.com

Hindustan Times, Mumbai, January 24, 2009, Page 10

This article encourages people to take up issues and advocate the viewpoints through email and sms campaigns. One does not have to depend exclusively on the print media journalists

Emphasize Representing People

2009-01-23T21:39:00.000-08:00

Politician at any level in a democracy is a representative of the opinion of people. Both political party members and elected representatives need to have systems in place to accumulate public opinion within their constituency.

Unfortunately such systems are not visible.

There is more emphasis in media as well as in party and government affairs on the leadership and authority and the role of representing people is almost forgotten.

There is a need to emphasize representing people in democratic systems.

Monarchy Out, Democray In, But Dynasty is Entrenched

2009-01-23T03:06:00.000-08:00

Democracies have to take steps to prevent emergence of dynasties.

1. A close family relative should not be allowed to take up a political executive office immediately after resignation, retirement, or death of an existing person in position. A gap of ten years or two general elections gap should be recommended.

2. Two members of a family cannot be in same legislative body simultaneously.

Women Officers in Defence to get Permanent Commission

2008-08-07T17:23:00.001-07:00

Women Officers in Indian Defence Forces

Service Women Officers - Total officers
Army------945--------------35,377
Airforce--739--------------10,563
Navy------236---------------7,336

August 5 2008

The armed forces agreed in principle to give women officers permanent commission

Definition of Poor People - Europe

2008-06-02T23:37:00.000-07:00

I just came across an article in Economic Times of 9 February 2008.

The article was written by Yuri Medvedev. It presents some highlights from a report by Alexel Shevyakov, director of the Social and Economic Population Studies Institute to the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The article mentions that in Europe the powerty indicator is a relative one based on average per capita income of the country.

The poor include people whose incomes are less than 60% of the average per capita income in the country.

Such a definition forces the government and social organizations to think of distribution also along with growth.

Some more information of relative definition of poverty

Research into present-day poverty adopts countless different approaches, many of which fail to do justice to its complexity. Such is the case, for example, with the "basic necessities" approach used to define poverty in the US, where households are considered poor if their income does not cover the minimum expenditure required to satisfy a number of basic needs. Some other income-based approaches are relativistic: the dividing line is drawn somewhere between 50% and 60% of the average income for a given country. In addition, there are definitions used by politicians, subjectivist approaches reflecting public opinion, and approaches based on investigating how people manage to survive without basic goods and services.

http://mondediplo.com/1999/09/06poverty

Gandhi's Trusteeship Concept - Followers

2008-05-16T00:24:00.000-07:00

For a brief on philosophy please visit
http://kvssnrao-pss.blogspot.com/2008/05/gandhis-philosophy-on-trusteeship.html

Aditya Birla Group, believes in the trusteeship concept of management.

1 September 2007

The exhibition is an initiative of Aditya Birla Group, which believes in the trusteeship concept of management. Since the trusteeship concept was the concept of Gandhi, Aditya Birla Group has taken up this initiative says Bharat Parekh of Aditya Birla Group.

A multimedia digital exhibition titled 'Eternal Gandhi' was rolled off in February last. In the exhibition a touch of the installation by a visitor gives him feel of life, message and the time of Gandhi. Explaining the concept the Project director Ranjit Makkauni said the project explores modern art, design and interactive technology as a medium of cultural continuity, reviving the values by which India obtained freedom. It also redefined those values in order to animate modern products and design. It has in all 50 installations each presenting an aspect of Gandhi and his era. From Mohandas to Mahatma is the timeline browser which tells us pictorially about the important events in the life of Gandhi. One has to just slide a piece of cardboard to see the timeline in digital form. In praise of Gandhi, dolls representing world leaders allow a visitor to playback quotes on the contribution of Gandhi. The Vaishnav hands installation allows a visitor to explore the meanings and interpretations of the Vaishnavjan to hymn. The moment one touches E-prison one sees scenes of Gandhi's life in prison through three interactive prison rods. There is an installation of Ashram which tells ashram's story. The moment one touches a part of ashram a fact about Gandhi's ashram emerges on screen. The global Gandhi installation is an anthropomorphic computer; it can listen, see, speak with and understand its environment and you within its range. Here it expounds the global Gandhi, Gandhi as seen by contemporary histories and academics in relation to current day values and the needs of the people

http://www.gujaratindia.com/Media/newsdetail.aspx?News_id=877

Jamanalal Bajaj

Jamanalal dedicated much of his wealth to the poor. He felt this inherited wealth was a sacred trust to be used for the benefit of the people. This was in line with the trusteeship concept proposed by Gandhi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamnalal_Bajaj

A book

Gandhi's Trusteeship : Concept and Relevance
Kapoor, A.
ISBN: 81-7100-496-2
1993 120 pp
Deep and Deep Publications

Tata's role in trusteeship
The Asian Age — March 12, 2005

What, exactly, does trusteeship mean?
"Under it, all wealth is a social trust and every individual the employer, the engineer or even the ordinary mistry — is a trustee, entitled to its proper utilisation for the common good. True to the ideals of its founder, the House of Tata always promoted the concept," said Jayaprakash Narayan.

Jamsetji Tata, driven by visions of a vibrant, industrialised India, set the pace with the right idea that patchwork philanthropy — giving clothes to some and food to others — was not the right approach for a robust future. It was with this in mind that he launched the JN Tata Endowment Scheme for higher education in 1892, which supported future administrators, scientists, doctors, lawyers and engineers.

By 1924, over a third of Indian officials in the Indian Civil Service were Tata scholars. This roster also includes illustrious names like scientist Dr Raja Ramanna and former President K.R. Narayanan. The sons of the founder proved worthy torchbearers of concern for the community. The Tata Group is unique among Indian industrial groups, in that 63 per cent of the capital of the present firm, Tata Sons Limited, is held by Tata philanthropic trusts, endowed by Sir Dorabji Tata and Sir Ratan Tata, the two sons of Jamsetji Tata.

Sir Dorabji left behind most of his personal wealth, including substantial shareholdings in Tata Sons, Indian Hotels and allied companies, his landed property and his wife's jewellery to the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, registered a few months before his death. The trust is best known for promoting six pioneering institutions of national importance.

Sir Ratan Tata, who supported Mahatma Gandhi and Gopal Krishna Gokhale with funds, left directives in his will for his wealth to be used for basic and advanced education, primary and preventive health, rural livelihood and communities, art and culture ad public initiatives. The trust named after him was established in 1918. The fund prioritises projects based in rural India and those that involve the advancement of women and children.

http://www.tata.com/tata_sons/media/20050312_trusteeship.htm

Communitarianism

2008-05-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

A good article
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/communitarianism/

Gandhi's Philosophy On Trusteeship

2008-05-15T04:50:00.000-07:00

I adhere to my doctrine of trusteeship in spite of the ridicule that has been poured upon it. It is true that it is difficult to reach. So is non-violence. But we made up our minds in 1920 to negotiate that steep ascent. We have found it worth the effort.

Non-violent Way

By the non-violent method, we seek not to destroy the capitalist, we seek to destroy capitalism. We invite the capitalist to regard himself as a trustee for those on whom he depends for the making, the retention and the increase of his capital. Nor need the worker wait for his conversion. If capital is power, so is work. Either is dependent on the other. Immediately the worker realizes his strength, he is din a position to become a co-sharer with the capitalist instead of remaining his slave.

In a family, when the father slaps his delinquent child, the latter does not think of retaliating. He obeys his father not because of the deterrent effect of the slap but because of the offended love which he senses behind it. That, in my opinion, is an epitome of the way in which society is or should be governed. What is true of the family must be true of society which is but a larger family.

