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PUNE, NOVEMBER 22, 2014 | www.goldensparrow.com
TGS LIFE
How to host talk of the town parties
CITY
SPORTS
Pune’s only butterfly garden faces closure P3
‘Anand can still regain crown’ P 16
ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR
CSR Champs, Citizen Groups, please adopt this pedestrian subway
The Chandan Nagar Pedestrian Subway on Ahmednagar Road is lying unused as citizens’ cross the road above in mid-traffic
this section of Ahmednagar Road was concretised, residents told TGS that this subway is often locked. They have thus got used to crossing the road in mid-traffic. Ironically, the PMPML and State Transport (ST) buses stop near this subway and people rush to these bus stops by crossing the road dangerously. School children, women, aged persons and others cross the road indiscriminately. The stretch has seen many fatal accidents but people have forgotten them. An inspection of the subway revealed that it is relatively clean, properly lit, has glossy ‘no spitting’ boards and the steel arm rests/ supports are still intact. In spite of this, pedestrians were found dangerously crossing Ahmednagar Road in midtraffic thus risking their lives. Th is road, which leads on to the highway, is used by heavily loaded trucks, long distance buses, cars, jeeps, motorcycles and three wheelers ferrying passengers. Unmindful of the heavy traffic, pedestrians cross the road and risk their lives. (with inputs from Gitesh Shelke)
Citizens’ Initiative
TGS NEWS SERVICE In a citizen’s campaign over the last three weeks, The Golden Sparrow on Saturday has been highlighting the sad neglect of a large number of pedestrian subways in the city. An estimated Rs 50 crore from the public exchequer has been spent on constructing these
Signposts
subways meant to promote citizens’ safety while crossing busy roads. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been rather slow in reacting to the suggestion that it would not cost much to have these subways restored. All they need is cleaning up, good lighting and a warden or security guard.
Pune being a city of proactive citizens’ groups such as Pedestrians First, Janawani, National Society for Clean Cities, Parisar, Sajag Nagrik Manch, PMP Pravasi Manch and many others, any of these groups could consider adopting the Chandan Nagar pedestrian subway on Ahmednagar Road. Constructed by the PMC before
ACKNOWLEDGING INNOVATION
SC notice on BJP plea on its foreign funding New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday issued notice to the central government and the Election Commission on a BJP plea challenging the Delhi High Court order that the contribution to its coffers by the Indian subsidiary of an overseas-based company amounted to foreign contribution. An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice H.L. Dattu while issuing notice on Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) plea, tagged it with an earlier Congress plea on the same issue. IANS
No stay to Shahi Imam son’s anointment ceremony New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Friday refused to stay the anointment ceremony of Jama Masjid Shahi Imam’s son as the Naib Imam (deputy Imam) saying the ceremony has no legal sanctity. A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw said that anointment ceremony has no legal position, as informed by the centre and the Delhi Waqf Board, so it can’t stay the ceremony. The central government and the Waqf Board Thursday told the court that anointment of Naib Imam was “illegal” and has no legal sanctity. The court also issued notice to centre, the Delhi Waqf Board and the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), DDA and MCD and sought their response by Jan 28. IANS
Dear Readers, We welcome your comments and suggestions for the restoration of pedestrian subways in the city. Please write to us at tgs. feedback@goldensparrow.com, Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. 1641, Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411 030, Tel: 0202432 4332/33. You may also tweet to us at @TGSWeekly.
A visually challenged teacher (right) and student duo from a local school demonstrate the working of Punetra, a device meant for the visually challenged students with audio curriculum for schools
India’s social innovations NEED OUR SUPPORT As Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi has said, India may be a land with hundreds of problems but it is also a land with a million solutions. The way forward in dealing with India’s core problems is through Social Innovations and Bottom of the Pyramid businesses as was emphasised during the day-long 2nd National Social Innovation seminar in Pune on November 17
TGS Children’s Day competition – last day for submissions today! The Golden Sparrow on Saturday kick started their very first competition on Children’s Day as a tribute to the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi. His crusade against child labour is the theme for the competition. Students can write essays, compose poems
Dr Jairaj Chintamani (second from right) was given the Anjani Mashelkar Inclusive Innovation Award at the 2nd National Social Innovation Seminar for the invention of Diosense, a device to help diabetic ailments. Diosense is a non-invasive device that can detect ulcer prone regions with 90 per cent accuracy
Complete Wi-Fi connectivity at UoP BY MANASI SARAF JOSHI @GargiManasi
The Savitribai Phule Pune University will have a complete Wi-Fi connectivity at its campus, with 24X7 Internet facility at teachers’ quarters, from November 25. Speaking to The Golden Sparrow on Saturday, vice-chancellor WN Gade said, “The Maharashtra governor C Vidyasagar Rao would be inaugurating the Wi-Fi campus programme. For the first time we will be having a complete Wi-Fi campus connectivity on campus, covering both the teaching and non-teaching quarters.”
Earlier, the campus spread over 400 acres, had only limited Wi-Fi connectivity. Gade said, “We have installed fibre optic wires for good and quality network. A budget of Rs 10 crore was allocated for the project. I am sure that the students will welcome the facility and make good use of it.” About access to social networking sites, Gade said, “We will decide about this only after a deliberation. Sites that are informative and necessary will be given priority, while those that are not relevant, will not be given access to.” manasisaraf@gmail.com
or paint around the theme. Till date, TGS has received 200 pictures, 90 essays and 30 poems from various institutions across the city. Today is the last day for submission. For more details contact Prachi Bari on 9822619858 or Yash Daiv on 9762884007.
CHILDREN’S DAY COMPETITION The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to eminent social worker Kailash Satyarthi in recognition of his crusade against child labour. As a tribute to him, we invite the Children of Pune to participate in
The Golden Sparrow’s Children’s Day Competition Children, send us your paintings, poems & essays on
CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA
Mention your name, age, standard, school’s name and contact number in your entry. Today is the Last Day for Receiving Entries
3 Grand Winners & 5 consulation prizes in each category will be announced in this newspaper Entries may be sent to: contest.tgs@gmail.com or The Golden Sparrow on Saturday, 1641, Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune - 411030. Tel: 020-24324332/33
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2014
This society recycles 40k ltr of water daily P4
Miscreants remove railings on Univ Rd P7
PUNE
“By empowering teachers and making them more knowledgeable, quality education can be achieved.” — Farida Lambay, founder trustee and executive secretary of Pratham, NGO for education
Helping them lead a life of dignity BY ISHANI BOSE @ishani_bose Sixty-year-old Anita’s mental age is 39. She was mortally scared of fire and even the sight of a match box would set her off in a frenzy. Anita has come a long way since then. Now she can make tea for visitors without help from her family. She helps out in the family kitchen, washing and cleaning vegetables. She also can bathe and clothe herself and go to school on her own. And the independence comes along with self confidence. Anita’s rehabilitation has come about through the efforts and guidance she has received at the Kamayani school for the mentally handicapped. Set up in 1964 by late Sindhutai Joshi, the Kamayani school specialises in educating mentally challenged children and people. The word ‘kamayani’ means faith and the institution has been working for the welfare of the specially-abled with more than its share of faith. Back then, Kamayani was the first and only school of its kind for the mentally
handicapped children. Since then, the school has grown and evolved manifold. “This year we have completed Kamayani’s golden jubilee and it’s a special occasion for us. We are running schools and workshops in Pune, Nigdi and Talegaon. Over the years, we have expanded and now have multiple programmes such as a school, a workshop for those who are 18 and above), requirement training and vocational training. We also provide training to the teachers of the special kids and have a sports stadium, and a farming and gardening centre,” said Arvind Kulkarni, chairman of Kamayani. The organisation has also been conducting a job fair for physicallychallenged persons, in association with Delhi-based NGO, Sarthak Educational Trust, since 2012. This year the two-day job fair ending today had companies like IBM, Wipro, Infosys, Croma, Dominos and Tech Mahindra as participants. “We are a bridge between the industry and the disabled population, where both can benefit from each other. Pune is an industrial hub and since the last
The humble beginning Kamayani was started by Sindhutai Joshi in 1964, who moved to Pune after the tragic death of her husband in an aircraft accident. It is here that children are taught to have faith in themselves and their abilities. It was her selfless love for the mentally challenged children that led her to make a humble beginning. It was because of her efforts that the modest one-room school was turned into an institution recognised all over the country for the human services.
ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR
Kamayani has been undertaking various activities for the betterment of the disabled people in society
Students at the Kamayani Vocational Training Centre on Senapati Bapat Road
two years, we are conducting this special job fair where people with any kind of disability can walk in, be interviewed by social workers, get their aptitude analysed by psychologists, and be given jobs by the companies,” Kulkarni said. According to the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, three per cent seats in every company must be reserved for people with disabilities. Kamayani also conducted a
Corporate Social Responsibility seminar-cum-workshop to which politicians, NGOs and industrialists were invited. “This seminar was a wonderful platform to discuss about potential plans, and to know how far they could help us with ideation and funding. For example, if we plan to build a hostel for the handicapped people, we might be able to generate only 10-15
per cent of the finance on our own. So an industrial house’s support would be welcome. With enough money, we can start hostels, expand our training college, vocational training programmes and day care centre. Once they know what we do, philanthropists and NGOs will be willing to help us,” Kulkarni said. (Some names have been changed to protect privacy) ishani.bose@goldensparrow.com
GET IN TOUCH Kamayani School for mentally handicapped 270/B, Ghokhale nagar, Contact: 020 - 2567 3529 or 2565 1588 Kamayani Vidyamandir Sector no. 24, Near Chitamani Ganesh Mandir, Pradhikaran, Nigdi; 020 - 2765 1221; Visit: www.kamayanischool.org
Caring for those with special needs Reaching out to children with learning disorders Ulhas and Pratibha Kenjale have been helping the mentally challenged through their special school
RAHUL RAUT
Dr Anjali Morris Education and Health Foundation plans to spread awareness in Maharashtra and help parents and teachers understand these kids better BY ARCHANA DAHIWAL @ArchanaDahiwal
Ulhas Kenjale (extreme left) and his wife Pratibha(centre) with students at their Sanskar Pratishthan Residential School
BY ARCHANA DAHIWAL @ArchanaDahiwal ‘Service to mankind is service to God’, they say. Seventy-three-year-old Ulhas Kenjale and his 68-year-old wife Pratibha who run the Sanskar Pratishthan Residential School for mentally challenged children, have been doing just that for the past 34 years. Students below 18 years of age are taught free of cost. The Kenjales also run an agricultural project for adults. The school is located 25 kilometres from Pune, on Gadadawane Road, near Datta Temple at Ambadvet, near Pirangut, Mulshi. The Kenjales started a school at Paud village, in 1984, when they were unable to find a school for their mentally-challenged son Sarang. Initially, the school was run in two rented rooms. “In the beginning, we had just 20 students who came from the nearby villages. When the number rose to 40, we found it difficult to handle them as some would play truant. We eventually purchased 10 gunthas of land for the construction of the school building, for which we received aid from the Social Welfare Department of the Maharashtra government. But due to a shortage of funds, we couldn’t construct a building and had to make do with huts. We did not have
Salient features of school • Spread over on 5.50 acre of land of which 2-acre is being used for farming to teach agriculture skills to adults. • Staffs strength is 20 with three teachers to look after the children • A life-long scheme for students above 18 years of age. Under which the school provides them care and shelter for life.
power supply, which added to our problems. But a state electricity department official whose son was in our school, helped us get power supply. Finally, in 2007, we constructed the school building on 2.5 acres of land,” said Pratibha. There is a complete apathy from the society and the government towards the mentally challenged. “Physically challenged children can find some means of survival with their mental abilities but mentally challenged children are seen as a burden even by their own families, and they are also generally humiliated or ill-treated in society. Their parents have no idea of what to do about their upbringing. As a result, mentally challenged children are widely neglected instead of
being treated with love and affection,” the Kenjales feel. There are 30 children between the ages of 6 and 18 years at the residential school, along with 27 adults between the ages of 19 and 63. Their IQ levels vary but borderline cases can lead near-normal lives, with proper grooming, they feel. “Sometime back a boy was admitted to our school after he was rusticated from his previous school for ‘abnormal behaviour’. But he made good progress in our school, and also won awards in the sports competitions. These children need to feel comfortable and that is the kind of atmosphere we provide them here,” Ulhas said. “Mentally-challenged children or adults are very trustworthy and honest. They perform their given duties well. They only lack the inability to take decisions,” he said. Ulhas and Pratibha Kenjale have been felicitated by Pune’s Ashwini Japtiwale Smruti Pratishthan, in recognition of their service to the mentally-challenged. archana.dahiwal@goldensparrow.com GET IN TOUCH Contact: 020-20291065, 9850270862, 8805545569)
Pune-based NGO Dr Anjali Morris Education and Health Foundation (MF) is observing November as the Learning Disorders (LDs) awareness month. MF has been offering remedial educational assistance and training teachers to work with such students for the past 11 years. It plans to hold campaigns all over Maharashtra. Pimpri-Chinchwad mayor Shakuntala Darade inaugurated the campaign awareness-cum-exhibition event organised by MF at Manohar Sabhagruha, Jnanaprabodhini Navnagar Vidyalaya, Sector- 26, Pradhikaran in Nigdi recently. Speaking at the function, Shakuntala said, “Most of the children studying in municipal schools come from low income households, and parents or teachers fail to notice kids with LDs. Giving practical advice for handling such children’s academic, social and emotional issues will help them progress in life and contribute to society.” The mayor offered assistance to the Morris Foundation in their effort to help such students. THE FIRST STEP “Our founder director Dr Anjali Morris found that there is no proper organisation in Pune to address cases of learning disorders in children. She observed that parents of children with LDs fail to understand the latter’s behaviour,” chief operating officer Dr Uma Kulkarni said. Dr Anjali started the Bridging Over Learning Differences (BOLD) programme of Morris Family Fund in 2003 with a vision to provide academic assistance and support to students with learning difficulties. This was later developed into a Section 25 Company by Dr Anjali and late Umakant Joshi in 2008, to upgrade the BOLD Dr Anjali Morris programme and start an assessment, resource and training centre.
The Foundation has a standardised testing method and offers individual solutions for students with LDs. MF also holds parent education workshops and teacher training programmes. The teachers are trained to work with students with LD. According to Dr Kulkarni, MF has helped over 3,000 students in the past eleven years. The MF works through its three resource centres at Shivajinagar, KEM Hospital and Nigdi-Pradhikaran. MF organises parenting workshops during holidays. THE CAUSE Students with LDs often have difficulty in coping with regular classrooms due to late language development, delayed reading skills, or difficulty with mathematics. Training section manager Sheetal Kapre said, “They are unable to follow the conventional form of teaching and face a risk of falling into a cycle of failure. The challenge is for teachers and parents to acquire knowledge and skills to help manage these children in school, playground, and at home.” Kapare said, “LD grabbed more people’s attention after Aamir Khan’s ‘Taare Zameen Par’ was released. Now parents belonging to high income households are more cautions, but the symptoms in children from poor families often go unnoticed.” THE ACHIEVEMENT With the Pimpri-Chinchwad mayor promising MF that the civic body will extend help in covering the municipal schools, the NGO will reach out to those parents who are unable to cope with their children with LDs. The NGO recently conducted training workshop for teachers of municipal schools in Pune. THE FEEDBACK “Teachers share their experience with such children in their classes and the strategies that they had developed for handling them. They bring out the problems they encountered with the parents of such children when they reported the child’s disability. They feel that the parents should also have awareness about this disability so that the children could cope better. We also address queries regarding the issues of working with sensory and communication aspects,” Dr Kulkarni said. archana.dahiwal@goldensparrow.com GET IN TOUCH Foundation Office Dr. Anjali Morris Education and Health Foundation, 301, Gopur Apartment, Above Bafna Cars, 1195/7 Ghole Road, E-mail : info@morrisfoundation.in Phone: 64010142 / 25538157
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2014
PUNE
Pune has a total of 482 tree species belonging to 77 families of which 45 per cent are native and the rest exotic. This also includes 64 species of palms, 6 species of bamboos, 16 species of conifers and 6 species of cycads. —Trees of Pune by Shrikant Ingalhaldikar and Sharvari Barve
Signposts
Passport Seva camp begins on Nov 29
Regional Passport Office, Pune is organising a Passport Mela on November 29 at Passport Seva Kendra, Mundhwa and a Passport Seva Camp on November 29 and 30 at collector’s office, Solapur. For registrations to these events, applicants can log in at www.passportindia.gov.in for online fee payment and fixing online appointment. Entry to the fair and the camp will be allowed only to applicants with valid appointments. They are requested to visit with the Application Reference Number (ARN) sheet. For the camp at Solapur, 250 appointments will be released. The online registrations for the Mundhwa fair will open on November 25, and the camp will open on November 26. Walk in, tatkal, on hold and PCC applicants will not be entertained.
Writer Nemade to get Phule award
Union Bank fetes Jayant Narlikar
No. 23
nswers to the following 10 A questions are embedded in the stories featured in this edition. Send us the correct answers at contest.tgs@gmail.com and be one of the three lucky winners to receive gift coupons. 1. What does Dr Anjali Morris Education and Health Foundation aim at? 2. Who founded Kamayani Vocational Training Centre? 3. Name the neurologists at the Deenath Mangeshkar Hospital organised World Epilepsy day seminar. 4. Which prestigious award did Neel Deshpande receive? 5. Who spearheaded the water conservation project at Sai Ambience? 6. Which Gujarati delicacy is cooked by the traditional slow cooking method? 7. Where is NH 7 weekender Pune being oragnised at? 8. Where does artist Dhananjay Kelkar hail from? 9. Who conceptualised Box Cricket League? 10. Which year were modern boat shoes invented?
Contest # 22 winners Mrs Marker Ravinder Kumar
P6
City’s only
butterfly
garden faces closure
Environmentalists, citizens are against move to build planetarium in the place BY ASHOK BHAT @ashok_bhat The future of the city’s only butterfly garden at Sahakarnagar, developed by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) after spending over Rs one crore, is in a state of flutter. The civic administration now plans to construct a planetarium in the garden. It is being reported that corporator Aba Bagul is behind the new project and is facing opposition from corporator Ashwini Kadam. The civic administration had built the garden as part of the nullah development project and it was inaugurated by actress Dimple Kapadia in a grand function in March 8, 2011. A steel bridge with iron ropes was installed by spending Rs 35 lakh only.
Grey Pansy
Blue Tiger
New plans afoot? It is being reported that the staff managing the garden are under pressure to be lax in discharging duty. The electric motor has not been repaired and trees are not being watered enough. Even the regular pruning of plants has stopped. The net covering is damaged at various spots. The 25,890 sq ft garden has bushes namely Clotolaria, Lantana, Cleome, Asclepias and Curassavica planted as feed for the insects. A place is reserved and covered by nets for breeding.
Iron ica l ly, the man behind the butterfly garden was Bagul. Located on 30,000 sq ft in the nullah garden near
Aranyeshwar temple, the garden has about 10,000 butterfl ies of 61 species. It comprises a butterfly enclosure, breeding centre and exhibition hall. Growth in greenery over the years has attracted more varieties, besides increasing the flow of tourists, photographers and children. The staff maintaining the garden says that over 200 people visit the garden daily. The planetarium plan has been opposed by environmentalists and citizens alike. They allege that the administration has even stopped maintaining the garden and blame the higher-ups. A written complaint has been sent to the Pune Municipal Corporation. Aranyeshwar Prabhag corporator Ashwini Kadam said, “This garden is the pride of Pune. I agree with the citizens that no other project should come up on this place. PMC garden department has also stated that the land is for butterfly garden only. Political pressure is the reason behind the new plan. After spending taxpayer’s money for this unique garden, how can it be destroyed in just 3 years?” ashok.bhat21@gmail.com
On the occasion of Union Bank’s 96th foundation day, scientist Jayant Narlikar was felicitated with lifetime achievement award. Social body Maharashtra Andhasraddah Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS) was also awarded. The bank’s assistant manager Nitin Kulkarni was present.
