With food inflation going through the roof in recent weeks, government food schemes for children have taken a significant hit. States such as Assam, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Bihar have either not been able to provide supplementary nutrition under the Integrated Child Development scheme or have downgraded to dry rations instead of cooked meals. Midday meal providers in primary schools too are being forced to compromise on their menu. The net result is a considerable reduction in the nutritive value of the food schemes, which could severely hamper child development. This goes against the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court direction in 2001 that had directed the government to ensure the supply of nutritious cooked meals to all children in primary schools. The multiple benefits of the programme, which include eradication of child hunger, keeping children in schools and bridging caste disparities through communal dining, have long been recognised. Yet the implementati...

Between February 19 and April 2, India will co-host crickets Fifty50 World Cup. Immediately after that it will stage the planets richest cricket tournament: the Indian Premier League (IPL), Indias flagship Twenty20 (T20) event. At the beginning of 2011, India toured South Africa. Later in the year, it will play top-line Test series against England and Australia. In a country that needs few excuses not to immerse itself in cricket lore, 2011 is an extraordinary bonanza. Its a 12-month festival of quality cricket.They say you can never understand a society without understanding its major sport. At one point, baseball defined the Middle American dream and the idyllic self-image of the towns and cities of the vast American heartland. Today, the English Premier League is not just emblematic of English football but also of British multiculturalism it attracts talent from all continents and, paradoxically, an essential insularity that has made the country non-competitive in everythin...

FILMMAKERS TODAY are trying and testing new schemes and plots in order to try and impress their audiences. Popular stars, item numbers and big banners are no longer the key to a Bollywood blockbuster and the same has been proved right by Kiran Raos directoral debut- Dhobhi Ghat. The film, revolves around the lives of its 4 main protagonists, namely Shai, Arun, Yasmin and Munna. Shai (played by Monica Dogra) is an investment banker, who has come to India to work on her fathers project of bringing to light the lives of people belonging to low socio- economic groups. On her visit to an art exhibition, she comes across Arun (Aamir Khan), who is a painter by profession and whose painting exhibition she attends owing to her fathers connections in the who's who of Mumbai. Arun is a divorcee, whose kids and wife stay in Australia. The divorce has left a deep impact on his mind and he is introvert and a very 'drawn to himself' kind of a guy. With the least dialogues to speak through...

Anthony James Leggett , professor of physics at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, US, won the Nobel prize for physics in 2003 for his earlier work on superfluidity. Of late, he has done pioneering work in the exciting new field of quantum computing and cryptography exploring the boundary between the strange, counter-intuitive world of elementary particles and the 'classical' world that we perceive with our senses. He spoke to Subodh Varma recently in Kolkata where he was attending a conference on quantum entanglement organised by the S N Bose Institute for Basic Sciences: What is your family background? Well, on my father's side, my forebears were cobblers in a village in Hampshire, UK. But my paternal grandfather opted to become a greengrocer. My maternal grandmother, who was Irish, worked as a domestic servant since a young age. Both my father and my mother were the first in their families to get a university education. In fact they met at university. Th...

A Totem is an object, usually an animal or plant, that is revered by members of a particular social group because of a mystical or ritual relationship that exists within that group. The totem or rather the spirit it embodies represents the bond of unity within a tribe or a clan. Generally , the members of the group believe that they are descended from a totem ancestor, or that they and the totem are "brothers" . In most cases, the totemic animal or plant is the object of taboo: it may be forbidden to kill or eat the sacred animal. This symbol may be tattooed on the body, engraved on weapons, pictured in masks, or carved on totem poles. Mrudul S, via email

THE BOOK "Mind of Mahatma" is an encyclopedia of thoughts of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi along with his ideology of life and human liberation. The book re-establishes the relevance of the Mahatma in modern times and has been translated in many languages. The book published by Navjeevan Trust, Ahmedabad, is divided into 15 chapters and 96 subjects. The book contains Gandhiji's thoughts on truth, non-violence, fearlessness, democracy, simplicity, Sarvodaya, trusteeship, celibacy, and self-reliance. Most interestingly, some of the thoughts are self-reflection on his personal life. The book, running into about 500 pages, has meticulously worked out index of subjects, dates, biography and explanation of difficult words. Seen as the most authentic and comprehensive book on Mahatma's thoughts and wisdom, it has been edited by noted personalities R. K. Prabhu and U. R. Rao. In the moderately priced book, Gandhiji's thoughts came alive with the wisdom he fo...