The Theory

Supposing I have come by a fair amount of wealth—either by way of legacy, or by means of trade and industry—I must know that all that wealth does not belong to me; what belongs to me is the right to an honourable livelihood, no better than that enjoyed by millions of others. The rest of my wealth belongs to the community and must be used for the welfare of the community.

I enunciated this theory when the socialist theory was placed before the country in respect to the possessions held by zamindars and ruling chiefs. They would do away with these privileged classes. I want them to outgrow their greed and sense of possession, and to come down in spite of their wealth to the level of those who earn their bread by labour. The labourer has to realize that the wealthy man is less owner of his wealth than the labourer is owner of his own, viz., the power to work.

In Practice

The question how many can be real trustees according to this definition is beside the point. If the theory is true, it is immaterial whether many live up to it or only one man lives up to it. The question is of conviction. If you accept the principle of ahimsa, you have to strive to live up to it, no matter whether you succeed or fail. There is nothing in this theory which can be said to be beyond the grasp of intellect, though you may say it is difficult of practice. (H, 3-6-1939, p. 145)

No Make-shift

My theory of ‘trusteeship’ is no make-shift, certainly no camouflage. I am confident that it will survive all other theories. It has the sanction of philosophy and religion behind it. That possessors of wealth have not acted up to the theory does not prove its falsity; it proves the weakness of the wealthy. No other theory is compatible with non-violence. In the non-violent method wrong-doer compasses his own end, if he does not undo the wrong. For, either through non-violent non-co-operation he is made to see the error, or he finds himself completely isolated.

Acquisition of Health

Those who own money now, are asked to behave like trustees holding their riches on behalf of the poor. You may say that trusteeship is a legal fiction. But if people meditate over it constantly and try to act up to it, then life on earth would be governed far more by love than it is at present. Absolute trusteeship is an abstraction like Euclid’s definition of a point, and is equally unattainable. But if we strive for it, we shall be able to go further in realizing state of equality on earth than by any other method.

Can rich act live like poor?

It is true that generally the rich spend more on themselves than they need. But this can be avoided. Jamnalalji spent far less on himself than men of his own economic status and even than many middle-class men. I have come across innumerable rich persons who are stingy on themselves. For some it is a part of their nature to spend next to nothing on themselves, and they do not think that they acquire merit in so doing.

Immediate source:
http://www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/gandhiphilosophy/philosophy_trusteeship.htm

Social Responsibility of Scientists

2008-05-14T23:55:00.000-07:00

Article

The Social Responsibility of Scientists: The Scientific Impact Statement
By Charles Walter and Edward P. Richards,

17 IEEE Engineering In Medicine And Biology Magazine #6, 94-95 (1998).

http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/IEEE/ieee30.htm

Important points made in the paper

The Scientific Impact Statement

The authors elaborate on a "Societal Research Impact Statement" (SRIS), analogous to the environmental impact statement that developers must file explaining how their project will affect the local environment.

Patent applications provide some precedent for the SRIS. A patent application must give a complete revelation of the subject matter disclosed. This is in keeping with the scientific tradition that a publication reporting scientific results should enable another scientist competent in the field to reproduce what has been reported by others and thereby confirm or bring into question the previous results.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has determined that a full revelation of a discovery should contain certain elements. These include (1) background material, (2) a detailed disclosure with a brief abstract thereof, (3) a brief summary of the invention, and (4) at least one claim.

1) Background and Context of Work
The background material in a patent application includes a statement identifying the technical field of the invention and a description of the related art. Likewise, a research paper should contain a statement identifying the technical area of research and a description in plain language of how the work reported compliments or contrasts with the existing work in the field.

2) Abstract of Results
The abstract in a patent application is a brief narrative of the disclosure as a whole in a single paragraph of 250 words or less. A research paper should also contain a short abstract in plain language describing the nature of the scientific results of the study.

3) Summary of Issues, Impact and Generalizability
The summary in a patent application is directed toward the invention itself. It may point out advantages of the invention and/or how it solves problems previously existent in the prior art. It should also set forth the nature and gist of an invention. A research paper likewise should contain a summary identifying the significance of the work reported, how it relates to societal issues affected by the results, how these results impact these issues, and the extent to which the work can be generalized.

4) Claims and Limitations
Patent claims identify the precise metes and bounds of an invention. A research paper should also contain a precise statement identifying the limitations on the conclusions drawn from the results, the practical significance of these limitations in terms related to the societal issues in the Summary, recommendations for future research, and any caveats limiting the application of the results, including applications to other studies.

We propose that these elements be included in original scientific research papers prior to peer review. This SRIS should be short (usually 500 words or less), in plain language, and key-word indexed. If desired by the author, the initial draft could be developed with the assistance of appropriate university resources. Final drafts should be developed along with the rest of the research paper by the author in cooperation with the journal editors and the individuals providing peer review.

In some cases there are issues that should be addressed in accessing the potential impact of the study that are not properly part of the scientific article. For example, a study on the effects of silicone on the immune system would be relevant to the question of whether silicone breast implants cause disease. An assessment of whether and the study affects the conclusion that silicone in breast implants does not cause systemic disease would be important.

"Daubert Impact Statements"

Generally, for research papers touching on issues important to expert testimony in recent litigation, we suggest that journals publish expanded impact statements addressing the question, "What is the 'Daubert value' of the study?". This is an important question whenever a study deals with issues that are subject to litigation, such as silicone breast implants, ELF, toxicity of pharmaceuticals, or other situations where there is a large class of persons that may claim injury by the substance in question.

These expanded statements, which might be called "Daubert Impact Statements" (DIS), should include (1) a brief summary of important litigation issues which might be affected by the results, (2) the impact of the research on these issues, and (3) recommendations for whether the information in the research paper should be used by the courts, and, if so, how. The DIS should be written by individuals expert in the litigation area who are also conversant with the underlying science. Some journals already do this to a limited extent, but it is usually in the form of an editorial separate from the article.

Information of the type described above for the SRIS is required for a patent application. The content of scientific articles is governed by custom and the peer-review policies of the scientific journals. The SRIS should become a journal requirement.

The DIS should be included for all research papers touching on issues important to expert testimony in recent litigation. The SRIS should be considered part of the article and should be subjected to the same peer review process as the scientific content of the article. The DIS should also be subject to review by competent authorities.

These peer reviews should determine whether the impact statements address the respective issues described above. The peer reviews should assure that these items are addressed both correctly and in plain language suitable for non-scientists.

As described above, the SRIS and DIS should be published with the article in the body of the journal, and the authors of the scientific article should themselves contribute to the statements. This would link them more clearly to the primary study, with the objective of being a formal supplement to the article that could be used to provide background if the article is used as evidence in court. This could reduce the ability of lawyers to take the findings of studies out of context and use them to support arguments that are either not addressed by the articles or are refuted by the articles.

Conclusions
The growing gulf between scientists and the general public is a threat to the support for science. In a larger sense, it is a threat to rational discussion of scientific issues in public debate and policy making. Scientists ultimately bear the responsibility for helping the public to understand scientific issues. This can be done in many ways, but all require that scientists communicate their findings in clear, understandable ways, including working with journalists to educate them so that they can appreciate the significance of the scientific enterprise.

Malaysian Minister on Individual Social Responsibility

2008-05-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Minister calls for individual social responsibility to keep Kuching clean

A State minister yesterday called for the introduction of what he termed as "individual social responsibility" (ISR) to engage people from all walks of life to keep the city clean and scenic.

Environment and Public Health Minister Datuk Michael Manyin reckoned that such concept needed to be promoted in every city dweller rather than emphasizing too much on corporate social responsibility (CSR), which the government proposed more than two years ago. "Individuals have social responsibilities also, not only the corporate sector. If we all say this is not my job, that is not my job, there is no way we can make the city beautiful. It is the responsibility of each and everyone of us who lives in the city to make the place clean, green and beautiful. This is not the sole responsibility of the local councils and the government", he stressed.