TGS Quiz Contest
Digitally connected
Plain Tiger
PICS: ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR
The 2014 Mahatma Phule Award will be given to writer Bhalchandra Nemade on November 28 at Mahatma Phule Rashtriya Smarak, Mahatama Phule Peth, Pune. Chagan Bhujhbal, founder Mahatma Phule Samata Parishad, and Pune mayor Dattatraya Dhankawade will be the chief guest for the occasion. November 28 is the death anniversary of Mahatma Phule.
Modern College students ‘patent’ endeavour P5
Striped Tiger
Common Leopard
The damaged nets have not been repaired
The room for research is lying unused
IFFI to showcase film poster exhibition NFAI has arranged 120 displays focussing on Indian music in cinema BY PRACHI BARI @prachibari The 45th International Film Festival of India in Goa (IFFI) will also hold an annual fi lm poster exhibition curated by National Film Archives of India (NFAI). The event will be inaugurated over the weekend at Kala Academy. NFAI this year has put up 120 fi lm posters focussing on the Indian music in cinema as a theme. Each of these posters have been carefully picked and chosen for their popular songs or the music directors. Research officers Aarti Kharkhanis and Seema Vartak have been working on the selection for the past three weeks. “Indian music and fi lm music are part of our consciousness and people tend to remember fi lms sometimes by the songs in the fi lm, hence this year we have opted for music as a theme,” said NFAI director Alapna Pant Sharma. “Most of the Indian fi lm music is based on ragas and we have tried to focus on music directors from across India who has given us some memorable songs,” she said. Talking about the fi lm poster exhibition, Aarti Karkhanis said that this initiative began in 1978. “Th is section was started in 1978 in IFFI with the intention of providing an international platform for Indian Cinema where the best of Indian
Glassy Tiger
Common Indian Crow
Kasab’s interrogator to speak at city event Book release of ‘The Seige’ in Marathi on Nov 25 TGS NEWS NETWORK @TGSWeekly Senior police inspector Ramesh Mahale, who was among the top interrogators of the 26/11 Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, will speak at a book release function on November 25. Mahale had interrogated Kasab after he was nabbed by Mumbai police during the terror attack on November 26. He had prepared detailed reports of the case. A chargesheet of 12,000 pages was prepared which revealed Pakistan’s involvement behind the attacks. Mahale will speak about the 26/11 attack on the occasion. On November 25, the Marathi translation of the book, ‘The Siege’ authored by British journalists Adrian Levi and Cathy Scott – Clark will be released at a function at SM Joshi Hall from 5.45 pm. The book has been translated by city journalist Amit Golvalkar. Kasab was nabbed alive by the Mumbai police after a fierce gun battle. 164 people were killed and over 300 injured in the attack that lasted for four days. The terrorists had targeted Taj Hotel, Trident Oberoi, Chhatrapati
Shivaji Terminus, Chabad House and other places in south Mumbai. Adrian Levy and Catherine ScottClarke have revealed startling facts and details about the 26/11 attacks. The book had created a storm in the Indian security and media circles with its revelations of “the extraordinary number of extremely detailed warnings that were ignored, not taken seriously, underdeveloped and belittled”. Levy had admitted that people’s feelings about 26/11 still run deep, especially among victims and survivors in India and elsewhere. ‘The Siege’ traces the career of David Coleman Headley as a CIA mole gone rogue and his interactions with the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and ISI. It gives a detailed expose of how bureaucratic red-tape prevented the National Security Guard (NSG) — built precisely for Mumbai-like scenarios — from reaching the Taj Mahal Hotel till late morning of November 27. The book claims that the ISI had a “super agent” in New Delhi, code-named Honey Bee, who helped plan the attacks and was supported with logistics by 10 locals. Levy says Honey Bee is unlikely to be from the army, but someone from the Indian security establishment. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com
The book had created a storm in the Indian security and media circles
cinema was showcased.” Th is year the fi lm posters give a glimpse into the musical world of the fi lms from 50s, 60s, 70s till the current year. “The selection is based on famous music directors like Naushad, OP Nayyar, Kalyanji Anandji to name a few from the Hindi fi lm music, while regional fi lms like from the south has famous names like KV Mahadev, Marathi music directors like Vasant Desai, Ram Kadam and Hridayanath Mangeshkar,” she said. There is a special section on the
North East Cinema too with a tribute to Pride of Assam, Bhupen Hazarika and fi lm posters of Janu Baruah’s fi lms which is part of the retrospective in IFFI. Beautiful fi lm posters of Shankara Bharanam, Pather Panchali, Umrao Jaan, Pakeezah, Mughal-e-Azam, Meghe Dhaka Tara and Pratidhwani are accompanied with captions in Hindi and English with song detailing as well as the composition of the ragas. prachibari@mail.com
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2014
‘Stem cell regime has no advantage over stroke treatment’
Smita Patil film festival on December 13, 14 Arogya Sena (Health Army) and Socialist Yuvajan Sabhe (SYS) is organising the third Smita Patil I n te r n a t i o n a l Film Festival on December Late Smita Patil 13 and 14. The festival is an effort at paying a tribute to the late actress and also bringing forth new talent in all the domains of filmmaking, and for this entries are invited. The short film can be as long as 40 minutes, shot in any language however English subtitles are mandatory. The entry fee is Rs 500. Submission deadline is November 24. For more details contact Yogesh on 09822702036 or Digvijay on 09970043258.
P13
This society recycles 40k ltr of water daily Sixty Pimpri-Chinchwad housing societies to have water recycling systems ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR
Signposts
“I hope to create awareness about the use of helmets especially among youth who indulge in drinking and riding.” —Sangeeta Tiwari, founder of Payal Tiwari Foundation
Electrical scalp device can slow progression of deadly brain tumors
P11
Wildlife photography exhibition, Nov 23 A photography exhibition and information kiosk on diverse species of deer will be held on November 23 and 24 at Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Kaladan, Aundh. From over 10 diverse species found in India to a 100 variations found all over the world, the exhibition will house information on the animal, its habitat and their speciality.
Matrimonial matchmaking programme Jain Vadhu-Var Parichay has organised a matrimonial match-making programme on January 14, 2015 at Mahalakshmi Lawns, Erandwana. Social worker Sunil Jayantilal Shah will be the chief conductor of the programme. The event is expecting more than 300 participants from all over the country. For details and registration, contact 020-24262322.
Sai Ambience is the first society in the twin-town of Pimpri-Chinchwad to undertake water recycling. The society uses the treated water for gardening and washing vehicles
ARCHANA DAHIWAL @ArchanaDahiwal Setting an example of water c on s e r v at ion , Sai Ambience, a housing society with 268 flats, situated at Pimple Saudagar, recycles nearly 40,000 litres of Vijay Gavade water daily. This recycled water is used for gardening, car washing and other such purposes. Speaking to the Golden Sparrow on Saturday, Vijay Gavade, the society in-charge, said, “The recycling plant has been operating successfully for the last two years and water drained from kitchens, bathrooms is treated.”
Benefits of recycling • The residential societies can construct two storage tanks instead of one. One for storing drinking water and another for storage of waste water which can be recycled. • The recycled water can be used for any purpose other than drinking like gardening, washing vehicles or for use in bathrooms, kitchen sinks and toilets.
It is the first society in the twintown, where a water recycling system was installed successfully. In 2010, The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has made water recycling treatment plants mandatory for housing schemes spread over one acre of land or above. There are as many as 60 housing projects proposed to come with water recycling systems, informed a civic official of Water Supply Department. Saving water is the objective of implementing the water recycle policies
Our newspaper is interactive and you are welcome to write in to our various segments: • Letters to the Editor email: editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com; editor_tgs@gmail.com By post: The Editor, The Golden Sparrow on Saturday, 1641 Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411030, (Best letter gets a weekly prize) • Articles for the Relationships page: relationships@goldensparrow.com, relationships.tgs@gmail.com • The Way Forward with Compassion & Hope: wayforward@goldensparrow.com • Want to become an entrepreneur? For mentoring advice, write to our associates: mentoring@pune.tie.org • Get weekly events listed: listings.tgslife@gmail.com
The selected girls are from Pune, Wardha and Amravati districts
In its 19th year of existence, the Lila Poonawalla Foundation, now has 844 girls from Pune, Wardha and Amravati districts under its scholarship programme. The Foundation that began with 20 girls in 1996, will be awarding scholarships to 551 more girls from Pune district, for post graduation and undergraduate courses in engineering, science, nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy streams and diploma in education (English). These are in addition to the 160 school girls already awarded scholarships by the Foundation in June 2014. The Lila Poonawalla Foundation’s Board of trustees has completed the process of selection for 175 girls from Wardha district and 130 girls from Amravati district.
On November 21, the engineering scholarships were awarded by the chief guest Parag Satpute, managing director, Sandvik Asia Limited and guest of honour Per Heggenes, the chief executive officer of IKEA Foundation, at a programme held at Symbiosis Vishwabhavan Auditorium, Senapati Bapat Road. On November 22, postgraduate and undergraduate scholarships will be awarded by Sushil Muhnot, chairman and managing director of the Bank of Maharashtra and Per Heggenes. The Lila Poonawalla Foundation has partnerships with the Bank of Maharashtra, Biltema Foundation, BMC Software, Capgemini, Cummins Diesel, Faurecia Interior Systems, IDBI Bank, IDRF, IKEA Foundation, Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation, KPIT Technologies, Raojibhai Desai Public Charitable Trust, Sandvik Asia, SKF, Tata Technologies, Tieto, etc. The Foundation will be holding functions for the Wardha and Amravati awardees on November 27 and 28. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com
in building permission rules. “The recycling unit has been set up at the society premises. The work is underway to provide treated water for toilet flushing. For treating sewage water, an oxygen pump has been installed. Also a sand-carbon fi lter has been set up at the site. The maintenance cost is low as carbon fi lters need to be changed every six month and two labourers are needed for maintaining the plant daily,” Gavade said. Lila Poonawalla
archana.dahiwal@goldensparrow.com
PMPML’s staff training programmes for better service TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly To serve better, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) launched a helpline for passengers and the citizens on August 9, 2010. Considering the hike in complaints, the management of PMPML launched training programmes for its staff. The number of accident has reduced as a result of the programmes, said Joint Managing Director Pravin Ashtikar. PMP Pravasi Manch has started an initiative to improve the PMPML service through helpline and launched the 100@100 campaign. On an average, 100 to 125 complaints are received daily
on the helpline numbers of PMPML. This campaign has increased awareness about registering complaints against the PMPML. In the first year from August 9 to March 2011, on an average 500 complaints were received daily. Next year, from April 2011 to March 2012, this average remained the same. In 2012, PMPML launched a training programme for drivers, conductors and other staff. Ashtikar said, “We used modern techniques designed by Petrol Cars Research Association (PCRA) to give training.” He added that the PMPML started simulator training in Moshi centre of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). With the help of Kaivalya Yoga Institute, yoga is taught
to all drivers, conductors and technical and clerical staff as a stress management exercise. To get rid of one’s addictions, PMPML conducted the medical checkup of its staff. Dr Kalyan Gangawal, Dr Jagdish Hiremath, and doctors of B J Medical College provided the counseling. Special training of RTI had been given to the administrative staff through Yashada. Because of all these efforts, road accidents have reduced considerably as compared to other local public transport. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com
Debt and fundings Rs 70 crore approved by PMC for PMPML For employees’ salary and payment of CNG, the standing committee of Pune Municipal Corporation approved Rs 70 crore to PMPML. From this fund, 50 crore will be for salary and the remaining 20 crore rupees will be for payment of CNG, informed committee chairman Bapu Karne. These funds will be given by classifying the excess fund provided for different projects in the current budget. By an agreement, it is binding on both the Pune and the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations to bear the losses.
Drowning in debt More than 600 buses of PMPML run on compressed natural gas (CNG). PMPML owes Rs 30 crore to Maharashtra Natural Gas Company (MNGC). The MNGC has sent a notice to PMPML warning them of stopping CNG supply. By paying one crore rupees, PMPML has averted the crisis. Over all PMPML has a liability of Rs 90 crore.
Letters to the Editor TGS is interactive
844 girls to get Lila Poonawalla foundation scholarship TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly
Bal Kala Mahotsav from today Dr Kalmadi Shamarao High School, in association with Kaveri Kalakshetra and SEED Infotech, has organised the 18th edition of Bal Kala Mahotsav inter-school competitions 2014, from November 22. The competition primarily has classical music (vocal and instrumental) and classical dance (solo and group) segments. Eliminations will take place on November 22 and 23. Finalists will compete on November 28 and 29. This year, collage making and poster making rounds have been added to the competition. The event is open for all schools in Pune district. For details contact high school office on 020 – 25433136 or Aparna Lele on 7588340398.
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PMPML HELPLINE: 020 - 24503355 (For call) 9881495589 (Only SMS. Do not call)
editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com
Interstellar is a captivating film
I nter s te l l a r has changed the way we visualise and see cinema. Complex scripts make you actually pay attention and it is vital that you do not drift in the cinema hall. Often we get distracted by our mates and smartphones but Interstellar has made you pay attention. Christopher Nolan has made a film that is complex but more importantly it makes you do your homework before seeing the film. Science students need to see the film for its concept and also read more material. If cinema makes you think then we surely need to respect and applaud this film. Science can just drift from your life and we rarely find a reason to pick up reference material. This movie
may have ‘bounced over the head’ for many viewers but for real science lovers it is about a second viewing. The beauty of this film is that Nolan has ensured that we do not drift but observe the film. It is a journey of discovery, self discovery and a reason to study your text books which you had discarded. -Sunil Melwani
We want our icons to be perfect
Sachin Tendulkar is about a legend and an icon. But his autobiography could have avoided certain events of the past. Every human loves a story but do we really need to know the dark chapters. Do books need such chapters to sell when an icon is considered? It only leads to bitterness and igniting what was the past. After so many years,
will things change? All of us have our grey areas and this includes Sachin. We need to understand that human behaviour may not be as simple as we want it to be. A legend will become greater only if bitter memories are buried. Cricket is a beautiful game but why ignite the past. We have moved on and do not need to be reminded of the yesterday. The book will have enough to be an inspiration without the grey chapters. The publishers want to sell the book but this is where the author should have drawn the line. -Ravinder Kumar
Ban govt accommodations and land to political parties
Union and state governments provide land to political parties at highly subsidised rates, apart from providing accommodations at rent
much below the market-rate. This is indirect government-funding making one of the grounds for political parties come under purview of RTI Act. Since political parties are not complying with full-bench CIC-verdict holding them under purview of RTI Act, Union and state governments should take immediate steps to abolish providing land at subsidised cost to political parties, and allotting governmentaccommodations to them. Buildings on land already provided by governments to political parties should be taken over by respective governments in case of a split in a political party. Union and state governments should ensure vacation of existing governmentaccommodations from political parties by giving reasonable time, say by end of year 2018 (before next Lok Sabha elections) failing which political parties
be de-registered and disqualified from contesting elections. -Subhash Chandra Agrawal
Write to Us Letters to the Editor may be emailed to editor_tgs@goldensparrow. com or mailed to Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt Ltd, 1641 Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411030. The Best Letter of the Week will receive a special gift from Venus Traders, Pune’s finest stationery departmental.
ED UCATION
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY PUNE
“Technology-driven higher education is a must to help drive the vision of creating a ‘knowledge economy’.” —R Chidambaram, principal scientific advisor, government of India
Signposts Pune schools triumph at CIMUN ’14
CARE ER “Every year about 400 executives from different countries come to English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) for English proficiency under ITEC programme.” — Sunaina Singh, EFLU Vice-Chancellor
Modern College students Solar system replica at IUCCA ‘patent’ endeavour BY MANASI SARAF JOSHI @GargiManasi
Pranav Bafna
Atharva Deshmukh
Pranav Bafna of St Mary’s School and Atharva Deshmukh of Army Public School won the best delegate awards for their respective delegation group at the Cathedral International Model United Nations (CIMUN) 2014. Cathedral Vidya School, Lonavala (CVSL) organised the mock conference on its campus earlier this November. Around 200 student delegates from schools from Pune, Mumbai and Lonavala attended the conference.
Media courses for women Maharishi Karve Stree Shikshan Sanstha’s School of Media Activity Research and Technology will start part time public relations and advertising courses for women from December 15. The public relations course will train its participants in promotion techniques, writing press releases and conducting press conferences. The advertising course will cover aspects like production of television and radio advertisements and copywriting. For admissions contact 020-25313248 or 8308136783.
For the first time, four under graduate students of Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, S h i v a j i n a g a r, have filed for a national patent Rebecca Thombre for the use of gold particles extracted from water hyacinth in making anti-cancer medicine. It is indeed a proud moment for BSc final year students, Atik Chitnis, Rochelle Colaco, Yash Bogawat and Vedant Kadam, who are involved in this research. Students’ guide and faculty of Biotechnology, Rebecca Thombre, said, “It is certainly not a path-breaking research, but what these students have achieved will certainly help them in a big way.” “Two years back when I was working under a project sanctioned by the Board of Development of University and College (BCUD) through the use of nanotechnology, I had extracted silver WN Gade and gold particles out of Parthenium (Congress Weed). These students approached me to conduct further research. They asked me if it is possible to extract such particles from more
ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR
Four BSc final year students file for a national patent for the use of gold particles extracted from water hyacinth in making anti-cancer medicine
Yash Bogawat, Rochelle Colaco and Atik Chitnis conducting an experiment
waste and I gave an affirmative answer,” she said. “Water hyacinth adds to water pollution and mosquito breeding. We collected samples and worked on it and concluded that the gold particles can be extracted,” she said. “The chemical synthesis used in this process costs dearly because of the use of chemicals but we used biological method making it a low cost affair,” she added. Atik, who is a college topper and wants to do career in research, said, “We are happy. All we did was the best time management as we also had to remain present for our lectures and practical.” “We always got the positive results
Life’s Lessons
Master the 80/20 Principle TGS NEWS SERVICE
A
lso known as the ‘Pareto Principle’ after its originator and Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto (1848 – 1923), the 80/20 Principle is basically a time management approach wherein you focus on those activities that give you the maximum results. As described in the book by this name by Richard Koch, “The 80/20 principle asserts that a minority of causes, inputs or efforts usually lead to a majority of the results, outputs or rewards.” The author says 80 per cent of what you achieve in your job comes from 20 per cent of the time spent. Thus, says the author, to engage in 80/20 thinking, “we must constantly ask ourselves what is the 20 per cent that is leading to 80 per cent.”