FIRSTLY, FILMMAKERSlike Prakash Jha and now Madhur Bhandarkar; renowned reality filmmakers have stepped out of their genres to leave us not baffled but discontented. Here, its disaster befalling the silver screen. Three times National Award winning director and script writer Madhur Bhandarkars Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji didnt reap out well. Films like Satta, Page 3, Corporate, Traffic Signal, Fashion and Jail serve as epitomes in the industry. DTBHJ has neither a relation nor any approximation to these. Therefore, if you are expecting a typical familiar Bhandarkar stuff then it may turn out disappointing to you. Perhaps, this may become a memento in his own life. Story and soul become synonymous when it comes to a film. Here you may call it an extract of all the unpalatable romantic films until now; just that they have a sad ending here. In the film you have three couples. Beginning with, Naren Ahuja (Ajay Devgn) and June Pinto ( Shazahn Padamsee) where the former is a 40 year old idealist...

It is not just legislators of the ruling party, but even his own staff who are deserting Chief Minister Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy. Though no one really knows why Congress MLAs are shifting their loyalties to Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, one reason why staff in the Chief Ministers Office is also leaving could be that like the rest of us they dont want to work for free. The way it works is that all CMO staff in the previous regime are repatriated to their respective departments and new appointments are made by the new CM. Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy, however, has simply sat on the files endorsing the appointment of CMO staff for the two months since he was appointed, with the result that the staff's salaries have been withheld for two months. The somewhat high-handed behaviour of the Chief Ministers trusted personal secretary has not endeared him to many and could be another reason why there is little enthusiasm for working in the most powerful office in the State. Some PR lessons on h...

The burning alive of Nashiks additional collector at Manmad in Maharashtra on the eve of this years Republic Day by an oil mafia gang he had caught redhanded should not really come as any surprise. It was almost dj vu: the murder of yet another upright public servant doing his duty, reminding the nation of the horrific circumstances in which Satyendra Dubey of the National Highways Authority of India was killed for exposing misdeeds relating to the Golden Quadrilateral project in Bihar seven years ago, in November 2003, as well as another oil mafia-related killing that of Shanmugham Manjunath of the Indian Oil Corporation just two years after that, in November 2005, in Uttar Pradeshs Lakhimpur Kheri region. Maharashtra too has seen some similar incidents such as the death in mysterious circumstances of a DIG of the CBI who had taken on the oil mafia. More recently, a top oil mafia gang leader operating in Mumbai Port suspected of smuggling Rs 25 lakhs of diesel every day was...

The court martial of Lt. Gen. P.K. Rath in connection with the Sukna land scam is a welcome move by the Army to set its house in order. This case along with the Adarsh Society scam has turned the spotlight on corruption in the military. It is widely assumed that these cases underscore the extent to which corruption from our public life has seeped into the armed forces. Isnt the military a mirror of the society it serves? This assumption is mistaken. In fact, the corruption highlighted by these cases stems from an increasing divergence between the armed forces and Indian society. And this growing civil-military gap could have other, more serious consequences.It is commonplace to assert that armed forces reflect the societies from which they arise. But it is wrong. The fact is that civil society is based on an expectation of peace. Military society, by contrast, is predicated on the expectation of war. If this werent true at a fundamental level, there need be no hyphen between civ...

In 1950, free India formally became a sovereign republic where the popular will is king. Fast forward six decades, and pride in constitutional democracy and its achievements remain undiminished. Today, Indians aren't alone in feting their success story scripted by marrying political freedom with economic progress. The world too recognises us as an emerging powerhouse drawing strength from deep-rooted democratic traditions. But on this occasion, let's remind ourselves that the republican ideal is ultimately about people's empowerment. For countless Indians, growth is a mere statistic. How can we make prosperity touch more lives? While welfare policies promote social justice, they can't substitute for equality of opportunity. However well-meant, disbursal of state largesse makes citizens dependent on political paternalism; genuine empowerment weans them off it. It's by increasingly shifting public resources away from a dole culture toward robust returns-oriented i...