Manyin made the remarks when officiating at the Tree-planting Day jointly organized by Kuching South City Council (MBKS), KTS Trading Sdn Bhd and Andreas STIHL AG Co Germany in conjunction with the 40th KTS-STIHL partnership anniversary at Muara Tabuan here when more than 400 trees were planted.

http://www.mbks.gov.my/pressdetails.asp?mode=187

Individual Social Responsibility

2008-05-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

From a post by Suresh Govindarajan in http://www.siv-g.org/joomla/content/view/155/29/

there is a need for a strong commitment from every individual to contribute to the society. This commitment is what I would call as Individual Social Responsibility (ISR), like the CSR. I am very keen to popularize the idea of Individual Social Responsibility (ISR). Why should we pass on the responsibility to the corporate entities which most of the time throw money like the coconut to Lord Ganesha? More than that what is needed is the commitment by the individuals through ISR. When it happens, it will be through millions of people and the impact will be unimaginable even if the contribution is minimal.

Now, what could be the first commitment one can make under ISR? A very simple one! One need not throw money (pick up the coconut). It must be the commitment of demonstrating one’s integrity and honesty in every walks of life and being not very selfish! This is something which is absolutely in one’s hand and one need not look out on external materiallistic things on which we do not have any control. There cannot be a greater commitment and contribution to the society by an individual than this little one as Individual Social Responsibility! Once this basic commitment is fulfilled, then, perhaps an individual can think of higher commitments and then go on to the commitment of corporate social responsibility. If the ISR becomes a way of life, then perhaps, there would be hardly any need for CSR, because by fulfilling the commitments of ISR, every part of the society, including the corporate would have made a strong foundation on which the whole society operate in a much better way.

After all, it is said “give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to you!” Perhaps, the commitment through ISR is the best way to demonstrate our basic character (like integrity, honesty and so on) to the society, if not the best in us, which in turn will come back to us from the society in the best way!

Social Responsibility - Individuals

2008-05-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

Individual Responsibility and Civil Involvement with Others

Definition
Individual responsibility and civil involvement with others are traits that grow with the opportunities to share mutual tasks in a democracy. These tasks should be accomplished in a orderly fashion for the welfare of the group. The work should encompass personal independence and individual rights while accommodating the responsibility necessary to maintain group orderliness.
Checklist of Observable Behaviors

___ 1. Reliability

___ 2. Trust (competency, commonality, propriety, intent)

___ 3. Self-control

___ 4. Sensitivity to group needs and group problems

___ 5. Promoting the best interests of the group (accountability) (key
words: comprise and accountability)

___ 6. Consciously and voluntarily following all procedures adopted
by the group (key words: following group procedures)

___ 7. Positive participation

___ 8. Patience

___ 9. Cooperative learning techniques

___ 10. A behavior appropriate to the situation

___ 11. Sense of community within a classroom or a school, or
fostering stronger ties for the student with the community
beyond the school; community service and involvement

___ 12. Civil non-participation when appropriate (against your
beliefs)

___ 13. Contributing one’s own identity and uniqueness to the
group process
Reference

Good, C. V. (1973). Dictionary of education. New York: McGraw Hill.

General Example

Several key areas of learning can help educators focus on encouraging a sense of social responsibility and civil engagement: cooperative learning techniques, nonviolent management or resolution of conflict, multicultural education, environmental education, global education, the creation of a sense of community within a classroom or a school, and fostering stronger ties for the student with the community beyond the school (La Farge, 1992, p. 348).

A teacher might use a specific person as an example who could illustrate individual responsibility and civil involvement with others. A good example of these skills is Mahatma Gandhi, who was the personification of responsibility. Starting from the fact that he was one of the few men in history to fight simultaneously on moral, religious, political, social, economic, and cultural fronts, the teacher might focus on the idea of responsibility.

As a moralist, Gandhi was preoccupied with personal integrity and individual responsibility. He had great difficulty in coming to terms with the need for collective discipline and the moral compromises required by membership of the state. Gandhi claimed that every citizen was responsible for his actions and that responsibility was in no way diminished by what others did or did not do.

However, in his opinion it was wrong to say that what an isolated individual did had no wider consequences. For Gandhi it was the citizen’s sense of moral responsibility for his own actions that ultimately determined the character of the state. Men were responsible for one another, and if one of them turned delinquent, the rest could not disown their equal responsibility for his behavior. Even as a wrongdoer must search his conscience, the others must probe theirs.

The slow and painful task of cultivating and consolidating the sense of humanity, and thereby laying the foundations of a truly moral community, was an essentially collective responsibility. In Gandhi’s view the citizen is responsible for the actions of his government. The citizen is a party to its actions and partly responsible for their consequences. A citizen cannot hide behind the façade of collective responsibility, for it is composed of and does not replace individual responsibility (Parekh, 1989).
Classroom Example

The teacher can involve high school students in activities in which they can play the teacher role. For instance, the students may create hands-on science activities. By demonstrating them to younger students, the high school students show individual responsibility in their work because they are playing the teacher role. This activity provides opportunities for civil involvement with others through engaging the younger students in the hands-on activities.
References

La Farge, P. (1992). Teaching social responsibility in the schools. In S. Staub & P. Green (Eds.), Psychology and social responsibility: Facing global challenges (p. 348). New York: New York University Press.

McLaughlin, J. (1999). Ocean Exhibits [Video]. INTIME: Integrating New Technologies Into the Methods of Education. [On-line]. Available: http://www.intime.uni.edu

Parekh, B. C. (1989). Gandhi’s political philosophy. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.

http://fp.uni.edu/model/democracy/indi.html

Articles on Political Parties

2008-05-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

Multiparty system in Russia

http://www.prof.msu.ru/persons/kulik/political_parties.htm

Social Responsibility - Articles

2008-05-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

Social Responsibility and Accountability: Summary
by Manfred Davidmann

Contents
Social Responsibility and Accountability

Social Responsibility of Those Who Govern, Direct, Lead or Manage

Countering Antisocial Behaviour

Social Benefits and Costs

Worldwide

http://www.solhaam.org/teachings/sclacc.html

A Code of Social Responsibility as a Social Contract

Keith Rankin

Social Responsibility Conference

Massey University, Albany Campus; 12-15 February 1998.

http://keithrankin.co.nz/krnkn_SocResp.html

Social Responsibility - People

2008-05-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

On the basis of this analysis, the MLPC has adopted the slogan For Us, Accountability Begins at Home. At its centre is the recognition that when society is being held back and every avenue to solving its problems is obstructed, the working class and people take up their own social responsibility to change the situation.http://www.cpcml.ca/Tmld2006/D36142.htm

September 27, 2006 - No. 142

Inquiry Into Canada's System of Government

Conception of Accountability in the
Federal Accountability Act
- Sandra L. Smith, National Leader, Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada -

Social Responsibility - Meeting of Asian Political Parties

2008-05-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

36. We believe governments should nurture political cultures that enable citizens to exercise civic and social responsibility to realize their potential to lead meaningful lives. And for this purpose, we see our own role as that of bringing our governments and citizens together in partnership.

1st ICAPP: Conference Declaration
Part of
Asian Declaration 2000

Manila, Philippines

THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF ASIAN POLITICAL PARTIES

17-20 September 2000

http://www.idcpc.org.cn/icapp3/2004-06/23/content_2369370.htm

Social Responsibility - Bon Menzies - Australia

2008-05-14T08:13:00.000-07:00

Though Whitlamite nostalgia can be a poor guide for contemporary public policy, it is at least understandable that Labor’s true believers remember those years fondly. But when they start indulging in Menzies nostalgia something very odd is going on. In his first speech to Parliament after becoming leader, Kevin Rudd said:

…this modern Liberal Party, is that it is not the Liberal Party of old. If you go back and read what Bob Menzies had to say about social responsibility and social justice, there is no way that Bob Menzies would fit into the world view that we are now being offered. You see, the member for Kooyong recently delivered a speech on Bob Menzies?Ĵ legacy within the Liberal Party on these questions of social responsibility. It is quite clear when you read that clearly that there has been an ocean of change between that Liberal Party and what it stood for, despite our criticisms of it and our disagreements with it at the time, and the market fundamentalism which has overtaken the current Liberal Party.