What is that part of our work which will bring in the maximum results? This is at the heart of this principle. It requires that we first think and identify what is it that will give 80% results and then focus our energies on that activity. As the author notes, “What are the vital few inputs or causes, as opposed to the trivial many? Where is the haunting melody being drowned by the background noise?” He cites how this principle was at work while studying at Oxford when his tutor told him never to read a book “cover to cover except for pleasure”. One can find out what a book says much faster, he was advised, by reading the conclusion first, then the introduction, then the conclusion again and then “dip lightly into any interesting
bits”. Koch says that what he was essentially being told to do was to follow the 80/20 approach without spelling it out as such. According to the author, the effective application of this principle would mean being selective in what we do, not exhaustive; in striving for excellence in a few things and in only doing the things we are best at and enjoy doing the most. It would also mean that in every important sphere of activity, we find out where to apply 20 per cent effort to give us 80 per cent results. “Calm down, work less and target a limited number of very valuable goals where the 80/20 Principle will work for us, rather than pursuing every available opportunity,” says Koch. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com
Pursuing My Career
I dream big to achieve big BY NEEL DESHPANDE After passing my Class X exam I was pretty confused about the future course. Finally, I chose the commerce field. Business subjects have always interested me and that combined with my genuine fondness for sport amalgamated beautifully and that lead me into taking up a course in Sport and Health Administration. I realised that the best opportunities would come my way only if I did it abroad, in a country that respects a plethora of sports and that has been globally recognised to host world class sporting events. The United Kingdom was my spontaneous choice. It dawned on me that in order to go abroad for my undergrad studies I had to make the best of my two years in junior college. I had already won the ‘Best Captain’ award in Class X and that fire of wanting to achieve more was
still burning. And so, I took up the extremely challenging and demanding, Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award for Young People. The award has four requirements: displaying a skill, taking up a physical recreation, social service and doing an adventurous expedition. At first it seemed quite daunting to balance studies and the
award, but then I realised this award doesn’t mean just earning a certificate and a badge. It involves personal development, which is incredibly important in today’s world. I attempted the bronze and won it last year. This year I did the silver and was ecstatic to win that as well. This award has helped me bolster my CV and self-
confidence. The award makes you responsible, pro-active, makes you understand the dignity of labour, sharpens your leadership skills and teaches you to put the world before yourself. The Award has earned me a position in a world class sporting university in England and knowing that the hard work has paid off makes me immensely happy. On top on my priority list is to do the The Duke of Edinburgh’s IAYP Gold in England. I want to get into the sport-business industry and work with global sporting organisations. Or have one of my own perhaps. I want to be a part of an industry that never fails to amaze, excite and entertain. The DOFE IAYP is one big step closer to being able to be a part of the crest of a never falling wave. I always tell myself, “If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.” (As told to Prachi Bari)
that encouraged us. Rebecca madam’s motivation, support and co-operation helped us to achieve this feat,” said another students, Rochelle. “It was a team work, said Yash.” “The college funded us for this project. Even principal R S Zunarrao, who himself is a botanist, helped us in identification of the plants,” Thombre said. “We have filed for Indian patent for the use of these particles in making anticancer medicine as we have found the properties in it. We will further refine our research and will then go for the US or the Australian patent,” Thombre said. manasisaraf@gmail.com
BY MANASI SARAF JOSHI @GargiManasi The Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) has created a landscape with replicas of the planets. The city’s astronomy lovers can now take tour through the solar system, and touch the 100 rings of Saturn or see the Earth up close. This endeavour is part of IUCAA’s popularisation of science campaign. IUCAA’s public outreach incharge Samir Dhurde said, “It is part of our public outreach programme. Every week, on Thursday we have been holding lectures, hands-on activities, fun games for school children for over two decades now. This solar system garden is part of this outreach programme which was started a year ago.” The solar system garden has all the planets of the solar system. The planets have been made on one metre
scale. “We have shown the planets on the scale of size and not the distance as showing the distance is not possible,” he said The garden provides information about the solar system, such as how Saturn is nine times bigger and Jupiter is 12 times bigger than Earth. There is also data about the inner and outer planets. “We conduct an interactive session of about one-and-a-half hour wherein students are given information, rather than bookish knowledge. A group of 50 students can be catered to at one time and we have tie-ups with schools for this,” Dhurde said. IUCAA also conducts a sky watching programme every Friday evening and participants are given general information about the sky, stars and planets. “The solar garden is also open for the general public,” Dhurde said. manasisaraf@gmail.com
ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR
NOVEMBER 22, 2014
The landscape at the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), showing different planets of the solar system
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2014
Is Sant Rampal any better than a hostagetaking terrorist? P 10
Instagram is a fun way to share your life with friends through pictures. Roughly 860,000 photos are added each day on Instagram —www.socialtimes.com
Making a champ of a slacker P 15
Digitally connected
TECH GURU By Sorab Ghaswalla This is an interactive column. Like today, every week, we will be replying to technology and Internet related queries sent in by readers. You may email your questions with the subject line ‘Tech Guru query’ to tgstechguru@gmail.com
Pratik Gandhi, founder of Digiwale, a Pune-based digital marketing agency, speaks about its core operations and how he stumbled upon the idea of starting the agency
Online fraud: Don’t get conned by online tricksters
Rahul Raut
Ishani Bose @ishani_bose It was in 2009, when Pratik Gandhi, founder of Digiwale, a digital marketing agency based in Pune, came up with the desire of doing something in the web world. “Back then, I didn’t know what it was going to be, but the rise in the usage of platforms like Facebook and Twitter for marketing, inclined me towards it even more,” he said. With a mission to unite passionate communities for its clients and stakeholders, Pratik and his team members at Digiwale have been providing services like social media, community management, Search Engine Optimization(SEO), Search Engine Machine(SEM), branding, building websites, creating mobile/ tablet apps and providing training and consulting in digital, social and mobile. The company also has a product called ‘Homely’ that has been conceptualised and developed for the real estate industry. However, digital marketing was not something that Pratik wanted to venture into from the very beginning. An engineering dropout, Pratik began working at a friend’s firm as the marketing executive but had no idea about what he wanted to do in life for a very long time. It was only when he came to Pune that he got a clearer perspective. “In Pune, I started working at WNS as customer service personnel. After a year in the corporate field, I realised I needed to pursue a degree and thus took up an integrated prospective BBA+MBA programme. My inclination towards Internet and marketing rose around this time. I soon started a company called Equinox. Simultaneously, I started meeting a lot of entrepreneurs in the same field, and was actively participating in every other start-up / social media event happening in Pune and Mumbai. I conducted workshops on social media, consulted a few start-ups on the way and made good money,” he said. He went on to do his summer internship in branding at Amdocs and fall internship as a social media strategist. Thereafter he landed a job at MAK Media, a Pune-based ad agency, for a year and a half, where he started their social media arm. Pratik started Digiwale on June 30, 2013 and since then their core operations have been in Digital Marketing - social media, SEO, SEM, building websites and apps. “We have specialists who take care of each of these services providing value to our clients day in and day out. Apart from our main office in Pune, we have sales presence in Perth, London, Copenhagen and Palo Alto. We have partners and sales associates there who get business for us along by helping us with account management and building client relationships,”
he said. For a start-up, more often the challenge is to get the first client or to get more sales. But, Pratik and his team had that taken care of as they had clients already on-board. “For us the challenge was building the team, getting the right resources for the right work. Since social media was new, very less people were equipped with the expertise and Pune market, as compared to Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore isn’t known much for digital / social rage. It was a tough job to find team members who could match our expectations, but we did it any way,” Pratik added. N o w , almost a year and a half into business, Pratik is happy with the way things are going and has already envisioned the road ahead. “We plan to keep doing the amazing work that we do with our extremely professional team. We also plan to venture into the development side of things to give our clients the best of the digital campaigns / experiences on mobile and tablets coupled with social media and lastly, and build products that are useful for our clients and the industry.
“We plan to give our clients the best of the digital experience”
ishani.bose@goldensparrow.com
Thirty per cent of Indian schoolgoers face cyber crime Around 30 per cent of Indian school-going children accessing Internet have experienced some kind of cyber harm like cyber bullying, cyber stalking, defamation and hacking, a study done by telecom service provider Uninor said here Monday. The survey was done across 29 schools and covered nearly 10,500 children across seven states. “At Uninor, we firmly believe that our new users should be equipped not just with
the means to access internet but with the right information and support system to be able to navigate the digital world safely,” Morten Karlsen Sorby, chief executive officer, Uninor, said. Earlier in 2013, a Telenor Group-Boston Consulting Group study revealed that 134 million Indian children would be active on internet by 2017, up from 39.5 million in 2012. This study was done in 12 countries and showed that Indian children face the
worst risk combination of high access and low resilience. The survey reveals that 34 per cent of children rarely speak to their parents about their online activities. Based on the findings of the survey, Uninor has initiated the WebWise programme with the objective to build resilience amongst children against internet-related risks. Through WebWise, Uninor has committed to make young
customers safe online. It aims to create awareness on internet safety for children and familiarise them with habits that can give them a safe online experience. “WebWise is an initiative with an objective of equipping children with knowledge and tools to protect themselves online. Uninor as a responsible corporate entity has taken first step towards making the children web-wise,” he added. IANS
Tell the poor, change is possible Shukla Bose’s Parikrama Humanity Foundation invigorates the underprivileged with integrity and dignity TED is a global platform where people from different fields come together and speak for 18 minutes or less about their respective disciplines. It was started in 1984 by a non-profit organisation called Sapling Foundation, under the slogan — Ideas worth sharing. Initially it organised conferences where matters related to technology, design and entertainment merged, but today it includes varied topics such as business, photography, art, science and the like.
Yash Daiv @yash009 “I’m standing in front of you today in all humility, wanting to share with you my journey of the last six years in the field of service and education,” said Shukla Bose, founder, Parikrama Humanity Foundation. At a global TED conference, Bose revisited the journey of Parikrama’s incarnation in 2003 and the lifetime worth experiences that she has had while educating the underprivileged children. “There are two million people in Bangalore, who live in 800 slums. We walked through as many as we could and identified houses where children had never gone to school,” she said. The parents were counselled in the beginning before they turned towards the children. There were about 200 million children between the ages of four to 14 who did not go to school even though 250 billion Indian rupees were dedicated for government schooling. Parikrama was started with the objective of uplifting the situation of these children. The first school was started on a building rooftop with a tin sheet for a roof. “Indian academic year begins in June. Many a times all of us would be huddled under the tin roof, waiting for the rain to stop. My God! What a bonding exercise that was,” she said. Within six years Parikrama had four schools, one junior college, 1,100 children coming from 28 slums and four orphanages.
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Through the venture she has achieved her dream, of educating these children and enabling them to live contented in this conflict-ridden chaotic globalized world. “Now, when you talk global you have to talk English. The medium of instruction in our schools is English. But there is this myth that children from the slums cannot speak the language because no one in their family has ever spoken English. But that is wrong,” she told the audience. She believes that
these children have as much potential as any urban child to integrate himself or herself in the mainstream. She also rubbished the myth where it is believed that parents are not interested in sending their students to school. “Parents all over the world want their children to lead a better life than themselves, but they need to believe that change is possible,” she said. The institution has revolutionised the lives of these children who otherwise would not have even dreamt of the possibilities that they are living today. The students are good in sports and return home with plethora of medals and admirers from the inter-school competitions. A couple of students from elite schools had come for admission last year, Bose told the audience. The class barrier is perishing. “It is eventually all about creating an environment of learning, inquiry and exploration,” she said. When she started Parikrama, she had no idea which direction it was heading. Today she wants to take one child at a time and not get bogged down with numbers. “We want to see the child complete the circle of life, and unleash his total potential. We do not believe in scale because we believe in quality. Scale and numbers will automatically happen. We have corporates who have helped us open schools and continue funding us. But we began with the idea of one child at a time,” said Bose. yashdaiv@gmail.com
I read a staggering piece of statistic the other day. In 2013, as more Indians logged on to the Net, cases of identity theft, too, increased. A study by Microsoft showed that damages from such acts cost individuals about `7,500 on an average. Wow. Mind you, in the coming days, this figure is bound to increase as more and more Indians take to connecting, and hackers get even more sophisticated in their attacks. So the obvious question is – What do you do to ensure that you are not a victim of Online fraud? Well, some things that you can do are fairly simple. For starters, do not give any personal information (name, address, bank details, email, etc) to anybody before verifying their credentials. Understand what phishing emails are. There is no charitable soul sitting anywhere in the world who`s willing to give you millions, or even one dollar for free. So please don`t fall for emails that promise you that. Remember that banks, or for that matter any government agency, will not send you emails asking you to click on a link to confirm your personal details. Most of such emails look genuine. I once had an email purportedly from the Income Tax department. It had all the right logos, addresses, etc, and except for a spelling mistake here and there, I could have never guessed! So learn to recognise such phishing emails. If unsure, a simple telephonic call to your bank’s customer relationship department will confirm its authenticity. Ensure that your computing device has the latest antivirus software. Also make sure that your browser is set to the highest level of security notification to prevent malware. Online shopping is another area where you could get conned by tricksters. Those using credit cards can easily subscribe to “Verified by Visa or MasterCard Secure Code”, which keeps your Online shopping safe. It essentially means registering a password with your card company. I have already written in my previous columns of the need for strong passwords. Do not use simple ones like “12345”. Use a password generator to create a random password. Use multiple payment methods and multiple email accounts. What I am saying here is do not keep all your eggs in one basket. So associate one credit card with your favourite Online shopping site with one email, and your utility payment account with another email address and bank account. So even if your first email is hacked, the hackers will only be able to get their hands on one credit card only. K e e p the credit limits of credit cards that you intend to use Online, low. Eg: Use a card with maximum credit limit of `50,000. If someone uses it on your behalf, that’s the maximum damage you can expect. And, please use the digital keyboard provided by Online banking accounts or shopping sites to key in your cards details. Do not use your computer’s keyboard for that. Keep abreast with the latest Online scams. Visit Sites like Scambusters.org to track them. If you do fall victim, report it to the authorities. They will be alerted and keep tabs on similar rackets. Last but not least, if you start regularly receiving bills or receipts for things you haven’t bought, react. Your identity may have been stolen. To be even more insulated from such attacks, there are many apps and anti-virus software that thwart identity attacks. You may check out this one by AVG, for example (http://bit.ly/1EWPxZA), or this Internet Security software by Norton costing `1039/ (http://bit. ly/1v3FuvX). (Sorab Ghaswalla is a former old-world journalist who now wears many hats, entrepreneur, Internet consultant, online marketer, new media and technology journalist, and the editor/publisher of four sites of his own, all related to the Internet, smartphones, start-ups and the Internet of things. You may find him at www.newagecontentservices.com) (Disclaimer: The Tech Guru column is more in the nature of a reader-initiated, advisory feature. Readers are urged to check or confirm for themselves the features of all hardware/software mentioned here before making a purchase. )
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2014
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The 93km-long Yashwantrao Chavan Mumbai-Pune Expressway handles 43,000 passenger car units (PCUs) daily and is designed to handle up to 10 lakh PCUs. —roadtraffic-technology.in
Shattering the myths surrounding epilepsy
How financially savvy are you?
P 11
P 14
Miscreants remove railings on Univ Rd
Signposts
The Longest Race, a book about a young boy Bahadur and his struggle for that one thing he loves most – running penned by well-known acThe book cover tor, theatre artist and novelist Tom Alter, will be re-launched by the author himself along with Cyrus Dastur, founder of Shamiana, at the Orbis School, Mundhwa on November 25. The author will interact with the children and talk to them on how he got down to writing this book. This will also include snippets and trivia about Tom’s interaction with some of the biggest sporting personalities of the country including Sachin Tendulkar. He will also talk on the importance of sports in school life. For details, call 65608888
With some people removing two metal railings on Ganeshkind Road, negligent motorists are using the puncture to cross the stretch BY GITESH SHELKE @gitesh.shelke
It is no use blaming the authorities when irresponsible citizens themselves remove iron railings/barricades, erected by the traffic police as road dividers. That stretch of the road has now become dangerous for road users, especially the motorists heading towards Agriculture College chowk from University Circle. Some unknown persons have
“We will soon put up barricades to cover the puncture.”
IMA, Pune to hold walkathon during annual conference
- SARANG AWAD, DCP (traffic)
removed two iron railings erected by the civic authorities on the stretch in front of RBI’s Agriculture College. One can hear brakes screeching as negligent motorists drive through the puncture on road divider. The stretch between the chowk located near Central Mall and the flyover located near E-Square multiplex has iron railings as divider.
RAHUL RAUT
Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostics Techniques Act, 1994 (PCPNDT), Carcino Embryonic Antigen (CEA) and Massive Transfusion Protocol (MTP) are some of the topics that will be discussed at MASTACON 2014, the 54th annual conference of Indian Medical Association (IMA), Pune Branch. About 600 delegates from 202 IMA branches are expected to take part in the conference that will be organised at Hotel Four Sheraton, Ahmednagar Road, between November 22 and 23. IMA national president Dr Ditendra Patel, IMA secretary general Dr Narendra Saini and IMA national leader forum Dr N Apparao will be attending the event. A walkathon will be organised from Hotel Hyatt to Hotel Four Points to spread the message ‘save the girl child’ on November 23.
PICS BY RAHUL RAUT
Tom Alter to re-launch his book at The Orbis School
The opening on the busy University Road, created after miscreants removed the metal barriers, has turned into a death trap as motorists, riders, autorickshaw drivers and pedestrians use this dangerous gap to cross to the other side
Motorists, two and four-wheeler riders, autorickshaw drivers and pedestrians are found to be crossing the road using this ‘death trap’. Vehicles heading towards Agriculture College chowk from the flyover located in front
of E-Square are generally found to be driven at high speed. And motorists who wants to go towards Agriculture College chowk from Model Colony (from the road located in front of Jain Hostel in Model
The ILC-I awards are given to people with outstanding contribution towards the welfare of senior citizens
CSIR National Chemical Laboratory faculty and chair of organic chemistry division, Pradeep Kumar has been elected as a fellow of Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi. Kumar completed his bachelors and masters degrees from University of Gorakhpur and obtained PhD from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. His research interests include development of new methodologies, synthesis of biologically active natural products and solid catalyst induced synthetic organic transformations. He has supervised more than 20 doctoral theses. He has over 170 publications in peer-reviewed journals and several patents to his credit. Dr Kumar is also the recipient of the CRSI bronze medal, Scientist of the Year Award of NCL Research Foundation, Prof ASR Anjaneyulu 60th Birthday Commemoration award and OPPI Scientist award.
BU DGET
road users. “We will soon put up barricades to cover the puncture in the railings. A letter will be sent to the civic authorities to alert them and carry out repairs.” gitesh.shelke@goldensparrow.com
Awards dedicated to golden years of life
WE’LL ROCK!
Pradeep Kumar elected fellow of INSA
PUBLIC PARTICIPATORY
Colony) use this road puncture to go to the other side, posing a threat to the motorists on the Ganeshkhind Road. Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Sarang Awad admitted that the point had become dangerous for
TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly
City youth enjoying the performance of Rio Montania, a Korean band, during the International Youth Fellowship (IYF)World Camp at Symbiosis University, Vimannagar campus, on November 20. The inaugural session of the three-day world camp had musical performances, cultural dances and mind lectures by Oh Young Il, IYF mind lecturer, who talked about the need for enjoying what you do and the need to express one’s heart towards others
PCMC receives record 442 suggestions
Extends deadline till Nov 29 BY ARCHANA DAHIWAL @ArchanaDahiwal The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has received a record 442 suggestions till November 19, from citizens for the public participatory budget 2015-16. The civic administration has extended the deadline for eight days, till November 29. Regular campaigns and discussions by citizen groups, including Pimpri Chinchwad Citizens Forum (PCCF), Janwani and Centre for Environment Education (CEE), have resulted in active participation by citizens.