The social role of Islam in the Indian subcontinent has become a topic of global debate. The liberal world is looking at Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh as bad states and as uncritical and undemocratic societies because of the issues they grapple with. There is a view that Islam has not gone through any reform, while other religious and civil societies have passed through reform after reform. There is a strong view that the Islamic civil societies are resisting reform, even while a religion like Hinduism, which practices caste and untouchability, is willing to change. This view is now acquiring global acceptability with the recent developments in Pakistan particularly in relation to the blasphemy laws.Before examining this view, we must understand the social role of Islam in the subcontinent. Before Islam came to India, there were two notions of God in India. One was that of Vaidic Brahminism, which believed that God (Brahma) created Indians into unequal varnas (or castes)...

The most important relationship in the world took a step towards parity last week when China's President Hu Jintao visited Washington. A balanced relationship between the lone superpower and Asia's rising hegemon promises global stability. Much will depend on Beijing ironing out the fault lines within its own foreign policy making apparatus whose opacity is confounding. Neither Washington nor New Delhi is ever certain of the dynamic between China's pragmatic president, the military and nationalist sentiment. Significant interests generate significant stresses. In seeking to defuse them, Hu noted that the China-US relationship is not a zero-sum game. Speaking economically, for that is the bedrock of the relationship, Hu noted that more than 70% of US companies in China stayed profitable during the global economic crisis and that Chinese products saved US consumers $600 billion over the last 10 years. There is more than a grain of truth in this. Americans are not forced...

The 61st anniversary of the birth of the Indian republic will invariably focus on the Republic Day parade: a state-sponsored programme that seeks to encapsulate the diversity of the nation as well as showcase the military might of the country. However, given that Delhi is turned into a security fortress in the run-up to the parade - to the great inconvenience of the public - and the event itself is largely reserved for VVIPs, the orchestrated pageantry is an impersonal experience for the average citizen. Contrary to the ideal of a republic, our Republic Day celebrations are more about the state than its people. This is precisely why January 26 means little to the common man. If the real significance of the date is to be driven home, civil society must be encouraged to participate in the celebrations. After all, it is the individual that is the most important entity in a republic. Republic Day should be about the aam admi, not politicians and dignitaries. Neither is the display of mi...

Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the beauteous land But what about little drops of blood? What do they create?On the immediate eve of the 61st birthday of our republic, this is the question to be addressed as a priority, at a time when assorted violence is claiming the lives of our fellow citizens on an unprecedented rate. The state of the nation seems to be symbolised by Netai, an obscure hamlet in the tribal belt of West Bengal, which came to national attention recently when eight persons were killed and 18 injured in an exchange of fire between two armed groups subsequently identified as armed militia of the ruling political party, and villagers used as human shields by Maoists. The situation is not unique to this state. Similar situations are prevalent elsewhere.Omissions and commissions in general governance have allowed political violence and subversive activities to reach a stage where they threaten the security fabric of the countr...

The votes for South Sudan's referendum on independence have nearly all been counted and the verdict is a foregone conclusion. The long-running civil strife may finally be resolved with South Sudan splitting from Sudan to form the world's newest country. The voting patterns - the target of 60% voter turnout in the south was easily achieved with over 98% of the counted votes so far being for independence - are unsurprising. The power struggle between the Arab Muslim north and the Christian and animist south, predicated on ethnic and economic conflicts, has taken a terrible toll on human lives over two civil wars from 1955 to 1972 and 1983 to 2005. The second of those has seen more than 2.5 million people killed and over five million displaced. Darfur has become a synonym for ethnic cleansing with its bloody tales of the havoc caused by the Janjaweed, Khartoum-backed Arab militia. In the face of this, no other solution is viable. What is important now is that the referendum r...

The Cabinet reshuffle has come and gone but has done little to restore confidence in the Prime Minister or give a positive indication for the future course of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The reshuffle is difficult to understand, so perhaps the best way to make some sense of it is to look at it from the perspective of the multiple power lobbies that spring up every time a crisis occurs. Yet, the fact remains that the Cabinet reshuffle was an opportunity lost for the UPA government and the Prime Minister.One can deduce from the changes in the Cabinet that decisions on crucial issues will be affected. We see that happening already in the attitude of the government on the 2G issue in terms of its reaction to the Comptroller and Auditor Generals (CAG) report and the appointment of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). It is very clear that the investigation into former telecom minister A. Rajas role is being delayed till after the Assembly elections in Tamil N...