It’s another example of the strange meme that recontructs the conservative Robert Menzies as some kind of left-leaning social democrat. In a fiscal fact-checking exercise sadly lacking among those making this claim about Menzies, today I visited the economics library at Melbourne University to see just how the Menzies government’s spending levels compared with that of John Howard’s government.

http://andrewnorton.info/2006/12/some-whitlamite-nostalgia-of-my-own/

Some interesting posts on political parties

2008-05-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

http://mensch-sein.de/emanzipationhumanum.de/english/politparties.html

http://andrewnorton.info/2006/12/some-whitlamite-nostalgia-of-my-own/

India Today's 60 Greatest Indians of 20th Century - Issue 21 April 2008

2008-04-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

List of the 60 greatest Indians

Amartya Sen — Global Indian
Mulk Raj Anand — Free radical
Amrita Sher-Gill — Brush with beauty
Munshi Premchand — Pen drive writer
C.N. Annadurai — Letter and spirit
Jawaharlal Nehru — The architect
Baba Amte — Man of action
P.C. Mahalanobis — The plan man
Bal Gangadhar Tilak — Street fighter
Dhundiraj Govind Phalke — First showman
B.C. Roy — Bengal tiger
Ravi Shankar — Sultan of string
Begum Akhtar — Queen of melody
Prakash Padukone — Feather touch
Bhagat Singh — The patriot
R.K. Narayan — Tale spinner
S.S. Bhatnagar — The catalyst
Raj Kapoor — Dynasty’s child
Bhimsen Joshi — Song and trance
Raja Ravi Varma — Royal touch
Bimal Roy — Romantic realist
Raja Ram Mohan Roy — The modernist
Bismillah Khan — The enchanter
Raja Ramanna — The energiser
B.R. Ambedkar — Eternal fighter
Rajendra Prasad — Son of the soil
C.V. Raman — Bright spark
S. Ramanujan — Perfect equation
Dhirubhai Ambani — Guru of growth
Ramnath Goenka — The kingmaker
Dhyan Chand — Sorcerer’s score
Rukmini Devi Arundale — Poetry in motion
E.M.S. Namboodiripad — The pragmatist
Sarojini Naidu — Civil crusader
Homi Bhabha — Nuclear maharaja
S. Radhakrishnan — Guiding light
Indira Gandhi — Triumph of will
Sachin Tendulkar — Beyond the boundary
J.C. Bose — Ahead of the curve
Sam Manekshaw — Warrior king
Jayaprakash Narayan — Lead factor
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel — Iron in his soul
J.R.D. Tata — Steel in his spine
Satyajit Ray — Universal eye
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam — The visionary
Subhas Chandra Bose — Supreme soldier
Lata Mangeshkar — Voice of India
S. Tripathi Nirala — Freedom’s verse
Ram Manohar Lohia — The provocateur
Rabindranath Tagore — At home in the world
M.S. Subbulakshmi — Endless echo
Viswanathan Anand — Lightning kid
M.S. Swaminathan — Roots of change
Verghese Kurien — White knight
Mahatma Gandhi — To Bapu, with love
A.B. Vajpayee — Renaissance man
Milkha Singh — Fast and gentle
Vikram Sarabhai — Master mind
Mother Teresa — Mission possible
Zubin Mehta — Baron of baton

http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/60-greatest-indians-132.html

According to me the notable omissions are religious leaders and founders and developers of RSS.

Mentioning Lohia, Anndurai and not mentioning RSS founder is totally irrational. Even Kanshiram should have made this list.

I invite readers to give their comments

Orkut Discussion - Are we alienating good Indian Muslims?

2008-03-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=370&tid=2588956125128056109some posts in the topic

Jordan raven

som of us think theyr terrorists
som of us think theyr mobs
most of us illtreat them
but theyre really goou if u know them well
disciplined god fearing
generous
ive experienced it

ανιηαѕн

Jordan raven
I don't think if there exists any problem at personal level.

My post on 17th March 2008
Narayana Rao
We are friendly with muslims
We do not ill treat muslims we know. About people with whom we do not come in contact there is no question of ill treating them.

The individual level relations and group level problems are independent in India. I have many friends all along for many years as classmates and colleagues in jobs. We never had a problem so far.

Still there are problems in society. Let us not generalise that we ill treat muslims and that is why there are problems. We do not illtreat them as individuals or as families when we are interacting with them. 11:27 am (7 minutes ago) Aminur Rashid
I fully agree with you

Ek moderator hee duusre moderator kaa dukh samajh sakta hai 11:27 am (6 minutes ago) Aminur Rashid
Let us not generalise that we ill treat muslims

I think thread starter was talking about IC370 in particular and not the real society in general. 11:29 am (5 minutes ago) Liberated Camel™
u guys r deviating from the TOPIC & taking the debate to IM orkut community......

We consider IM as official Orkut IM community for that being the largest and the most active so whatever happens there does affect our opinion. 11:29 am (4 minutes ago) delete Narayana Rao
Thank you
Mr. Aminur Rashid

I hope the discussion will take up from here by bringing this view also into consideration 11:30 am (4 minutes ago) Aminur Rashid
We consider IM as official Orkut IM community for that being the largest and the most active so whatever happens there does affect our opinion.

True. Given that if Orkut is to be believed, IC370 and IM community are the two Indian communities that should be taken as a general public opinion. 11:32 am (2 minutes ago) shivam
@ aminur

well i m not in favour of a debate in this thread......... because debates r futile..... it only creates bitterness.

i m more interested in discussion...... by discussion i mean knowing more about the other side......... 11:34 am (0 minutes ago) MиГир
ATTENTION ATTENTION

THIS HAS BEEN REALLY A GOOD DEBATE AFTER MANY LONG YEARS ..I SEE PPL FRM BOTH SIDESS RAISING A FEW GOOD POINTS . LET US NOT RUIN IT ..

In response to a blog post - Bourgeois Bureaucracy

2008-03-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

http://astrangethingcalledlife.blogspot.com/2008/03/bourgeois-bureaucracy.html

In the above blog the following issue is brought up.

If the officials are responsible for every failure then they must also be the ones behind every success of the government... How come the credit of success is always given to the ministers while every failure is the result of an erring official???
How can officials be blamed for govt policies???

The policies are drafted by the cabinet, the officials are responsible only for implementing them... As such the failure of the policies must be seen as lack of foresight on the part of the govt; the only blame that can be leveled against the officials is in the delay of implementing the plans... But then bureaucratic red-tape is a well accepted drawback inherent in such system...

My response to the post in an orkut community discussion is:
http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=7753845&tid=2586633211450203329

The post of politicians and bureaucrats is interesting and important.

Bureaucrats are judged by politicians and politicians are judged by people.

Definitely we should have system whereby some bureaucrats are recognized for their exemplary service. Such bureaucrats may be identified by multiple sections of the society, media, politicians, NGOs, and people in general. There can be a committee MPs and MLAs at state level who receive nominations from various people and organizations and declare some awards that recognize bureaucrats. There is no doubt that many of them are doing a fair days work or more than a fairdays work.

When politicians criticize them public there may be some truth in it. And also politicians are trying to deflect the blame from them. But we are there to make our judgments and many sitting MPs, MLAs and ministers are losing elections because of our judgment.