Pimpri Chinchwad Citizens Forum, Janwani and Centre for Environment Education members are holding regular campaigns with citizens in Pimpri-Chinchwad
PCCF convenor Amol Deshpande said, “The forum requested the civic chief to extend the deadline for inviting suggestions so that more citizens can get the opportunity.” PCMC chief audit officer Pramod Bhosale said, “We have extended the deadline by eight days. Giving more days will affect the planning of the ward budget.” Last year, the civic body had received 75 suggestions. Citizens can suggest a project of `10 lakh in their respective wards. PCMC is divided into six zones and each zone is further divided into wards. There are 64 wards in PCMC jurisdiction. archana.dahiwal@goldensparrow.com
The 5th edition of International Longevity Centre India ( I L C - I ) awards were presentedat the 2nd National Social Innovation Dr Jairaj Chintamani Seminar at Ya s h w a n t r a o C h a v a n Academy of Development Administration (YASHADA), Baner Road on November 17. The BG Deshmukh Award for Qualitative Excellence in Ageing and Lifetime Achievement Award, SD Gokhale Award for Promoting Qualitative Journalism in Ageing and Anjani Mashelkar Inclusive Innovation Award were given to candidates whose work affi rms with ILC-I’s mission. The non-profit organisation works in the areas of policy, research, training, documentation and advocacy to undertake projects for qualitative population ageing. Dr Jayant Umranikar, chairman, ILC-I said that there is a need of mobile Subhash Joshi and affordable innovations to accomodate the rising old age dependency ratio (which he estimated will be 14 per cent by 2020). “The 100 smart cities that Modi talked about on Independence Day can be made into age-friendly cities
to make things easier in future for the senior citizens.” D r Raghunath Mashelkar, president ILC-I said, “We need to address R H Belawadi the problem of mental and physical mobility of the elderly. Age-friendly infrastructure and innovations will cater to the predicted demographics.” Subhash Joshi, founder of Jyestha Nagrik Sangh, Mulund, was given the BG Deshmukh Award for Qualitative Excellence in Ageing. The organisation has organised health camps, p r o v i d e d shelters and have provided facilities like that of libraries for the elderly. The Madhuri Tamhane BG Deshmukh Jeevan Gaurav (lifetime achievement) Award was given to RH Belawadi, retired IAS officer, for his contribution towards the senior citizens and the underprivileged. Madhuri Tamhane of Loksatta won the SD Gokhale Award for Promoting Qualitative Journalism in Ageing. She has relentlessly promoted the cause of destitute senior citizens through her writings. The Anjani Mashelkar Inclusive Innovation Award was given to Dr Jairaj Chintamani for his medical invention of Diosense – a device to predict diabetic ulcers. tgs.feedback@goldnsparrow.com
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2014
Work-for-Welfare gains a foothold in Hungary P 13
The Dalai Lama “is earnestly interested in issues related to leprosy, and has urged people not to discriminate against those who have been affected by the disease”. — a representative from the Dalai Lama Trust
Is Sant Rampal any better than a hostage-taking terrorist? Six killed in Hisar clashes as Rampal used devotees as human shields IANS
BY R JAGANNATHAN What is the difference between a terrorist taking hostages for his own safety and a Haryana godman who uses hapless women and children as human shields to protect himself from the law? The latter’s culpability should be seen as something worse, for a terrorist is a terrorist, someone who always operates outside the law. But a godman using this kind of human leverage stands condemned by the misuse of his own moral authority. In fact, he is responsible for any injuries or deaths resulting from the police action now underway. The Haryana director general of police, SN Vashisht, informed the media that the inmates of godman Rampal’s ashram in Barwala (Hisar) handed over the bodies of four women. It is not clear whether they died in police action to evacuate the devotees guarding the ashram or some other cause. But whatever the post-mortem report shows, the moral responsibility for their deaths lies with their godman, and not just the police. Rampal has been evading arrest and the law for a crime committed by his acolytes in 2006. In the last four years, he has evaded court appearances 43 times. He has to appear in court for the unlawful actions of his followers who apparently fired at villagers in Rohtak in 2006, killing one. The godman is out on bail, but the court’s patience is clearly wearing thin. However, it is not Rampal’s alleged crimes of commission or omission that are the issue here. Those the courts can deal with and determine guilt. The real issue here is the use of hapless poor and confused devotees to evade the law. For this act alone, the godman and his band of armed protectors deserve to be in jail. Rampal’s devotees, interviewed by the media after they left the ashram in the wake of the police siege of the ashram, seem to clearly suggest
Five-day police custody for Rampal
Followers of controversial sect leader Rampal come out of Satlok Ashram near Barwala town in Haryana’s Hisar district, 210 km from Chandigarh, on November 19, 2014
that their actions were forced by the godman’s henchmen. This is no different ethically from taking hostages to keep the law at bay. An Indian Express story says that most of them were actually unwilling to play the role of human shields for their godman but were coerced into it. The force probably worked this way. The women who formed some of the outer ring around the ashram were separated from their men and children. This pressured them to stay at the ashram and provide the outer human shield – temporarily making it tough for the police to act.
Jammu and Kashmir polls: BJP bets on woman power to take on Omar Abdullah SRINAGAR: Deep inside the winding lanes of a congested neighborhood in Srinagar, a bespectacled woman dressed in a loose, white shalwar kameez seeks votes for the Bhartiya Janata Party. A few years ago, such a scene would have been unimaginable. But time has changed and so has the political demography of Kashmir. Darkhshan Andrabi, a poet by choice, is the BJP’s candidate who will take on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Sonawar constituency. Her key target: the women of Sonawar. Andrabi was chairperson of Social Democratic Party (SDP) which she merged with the BJP. Apart from the developmental agenda, she says it is the BJP’s “commitment to women empowerment” which has attracted her to join the party, perhaps unaware that BJP has given tickets to only two women candidates in Kashmir. “Women must come forward in Kashmir to join politics. If we don’t, how can we expect political parties to give us 33 percent reservation? I tell our women party workers to make sure that every woman in their constituencies vote on the day of elections,” Andrabi says. Andrabi, who holds a doctorate in Urdu, prefers door-to-door campaign for convincing people into voting for BJP. Much like the rest of Srinagar city, Sonawar was also devastated in September flood. The scars left behind by furious water of Jehlum are still visible on the walls of houses. “I am privileged for having been chosen by the party to fight against Omar Abdullah. I wish there were at least two women fighting against such men in every constituency,” Andrabi says. She is one of the few voices of women power that will be put to a test when Jammu and Kashmir goes to polls from 25 November.
While there was a slight improvement from the year 2009 in the number of women candidates winning the recent Lok Sabha elections, from 59 to 61, the number of women who were given tickets by political parties to contest assembly polls in J&K is almost nil. The total number of voters in the state is 69,33,118 out of which 36,57,877 are males and 32,75,241 females. Ironically, women candidates constitute a mere three percent of the candidates who are contesting the 2014 assembly elections. Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) chief spokesperson, Naeem Akhtar, says there are few women politicians who want to join politics. His claim, however, betrays the reality on ground. For example, National Conference is the only party in the state which has allotted tickets to six women candidates out of 84 announced by the party for the upcoming elections while PDP headed by Mehbooba Mufti has given ticket to only one women candidate. Congress party has fielded three women in this assembly elections including Khem Lata Wakhloo, a Kashmiri Pandit while BJP which is eyeing a majority in the 87-member assembly has two women candidates. National Conference leader and social welfare minister, Sakina Ittoo said it has been a difficult journey being a women politician in Kashmir is as difficult as in any other state of India but out party National Conference has been a torchbearer when it comes to empowerment of women.” In Kashmir’s troubled past, few women politicians have made their mark on the state’s political map in the last two decades of insurgency. With Hina and Darakshan coming on the frontline, the political battles have gotten more interesting than before. Firstpost.com
A court in Haryana’s Hisar town Thursday sent controversial sect leader Rampal to five-day police custody. Rampal, who has been booked for murder, attempt to murder, sedition, rioting, illegal detention and other charges, was brought here from Chandigarh Thursday by Haryana Police. Rampal’s bail in a 2006 murder case was cancelled by the Punjab and Haryana High Court Thursday and he was sent to judicial custody in that case. Rampal was brought here for investigations into the latest cases against him.
Their families are still held inside. The Express report quotes on Dhanno Devi as saying: “I came for his satsang on November 7, but wanted to leave when the situation worsened. The men didn’t let us leave although there was no food. Children are suffering inside because of the number of people — over 20,000. They also threatened that the Baba would not bless us.” Clearly, force and emotional blackmail are part of Rampal’s acolytes efforts to help him evade arrest.
IN THE
NEWS
(By special arrangement with Firstpost.com)
Parents murder Delhi student: So much for educating the girl child
A middle class Delhi family murdered their daughter for revealing her love interest; a boy of a different religion BY LAKSHMI CHAUDHRY
Bhavna was a 21-year old, studying Sanskrit at Venkateswara College in South Delhi. She fell in love with Abhishek, a young assistant programmer at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, also doing his BA in computer applications. They dreamed of graduating, landing great jobs and getting married. They dreamed the new Indian dream, much as countless young people across this nation. Except there was this one little catch, as Abhishek explains it to Times of India: "She often told me that her father would never allow her to marry a Punjabi but I used to assure her that we will find a way. We did not want to shock them which was why we had told them about our friendship and she had also conveyed her feelings to her mother. However, they snubbed us saying it was imposible." For this one indiscretion, Bhavna was allegedly strangled by her middle class parents, Savitri and Jagmohan -- a middle class property dealer, described as a "strict but harmless man" with "strong views about inter-caste marriages and community prestige" by his neighbours. This is not a khap killing in some remote village. This is middle class Delhi. "The dignity of a woman is our collective responsibility. The main issue is the education of the girl child. By doing so, the possibility of empowerment of women will increase," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech. Yes, we must all educate the girl child. But that begs the bigger question: Who will educate her family? As Malala's stunning popularity demonstrates, sending girls to school seems like a no-brainer. Education is the ladder of opportunity, more so in patriarchical, developing nations where it offers
precious upward mobility within an entrenched hierarchy. But with opportunity comes freedom, or at least, the desire for it. When young girls leave the house to study, learn to navigate the world outside, they become independent, more willing to make their own choices, without deference to the tradition that would have kept them at home. And therein lies the rub. Parents are willing to educate their daughters, but certainly not emancipate them. As was the case with Deepti Chikara, the 26-year old primary school teacher in outer Delhi who was also strangled by her mother, brother and uncle because she wanted to marry an engineer from another caste. In our cultural vocabulary, education is reduced to a handy tool of economic advancement. Achha job milega, paisa milega (Get a good job, get a good salary). Maybe even achha var (bridegroom) milega, given that a padhi-likhi (educated) wife is a desired commodity on the marriage market these days. But god forbid if 12 years of schooling or a college degree open her mind and the doors to a wider world. Our version of education doesn't broaden the mind, but sticks to its assigned job, i.e. fatten the wallet. This price of this debased definition is made painfully clear by the likes of this young man who said of the Ashok Vihar honour killings. Young journalist Nirupama Pathak's relatives were educated people too. Father worked at a bank, brothers held doctorate degrees, and yet her decision to marry outside her caste evoked immediate consequences. While it remains unclear four years after her death whether she was driven to suicide or killed, what is unmistakeable is her family's outrage at her presumption. It is, of course, these age-old beliefs (pick your religion) that tell a woman to remain in her place. Contrary to what the prime minister desired, many parents send their girls to school praying that the experience will not teach her to think for herself, will not encourage her to question that hallowed tradition, will not lead to that much-touted empowerment. As it turns out, nice middle Delhi parents are not all that different from the Taliban. (By special arrangement with Firstpost.com)
Catch up with developments in Pune as the week comes to a close
Ground analysis on Western Ghats Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar conducted a highlevel meeting with the environment and forest officers in the city. He said that the state government is all set to fast-track the ground analysis in the areas covering the Western Ghats on the recommendations of the committees headed by Madhav Gadgil and K Kasturirangan. The exercise will be done in the six states (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and Kanyakumari. Exercise in two states, including Kerala, has been completed and Goa’s report is in the final stages. Sadly, not much has been done in Maharashtra in the last four months. The exercise will attempt to preserve biodiversity of the Western Ghats, enrich the forests and ensure the protection of environment.
Indo-China joint military training begins The ten-day India-China joint military exercise kick-started in the city earlier this week. The visiting Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) contingent is headed by Lt Gen Shi Xiangyuan, Deputy Commander of Chengdu Military Command. A total of 139 officers and soldiers each from the 13 Group Army, Chengdu Military Region, and the 9 Battalion Rajputana Rifles of the Indian Army are participating in the fourth edition of joint military exercise, which focuses on sharing of strategic know-how in counter-insurgency and counterterrorism operations. Interoperability and best practices being followed by the two armies form the thrust of the exercise that will cover conditioning training followed by basic training and finally comprehensive exercises.
RAHUL RAUT
BY SAMEER YASIR
PUNE
Lt Gen Shi Xiangyuan, Deputy Commander of Chengdu Military Command, heads the visiting Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) contingent
Vice-principal held for sexually assaulting girl The vice-principal of an English-medium school located at Lohegaon was arrested by the Airport police on Tuesday night for allegedly sexually assaulting a 13-yearold girl student, a student of standard VII. The police have arrested the suspect identified as Suresh John Paul Swamy (28) who was subsequently remanded to police custody till November 24 by a city court. Swamy was arrested after the girl’s mother registered a complaint against him under section 8 (punishment for sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
Infosys ties up with Stanford Graduate School of Business Indian technology giant Infosys earlier this week announced that it will collaborate with Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) to create a comprehensive executive education programme. As part of this
agreement, Stanford GSB will team with senior Infosys executives to design and deliver a customised strategic leadership development programme for the company’s executives, clients and partners. The executive education programme will include a suite of business management skills, as well as courses in corporate innovation processes to help Infosys b a l a n c e business discipline and entrepreneurial spirit. The office of executive education at Stanford GSB and Infosys will deliver the leadership programme through inperson and online instruction, as well as live sessions enabled by distance-learning technology. The initiative will include 200 executives who will each participate in a part-time, year-long programme in groups of 40 over three years. Executives will be able to test and apply their learning to real business challenges in parallel.
Sadhu Vaswani Mission to hold vegetarian day The Sadhu Vaswani Mission has urged all to be vegetarian on November 25.
Sadhu Vaswani’s birthday, November 25, is celebrated as International Meatless Day & Animal Rights Day. Celebrating its silver jubilee, the mission organised a peace march recently. The event was attended by chief RTO Jitendra Patil, PMC deputy mayor Aba Bagul, Dr Kalyan Gangwal, Dr KH Sancheti and Lila Poonawalla, besides school and college students. Bagul urged all to take a vow to become vegetarians. The citizens who had gathered at the peace march took an oath to be vegetarian on November 25. As part of Sadhu Vaswani’s birthday celebrations, the peace march of students, animal lovers and supporters will be held in Pune and other cities of India every year. For details, contact 9850993151 or pro@sadhuvaswani.org
Akanksha wins bronze in Asian Youth chess Pune’s Akanksha Hagawane won bronze medal at the Asian Youth Chess Championship held at New Delhi recently. In the under-14 age group, Akanksha garnered 6.5 points to finish third, behind R Vaishali and Riya Sawant. With this performance, the 14-year-old also earned the Women Candidate Master title. Top players from Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and other Asian countries participated in the event. Akanksha had performed well in the World Youth Chess Championship held in the city last month. She is a standard IX student of DES School, Tilak Road, and trains with Jayant Gokhale. Senior players Atul Dahale and A n i r u d d h a Deshpande had helped her in preparing for the event.
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2014
PUNE
“As clinicians, we need to ensure that the diabetic patients are provided with proper diet counselling with support from a dietitian if required.” Dr Shashank Joshi, endocrinologist
“The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s drive against dengue, that includes the container survey after the door-to-door visits, has been extended due to the recent rainfall.” —Dilip Gawade, Joint Commissioner of the Health Dept
Shattering the myths surrounding epilepsy
The Way Forward With Compassion & Hope
Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital organised a one-day event to educate patients and families as part of the World Epilepsy Day initiative BY ISHANI BOSE @ishani_bose
Famous people with epilepsy
WORLD EPILEPSY DAY
People usually think that epileptic patients should not get married as they may face a lot of problems in their marital life and not have children. We both stand before you as a living testimony to shatter that age-old myth. Epi leptic patients too can lead a normal life. We haven’t faced any Dr Rahul Kulkarni problems. T h e assertion made by Padmakar and Purva Joshi, the couple who found each other at the Samvedna Epilepsy Family group’s matrimonial meet, at the one-day event organised by Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and Samvedna E p i l e p s y support group gave a positive and conclusive meaning to one of the most misunderstood Dr Manjusha Vehale ailments. The young couple has a one-and-a-half-year-old baby who does not have epilepsy. The event was organised as part of the World Epilepsy Day initiative at the hospital recently, to instil hope in the lives of epileptic patients and bust misconceptions associated with the ailment. From being Dr Shripad Pujari called the ‘falling disease’ to believing that an epileptic patient is possessed by demons, the disease has always been surrounded by myths. Even today, people have various misconceptions
Follow a balanced diet
Reduce stress
Take medicine regularly
COMBATING
EPILEPSY
Be strong physically, mentally & spiritually
Get enough sleep
Family support to boost morale Let friends know how to help if you have a seizure
The ailment Epilepsy is a central nervous system disorder (neurological disorder) in which the nerve cell activity in one’s brain is disturbed, causing a seizure during which one experiences abnormal behaviour, symptoms and sensations, including loss of consciousness.
about it. For instance, people who suffer from epilepsy are thought to be mentally deranged or challenged; or epilepsy is hereditary, or that epileptic patients cannot get married. Neurologists Dr Rahul Kulkarni and Dr Shripad Pujari, and psychologist Dr Manjusha Vehale — all associated with Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital; Samvedna Epilepsy Support Group coordinators Ravindra Bapat and Mohan Phatak; and social worker Arun Konduskar attended the function. Speaking on the ways of coping with epilepsy, Dr Kulkarni said that the patient must develop a strong mental condition to combat the disease. “What epilepsy does is it affects the psychological condition of the person first. The patient in question gets stuck in the ‘Why me?’ conundrum, which does not allow him to lead a normal life. Epileptic patients need to have an immense mental strength to lead a normal life,” he said. Pointing out the crucial role of the epileptic’s family, Dr Kulkarni said, “Patients can easily accept and lead a normal life if they have a supportive
family, which is constantly there to boost their morale, uplift their mood, instil faith in them that all is well, keep a constant watch on them and remind them about their medications. Patients should not discontinue taking medicines without doctor’s consultation.” He admitted that there is only a limit to which a doctor can help in the patient’s mental and physical wellbeing. “The family members must treat these patients just as normal people, especially if the patient in question is a child, otherwise he/she could develop certain behavioural disorders. Constantly guiding and supporting the patient is like winning half the battle,” he said, adding that the Samvedna Epilepsy Support Group extends support to such patients and their families. Dr Pujari stressed the importance of an epileptic’s skill development in self-management as one of the essential components in coping with the disease and preventing it from manifesting into a severe form. “An epileptic will suffer from various psychological issues such
• Socrates, Greek philosopher • Alexander the Great, Greek general and statesman • Julius Caesar, Roman statesman • Napoleon, French emperor • Lord Byron, English poet • Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist • Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter • Alfred Nobel, Swedish munitions manufacturer, founder of the Nobel Prize
What one needs to know? • Epilepsy is a physical, functional problem that occurs in the brain. • Although epilepsy has been with us since antiquity, great strides in diagnosis and treatment have been made in the last 100 years. • There are many ways to treat, minimise, control, and even eliminate epilepsy when the conditions are right. • People with epilepsy may be smart, famous, and highly productive, just like anyone else
as inferiority complex and low selfconfidence. It is necessary that the patient channelises his/her thought processes and figures out what he/ she wants to achieve in life and work towards it. One needs to be a strong physical, mental and spiritual being and believe in one’s own potential in order to come out of the situation,” Dr Pujari said, adding that efforts should be made to help an epileptic use time constructively. Dr Vehale spoke about the ways in which stress can deteriorate the condition of an epileptic and urged the need to provide these patients a conducive environment that will help them reduce stress and prevent the disease from worsening. ishani.bose@goldensparrow.com
‘Stem cell regime has no advantage over stroke treatment’
An app to help infants with heart defects
Pune’s Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) was part of a study that concluded that stem cell treatment has no added beneficial effects over the conventional treatment of paralysis, which is also known as stroke. All India Institute of Medial Sciences (AIIMS) conducted the study that was financed by the department of biotechnology. According to the study, the general public, suffering from disabling and incurable diseases, should not go in for stem cell treatment without knowing its scientific effects as there are different types of stem cells. The study was carried out between 2008 and 2014 and out of 120 patients, 60 patients were assigned to receive conventional treatment and the remaining 60 patients were assigned bone marrow stem cell treatment. All the patients had suffered from a stroke and subsequent paralysis. While half of the patients
A new app to directly connect infants who have had a critical heart surgery with doctors has been created. Indian-origin doctor Girish Shirali, who is the codirector of the Ward Family Heart Center at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, made a presentation on the app at the 2014 American Heart Association scientific sessions held at Chicago November 15-19. The tablet-based app, called CHAMP (Cardiac High-Acuity Monitoring Program), allows doctors to monitor in real-time children with the high-risk, single ventricle heart defect in an automated and accurate way. Children born with a single ventricle heart defect typically require three surgeries, one within days of birth, one before they are six months old, and one between three and five years of age. In the US, there are 3,000 babies with single ventricle heart defects and in India, with the higher birth rate, the number is much higher. Ten to 20 per cent of babies in the US who undergo the first surgery die before having the second surgery. CHAMP allows doctors to quickly intervene in signs of danger and has reduced the mortality rate while decreasing the burden on at-home caregivers. For 17 patients who have each used the app for an average of almost three months, it generated over 70 automated pages or calls to the care team from 10 patients and resulted in seven hospital admissions for rapid interventions. All the 17 patients survived the time period between the first and second surgeries. The app was developed in collaboration with the Claire Giannini Fund and Heart to Heart Network Inc. IANS
States a study carried out by medical institutes, including AFMC underwent conventional treatment, the other half underwent stem cell aspiration from the hip bone. Bone marrow cells were
infused into the veins of their forearm. Later, the patients’ difficulties in using their upper limbs were measured at intervals of 3, 6 and 12 months, respectively. “Stem cell treatment might have no side effects, but it has been proved that it has no advantages over the conventional treatment process,” said
Kameshwar Prasad, professor at the department of neurology, AIIMS. The study, which is the first report on stem cells treatment for stroke, has been published in the American Journal ‘Stroke’. Apart from AIIMS and AFMC, Sanjay Gandhi PostGraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) Lucknow, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER) Chandigarh and Army Hospital (Research and Referral) New Delhi participated in the study. IANS
Everyone deserves a second chance BY C RAVINDRANATH
H
ow quickly and easily do we affi x labels! How often do we say, “Th is job is difficult,” without even giving it a shot? How many times have we stuck labels on people – “Th is person is a crook,” or “So and so is stuck up?” Even school teachers label students as ‘lazy’ or ‘incorrigible.’ Have we not seen a ‘lazy’ child act with alacrity when he does something he likes? How can we term someone as ‘incorrigible’ and write him off without giving him another chance? Are we right in being so conclusive and judgemental? Whenever someone is dubbed as a failure, do we pause to think if the person is a failure or only the particular effort he made had an undesirable result? Can we separate the person from the effort? Do all his efforts end in failure? I have often wondered about people languishing in prisons for years for their misdeeds. Do we give them the opportunity to turn over a new leaf – to redeem themselves? During my visits to the prison, I have met several who were nothing less than saints. What future
do they have after they have served their terms? While we are quick to castigate others, how harshly do we view our own mistakes? If we can condone our fl aws, why do we have to blow up mistakes others make? When I err, I’m human. Aren’t others human too? Why do we use one yardstick for ourselves and another for others? Is our compassion so fl imsy that we give the dog a bad name and hang it? Is our patience so thin that we have to keep honking while the man in front waits for the red signal to turn green? How many times have we barely escaped an accident on the road and accepted it was our fault? It’s always the other guy who is to be blamed. Are we so pure and sans blemish? I have witnessed people blaming whole communities for the fault of a few. The same persons also quote Shakespeare and say, “One swallow does not a summer make,” when it comes to a member of their own community. Which political party has ever admitted its mistakes? Which political party is pure as the driven snow? Perhaps it is time we pondered over these issues. Perhaps it is time to introspect and discover how sympathetic and tolerant we really are. Perhaps it is time to exercise compassion to those who have strayed from the virtuous path. Perhaps it is time to pause before we stick labels on others. It is just as easy for others to stick labels on us. (The writer is a multi-faceted personality who believes in responding with compassion and hope to the diffi cult situations in life.)
Is a problem bothering you and you are unable to decide what to do? Write in to us at wayforward@goldensparrow.com for advice and suggestions from C Ravindranath
TH E EDIT PAGE
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2014
PUNE
Editor’s pick
There is significant untapped opportunity for value creation that is latent in the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) market. These markets have remained “invisible” for too long. —CK Prahalad
Triggering social innovations in India the most beneficial social innovations that creative minds can produce. The mobile phone technology did not originate as a social innovation but can arguably be described as one because it is affordable to the poorest who can use it to earn a livelihood. It should always be remembered that every problem has a solution and there’s an opportunity waiting to be tapped in the process of solving problems. Narayana Hrudalaya which subscribes to the best practices in the world and accounts for 12% of heart surgeries in India is working in the area of affordable healthcare. Is it a coincidence that Aravind Eye Hospitals is also working in this area and that this year’s Anjani Mashelkar Inclusive Innovation Award went to a doctor for inventing a device to predict diabetic ulcers? The Intelligence Unit of The Economist has reported that this year “100 million surgical procedures will be performed in Asia alone”, while drawing attention to the opportunities awaiting innovators in healthcare. There are similar opportunities awaiting those who succeed in promoting the use of toilets by India’s poor, address the problem of garbage management or employment generation. Some of India’s best minds had gathered in Pune on November 17 at the second National Social Innovation Seminar to take a review, plan the next steps and chart the way forward. Th is newspaper joins them in this movement and assures the fullest support. @tgsweekly editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com
Disappointing politics in Maharashtra The mandate of the people of Maharashtra to the BJP is for development and stability and not instability and petty politics. Th is clearly means that rather than indulge in political adventurism, the BJP should have resolved the issue of its alliance partners by now and got down to business instead of hobnobbing with the NCP. The BJP should have displayed large-heartedness and maturity by working out a solution with its natural ally, the Shiv Sena and focused on issues of development. It should have got down to addressing the critical issues of the state in the hope that its good work would be rewarded by voters in the next elections by giving it a thumping majority which it missed this time. The NCP president Sharad Pawar is playing politics on expected lines. After having been thoroughly rejected by the people of Maharashtra, Pawar now has little to lose in being reckless. His support to the BJP has hurt and alienated Muslims from the NCP. It is least surprising that disillusioned
with the Congress, a section of the Muslims are turning to the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen led by the Owaisi brothers in the hope that their interests would be protected in Maharashtra. On October 11, a full week before the Maharashtra Assembly election results began pouring in, this newspaper had asked, “Which way will the winds blow for Sharad Pawar?” Drawing attention to the many fl ip-flops in Pawar’s fivedecades-long career, we asked pointblank: “Will the NCP align with the BJP in the name of ‘development’? Rather predictably, the NCP lost no time in announcing that it would extend “outside support” to the BJP “in the interest of stability in Maharashtra”. Pawar has once again disappointed his own followers by doing yet another somersault. The BJP needs to quickly put its government on a stable footing and get down to work in right earnest. @tgsweekly editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com
Vol-1* lssue No.: 23 Printed and Published by: PRI – Media Services Private Limited CIN: U22222MH2012PTC232006 on behalf of Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. CIN:U22200PN2014PTC151382 Printed at Diligent Media Corporation Ltd., Plot No. EL-201, TTC Industrial Area, MIDC, Mahape, Navi Mumbai. Published at Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. 1641, Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411 030, Tel: 020-2432 4332/33. Editor: Abhay Vaidya (Responsible for the selection of news under the PRB Act, 1867)
Cartoon by Subhani, courtesy: The Asian Age
Jaitley gets upper hand in cabinet BY ARVIND PADMANABHAN That the defence portfolio will be taken away from Arun Jaitley was a given. The lawyer-politician, who will turn 62 next month, had himself said in as many words that it was an additional charge he was holding, which would be assigned to someone else at the first given opportunity. But the allocation of information and broadcasting ministry in the latest cabinet reshuffle -- in addition to his existing portfolios of finance and corporate affairs -- is signal enough as to who remains the most trusted man in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council of ministers. Jaitley may figure at the third place in the actual pecking order, as listed in communiqué from Rashtrapati Bhavan on portfolio allocation of the 65 members, excluding Modi himself. He figures after Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, in that order. Yet, there are several reasons why this former president of the Delhi University Students Union has emerged more powerful than some of his peers. The finance portfolio in itself is a formidable one, since it is at the core of any of the programmes of the government that require fiscal allocations. But, in addition, in Modi’s scheme of things, a well-oiled information and broadcasting ministry is key to ensuring that the idea of “good governance” reaches the people at large, in the manner and through the medium he wants it. Perception, many a time, matters more than the reality on the ground.
IANS
Th ree of India’s greatest social innovationsthe Jaipur Foot, Narayana Hrudalaya healthcare model and the Aravind Eye Hospitals initiative in Madurai are being driven by self-motivated individuals. Each of these initiatives is a legend, analysed and written about by many, including the internationally-acclaimed management guru, late CK Prahalad. The indigenously-developed Jaipur Foot, a below-the-knee prosthesis, has benefitted no less than 1.4 million people so far, with as many as 60,000 fitments every year. As reported in this newspaper, the achievements of the other two, Narayana Hrudalaya and the Aravind Eye Hospitals, are equally admirable and growing by leaps and bounds. These social innovations were among those that were discussed in depth recently at the second national Seminar on Social Innovations held in the city. Organised jointly by IIMAhmedabad, the Pune International Centre and other partners, the effort was to foster a culture of social innovations in the country and create an enabling environment for them to flourish. As Prahalad has noted in his landmark study and best-selling book, Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, businesses based on social innovations seek to primarily address the problem of poverty in the world. While doing so, a world of win-win opportunities opens up for all the stakeholders. Th is involves collaboration between the poor, civil society organizations, innovators, sociallydriven businessmen and governments. The markets are waiting and ready for
Union Minister Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting Arun Jaitley addresses a press conference in New Delhi, on Nov 10
In more ways than one, the information and broadcasting minister is also often the one who interacts with the media the most and is additionally seen as the political public face of not just the cabinet, but also the government. No prime minister, who has some hold over his flock, entrusts this crucial ministry to a person whom he is not comfortable with. If Jaitley is assigned this additional task, it cannot be without reason. Incidentally, this well-connected senior counsel in the Supreme Court has the right credentials to hold the information and broadcasting portfolio, having served in it as a minister of state with independent charge in 1999-2000. What has also evoked much curiosity about the information and
broadcasting portfolio being assigned to Jaitley is that his predecessor Prakash Javadekar was perceived as the right choice. After all, in the run-up to the elections, he was among the public faces of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as one of its key spokespersons. Clearly, Modi has a different take on this. But Jaitley has the new, additional role cut out for him, and it is not going to be easy. For one, he will continue to oversee the corporate affairs ministry. In handling this portfolio, he has no deputy to bank upon. This is unlike the two other portfolios, finance and information and broadcasting, for which he has two ministers of state to share his burden, the IIT-Harvard alumni and investment strategist Jayant Sinha and ace Olympian shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. Prior to the reshuffle, Nirmala Sitharaman, the minister of state with independent charge of commerce and industry ministry, was also a deputy to Jaitley in the corporate affairs and finance ministries. But these two additional charges have been taken away from her. This makes the corporate affairs portfolio that much more difficult to handle. In the past couple of years, this ministry has also become weightier as the nodal administrator of the recast Companies Act, 2013, and the Competition Act, 2002, apart from overseeing the Serious Fraud Office and the Competition Commission. In addition, this ministry also has a supervisory role over three professional bodies seen as watchdogs of corporate laws -- those of chartered accountants,
Ethics, morality and vegetarianism J.P. VASWANI
slaughter of animals. In fact, most ancient cultures say that man fell from his state of The jiva, or the life-principle, is grace, harmony and innocence when he manifested in all creation. Thus himsa started to kill for food. Supreme Master is nothing but the harmony of my Suma Ching Hai of Taiwan considers will-to-live with the will-to-live of vegetarian and has also given her opinion other creatures. It is in this belief that on the relationship of vegetarianism Gurudev Sadhu Vaswani said, “Ahimsa and enlightenment by saying, “To be is profound surrender of myself for the completely enlightened and to keep the sake of Life in others. I must do nothing state of happiness at all times, we should to wound the jiva in other creatures. I grant happiness to all beings well in a must be true to the principle of the willcomplete way. Give them no fear, no to-live.” threatening atmosphere wherever you It is not only ancient Indian wisdom walk, and then you’ll experience free which urges the ethical principle of feelings and a very, very loving atmosphere live-and let-live. The Cherokee Indians always around you. That is the more have their myth of a golden age complete enlightenment.” Most vegetarians in western of harmony when man lived in countries have avoided flesh perfect peace with his fellow food for ethical reasons: the first creatures and all of nature, and of these is the opposition to all men, animals and plants could killing in general; the second is actually speak to each other. A the unspeakable cruelty and pain Chieftain of this tribe said to the inflicted on animals in factory new white settlers on his soil, “the and modern abattoirs. If deer, the horse, the great eagle, THINK farming it is wrong to kill human beings, these are our brothers. The rocky they argue, it must be equally crests, the juices in the meadows, wrong to kill sentient beings like animals. the body heat of the pony and man—all Flesh food eaters counter this belief belong to the same family. The White by stating that on moral, intellectual and Man must treat the beasts of this land as cultural grounds, animals can never be his brothers.” In Greece too, the philosopher equated with human beings. They add, Empedocles wrote of a “golden age for good measures, that what applies to of love… when no altar was wet with animals must also apply to plants, and shameful slaughter”. To Empedocles, that vegetarians ‘kill’ plants to satisfy man’s primal and original sin was the their cravings. While they insist that
eating animals is not morally different from eating plants, they nevertheless draw distinction between animals consumed for meat and pet animals like cats, dogs and horses. Thus while they find it healthy, ethical and civilised to consume sheep, lambs, pigs and chickens, they are horrified by the moral repugnancy of eating dogs or cats! Abolitionists go well beyond the claims of animal welfare activists: they feel that reforms in animal welfare are not enough to protect animals. To them any form of proprietary rights over animals is not acceptable, for it makes people comfortable about their ‘rights’ to use animals. “We don’t want bigger cages: we want empty cages.” is their cry. Their aim is to bring about a moral and ethical paradigm shift whereby animals cannot be regarded as things to be owned and used. For them, veganism is a matter of fundamental moral justice. Killing animals for food, experimenting on animals, hunting for entertainment or commerce, capturing young animals for fur, imprisoning them in cages, tormenting them to learn tricks for our entertainment, and ignoring the rights of animals to life are cruel, inhuman practices and must be condemned by all people who respect ethics and morality. We all know that we can be the change we want, if only we decide to start with a change in our own food habits!
cost accountants and company secretaries, all constituted under three separate acts of parliament. Besides, the primary portfolio of finance will be in sharp focus till the national budget is presented end-February, the exercise for which has already started. Going by the past, budget making demands a substantial time of a finance minister’s time on a daily basis. Then, there are some legislative matters, some crucial ones as well, which Jaitley has to oversee and, more importantly, also secure the support from the opposition parties in getting them passed in parliament. One has already seen how the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) found it next to impossible in getting opposition support, as also from states, on some crucial bills concerning the goods and services tax, direct tax code, insurance, pension, money laundering and competition. Then there are these watchful eyes of domestic and overseas investors, rating agencies, the markets at large and other stakeholders who play a major role in ascertaining the overall mood on the state of the economy and how well reforms are moving ahead. Given his health condition, which made him seek a 10-minute break while presenting the national budget in July and then sent him to a hospital and recuperation for nearly three weeks in September and October, Jaitley will have to do more than just allocate time judiciously among offices he holds. (Arvind Padmanabhan is executive editor of IANS. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at arvind.p@ ians.in)
Limericks of the week BY C RAVINDRANATH
Where godmen hold the aces With khaps and other races These are the clues To the latest news Haryana is going places! Even as ethics dived Cricket still thrived How is it We don’t feel fit To shout “Badminton’s arrived!” That there’s still ragging Shows morals are sagging Today’s need Is to pay heed We better stop bragging
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2014
PUNE
With selections from The New York Times
“We don’t want to put other American citizens at even greater risk when they’re around the globe. And that, knowing that terrorist organizations can extract a ransom from the United States, if they take a hostage only puts American citizens at greater risk.” —White House spokesman Josh Earnest
Kidambi Srikanth’s moment of truth P 15
By DENISE GRADY NEW YORK: An electrical device glued to the scalp can slow cancer growth and prolong survival in people with the deadliest type of brain tumor, researchers reported on November 15. The device is not a cure and, on average, adds only a few months of life when used along with the standard regimen of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Some doctors have questioned its usefulness. But scientists conducting a new study said the device was the first therapy in a decade to extend life in people with glioblastomas, brain tumors in which median survival is 15 months even with the best treatment. The disease affects about 10,000 people a year in the United States and is what killed Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in 2009. It is so aggressive and hard to treat that even seemingly small gains in survival are considered important. The new findings mean the device should become part of the standard care offered to all patients with newly diagnosed glioblastomas, the researchers conducting the study said. The equipment consists of four pads carrying transducer arrays that patients glue to their scalps and change every few days. Wires lead to a 2.7-kilogram operating system and power supply. Except for some scalp irritation, the device has no side effects, the study found. But patients have to wear it more or less around the clock and must keep their heads shaved. It generates alternating,
months. They were assigned at random to low-intensity electrical fields - so-called one of two groups: 105 received standard tumor-treating fields - that can halt treatment alone, usually consisting of tumor growth by stopping cells from surgery, radiation and the chemotherapy dividing, which leads to their death. The drug temozolomide; the other 210 researchers said the technology might received standard treatment and the also help treat other cancers, and would electrical device. be tested in mesothelioma and cancers of Patients who wore the device fared the lung, ovary, breast and pancreas. better than those who did not: Their The equipment is made by Novocure, median survival was 19.6 months, a company with headquarters on Jersey, an compared with 16.6 months in those English island off the coast of France. It on standard treatment also has a research center alone. Among those with in Israel and operations the device, 43 percent in the United States. The Except for survived two years, company is paying for the compared with 29 percent study, which involves 700 some scalp among those receiving patients in 12 countries. only standard therapy. Novocure’s device irritation, the “It was a surprise, and has been approved in the United States since 2011, device has no better than we would have Stupp said in but only to treat recurrent side effects, expected,” an interview. glioblastomas, not newly The study design diagnosed ones. It costs the study called for a data analysis $21,000 a month, and found partway through to some insurers cover it. monitor the patients’ So far, Novocure has safety. When the been providing it free monitoring board saw how much to patients without insurance coverage, better patients were doing with the according to William F. Doyle, the electrical fields, it recommended that company’s executive chairman. The study tested the device in the study be stopped so that the device newly diagnosed cases. The results were could be offered to everyone. It was the presented in Miami, at a meeting of the first time that a monitoring board had Society for Neuro-Oncology, by Dr Roger recommended stopping a brain-cancer Stupp, the study director and chairman of study because one treatment was so much the department of oncology and cancer at better than another. the University Hospital of Zurich. Dr. Patrick Y. Wen, director of The data came from the first 315 neuro-oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer patients, who were followed from 18 to 60 Institute in Boston, who was not involved
Maureen Piekanski, who has used an electrical device since 2011 to keep a brain tumor at bay and has far exceeded the 15 months doctors expected her to live after she fell ill, at her home in Throop, Pa.