I like the issue raised by you and I am including your post and my reply in this community in my blog on political and social philosophy.

I request to think more into the issue and collect opinion of others also on the issue.

Interest of Youth in Army and Politics

2008-03-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

Orkut topic
http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=370&tid=2588941956088267428

тєяє bαρ kα bαρ
youth of india not intrested in Army and politics
9:04 pm 15.3.2008

youth of india have lost intrest in joining either Indian army or Indian politics
they rather prefer MNC's having a good salary

where indian army is facing marketing problem India politics is so much defamed that no one wants to join this field

My opinion posted
Narayana Rao
Defence - pay them more
10.31 pm 15.3.2008

At some points some professions become attractive and unattractive professions have to be made more attractive.

If private sector is rolling in profits and paying its employees fat salaries, well tax them and pay more salaries to defence officers. Wealth has to be shared in some logical manner.

It is not lack of interest in politics but going up in politics is tough job and probably only new parties now offer chance to new people. All old parties already have dynasties in each and every constituency in the country. Young persons from nonpolitical families have to come up through parties like BSP. Tough road ahead - tough people are required. It is not every body's job unlike that of private corporate sector/public sector or government job.

Do we need ethics and morals?

2008-03-06T19:40:00.000-08:00

Hindustan Times carried a lead editorial on 6.3.2008 with the caption "Courting Denigration".

The editorial says Shiv Sena has a worthy rival in Namita Panda, Orissa state Women's Commission chairperson.

She is disturbed by the fact that incidents of rape, unwed motherhood and trafficking of girls have increased in the state.

Ms Panda's antics bring to mind similar missions undertaken by in the past by a chairperson of the National Women's Commission (NCW). So worried was this repository of Indian samskara ...

Human relationships, unless they are abusive in nature, do not fall within the jurisdiction of women's commissions. They should stick to their role as the custodians of women's rights, not of women's morals.

----------------

Comments

Do we need ethics and morals in the society? If they re needed who has to protect them and strengthen them?

Is Hindustan Times right in ridiculing Ms. Panda?

Fighting exploitation as an ideology

2008-01-30T22:40:00.001-08:00

Communist movement has taken fighting exploitation as an ideology. Once in power, they did face problems in various countries. Even in India they are facing problem. No doubt communists need to develop better ways to run public sector organizations and also to make strong and wealthy people of society more humble and humane. They need incorporate ideas propounded by various religious saints and also Mahatma Gandhi who appealed to rich to consider themselves as trustees of public property.

But we want organizations committed to fight exploitation.

2008-01-24T07:36:00.000-08:00

While answering a question about the primary education in India (education upto 10 year olds) in the upper house on Nov 26th , the Minister for Human Resource Development Dr.G.P.Pilania gave these facts.

1. National University of Education Planning and Administration has developed an index called Education Development Index which depends on access,infrastructure,teacher related indicators and elementary education outcome.

2. With this index the statewise (or union territory) figure are as follows

State / UT EDI Rank
Kerala 0.708 1
Delhi 0.707 2
Tamil Nadu 0.701 3
Pondicherry 0.7 4
Chandigarh 0.69 5
Karnataka 0.674 6
Himachal Pradesh 0.668 7
Andhra Pradesh 0.654 8
Mizoram 0.65 9
Lakshadweep 0.65 10
Sikkim 0.635 11
Maharashtra 0.635 12
Gujarat 0.63 13
Punjab 0.608 14
Uttaranchal 0.605 15
Jammu & Kashmir 0.597 16
Daman & Diu 0.592 17
Goa 0.586 18
Rajasthan 0.583 19
A & N Islands 0.566 20
Manipur 0.564 21
Chhattisgarh 0.559 22
Haryana 0.556 23
Dadra & Nagar Haveli 0.538 24
Tripura 0.535 25
Meghalaya 0.534 26
Nagaland 0.533 27
Orissa 0.512 28
Madhya Pradesh 0.512 29
Assam 0.49 30
Uttar Pradesh 0.482 31
West Bengal 0.467 32
Arunachal Pradesh 0.458 33
Jharkhand 0.435 34
Bihar 0.327 35

2007-11-15T22:15:00.000-08:00

by Prabhanjan Gururaj on Nov 14, 2007 02:37 AM
INSPIRED by Shri Indresh Kumar, Sah-Sampark Pramukh of RSS, the Nationalist Muslim Movement and some other Muslim organisations in Delhi took the initiative and collected money during the month of Ramazan to help the terrorism-affected families in Kashmir. The organisations that collected money for this pious cause include My Hindustan, Rashtravadi Muslim Andolan, Bharatiya Muslim Parishad and others. This was for the first time that Muslim organisations collected money during the month of Ramazan for the families of terrorist victims in Kashmir. On December 14, 2004, Smt. Nafisa Hussain, Member, National Commission for Women, flagged off a truck loaded with 115 sewing machines and 250 blankets. Shri Arif Beg, former minister and president of Anjuman Aman Dost Insan Dost, led the team that visited Kashmir to distribute the relief material. The relief material was distributed to 90 women in two different programmes held at Srinagar and Baramulla.

In comment on rediff articles RE:RSS and patriotism
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/nov/12vicky.htm#mb

We need such more such cooperative efforts to develop harmony among diverse religions in India

Improvement projects - Society Development

2007-11-12T02:59:00.000-08:00

Improvement projects all around will develop a society. In japanese companies progress was driven by improvement projects initiated by workers in millions. No doubt today they are unable to compete with more cheap sources of labour. But still they could beat USA in a number of industries because their quality was more and cost was less.

I keep urging various national organizations to motivate their local set ups to take up social improvement work. Organizations like RSS which have local sakhas, congress seva dal, trade unions etc. can take up some improvement projects at their local outfit level to bring improvement all around. We had NSS of students. We have to do and create success stories and leverage small successes into big successes.

My orkut post in

Is India Already Screwed Up? - discuss here
http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=370&tid=2565167448030827225&na=2&nst=8

My another post in the topic

We do not have many things. What we do not have can be recorded in world development report. Before them we als know them. But how to improve them. How much improvement you are able to do around you before retiring tired. Each of us has to do something worthwhile around us and then during periods we are tired to do something on our own, encourage others to do something. We need millions of self improvement projects to improve our society. I hope this orkut discussion will be prove useful to create some.

RSS Vijaya Dasami Function

2007-10-23T00:38:00.000-07:00

I attended the vijaya dasami function in our locality. As it was a street corner many people gathered around and watched the proceedings. I was also one of them.

But the speaker has not made an appeal to them to participate in RSS activities from that day. In the talk, the basic purpose of RSS was not adequately put forward. The basic purpose is to bring together people at various levels(from sakha to nation and even world) and involve them in planning and acting for development of the society.

There has to be social development activity at sakha level and in such public functions, activities at various levels have to be recounted. Straight away going to Kashmir problem or Ram setu problem ignoring local social problems like overcrowded railway platforms, deteriorated roads, may not attract many participants. Social development must include local problems.

2007-10-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

> Yesterday, on 1-10-2007, I visited library of North Central College,
> Naperville, Illinois and was surprised to find a hall exhibiting
> posters of Gandhi and his various movements and ideas. One the
> posters says, Gandhi got the idea of civil disobedience or
> developed a firm conviction of it after reading an article titled
> "Civil disobedience" by Thoreau who refused to pay an American tax
> to fight a war in Mexico and went to jail.
>
> I also read a latest book on Sociology published in 2007, which mentions in the
> chapter on religion that Hindus in America number around 2 million
> and therefore this religion is a part of multireligious secular
> society of America.