with the study, said that until now, there had been some skepticism among doctors about the treatment. But “these results seem real,” Wen said. “With these results, I think more people would definitely use it.” Dana-Farber does not use the device, he said, but with the new data, “I think some patients will probably want to have it, and we will probably plan to use it going forward.” A three-month increase in survival may not sound like much, he said, “but for our patients, it’s not trivial.” Another neuro-oncologist not associated with the study, Dr. Nicholas Butowski of the University of California, San Francisco, described the Novocure device as “polarizing” and said, “Some of my colleagues just do not believe in it.” But Butowski added: “Perhaps it
Pakistanis fleeing war flow into beleaguered Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s latest trial comes amid growing refugee crises around the world and a global shortage of humanitarian funding CARLOTTA GALL & FAROOQ JAN MANGAL
Diego Ibarra Sanchez/The New York Times
GULAN CAMP, Afghanistan: Through three decades of war, waves of Afghans have fled their homes along the eastern border areas, many of them seeking shelter in the Pakistani tribal regions next door. Last summer another wave of refugees surged through the area. But in a reversal, it is Pakistanis, not Afghans, who are fleeing war at home. “There was fighting everywhere,” said Sadamullah, a laborer who fled with his family in October from Dattakhel, a district in Pakistan’s tribal areas. “There was shelling, and military forces were firing mortars on our villages. They carried out an operation in our area, and a woman was killed by them.” Sadamullah, who like many tribesmen here has only one name, was speaking about the Pakistani military’s continuing offensive against Islamist militants in the North Waziristan region. The military has been clearing territory in the region since June, forcing an exodus of at least 1.5 million residents. As many as 250,000 of them have since crossed the border into Afghanistan, officials say. The tribal communities on both sides of the border are Pashtun, and many of t h e
refugees from the Pakistani side have found shelter with relatives or sympathetic families on the Afghan side, mostly in Khost and Paktika provinces. But the poorest - about 3,000 families, according to the United Nations refugee agency - are perched in Gulan Camp, a stretch of rough stones and reed bushes in the Gorbuz district of Khost, just a few kilometers from the border. Canvas tents spread out toward the brown crags of the horizon. Women are cloistered behind flimsy screens, and children, who make up 65 percent of the camp population, dart in and out under the canvas flaps. The men have started building mud walls around the tents in an attempt to give better protection against the coming winter. “We left everything - hens, ducks, carpets,” said a widow, Shakila Saidgi, who fled her village in June. “We slept on the way in the mountains.” She said that Pakistani forces began bombarding her village in Waziristan at 4 in the morning, striking the mosque where the men were gathered for dawn prayer. Her nephew was among the wounded. “When the sun rose, we left,” she said. Refugees arriving in recent days said the monthsold operation was continuing and even expanding. They told of Pakistani jets bombing villages and the army firing artillery barrages. “The fighting was between the Taliban and the government, but our villages were bombarded and that’s why the people got fed up and left the area,” said Musa
Pakistanis displaced by an offensive against militants in North Waziristan wait for aid in Matoon, Afghanistan
Kalim Wazir, a shepherd from Tank village in Dattakhel district. Afghan officials, still grappling with a host of problems of their own, not least a continuing insurgency and thousands of internally displaced, now face an added burden of a quarter of a million refugees from Pakistan whose presence is turning into a long-term prospect. “Winter is already here and all of the refugees are facing a shortage of assistance,” said Muhammad Akbar Zadran, the governor of Gurbaz district. “A group of refugees came to my office, and they told me that different diseases were spreading among their children. If they don’t get urgent treatment then it is possible that in coming days we will witness a precarious situation.” He said: “All of the refugees have many problems; they have come here with just the clothes on their backs, and they left everything behind. If the government and people don’t respond to their needs then it will be a great problem.” Afghanistan’s latest trial comes amid growing refugee crises around the world and a global shortage of humanitarian funding. The United Nations appealed for $25 million to assist the Pakistani refugees through the end of the year, but assistance organizations have gathered only about $10 million, said Bo Schack, representative in Afghanistan for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. “There are so many other humanitarian priorities, and having refugees inside Afghanistan arriving from another country was not what anybody really expected,” he said in a telephone interview. “But this time we are seeing very significant numbers crossing the border in one go.” “It may end up being another protracted kind of situation which clearly everybody would like to avoid,” he added.For many of the refugees, Afghanistan represents a relief not only from bombardment but from the draconian rule of the Pakistani Taliban and foreign Islamist fighters. In North Waziristan, the militant groups had largely forced out any civilian or tribal leadership, in a brutal reign that left much of the local population alienated and frightened. “If our government and the international community don’t help these people on time,” Zadran warned, “then someone in particular the Taliban - will get the chance to influence these people.” © 2014 New York Times News Service
does work in some patients. It’s got logic behind it.” He said he would use it, though he suspected that the benefit was relatively small. He also described the device as being in its infancy, and said he expected that Novocure would find ways to make it more effective. Maureen Piekanski, 59, a glioblastoma patient and study participant from Throop, Pennsylvania, learned about the device from her daughter, a nurse, who had combed the Internet for glioblastoma studies. “It appealed to me because it was noninvasive and it wasn’t going to make me sick,” Piekanski said. “It was worth a try. I had nothing to lose.” Before making her decision, Piekanski consulted several doctors, and one told her that she might as well put sewage on her head. She joined the study
anyway, because she knew that even with the best available treatment, her outlook was bleak. She said her radiologist had told her, “If you get 15 months, you did good.” She has been wearing the device since August 2011 - more than three years. Her tumor is gone, and the disease has not returned. She has MRI scans every two months. “I get two months at a time, always thinking I might have a recurrence,” she said. There is no way to tell whether the device has been keeping her alive, or whether she would have done just as well without it. But when she completed the period she had signed up for in the study, and the researchers told her that she could stop wearing the device if she wanted to, she said, “Oh, yeah, I’m keeping it.” © 2014 New York Times News Service
Work-for-Welfare gains a foothold in Hungary Hundreds of thousands of Hungarians have been given work in the programme
Akos Stiller/The New York Times
Novocure’s device has been approved in the United States since 2011, but only to treat recurrent glioblastomas, not newly diagnosed ones
Ruth Fremson/The New York Times
Electrical scalp device can slow progression of deadly brain tumors
A worker, who must take work in communal programmes to earn more than the bare minimum in public assistance, on a pig farm in Halmaj, Hungary
RICK LYMAN HALMAJ, Hungary: The big sow nearest the barn door looks especially frisky this chilly morning. She poked her speckled snout through the bars of her pen and snorted happily as Baba Jeno, 27, stroked her bristled head. “Everything is looking good,” said Jozef Toth, making a late morning inspection. Jeno nodded, cap in hand. Toth is the boss here, as he is in pretty much every functioning facility in the village, from the pasta factory to the produce stand to the flat fields of vegetables and the nearby horse corrals. He is also the mayor. Jeno, laid off from his job assembling BlackBerry devices at a now defunct factory, is glad to have the work, even if he is required to do it to qualify for public assistance.“Everybody knows you can’t get money if you don’t work,” he said. Under a programme instituted by the right-wing government of prime minister Viktor Orban, the unemployed must take jobs in “communal work programmes” to get more than the bare minimum in public assistance. Hundreds of thousands of Hungarians have been given work in the programme, including Jeno. If all of this sounds a little, well, generous for a leader accused of
authoritarian leanings, Orban’s supporters say that just shows a misunderstanding of the different way that former Communist countries like Hungary develop. “There are between 300,000 and 500,000 people who are able to work, but their socialization to work is very weak,” said Lajos Kosa, the executive vice president of Orban’s governing Fidesz party. “They need to be led back to the world of employment, but they are lacking fundamental skills.” Halmaj, with its 1,800 residents, is a small grid of streets lined with onestory homes with peaked, red-tile roofs beside the narrow trickle of the Barsonyos River. It lies just out of sight of the main highway connecting dour, industrial Miskolc, Hungary’s third-largest city, with the nearby Slovak border. Passing motorists hardly know it is there.Yet in many ways, Halmaj is representative of the forces at work in the poor, rural parts of Hungary under Orban’s tenure. To receive more than the bare minimum of public assistance, about $90 a month, residents must take one of these communal jobs. If they do, they can make anywhere from $180 to $285 per month, depending on the skill level of their job. © 2014 New York Times News Service
MONEY MATT ER S “India remains the most attractive equity market in the emerging market world. In fact, it is the most attractive equity market globally in a five-year review.” — CLSA MD Christopher Wood
Signpost Sensex surges 139 pts; banking stocks gain A benchmark index of Indian equities markets on Friday was trading 139.33 points or 0.50 per cent up as banking stocks surged. Good buying was observed in banking, consumer durables and auto sectors, while marginal selling pressure was seen in healthcare sector. The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 28,100.10 points, was trading at 28,206.89 points (at 9.49 am) in the early session, up 139.33 points or 0.50 percent from the previous day’s close at 28,067.56 points.
Kotak Mahindra Bank, ING Vysya to merge Leading mid-size banks Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) and ING Vysya Bank Ltd on Thursday announced a merger in an all-stock deal to become the fourth largest private bank in the country after ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank. The merger, approved by the boards of both the banks earlier in the day, will be in the swap ratio of 725:1000 equity shares, subject to approval of their shareholders, Reserve Bank of India, the Competition Commission of India and other regulators.
Maha, China’s Wenzou build trade ties Maharashtra on Thursday signed an agreement with Wenzou province of China declaring both to be ‘sister states’ and to promote trade and industry, officials said in Mumbai. The memorandum of understanding, signed by industry minister Prakash Mehta and Wenzou’s deputy secretary general Zhao Dianlin, will help Maharashtra secure the latest technology and machinery from there. Earlier, inaugurating the three-day China Machinex India 2014 and China Home Life India 2014 expos, Mehta said the state government has received fresh investment proposals worth over `1,00,000 crore within the last month. “These proposals are under consideration and will be cleared very soon by the state government,” he said. Mehta said the new government will soon adopt a ‘single window system’ for various clearances required to set up projects.
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2014
PUNE
“The world is facing a second global financial crash. Eurozone is teetering on the brink of a possible third recession. We should sign more deals with India and China to save our economies.” — British prime minister David Cameron
How financially savvy are you? BY DEBASHIS BASU & RAJ PRADHAN
The life of a financial consumer is not easy. Regulators tell you to get financially educated but we don’t have much scope to acquire the unbiased information we need; too much of what we read and hear is not in our interest or contradicts one another. We remain confused and hesitant. But there is no escape from having to deal with financial questions like: which products to invest in for a secure financial future; how much of life insurance is enough; should we take a family floater plan; what are the best tax-saving options; which child plans to buy… We have scores of such questions, all the time. The biggest hurdle in getting answers to such questions is the vast array of financial products to choose from: thousands of mutual fund schemes, hundreds of insurance products, annuities, tax-saving products, bank fi xed deposits, corporate fi xed deposits, corporate bonds and debentures, shares and so on. Can you get your solutions by researching through thousands of products before you buy? How long would it take? And would you be confident that you have hit upon the most appropriate products? The answers to all these questions are in the negative. Except a handful who have the aptitude for deep-diving into financial products, most people are financially not savvy. This has been our experience after publishing Moneylife for eight years and running the free financial helplines over the past few years. We believe that those who have been exposed to our unbiased information and calling a spade a spade, have turned somewhat
A comprehensive online survey reveals how much financial consumers know of saving, investing and insuring. Check out where you stand
financially savvy. To check where Moneylife readers stand on the financial literacy scale, we decided to conduct a survey that included questions relating to savings, investments and health and life insurance. Here are the results of the survey with our comments on how most people have answered each question. SAVINGS First things first. For salaried people, all future expenses, plans and goals are dependent on the savings made today. If we don’t save enough, we will not be able to meet various major expenses such as setting up a home, children’s education, vacations, children’s marriage and building a retirement corpus. So, how much should we save out of our regular monthly income? Given the high inflation that has become endemic, our research shows that saving anything less than 25 per cent is not adequate. Let’s see the savings behaviour of our 1,001 respondents. It’s heartening to see that more than 50 per cent respondents have said that
How much of your income are you saving? Less than 10% Not Sure 4%
Above 25%
10 - 15%
For salaried people, all future expenses, plans and goals are dependent on the saving made today. Save at least 25% 8%
50%
14.3%
4%
they save more than 25 per cent of their income. Another 23.6 per cent save at least 15 per cent. Only 22.3 per cent of the respondents have admitted to saving less than 15 per cent. For many, a low level of savings may not be their fault. They are probably paying back home loan instalments through their nose, to have a roof over their head. FIXEDINCOME CHOICES Saving money is only the first step. We need to invest it carefully in a mix of products that protect our capital (fi xedincome products) and grow our wealth over time (equity mutual funds and shares). We asked our respondents how many have invested in these products. While fi xed-income does remain the asset class of choice (73.2 per cent), remarkably, 67.9 per cent have invested in equity mutual funds and shares. Fixed-income products are a great attraction for savers. We love getting regular interest on investment, even as our capital is protected. While there are different kinds of fi xed-income
of returns from fi xed-income. Almost 55 per cent of respondents expected a return of 7 per cent — 9 per cent while 28.2 per cent expected a return of more than 9 per cent which is unrealistic. On the other hand, about 24 per cent of the respondents expected less than 7 per cent return from fi xed-income.
options to choose from, savers do not take the trouble to find out the pros and cons of each one and, often, lazily move their money into bank fi xed deposits— from their savings bank account. More than 68 per cent have money in bank fi xed deposits (FDs) (we are surprised it’s not 95 per cent); but many are putting money in debt mutual funds, tax-free bonds, even insurance policies and annuities. A lot of people believe that gold, real estate, gold and silver are like fi xedincome investments. Almost 28 per cent of the respondents skipped this question, unsure of the answer. Barely 50 per cent of the respondents were firm that none of these was fi xed-income investment. What is it that attracts investors most to fi xed-income products? The two most popular attributes were capital protection and guaranteed returns. Interestingly, 16 per cent of the respondents said that they don’t prefer to invest in fi xed-income products. We also wanted to check whether investors have either too high or too low expectation
What worries you most about shares? Don’t know because I don’t invest in shares
No worries
Volatility 8.6%
21.7%
14.0%
33.8%
22%
23.6%
15 - 25%
Capital Loss
While capital protection attracts investors to fixed-income, it is the loss of capital, volatility and inadequate corporate governance. There are solutions for all three
Corporate Governance
EQUITY MFS AND SHARES When it comes to dealing with equity mutual funds and shares, understanding of right asset allocation is important. While many of them said that they do invest in equity mutual funds and shares if the proportion of such investment is low, they would create much less wealth than they deserve. This is exactly the mistake our smart respondents are making. When asked about the proportion of equity funds and shares in their financial investment, only 30.5 per cent said that it is over 50 per cent. More than 40 per cent have less than 25 per cent of their money invested in equity funds and shares. They are not likely to create much wealth over the long term. Or much less wealth than they could have. The best gains from equity mutual funds and shares come from holding them for the long term. How did our respondents fare on this count? Unfortunately, only 12.4 per cent have held shares or equity funds for more than 10 years. On expected returns from equity, however, our respondents are realistic. As many as 57.2 per cent of the respondents expect returns between 12 per cent — 20 per cent. Interestingly, 25.7 per cent expect returns of 20 per cent+. They should know that this is unrealistic, especially since they are unwilling to hold their investments much beyond five years. Respondents are putting too little money in equity schemes and shares. What worries most investors about shares? Volatility, poor corporate governance and capital loss. There are solutions for each one of them which investors are unwilling to find out. For instance, the shorter the period, the higher is the volatility. What were the main concerns of investors regarding MFs? Almost 40 per cent of the respondents were worried about poor performance of fund managers. One-third were hassled by too many schemes to choose from. Both these issues can be addressed easily. Analyse the performance record of 10 years or more and choose among the five or seven best. To be continued @moneylife.in
Protect money from shady investment deals Get the advantage to pick better stocks Follow the nine checks to save your money in a world of ‘attractive’ schemes, swindles and fishy dealings BY TRUTHINADVERTISING.ORG
Unscrupulous investment opportunities can empty out your wallet. Before committing any money, have a big think about the pluses and minuses of the offers, read the fine print, and only invest in products you comfortably understand Shady investment opportunities employ aggressive marketing tactics in an effort to get consumers to open up their wallets as wide as possible. Here are some red flags to watch out for in the advertising of these dealings to help protect you from falling victim. 1. Glowing testimonials. All of the testimonials, almost half of which targeted the elderly or those planning for retirement, had omitted vital information, including the risks involved with investing money. Many of the testimonials did not appear to report results that are typical or achievable for the ordinary subscriber. And some contained blatant lies. 2. Graphs that tout tremendous growth. While an investment in gold and other precious metals can help diversify your portfolio and help hedge against inflation, you should ask yourself some questions before pulling the trigger on a big purchase. The truth is the price of gold fluctuates over time and there is no guarantee the commodity will increase or even maintain its value 3. Claims of investing secrets revealed. A 770 account is not really a secret bank account; it’s a whole life
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insurance policy, and it’s no secret. Think carefully before paying for any investment newsletter advertising this way — if something in the advertising sounds unbelievable, you probably shouldn’t believe it. 4. Again, claims of investing secrets revealed. While the ads seem to indicate you can get 1000 per cent returns using the Biblical Money Code, it’s far more likely you’ll just get some
FREE common-sense investing tips and a $47 newsletter. 5. Opportunities to trade someone else’s money. The prospect of trading thousands and keeping the majority of the profits is the focus of the website, which never tells you how many people who sign up for the costly educational course ever end up being chosen to trade the money and keep profits. 6. Offers that advertise a ‘free’
amount of anything. “We’re holding $500 worth of free silver coins!” reads a headline on learsilver.com. “Just for you!” But the reality is you have to purchase $20,000 of silver from the precious metals seller before you get the $500 worth of “free” silver. 7. Offers that advertise a ‘simple’ approach to investing. So while the offering may appeal to you, know that a fi xed index annuity is not simple and it’s not an investing or retirement panacea. Ask lots of questions. Consult an independent financial advisor 8. Sites that guarantee your satisfaction. The policy that a customer pays for any market loss on returns but any market gains on refunds goes to, you guessed it, the company. 9. Get-rich-quick pitches. Before jumping into any penny stock, consumers should just be aware that there have been major penny stock scams in the past, and investment experts say that penny stocks are very risky and generally warn people to be careful about investing their money this way. Before committing any money, have a big think about the pluses and minuses of the offers, read the fine print, and only invest in products you comfortably understand. Also, it doesn’t hurt to get a second opinion from a trusted source. The more you go it alone, the more you may be susceptible to one of the above marketing ploys. @moneylife.in
Read ‘Why Moats Matter’ to understand rewarding firms BY MONEYLIFE DIGITAL TEAM Want to shortlist stocks for the long run? Look for companies that have moats, says Warren Buffett, the legendary investor. Moats refer to sustainable advantage that a company enjoys. It is not easy for a competitor to breach an impregnable fortress if it is protected by a moat of competitive advantage. The book Why Moats Matter, authored by Heather Brilliant and Elizabeth Collins of Morningstar Investment Research, presents a guide to how an investor can pick ‘great’ businesses that have moats. A great business, as the authors mention, can fend off competition and earn high return on capital for several years, secure behind a moat. In the first half of the book, the authors detail how they put the concept of moats, valuation and margin of safety into practice. In the second half, the authors provide a detailed guide, with examples, for analysing moats in eight different sectors such as basic materials, consumer products, energy, financial services, healthcare, etc, to name a few.
Competitive advantage can come from sources like intangible assets, cost, switching costs, network effect and efficient scale. Each of these sources is explained in great detail. The authors explain how they give moat ratings. A low moat rating is given when a company is likely to benefit from competitive advantage and earn excess return for a period of at least 10 years. When the firm is expected to deliver excess returns for the next 10 years or more, it is given a higher moat rating. Moats that seem unassailable in one period may disappear with technology or other changes. There are plenty of investment books that focus on business fundamentals and valuation. This book tries to be different by adding how businesses with a competitive advantage can benefit. The book will give you a fundamental framework for long-term investing — how to identify a great business and when you should buy, to maximise return. Now, it’s your turn to find companies with moats in India and hold their stocks for the long term. @moneylife.in
SPORTS
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2014
PUNE
I felt that 200 runs were possible. I just believe that Rohit Sharma’s innings is a little bit unreachable now. It’s very difficult to see it being surpassed.” — West Indies cricket legend Brian Lara
‘Michael Schumacher is paralysed’ Geneva: Legendary Formula 1 Michael Schumacher is paralysed and in a wheelchair, who cannot speak and has memory problems, former racing driver Philippe Streiff said. “He is getting better but everything is relative. It’s very difficult. He can’t speak. Like me, he is in a wheelchair paralysed. He has memory problems and speech problems,” Streiff, a good friend of Schumacher, was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
Saina, Srikanth rise in BWF rankings New Delhi: Riding on their recent China Open title victories in Fuzhou, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth rose up the ladder in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings. While Saina jumped a place to No 4, Srikanth, made a leap of six places in the men’s singles rankings to be positioned at No 10, his highest ever ranking. HS Prannoy also made a rise of three places to be ranked No 24, his best ever ranking.
Boxers Pinki, Monica lose at Worlds Jeju: Indian boxers Pinki Rani and Monica Saun lost in the preliminary round matches of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Women’s World Championships. While the Asian Games bronze medallist Pinki lost 1-2 in a split decision to Russia’s Saiana Sagataeva in the 51kg category, Monica (75kg) lost 0-3 to Chinese Li Qian in a unanimous judges’ decision.
Whether this moment is the point that Indian shuttler uses to permanently step up into the limelight or it is just a one-off is completely down to the man himself by Ashish Magotra The final of the China Open was simply a formality in the eyes of many. And this was not only because of perception. It was actually cold, hard statistics that gave rise to the feeling. Kidambi Srikkanth was a young, rising Indian player who has made it as high as 13th in the world and facing him was Lin Dan -- a genius for whom rankings have ceased to matter. A look at Lin Dan’s career record as he entered the final showed just why he is such a formidable presence. In his badminton career coming into the match, Dan had played 559 matches with 495 wins and just 64 losses. His record this year with 29 matches, 28 wins, 1 loss (due to injury, he gave a walkover to Jan O Jorgensen) was no less formidable. Srikanth’s career record paled in comparison: 104 matches, 67 wins, 37 losses. This year itself, he has had a very ordinary 31 played, 16 wins, 15 losses. These are numbers that illustrate the gap in class between the two players. In a piece for Firstpost, former world no.16 and national champ Aparna Popat had once tried to explain Dan’s genius. “The men’s singles game has evolved to one of tremendous power and speed. Leaps and dives have turned these players into semi-acrobats. Though Lin Dan is proficient in playing the fast and furious game, he is as capable of displaying the toss-drop conventional game too. With the pace of the rally being set by him, he constructs each point in such a way that each rally has a new tale to tell. His coach once commented that Lin Dan sees the court differently from all other players. No wonder, in nine years at the top of the badminton world, no one has been able to decipher the game pattern of this genius.” In the World Championships last year -- Dan came into the tournament on the back of a 10-month break from badminton after winning his second Olympic gold in August 2012 in London. But despite being ranked 286 in the world at that point and needing a wild card to play in the tournament, he ended up winning his 5th World Championship crown. If that isn’t genius, nothing is. Given that Srikanth idolises Dan, he knew the numbers and he knew who he was going up against. He also knew that in the real world, he would probably never be the owner of that kind of record. It was David vs Goliath in every sense. And perhaps that is why the manner in which he took on the Chinese genius is worthy of praise. Sometimes when you come up against the greats, it takes you a while to get going. The only problem with that approach is that while you are trying to barely stay afloat, they blow by and after that, it becomes almost impossible to catch up. That is what happened to Srikanth in his previous two encounters with the Chinese former world no.1. At the Thailand Open in 2012, Dan won 21-11, 21-13 and in the Badminton Asia Championships in 2014, it was even easier for Dan, as he won 21-7 21-14. It was just like practice. It would be easy to say that Srikanth threw caution to the wind
Pinch-Hitter MALAY DESAI
The better halves Like great sportspersons, their better halves must always put up their best public behaviour
I
@MalayD
magine this: India is set to play a cricket World Cup final, but days before that, it’s reported that Sakshi, captain Dhoni’s wife had heckled Rohit Sharma during a pastIPL game when both men were on opposing sides. Given our media’s tendencies, it would snowball into the perfect scandal. Now, stop imagining –some of this is actually brewing, a bit away,in the tennis universe. With the finals of the ‘World Cup of Tennis’ Davis Cup underway in Paris as you read this, Roger Federer’s Switzerland may have much more on mind than Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s France. Last week, Federer abruptly pulled out of the ATP World Tour Finals, before a British newspaper reported that he’d had a spat with compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka, the latter having complained that Federer’s wife, Mirka had heckled him (‘called him a cry baby’ according to a tabloid!) before a crucial point during their semi-final. Things have been played down after that, with Federer posting ‘happy team’ pictures (Twitter rescuing famous people again by fire-fighting), but if I were to believe an on-court microphone recording and the umpire’s interview later, Mrs Federer seems to have had an aberration in her conduct. For those not in the know, the Czech Mirka was a decent tennis player herself, having risen to Rank 76 before falling to a foot injury. She was reportedly pulled out of the dark phase and brought back to the court thanks to her courtship with Roger, who himself was on the rise in the beginning of the 2000s. ‘He gave my ten-
nis life back to me. When he wins, it’s as if I win as well,’ she has said earlier. She was Roger’s media manager until recently, and mother to his two sets of twins. For a sporting great’s spouse, being low profile isn’t an option, it’s the only one. To let their partner focus for a few years on a profession that’s going to impact the majority of their combined lives, one needs many sacrifices and discipline. One Mr Tendulkar has vouched this in his recent autobiography, but what he expectedly hasn’t written, and what many scribes of Mumbai know, is an incident that occurred a few hours before one of his captaincy stints. It involved a public mistake on his wife Anjali’s part, the details of which never surfaced, and it was followed by Tendulkar making frantic calls to important people to ensure it wasn’t reported, thereby making his muchhyped captaincy controversy-free. His Mumbai colleague Agarkar wasn’t as all-pervading, when his wife got into a road accident in 2004. Being a sports celeb’s spouse also means that all your hard work goes unnoticed, a la one Mrs Vijeta Dravid and another Mrs Aruna, the media manager-cum-life partner of Vishwanathan Anand. But the moment there is a slight drop in guard, the world notices and jumps to ridicule. Take the case of Mrs Dhoni watching an IPL game next to Vindoo Dara Singh, who went on to be accused in the betting scandal. Early next month, Federer plays for the ‘Indian Aces’ in Delhi as part of the International Premier Tennis League. If the missus is accompanying him, she better be back to form!
IANS
Signposts
If Michael Clarke wants to prolong his career, he should give away the short form. That would be less stress on his body, not as much energy required with running between the wickets.” —Australia’s former captain Allan Border
Kidambi Srikanth’s moment of truth
and attacked with great vigour. But that’s not what he did. Instead, he along with Pullela Gopichand, came up with a carefully constructed plan and found the means to follow through with it. To begin with, Srikanth hardly displayed any nerves. Psychologically he was in it to win it. He came out, took the first two points and suddenly we were in a match. He was determined to not let the past be a factor. If one allows Dan to control the pace of the match, he is impossible to counter. But Kidambi’s plan was to constantly change the pace of the match. He denied the Chinese star the opportunity to
Sometimes when you come up against the greats, it takes you a while to get going
unleash his big smashes, preferring a soft approach to blunt Dan’s edge. That alone would not have been enough but the Indian was also alert enough to pick up the drop shots. His strategy to counter the smashes helped him in this regard because it meant that some of the deception went out of the drop shots. Egged on by a vociferous crowd, Dan was leading 19-17 before Kidamdi stunned them into silence by taking the next four points and the game. This is Srikanth’s moment of truth. The moment when he realises that he isn’t there to just make up the numbers, he can compete with the best and he can win. A bacterial infection in his brain in June made this a difficult year for the Indian but this win over Dan will make sure that he remembers it for very different... very memorable reasons. But whether this moment is the point that he uses to permanently step up into the limelight or it is just a one-off is completely down to the man himself. In a sense, this is where the dream truly begins for him. Kidambi Srikanth, arise... the world awaits. By special arrangement with Firstpost
Making a champ of a slacker SAI coach Sudhakar Reddy is the man who discovered K Srikanth by Ashish Magotra “My wife and I used to have fights about badminton. My son used to also play badminton at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh and she would always wonder why I couldn’t make a player out of him,” says Sudhakar Reddy, the man who first spotted the talent of Kidambi Srikanth. But to Reddy, all the 30-40 odd boys and girls he had scouted from all over Andhra Pradesh were like his children. He could not bring himself to discriminate between his son and the others. Still, when he first recruited Srikanth and his brother Nandagopal for the academy on October 7, 2001, he had his doubts. Nandagopal, the elder of the two, was more intense. He would turn up for all the practices, exercise and do all the groundwork as instructed. Srikanth, on the other hand, would look for ways to skip all that. “He had very good strokes and technically was very good. He could play a good clip too. But his bane was his laziness.” Srikanth was 8 and a half years old when he first came to the academy. In those days, Srikanth would play singles too but he was so much better at doubles. The change came after he moved to the Gopichand Academy in 2010. But even that change was not without its fair share of drama. The first player from the Kidambi family to make it to the Academy was not Srikanth. It was his elder brother Nanadakumar who got the first nod. “That led to a strange six months for Srikanth. Once his brother went to the Gopichand Academy, he just disappeared. He stopped coming to the Sports Authority Academy for practice and just sat at home. The few times he would turn up, he lost to juniors – players he was beating easily in the past. “Srikanth’s father needed to rustle up some money to send both his sons to the academy. They needed around Rs 25,000, some bargaining ensued and it was six months before Srikanth could go to the academy too. If it had taken any longer, who know what would have happened.” Reddy, who is now 52, was the state champion of Andra Pradesh. At that point, P Gopichand had just become the under-14 champion. He could see that Srikanth needed
a push in the right direction – it was a crucial period for him. But the move to the Gopichand academy helped. It got some discipline into his life. He started exercising, he started eating and he even started eating meat. But Gopichand managed to change his game slowly and give it direction. The Thailand Super Series win in 2013 came out of the blue – he was not even the national champion then. The national singles title followed. And then last week, he beat the reigning world and Olympic champion to clinch the China Open title. Srikanth is now playing in the Hong Kong Open and has won in the first round. He is gradually getting used to being known as the best Indian male player around and each time he has a lazy thought – the vision of Reddy shouting at him is enough to get him back on track. There are some things you don’t forget, no matter what. — Firstpost
‘Never thought I could beat ‘Super’ Dan By Sandip Sikdar New Delhi: Newly-crowned China Open champion Kidambi Srikanth said he never took the victory for granted and never believed that he could pull it off until he won as he knew that his opponent in the final -- two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China -- could make a comeback at any point. A Pullela Gopichand protege, Srikanth created history by becoming the first Indian male shuttler to bag a Super Series Premier title when he defeated five-time World Champion ‘Super’ Dan in straight games of the men’s singles final in Fuzhou. “I never thought about the win. Only after winning the 21st and last point of the second game did I realise what I had done. Till then I knew that a player like Lin Dan can come back anytime. I just wanted to stay focussed throughout the match,” Srikanth told IANS. “I had nothing to lose and just wanted to go out there and enjoy playing with him in the final of such a big tournament. I just tried to give my best....” “I have lost a few matches in the past despite reaching match point. So this time my coaches just asked me to relax and calm down and think of only that one point and nothing else. When I won, it was amazing and I am very excited with the victory,” said the World No.16. Often touted as the next big thing of Indian badminton, the reigning national champion does not see the expectations from him as pressure. On the contrary, he says, it gives him the motivation to perform better. “I take them only as an encouragement. Everybody wants me to win more tournaments and it only means that I have so many well wishers and I am very happy to know that,” said Srikanth, who trains at the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad. The shy lad from Guntur now has a real chance of playing in the year-ending Super Series Finals which will be held in Dubai Dec 17-21. Only the top-8 of the Super Series rankings play the prestigious event and Srikanth in currently ranked No.9. The Andhra lad is surely to make it to top8. — IANS
SPORTS “We will not personally like to speak about it because it is something very personal for us and that should be respected by the media and everyone else as well” — India batsman Virat Kohali on Anushka Sharma
PUNE: Seasoned player Nitten Kirrtane is top seeded player for the Solaris Club All-India Ranking Men’s Tennis tournament to be held at the Club Solaris, Kothrud from November 24. The tournament, offering a prize fund of Rs 1 lakh, will be contested in men’s singles and doubles categories. Besides Kirrtane, other top Indian players who are participating are Shaikh Abdullah, Vijay Kannan, Jajbir Singh Saran and Arpit Sharma. In the last tournament PC Vignesh had won the title, while Nitten Kirrtne was runners-up.
Trunkwala to lead in Cooch Behar Trophy PUNE: Murtaza Trunkwala will lead Maharashtra in the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy Group C tournament to be played in Varanasi and Pune from today. The team: Murtaza Trunkwala, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Aqib Shaikh (Wk), Hrishikesh Kale, Aniket Jagtap, Jagdish Zope, Shubham A Kothari, Sahil S Kothari, Rohit Patel, Chinmay Patil, Jaideep Bharade, Izhan Sayyed, Utkarsh Agrawal, Ashish Deshmukh and Abhishek Rao.
Stanly Rozario as assistant coach PUNE: The Kalyani Group has announced the appointment of H Stanly Rozario to the post of assistant coach at the group’s football club. Rozario will assist head coach Stuart Watkiss in training and other allied activities at the Kalyani Group’s football club. 54-year-old Rozario has been associated with a number of reputed Indian football clubs and has also been the assistant coach of the Indian national football team, having served the nation from 2005 to 2008. He holds an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) A licence and has recently completed the AFC Pro licence. Rozario has also served as head-coach of two Kolkata powerhouses, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal FC.
PUNE
“ I had given my best in Glasgow, but lost a very close bout in the final. I have lost in the final once, I won’t let that performance repeat.” — Indian boxer Devendro Singh Laishram
‘Anand can still regain crown’
Experts from Pune feel that Anand must play aggressively in the remaining three rounds to have a shot at the World Chess Championship By Ashish Phadnis @phadnis_ashish PUNE: After nine matches played, the 12-round World Chess Championship in Sochi, Russia is now in its final stages. Former champion and title challenger, GM Viswanathan Anand of India needs a win desperately, while his opponent, Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen has a one-point lead, with five points to Anand’s four points. The player to score 6.5 points first will be crowned the new world chess champion. Anand’s fans are likely to be feeling somewhat downcast, wondering if the Indian chess legend will be able to regain his world title. However chess experts of the city told The Golden Sparrow on Saturday that winning the crown, though difficult, is not impossible for Anand. “I think Anand still has a chance to take the championship to the tie-breaker round. However, for that, Anand must realise that he won’t be able to register a win with a Berlin defence opening. He must stress on opening advantages. I am still wondering why he is not playing Sicilian,” said Punebased coach Jayant Gokhale. “In the first six games, Anand had an opening advantage whereas Carlsen’s opening preparations were shaky. However, Carlsen used the break days wisely and was well prepared in the next rounds. He didn’t shy away from
experimenting different openings like Grunfeld, Queen’s Gambit declined and Tarash defence, whereas Anand used Berlin defence frequently, which I personally feel was not a good strategy,” Gokhale said. Gokhle also pointed out an interesting aspect of this chess duel. “Anand is basically an e4 player and is considered as the most dangerous player with this opening. On the other hand, Carlsen is strong in d4 openings. However, in this championship, Anand is playing with d4 opening, while Carlsen is shifted to e4,” said Gokhale. Pune’s GM, Abhijit Kunte also stressed that Anand should play more aggressively. “I think Carlsen is also under tremendous pressure. Only one good game, one good move at the right time can change the course of the championship. Anand has to take chances and go all out. It might backfire, but in the current scenario, that’s the only option he has,” said Kunte. The blunder Anand committed in the sixth game, was the turning point of the championship, Kunte feels. “Anand has made strong - Abhijit Kunte comebacks in earlier world championships. Even against Carlsen he did the same in the third game. However, missing the golden opportunity in the sixth game was a major blow. You just can’t afford to miss such chances in a world championship. After that game, Anand has not posed any threat to Carlsen. If Anand had won the sixth game, it would have been completely different situation now,” Kunte said. Player-turn coach, IM Prathmesh Mokal has a different opinion. “Under the extreme pressure of the World Championship, such things happen. Many world class players have committed such blunders in the past,” he said. “If the championship enters the tie-breaker round, it will be evenly poised. Anand is considered to be one of the best rapid players, while Carlsen is world champion in rapid and blitz formats. So it would be an interesting battle,” Mokal said. Former world junior champion WGM Soumya Swaminathan expressed similar views. “Though Carlsen is world rapid champion, Anand had beaten him in that tournament. So, currently Anand is the best player to compete against Carlsen in the rapid format,” she said. “The positive factor is that Anand has become
Pune extends support to Olympic Gold Quest once again Contribute a whopping amount of Rs 75 lakh to support the Indian athletes Pune: Once again Puneites proved that they are all there to support Indian athletes who make the country proud and generously contributed a whopping amount of Rs 75 lakh for Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ ), during a special fund raising event organised by Manish Sabade, chairman and managing director of Guardian Corporation. OGQ is a non-profit organisation founded by Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone with an intention to create a level playing field for Indian athletes to enable them to be competitive at the highest level of sport like Olympics. Four of six Indian medal winners at London Olympics 2012 were supported by OGQ. Subsequently, two remaining medal
NOVEMBER 22, 2014
winners Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt also joined OGQ. Geet Sethi and Rakesh Khanna, founders and CEO Viren Rasquinha were present for the function along with sportspersons Gagan Narang, Vijay Kumar, Rahee Sarnobat, Devendro Singh, Shiva Thapa, Apruvi Chandela, Atanu Das, Shweta Chaudhary, Prakash Nanjappa, Sanjiv Rajput, Tarundeep Rai, Annu Raj Singh, KT Irfan, Pooja Ghatkar, Heena Siddhu and Ayonika Paul. During a similar fund raising event organised by Sabade for OGQ , six months back in Pune an amount of Rs 1.5 crore was collected. Speaking on the occasion India’s
Olympic bronze medal winner Gagan Narang said, “When I joined OGQ in 2008 it was just before the Beijing Olympics and I was not sure if my quest for a gold medal would be fulfilled in China. It was not and critics had pulled me down. But it was my family and OGQ that kept faith in me.” “An athlete toils day and night with a hope that someday he will bring glory to his nation. When an organisation like OGQ backs him it gives him that extra boost that he can make it. He gets the confidence that he can be the best player in the world and that is what OGQ support did to me,” said Vijay Kumar, winner of silver medal in London Olympic 2012.