I came across a very old issue of a local paper
that had a poem on friendships. The meaning of the poem is

If you lost a friend
due to a hasty word
Go immediately and make him friend once again
Don't stand for any pride
Friendship is more valuable
Than imagined issues

Vedas Simplified

2007-09-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

I started posting simpler versions of the meaning of various hymns of sukla yajurveda in

www.nrao-vedas.blogspot.com

I posted so far 10 chapters. 12-11-2007

I started posting on satapatha brahmana also

www.nrao-brahmanas.blogspot.com

Wnat to adopt a child in India

2007-09-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

Visit site of Central Adoption Resource Authority (an autonomous body under Ministry of Women and Child Development, Govt. of India

www.adoptionindia.nic.in

email cara@bol.net.in

Grihyasutras blog

2007-09-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

My grihya sutras blog has now complete postings of 61 parts of Apastamba dhrama sutra in it.

www.grihyasutras.blogspot.com

My orkut posting on the topic why communists oppose Hinduism

2007-09-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

The main plank of communism is fighting against exploitation. But somewhere in developing his philosophy Marx came with the idea that because of religion, workers are not realising the need to fight capitalists and he argued that religion is developed to support capitalists.

Hence working against religion has become part of communism. In India to create confusion and chaos, communists work against Hinduism and support muslims.

It is high time communists concentrate on figthing exploitation leaving the anti- religion stance.

Exploitation is very high in this country and you need organizations fighting against it.

www.kvssnrao-pss/blogspot.com

Change old traditions to bring unity of Hindus

2007-09-04T06:14:00.000-07:00

I just studied an address by Shri Balasaheb Deoras in his Vijaya Dasami address in the year 1991, calling for ending all old traditions that are coming in the way of building a unified hindu society.

It is a telugu publication by Bharat Prakashan Trust Vijayavada. Listen to the voice of reason.

Hindu Muslim Unity

2007-09-01T01:04:00.000-07:00

I actively participate in various communities of Orkut and express my opinion based on my current thinking or based on writings various authors. This is my latest posting in RSS community in the topic - How to achieve Hindu-Muslim unity ?

Dattopant Thengadiji's views

The attitude of Hindu Dharma towards different religions has enabled it to become a Confederation of all religions. Similarly its attitude towards Law has helped it to become a Vishva Dharma.

In the chapter "Real Character and Spirit of Hindu Law" in the book The Perspective, A Collection of Articles of Dattopant B. Thengadi, published by Sahitya Sindhu, Bangalore in 1971.

Please see the excerpts from the chapter that I posted in:

http://grihyasutras.blogspot.com/2007/09/real-character-and-spirit-of-hindu-law.html

Also I came across references in this book, which speak good of Islamic religion also. There are directions or ways to achieve Hindu Muslim Unity or Hindu- any religion unity. We have to find out at least one way and do something about it.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya - Social and Political Philosophy

2007-08-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

Integral Humanism

Coperative processes are more in the society in comparison to conflict processes. that is why societies are growing.

A conflict in society is like a disease in a person. The body has the capability to get rid of the disease and become healthy again.

Society has the capability to end the conflict. social workers must try to improve this capability like doctors improve the capability of the body to fight the disease.

Mass contact by political parties

2007-08-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

An active worker of a political party can contact easily 50 persons, who could be their potential supporters at their house every year. Around 2000 members will be required at a parliamentary constituency level to meet 1,00,000 persons. But no political party seems to be practicing this mass contact. Why?

Unity in Extreme Diversity - Hindu Gods Symbolize it

2007-08-28T22:25:00.000-07:00

The practice of unity in diversity casts faith on interdependence. swami Suddhananda explains the practice of unity in extreme diversity by referring to the togetherness of Shiva, Shakti, Ganapati and karthikeya.

They have as their constant means of transport, the bull, the lion, the mouse and the peacock. In addition Shiva wears a snake around his neck. The lion normally feeds on the bull, while the snake feeds on the mouse. Peacock feeds on the snake. Still they live in divine unison, thye live joyfully in peaceful co-existence.

Also remember, Adi Sankara founded his monastery in the place where he observed to his delight, a serpent protecting with its raised hood a pregnant toad from rain.

Excerpts from Establish yourself on true strength by K Vijayaraghavan in Economic Times dated 18-6-2007 (June) in the editorial page under the column Cosmic Uplink

Social Capital

2007-08-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

I came across this concept in an article in Hindu dated August 26,2007 page 14 by P.K.Doraiswamy.

Social capital is the capacity of people to act together willingly in their common long-term interest.

The article stated taht democracy is not a spectator sport for the people of the country. They have to influence policy and project formulation through membership of committees, submission of memoranda directly or through elected representatives, and through an interactive role in the implementation of policies, projects and schemes.

Their participation in exposing irregularities is also important for improvement in the quality of governance.

The various roles can be:

Watchdog
Advocate
Agitator
Educator
Service provider; government neglected areas can be taken up by civil society.

Meaning of Brahmana

2007-08-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

Brahman means prayer or devotion reflecting an authoritative utterance of a priest. Utterance is particularly related to sacrifice and the brahmanas are so called as they are repositories of such utterances.

Political and Social Philosophy of Karl Marx

2007-08-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

In Marx's philosophy conflict has the significant place.

Political and Social Philosophy of Gandhi

2007-08-25T08:39:00.000-07:00

The main focus of Gandhi's philosophy is non-violence.

Political and Social Philosophy of M.N. Roy

2007-08-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

Rule 1: Man is archetype of society, co-operative social relationships contribute to develop invidual potentialities. But the development of the individual is the measure of social progress.

Rule 2: Quest for freedom and search for truth constitute the basic urge of human progress.

Roy is of the view that, “religion is bound to be liquidated by science, because scientific knowledge enables mankind to answer questions, confronted by which in its childhood, it was compelled to assume super-natural forces or agencies.”[

Mission, Objectives, Vision, Goals Definitions

2007-08-20T04:22:00.000-07:00

Mission or Purpose: Mission is an organization’s concept of itself and its service to customers and to society, expressed in terms that give the organization meaning and legitimacy. It is a long-term vision of what the organization seeks to do and the reasons why it exists

Objectives: Objectives specify the results sought over the long-term through the ongoing, long-run operations of the organization. These outcomes include the desired results for the customers of the organization (its mission) as well as the outcomes it desires for its other stakeholders.

Vision: is an important goal cherished and emphasized by the organization.

Goals: The goals of an organization are the intermediate quantitative and qualitative “performance target” which management seeks to attain in moving toward organizational objectives. Thus where as objectives are long range in nature, goals are short range and measurable. They serve to indicate the speedd and momentum which management seeks to maintain in accomplishing the organization’s objectives and purpose.

Strategy: Strategy is a comprehensive description of an
organization’s master plan for achieving its goals and objectives (vision and mission).

Policies: Policies guide decision making when executing strategy.

Based on the explanation given for above by Arthur Thompson and A.J. Strickland in Strategy and Policy: Concepts and Cases, Business Pub, Inc., Dallas, 1978

TDP

2007-08-19T02:20:00.001-07:00

Vision - I have a dream... For a better tomorrow

A little over five years ago, when i took over the reins of the government, I started off with a mission - to make Andhra Pradesh the foremost State in the country in terms of growth, equity, and quality of life.
My Vision is that Andhra Pradesh should be a State where poverty is totally eradicated; that every man, women and child has access not just to basic minimum needs, but to all the opportunities to lead an happy and fulfilling life; and that we must emerge as a knowledge and learning-based society build on the values of hard work, honesty, discipline and a collective sense of purpose.

-N.Chandrababu Naidu

Sociology of Political Order - An Introduction

2007-08-19T01:31:00.000-07:00

Source: Ian Robertson

Over 2000 years ago the philosopher Aristostle observed that we are political animals. We are indeed, and necessarily so, for politics is an inevitable consequence of social living.