Manish Sabade being felicitated by the founders and players supported by the Olympic Gold Quest in Pune
IANS
Kirrtane gets top billing for tennis
IANS
Signposts
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY
I think Carlsen is also under tremendous pressure. Only one good game, one good move at the right time can change the course of the championship
‘Qualifying for Rio Olympics is the next thing on radar’ By Ashish Phadnis @phadnis_ashish Pune: Devendro Singh Laishram, who competes in the light-flyweight division, is eyeing a berth in the Rio Olympics 2016. After losing in the quarterfinals of London Olympics 2012, the Manipur puglist is determined to give his best shot in the upcoming events. “I have signed with Poland Hussars for two years in the professionalstyle World Series of Boxing. This is a biggest opportunity for me, as this event is considered as the qualifiers for the Olympics. I will certainly put my best for my team,” said Devendro, who was in city for Olympic Gold Quest event. “For the first time, Indian boxers have been offered full-time contracts in this league. It will be a different experience. We are getting used to playing without head guards and we will train hard to ensure that we have the stamina to last five rounds in this event. It will definitely make us better boxers,” he added. The change in the boxing judging rules have turned out to be controversial, as boxers from the Philippines, Mongolia and India, claimed that they were the victims of scoring that favored the South Korean hosts of the games in Incheon. Talking about it, Devendro said, “I don’t see any problem with the new scoring system. I have observed that it helps the boxer who is more aggressive and it suits my style well. I think, the new crop of Indian boxers have such aggression and hence it would be beneficial for them.”
much stronger in the psychological aspect. Compared to last year, he is playing very confidently and he seems comfortable even in post-match press conferences. In the marathon game, which lasted 122 moves, Anand was sharp and didn’t show any signs of fatigue. This is a good sign and I am sure he will fight till the end,” Swaminathan said. ashish.phadnis@goldensparrow.com
Spot-fixing is cricket’s greatest crisis: Hadlee
Iconic sportsman feels that penalties need to be severe as a deterrent for those who are involved in fixing By Radhika Bhirani Christchurch: As corruption in cricket continues to come under scrutiny in India, legendary New Zealand cricketer Richard Hadlee says spot-fixing is the “greatest crisis” the game faces and it needs to be dealt with severe penalties. The iconic sportsman, 63, met this visiting IANS correspondent at the newly-built Hadlee Pavilion of the Hagley Oval stadium. Looking relaxed and smart as usual, Hadlee was quite forthcoming when asked about his views on controversies related to spot-fixing and match-fixing, which are dogging the sport. “A very general comment on that would be that it’s the greatest crisis of cricket at the moment,” he said. What could be done to curb the menace? “If this sort of thing is going on, it needs to be stamped out. And for people who have proved to be involved in these things, the penalties need to be severe as a deterrent. “All the players actually have to actually sign a contract that if there’s anything suspicious or if they’ve had anyone approach them, they have to report it. And once it’s reported, things get investigated. People are going to jail, but penalties need to be severe, and if it’s jail or suspensions or whatever, then subject to each individual case, players are going to be made an example of,” he said. His comment comes just days after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided against sacking tainted Indian Premier League (IPL) boss Sundar Raman, whose name has
come up in the Justice Mukul Mudgal report submitted to the Supreme Court in connection with the spot-fixing scandal during the 2013 edition of the Twenty20 tournament. Hadlee feels the shorter version of the game has its own role to play in shaping up the sport - as long as it doesn’t overshadow the traditional longer version and the 50-over game. “I accept it. There’s a part that T20 has to play in the game of cricket. And one has to agree that there’s room for all three formats - Test, 50-overs and T20. But I wouldn’t like to see T20 taking over the 50-over game,” said the handsome legend, who has been appointed as the New Zealand Ambassador of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. He believes T20 is generating “specialist players”, who only play in that format. Therefore, it is also giving a chance to more people to represent their country instead of the same players turning out in every format. Hadlee - one among the celebrated quartet of the 1980s that included Kapil Dev, Imran Khan and Ian Bothan however feels the Test level is facing a lack of “genuine all-rounders”. At the mention of Kapil Dev and Imran Khan, he said: “Jacques Kallis was a great all-rounder too, wasn’t he? He was one of the brightest players in the history of the game.” “Throughout the 1980s, we were all-rounders, who were competing. But probably there’s not the same competition between the current allrounders now because there aren’t too many around. Kallis was perhaps the last. There are some handy players who can bat and bowl, but there’s a lack of – IANS genuine all-rounders.”
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2014
Anil Gupta, Executive Vice Chairperson, NIF We plan to incubate technology as well as the entrepreneur. We will offer him or her financial support and will assign them to a mentoring committee. More than 17 innovation technologies with a neuroscience project has been made available for ‘no cost or low cost’ under the technology section of the NIF’s website.
Dileep Padgaonkar, journalist and chairperson, programme, PIC The insights we have been given on social innovations on sanitation are doable and there is a need for innovators to co-ordinate and collaborate. I invite innovators to participate in the process of drafting the policy paper for PIC. Swachha Bharat is important but a Swachha mind is more important
Dr BG Mukhopadhyay, Chief General Manager, Farm Sector, Policy Department and Farm Sector Development Department, NABARD We need not be pessimistic. We have a very robust ecosystem in our country to encourage social innovators/entrepreneurs. All the supporting systems are existing in our country. But the problems are with respect to scaling up and making the business model/innovation more commercial. We need to ask ourselves if we are pursuing our dream with a passion.
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PUNE
NOVEMBER 22, 2014
PUNE
Jaipur Foot, Narayana Hrudayalaya inspire all
D R Mehta
Two organisations providing world class medical and related support since inception have laid a strong foundation for social innovations and affordable excellence in India BY RITU GOYAL HARISH @ritugh Service to humanity based on kindness, empathy and a vision to change lives are some of the reasons why social innovators dedicate their lives to their ideas. Participants at the 2nd National Social Innovation seminar in Pune on November 17 were deeply inspired by the examples of the visionaries behind the Jaipur Foot organisation and Narayana Hrudayalaya who have used social innovation and the spirit of compassion to reach out to thousands of needy people in society. The Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) also known as the Jaipur Foot organisation after its high quality, below-knee prosthesis, is the world’s largest organisation for the disabled and located in Jaipur. Since 1975, 1.4 million disabled have benefitted from the services rendered totally free of cost. A prosthetic limb comparable to one that costs $12,000 in the US can be fitted in India at Jaipur Foot for about $50. DR Mehta, founder and chief patron, BMVSS, who was also former chairman of SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of
India) said, “We service the poor disabled who most often don’t even have enough money to travel to Jaipur.” In Bengaluru, Narayana Hrudayalaya (NH) led by Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, has radically changed the way India’s medical fraternity and services are viewed. It is one of the world’s most economical health care service providers, certified by the US health authorities for meeting global standards in healthcare. Scalable Innovation What started as a 225-bed hospital in 2001, NH has grown to a 7,100-bed health care conglomerate in 2014 with 27 hospitals present in 17 cities within the country. The hospital conducts 60 major heart surgeries a day. “12 per cent of the nation’s heart surgeries are performed here,” said Dr Shetty, Chairman, Narayana Health as Narayana Hrudayalaya is now known as. Jaipur Foot has grown from providing 60 to 60,000 artificial limbs in a year and has expanded its presence to 23 cities in India. It also conducts health camps regularly. High Quality Standards What has helped these organisations scale up and grow is their commitment to quality.
Jaipur Foot provides prosthetic limbs to the disabled totally free of cost. “Our limbs are comparable to the best in the world and we constantly endeavour to deliver a better product, not an inferior product just because it is free” said Mehta. This thought was echoed by Dr Shetty who observed that ‘quality’ and ‘lowest cost’ are not mutually exclusive when it comes to health care delivery. At his hospital, one can avail stateof-the-art medical services at a miniscule cost. Boosting Social Innovations Apart from being harbingers of change through quality, service and commitment, both organisations also believe in boosting social innovations. “Process determines the price,” said Dr Shetty who got Bengaluru-based innovators to create disposable gowns and drapes used during surgeries at a fraction of the cost of the ones supplied by a multinational. In the case of the BMVSS, the Jaipur Knee developed in collaboration with Stanford University, is one of the 50 best innovations of
the world for 2009. “We constantly engage with the social sector to boost our R&D,” said Mehta. NH has an outreach to rural people through telemedicine in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). This programme helps millions of Indians who live in villages to get health advice. According to Dr Shetty, IT can change the way hospitals work. “If we adopt innovative technologies we can reduce costs by 25 per cent and mortality by 50 per cent. India has the golden opportunity to come up with a digital protocol for hospitals. We can change the rules of the game because we are a large country,” he said. The two organisations not only inspired the gathered participants with their lives’ work but also enthused in them the desire to continue their work despite pitfalls and failures.
Two firms believe in bringing change through quality & services
DR Mehta’s Jaipur foot and Narayana Health (earlier knows as Narayana Hrudayalaya) led by Dr Devi Prasad Shetty are exemplary innovations in the medical sector. They are what Dr Mashelkar calls products with ‘affordable excellence’
India’s social innovations Sheetal Vaidya, representative, Environmental Sanitation Institute, Gandhinagar To scale up without curbing the sustainability, the innovator must find the connecting link between the tantra (the principle) and tatva (the reality). We need to build a social capital that makes us ‘we’. Community building is all about reaching the last benefactor. A trust factor will only come through a network. We need to build it.
A ‘clean’ mindset is key to Swachh Bharat BY RITU GOYAL HARISH AND YASH DAIV @ritugh @yash009 A UN report says people with cellphones outnumber the people with toilets in India. While 545 million cellphones are in use in India, only 366 million people have access to basic sanitation. At the 2nd National seminar on Social Innovations held on November 17 at YASHADA, suggestions for better health, sanitation, hygiene and water were discussed during the session on Swachhata (cleanliness) chaired by well-known journalist Dileep Padgaonkar. “The challenges to a Swachh Bharat lies in the construction, maintenance, reliability, affordability and quality of toilets,” said Rajeev Kher, CEO and founder of 3S and Sara. The treatment of waste produced, supply of water and recycling water are some of the other
Innovative solutions in sanitation can spearhead a process of change and clean up the nation
roadblocks. Gramalaya, a Tamil Nadu-based organisation, began a process of change 27 years ago. Since then it has constructed over one lakh toilets. “We introduced microfinance to construct toilets instead of waiting for government subsidy,” said S Damodaran, founder, adding that the sense of ownership has made people maintain it. The seminar participants agreed that the biggest hurdle to better standards of sanitation was the prevailing ‘mindset’. To get people to shed their old beliefs and regressive thought processes about toilets and their use were the biggest challenges of all. Snehalata Shrikhande, president, Shelter Associates, said behavioural changes have been seen in homes in their experience of working in the field of sanitation and housing for the past 20 years. While toilets are lacking in most rural parts of the country, in urban slums, existing
toilets were in a state of disuse due to their filthy conditions. Samagra, an organisation that constructs, operates and runs community toilets in five urban slums of Pune, has proved that given a clean toilet and incentives, most people will use them. Social worker Maruti Sinhare said, “Maharashtra, in general, has very few water sources. We need to employ rainwater harvesting and several other recycling techniques to have abundant water supply. What is the use of sanitation drives if there is going to be a constant scarcity of water?” The seminar threw up a host of innovation and socially acceptable solutions - from mobile toilets, to community toilets, from information education campaign (IEC) to sensitisation, from loyalty programs to memberships – that are set to pave the way for a Swachha Bharat. ritugoyalharish@gmail.com yashdaiv@gmail.com
ritugoyalharish@gmail.com
Dr RA Mashelkar (top) and Prof Anil Gupta suggested different methods of scaling up social innovations
Eminent scientist Dr RA Mashelkar, Chairperson of the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) and IIM-A’s Prof Anil Gupta, who is intrinsically associated with the social innovation movement in India through NIF and the Honey Bee Network, spoke extensively on sustainable technologies, technological innovations and turning innovations into enterprises for the benefit of the nation. Creating a socially inclusive society with equal opportunities for all was one of the guiding principles for the participants at the seminar. Prof Gupta highlighted the need for incubation centres, sanctuaries and advocacy mechanisms to give impetus to social innovators. Dr Mashelkar lauded IIT and IIM students for their work at the grassroots and for initiating change. “As a part
of their curriculum, students from AcSIR (Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, of which he is the first Chancellor) have been visiting villages to work towards their development. Why can’t we have such integration across the country?” he asked. While lauding the efforts of innovators who work relentlessly to bring tangible changes in the lives of the masses, Prof Gupta cautioned against the rush to ‘scale’ up without considering its ramifications. “Scaling should not become the enemy of sustainability,” he said, adding that communities with very localised problems will need local solutions. Large scale sensitisation through digital media was recommended as a solution for empowering scaling up of social innovations. “We have underestimated the power of digital media. Imagine disseminating your ideologies to an entire Kumbh Mela, to a population of two crore at once. We need to grasp this medium,” said Dr Mashelkar.
The seminar was organised by the Centre for Management in Agriculture (CMA), Indian Institute of Management — Ahmedabad, in collaboration with Pune International Centre (PIC), National Innovation Foundation (NIF), International Longevity Centre, SRISTI and the Honey Bee Network. This annual event seeks to promote social innovations through creative, technological, institutional, cultural and educational ideas.
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‘India needs innovative, affordable solutions’ Rajendra Jagdale, director general and CEO, Science & Technology Park, spoke about the ecosystem for supporting social innovations 3
From left to right: Awaz De founder Neil Patel, National Institute for Innovation director Vipin Kumar, Aravind Eye Care founder Ravindran Aravind, Rickshaw Bank founder Pradip Sharma, Megphyne Abhiyaan managing trustee Eklavya Prasad
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1. Rajendra Jagdale, CEO, Science and Technology Park 2. Ravindran Aravind, founder, Aravind Eye Care 3. A participant preparing for the demonstration of his innovation
A visually challenged teacher (right) and student duo from a local school demonstrate the working of Punetra, a device meant for the visually challenged students with audio curriculum for schools
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Social innovation movement needs an action plan: Mashelkar, Gupta BY RITU GOYAL HARISH AND YASH DAIV @ritugh @yash009
ABOUT 2ND NATIONAL SOCIAL INNOVATION SEMINAR
PICS BY RAHUL RAUT
As Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi has said, India may be a land with hundreds of problems but it is also a land with a million solutions. India’s core problems can be addressed through Social Innovations as was emphasised during the 2nd National Social Innovation seminar on November 17
Prof Ravi Poovaiah, Professor, Industrial Design Centre, IIT Mumbai We at the Industrial Design Centre, right from the beginning in 1969, set focus on design for social needs. We developed a masters and a doctoral programme and now we are coming up with an undergraduate programme as well. We encourage students to take up at least one in the social domain. Even if one-fourth of the students take it up, it will be quite a change in the mindset of the youth.
Dr Devi Prasad Shetty
Besides digital sensitisation, if the sense of innovation and social awareness is instilled at the school level, it will bring the change in the mindset. “A student once applied the principles of Gandhian philosophy and Vallabhai Patel’s approach to littering. He said that if someone litters, and I go and pick it up then that’s Gandhian and if I pick my own litter then that is following Patel’s philosophy.” Dr Mashelkar spoke about the need to have a “Book of Actions to take all these innovations forward in terms of scalability and replication”. Citing a lack of ‘thought leadership’ in social innovations, he proposed that Pune International Centre (co-host of the seminar) take the lead to bring such initiative into the movement. ritugoyalharish@gmail.com yashdaiv@gmail.com
Funding social innovations is a challenge BY RITU GOYAL HARISH @ritugh From conceptualising an innovation to piloting and prototyping, an innovator has to face the uphill challenge of getting funds for his idea. Most social innovators at the seminar said getting funds was one of their biggest challenges. Young social entrepreneur Jaydeep Mandal firm Aakar Innovations runs a sanitary napkin production unit which produces compostable sanitary pads catering to millions of Indian women, especially in rural areas who have no access to hygienic and effective menstrual protection. Mandal said it took him four years to find a funder. “Funding is very crucial for an innovator and the handholding has to be from beginning to the end. But there are too many barriers to funding – from government red tape to bribery for loans etc,” said Brig P Ganesham, collaborator,
Honey Bee Network. Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, he runs an organisation called Palle Srujana that wanted to support the innovations of small farmers from AP. Pune-based innovator Pradeep Borde who has many innovations to his credit said he was struggling to get funds for his innovations based on solar energy technology, energy conservation technology and others which can benefit the masses. DR Mehta, founder and chief patron, Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (Jaipur Foot), said profits should not be the driving motive for social innovations in India. “Social innovations should not be about money,” he emphasised while citing the example of the Jaipur Foot model. MPLADS (The Member of Parliament Local Area Development Division) fund was discussed as one of the possible avenues innovators could explore.
Prof Anil Gupta said crowd funding was the way to go for social innovations. Such funds would be free of government schemes and compulsions and would give innovators the necessary boost. Yogesk Kulkarni from Vighyan Ashram near Pune, who works in the area of vocational training for youth and enterprise development, said education rooted in day-to-day experiences is helpful for developing social innovations. For this, he has developed a comprehensive programme ‘Introduction to basic technology’ in schools for class VIII and X students and his students have come up with a solar energy incubator, a fig slicer, a dryer and a small oil mill for herbal extracts. “The first step while developing these innovations from testing to feasibility requires funding,” he said ritugoyalharish@gmail.com
BY ISHANI BOSE @ishani_bose Director General and CEO of Science and Technology Park, Rajendra Jagtap, through his work, has been striving to bring together the industry and academia in order to make available resources and expertise to create an ecosystem for supporting social innovation. Citing the Union government’s 2011 Hangama Report (on the problem of hunger and malnutrition), Jagdale and his team undertook research to examine the potential causes of malnutrition among children in India. Unsafe drinking water was found to be the main reason and it was felt that improving the immunity of children was important.
Jagdale thus came up with two-three innovations to deal with this. One was an eight-inch long drinking water straw that fi ltered water by using membrane technology. He said social innovation enterprises like Jal Doot in Pune has taken technology from the National Chemical Laboratory and created membrane fi lters to provide safe drinking water. “The ‘Jal Doot’ project fi lters water from the surface sources like lakes or rivers and makes it potable. He also spoke of initiatives to make water available in places where it is scarce. “Plants know ingeniously how to harvest water. In deserts and in the mornings there will be dew drops seen on the leaves, and stems of the plants. If plants can do this why can’t we
do this? We have created what is called as the aerowater machine which will cost about `26,000 and create 10 litres to 36 litres of water depending on the atmospheric humidity,” he said. He also showcased two innovations created by his organisation — a portable Solar Projector-cum-Android Computer and the universal spectacles. The computer-LED projector runs on a very small solar panel and comes loaded with skilled development programmes. The universal spectacles have adjustable focal lenses and a person can use it according to his or her eyesight without having to go to an optician. ishani.bose@goldensparrow.com