Power: "the ability to control the behaviour of others, even in the absence of their consent."

When people accept the control even when they diagree with its application to them, it legitimate power. A judge's decision is accepted by a person even though he may not be happy with the decision.

It is coercion when people do not agree with the exercise of power. A dacoit taking away household goods by controlling the behaviour of people by threatening them with dire consequences.

State

State is the institution in the society that successfully claims a monopoly on the right to use force within a given territory.

Sociology of Religion An introduction

2007-08-18T06:07:00.000-07:00

Source: sociology by Ian Robertson, Worth Publishers, Inc., New York, 1977

Religion is a universlal social institution, but it takes a multitude of forms.

The definition given by author is that religion is a system of communally held beliefs and practices that are oriented toward some sacred, supernatural realm.

To a sociologist religion is a social product, created by human beings and not by supernatural forces.

One of the sociologists, Reece McGee divides religions into four main types.

Religions of simple suernaturalism, animism, theism, and abstract ideas.

Simple supernaturalism: Belief in supernatural forces. No concept of god.

Animism: Belief in supernatural powers of animate spirits. no concept of god.

Theism: concept of god. Number of gods or belief in only God. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam beleive in one god. But the author says thye also have belief in multiple divine entities and concepts like Father and Son etc.

Abstract ideals: No god but higher ideals. Example - Buddhism

Theodicy: A common feature of religions is that they have a convincing explanation for the birth and death and usual problems of human existence. If such an explanation is not there, the universal sequence of birth and death can easily seem meaningless.

Religion: A functionalist analysis

Durkheim, a poineer and famous socioligist was the first to apply functionalist perspective to the study of religion. According to him religion is universal in human society, because it has a vital function. According to him when people engage in religious activities especially as a group, they feel great ecstacy and elation of a kind they would never feel alone. The participants ascribe this fervour to supernatural origin.

The functions of Religion

1. Religion functins as a form of social cement. It unites people by bringing them together periodically to eanct various rituals and providing them with hsared values and beliefs thatbind them together.

2. It offers explanations of common human problems and predicaments an gives people a sense of meaning and purpose in a world that might otherwise seem meaningless.

3. religion reinforces the most important norms of a society, for these tend to become part of religious doctrine and are therefore regarded as sacred.

4. Religion helps people during such major events of the life cycle as puberty, marriage, and death by providing rituals that give a structure to those events.

According to Marx, religion reflects society.

According Weber, religion influences social change.

Religious Organisations - Dharmic Mutts - Profile - Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri

2007-08-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Web Site: http://www.sringeri.net/

Mission

Objective

Vision

Goals

Current Strategy

Current Tactics

Current Slogans:

Religious Organisations - Dharmic Mutts - Profile - Kanchi Kamakoti Matham

2007-08-17T23:50:00.000-07:00

Website: http://www.kamakoti.org/

Mission

Objective

Vision

Goals

Current Strategy

Current Tactics

Current Slogans:

Political Party - Profile - BSP - Bahujan Samaj Party

2007-08-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

Mission

Objective

Vision

Goals

Current Strategy

Current Tactics

Current Slogans:
Sarvajana Sukhaya, Sarvajana Hitaya

Political Party - Profile - Shiv Sena

2007-08-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

Mission

Objective

Vision

Goals

Current Strategy

Current Tactics

Political Party - Profile - Congress

2007-08-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

Web site: http://www.aicc.org.in/

Mission: To build that society which combines compassion with competence, equity with excellence."

Smt. Sonia Gandhi

Source: http://www.aicc.org.in/home.php accessed on 19-8-2007

Objective

Vision

Goals

Current Strategy

UPA Common Minimum Program: http://www.aicc.org.in/common-minimum-programme.php

The UPA government supported by the Left Parties will have six basic principles for governance.

Ø to preserve, protect and promote social harmony and to enforce the law without fear or favour to deal with all obscurantist and fundamentalist elements who seek' to disturb social amity and peace.

Ø to ensure that the economy grows at least 7-8% per year in a sustained manner over a decade and more and in a manner that generates employment so that each family is assured of a safe and viable livelihood.

Ø to enhance the welfare and well-being of farmers, farm labour and workers, particularly those in the unorganized sector and assure a secure future for their families in every respect.

Ø to fully empower women politically, educationally, economically and legally.

Ø to provide for full equality of opportunity, particularly in education and employment for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, OBCs and religious minorities.

Ø to unleash the creative energies of our entrepreneurs, businessmen, scientists, engineers and all other professionals and productive forces of society.

Current Tactics

Current Slogans

SWOT Analysis

Stregths

1. The image of party that brought independence to the country.
2. The image of part that was lead by Tilak, Gokhale, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nehru

Weaknesses

1.One does not see a major social purpose in Congress party. One sees only efforts to stick to power and hand over the power to the family members.
2.It played divisive politics for a very long time.

Opportunities

Threats

1. Bahujan Samaj Party: Its strategy of bringing together upper castes and lower castes.

Political Party - Profile - CPI

2007-08-17T19:52:00.001-07:00

Mission

Objective

Vision

Goals

Current Strategy

Current Tactics

Political Party - Profile - CPM

2007-08-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

Mission

Objective

Vision

Goals

Current Strategy

Current Tactics

Political Party - Profile - BJP

2007-08-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

Mission

Objective

Vision

Goals

Current Strategy

Current Tactics

Social Organisations - Profile - RSS - Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

2007-08-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

Web Site: www.rss.org

Mission:

To organise our society from the Himalaya to Kanyakumari as a well disciplined and powerful entity and make our nation capable of overcoming all sorts of calamities.

Source: Atre, S.H.(Translator), I am an Ordinary Swayamsevak (Discourse of Shri Guruji), Abhyudaya Prakashan, Dombivli, 1997, Page 31

Objective

Vision

Goals

The goal before the Sangh is to have an organised Hindu society in which all its constituents and institutions function in harmony and co-ordination, just as in the body organs.

Source: http://www.rss.org/New_RSS/Mission_Vision/Why_RSS.jsp accessed on 18-8-2007.

Current Strategy

While founding the Sangh, Dr. Hedgewar - himself a freedom fighter had before him the goal not only of independence, but also of 'swatantrya' in its literal sense, i.e., the blossoming of 'swatantra' - the national identity - in every walk of our social life. As such, it has always been the supreme concern of the swayamsevaks, to uphold and seek re-assertion of the national honour wherever it is at stake.

Source: http://www.rss.org/New_RSS/Mission_Vision/Why_RSS.jsp accessed on 18-8-2007.

Current Tactics

Current Slogans

Grihya Sutras - The Hindu Way of Daily Life

2007-08-16T21:57:00.000-07:00

The rituals constituting the Brahmanas received systematic treatment in what are called Kalpa-Sutras. These are exegetical texts of the Vedas. The need for them arose because short manuals were required by the priests as an aid for their daily performance.

Among these texts, those that deal with Vedic sacrifices are called Srauta-Sutras and those that deal with domestic rituals are called Grihya-Sutras which, though not valuable as pieces of literature, are yet valuable as "Folk-lore" journals of ancient India. They portray an accurate picture of the social lie, popular customs and usage of ancient India.

Some important Grihya Sutras are listed below:

1.Apastamba 2. Aswalayana 3.Baudhayana 4.Bharadwaja 5.Gobhila 6.Hiranyakesia 7. Jaimineeya 8.Khadira 9.Manava 10.Paraskara 11.Sankhayana 12.Varaha Grihya Sutras.

There is another class of texts called Dharma Sutras that are an extension of the Grihya Sutras. These texts deal mainly with secular and religious laws relating to the Ashramas.

These are again supplemented by what are called Parisishtas or addenda. The Commentaries of which 25 are known; Prayogas, of which 24 are known.
There are also a dozen Karikas or specialised treatises on individual Samskaras.

In addition to these are Apta-vakyas or the words of the saints and the wise who observe and follow Sanatan Dharma (Vedic religion).They have the sanctity of Smritis in cases of doubt.

According to me Grihya sutras are very important and they are to be reformulated as per the requirements of the modern day life and they must be propagated among people through the discourses at the temples and religious gatherings like Ganesh puja, Durga puja etc.

I started the blog www.grihyasutras.blogspot.com to do my bit to bring them to the notice of more people.

Forget Vastu Worries

2007-08-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

Hindustan Times, 28 July 2007, page 10

"Debugging our minds of scary vastu worry" is a must read for all Indians. Renuka Narayanan (renukanarayanan@hindustantimes.com)explains the rationale behind development of vastu shastra. she also mentions that vastu shashtra is different for different locations, Gangetic vastu was different from hill vastu and coastal vastu.
Why? The persons who developed the rules considered the movement of Sun, air and water in that locality and developed the rules as per the requirements of that day.

Why water well was to kept in North east in Gangetic plains? Because that's where the sun came from every morning. So that bit got warmth and light first for early morning work.

In a short line from the door and the water was the south-east, where the kitchen was located. Furthest from the fire, in a diagonal, the store was kept. In the southwest, where afternoon sun comes, family's sleeping place was kept.

All the rules were made with comfort in mind with the facilities available at that time.

Don't fret over the rules which are not applicable today. Understand the basic message. Develop Vastu of today for comfortable living.

Congratulations and appreciation to Renuka Narayanan for coming up with this very interesting insight.

Partying and Driving

2007-08-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

Sathya Saran(ssaran@dnaindia.net), editor of Me DNA wrote a very interesting piece with the caption Me 2U in Me dated August 5 2007. The piece is about driking the real stuff in parties.

She says "Of course I party. ... At hig profile parties, it is tough to be able to stick to a soft drink. Most people wonder why I am not drinkig the real stuff. I oput on my most angelic look and tell them I do not drink because I drive.... the person I am talking to is most likely to retort, 'one drink does not hurt anybody.'"

she gave reasons why it not wise to drink even one and then drive.

she further writes, "All this I do not always bother to tell my hosts or other friendly people who think that pressing a drink on me is one way of showing they care."

She comments that she is happy to see a number people who between them decide who is drinking that evening and who is driving. Times are changing and people are thinking of their safety as well as others' safety.

She mentions a new law that will that will make more people understand the necessity of not drinking when they have to drive.

A very interesting way of communicating socially relevant issue.

Driving Training through TV

2007-06-21T03:17:00.000-07:00

TV can be used for spreading messages regarding driving in various road conditions as well as about mistakes more frequently committed by drivers especially owner drivers. But somehow so far I have not come across usage of this medium by the transport departments.

Today I came across a driving manual on internet. There are many more I think. I shall search them and post their page ids.

Driving handbooks page ids

1. http://www.karnataka.com/driving-manual/

Sarvajana Hitaya, Sarvajana Sukhaya

2007-06-21T03:12:00.000-07:00

A great brand message for a political party at the moment in India when many parties including Congess are trying to play group identity politics.Appreciation to Ms. Mayawati and her party men.

Analysis of Pending Bills

2007-05-21T23:48:00.000-07:00

Mint 22 amy 2002 page 24

You can access commentaries on pending bills www.prsindia.org.

Gandhian Thought

2007-05-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

What is my interest in recording my thoughts on political and social systems?

I studied Sociology in 1983 in context of writing a competitive examination. Recently, I once again studied some books on Sociology. Hence, I am interested to notice the issues related to social and political systems and link them to Sociology concepts if possible.

Yesterday, I collected the book 'Mahatma Gandhi: A Biography' by B.R. Nanda (Oxford Paperbacks,1958) from my daughter for return to the library. I just flipped over for a casual glance and the chapter 40 on Rural Economics, caught my attention.

The Bombay session of INC in October 1934, authorised the formation under the guidance of Mahatma, All-India Village Industries Association. Earlier to this, All-India Spinners Association was established, and it extended its activities to 5,300 villages, provided employment to 220,000 spinners, 20,000 weavers, and 20,000 carders.

Gandhiji gave a call to volunteers from the towns to spread themselves in the country side to help revive dead or dying rural industries and to improve standards of nutrition, education and sanitation. Gandhiji expected these public spirited lmen and women to support themselves on 'a village scale; if they put on their work a price whihc villages could not sustain, village economy would face banruptcy. voluntary work alone could overcome the financial hurdle which made official programmes of rural uplift a snail-pace affair. Can students of NITIE Industrial Engineering program take some up projects in the area of village industries now? I already mentioned about such opportunities in my proposal for a new curriculum. Students can approach Corporate Social Responsibility departments of leading companies for sponsorship in this regard.

The other issues that attracted my attention is effort put in by Gandhi in fighting untouchability. He made it a part of his constructive political program. Was RSS inspired by Gandhi's appeal? May be or many not be. But RSS is carrying on work in this field even today.Jyotirmay Sharma, a political commentator, acknowledges it in the Edit page article of his in Hindustan Times, Mumbai, 15th May 2007. He quotes from the annual report presented at the RSS Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha held on March 9, 2007. "It speaks of the evils of casteism and untouchability being prevalent "even now', and then moves onto delineate the issues connected with this problem. ... resoultion No. 3 of the same conference speaks of the inspiration for the message of social harmony (samajik samarasata) coming from the establishment by 'saints of various religious denominations" of the VHP in 1964....Following this tradition, the VHP meeting in Allahabad in February 2007 had passed a resolution "to open the doors of temples to all Hindus for entry and darshan". It does speak of securing securing social justice and economic empowerment for the deprived sections, but advocates the way "providing equality of opportunities and social dignity on the basis of social harmony and goodwill". While, the ascent of Bahujan Samaj Party to power in UP does indicate a transformation in Indian society, a lot is to be still done to remove the idea of untouchability from the minds of masses and one wants many more social organizations to come forward and spread the message and remove untouchability totally from Indian Society.

KVSSNRao

Bahujan Samaj to Sarvajan Samaj

2007-05-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 12, 2007
Bahujan Samaj to Sarvajan Samaj
I felt happy when I first came to know that BSP won majority in UP. The movement of Dalits started may be 100 or 150 years ago has given fruitful results. It is not gift of any political leader, but the intelligence and hardwork they put in that gave the election victory to BSP. In a very short time, Mayawati developed an inclusive agenda and a party that has persons from all sections of the society. Still, everybody agrees that Dalit agenda is the main agenda of BSP. BJP should learn from Mayawati, how to develop an inclusive agenda, and include the aspirations of muslims and christians in their agenda, while emphasizing the issues that they are championing today. The attempt by L.K.Advani in Pakistan to give securalist certificate to Jinnah backfired because it was done in a haste without taking into consideration the feelings of his partymen. Jinnah was responsible for partition and the resulting bloodshed and misery, and any reconciliation about his role needs to be done in a very careful manner. But BJP should also move towards an inclusive political agenda. Such a move will create some unifying agenda in the present state of deep division among religious groups and caste groups in India.
Labels: India, Political system

posted by KVSSNrao at 8:41 PM

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BSP win in UP - Good for the country

2007-05-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 11, 2007
BSP win in UP - Good for the country
Good for the country
by KVSS Rao on May 11, 2007 01:38 PM

It is good for country's unity and democracy that a party with the name Bahujan Samaj Party came to power on its own in the most populous state in India, when it genuinely included all sections of the society in its agenda and party. This will motivate more people, who are underdogs today, to put in efforts to come on top some day.

Narayana Rao KVSS
(Comment on Rediff.com)

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