Our ancestors invented the zero and that's just where we might end up if we continue to be beaten in mathematics by not only East Asians, but also peoples not traditionally thought of as numerically outstanding, such as Turks and Israelis. Nor is it any comfort that Indians do considerably better than most nationalities including Americans, because of the Indian test-taker's profile. They belong to our elite - at least economically since they can afford to go abroad - and benefit from this country's best. They are far more focussed than, for instance Americans, for a variety of reasons. Most significantly, about 60% of Indian GMAT test-takers are engineers by training as opposed to the global average of 15%. This means that Indians have the advantage of background, focus and training. Despite this they are beaten by people statistically unlikely to be engineers, relatively unmotivated and most likely not hailing from the economic elite in their own countries. This is d...

First, the good news. With an average score of 42 in the quantitative section of the Graduate Management Admission Test ( GMAT) - used as selection criteria by B-schools across the world - Indian students placed seventh globally, comfortably beating the global average of 37. Now for the bad; Chinese students topped the list, beating the Indians handily. Given the obsession with China in this country, this is likely to cause dark warnings about Chinese students and corporate workforce outdoing their Indian counterparts. But this is a false alarm. Standardised test scores have very little bearing on the actual academic or professional quality of an individual. To understand what these scores really signify, one could look at Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother, a book by Chinese-American academic and author Amy Chua on how Chinese mothers raise successful kids. It is a somewhat alarming account of parental pressure. We have Chua forcing her seven-year-old daughter to practise piano for ...

Several critical issues engage the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Council meeting today. Proposals on autonomy as well as switching from a course-based to a credit-based system of study will be considered. At stake is the future of the prestigious technical institutes that have come to be extremely proficient at churning out quality engineering graduates but lag behind in cutting-edge research. This is also the primary reason why, despite being an excellent brand, the IITs fare poorly in global rankings. IIT Bombay, the highest ranked IIT, ranked a lowly 187 in the 2010 QS World University Rankings. The remedy lies in freeing up the IITs both administratively and financially. Presently, the technical institutes are burdened by bureaucratic red tape. Thanks to higher education being a politically sensitive issue, there exists a significant amount of resistance to the concept of autonomous IITs. It is this same logic that sustains the government-funding-quota mentality. Howeve...

In 16th century India a cook in the kitchen of the Mughal emperor Akbar accidentally added two portions of onion to a dish which went on to become a great hit. Thus was born dopiaza, literally onion twice over, a dish cooked in onion sauce that remains immensely popular to this day and has been successfully transplanted to Britain as well.Except, if you wanted to cook it in India today, you might once again wish to seek royal patronage (or settle for a recipe that required no onion). With the vegetable selling at `85 (about $2) a kilo, up from `10 six months back, the staple of the average Indian household has gone extortionate.The onion is rather ubiquitous in Indian food. Roughly chopped, it is an essential accompaniment to the sparse meal of the poor, while its braised, pureed, sauteed and garnished avatars surface in the meals of all others. Muthi piaz onion smashed with a fist is de rigueur at roadside eateries throughout the country, and sirkawala piaz onions in vinegar...

Today's induction of mobile number portability (MNP), which permits users to retain their number while switching mobile phone providers, makes at least 687 million Indians stronger consumers. Given the number of us using phones MNP is significant and this is compounded by the fact that while telephone usage is increasing at ever faster rates, the number of landlines is declining. More people are using mobiles and they've been waiting for MNP for sometime. Though delayed by three years, now that MNP has finally arrived, consumers will be empowered to the level of users in the developed world. There, and now here, regardless of whether users are prepaid or postpaid, customers will be able to demand better services, tariff plans and rebates from providers. If none of this is forthcoming, consumer dissatisfaction will equate to what the industry calls 'churning' or customers walking to competitors. If Finland is an example, then we can expect a significant - around 30%...

One of the more intriguing facets of the India-China relationship is the Chinese leadership's pathological allergy to the Indian media. On the face of it, you can see why. The barrage of reportage and opinion pouring out every time China staples visas for Kashmiris or their troops "cross" over an unmarked boundary line can be disconcerting. In official discussions, the Indian government is repeatedly asked by the Chinese side to rein in the media. During Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's December visit to Delhi, they were clear - no media events, no questions or press conferences - and only consented to sit in the same room with them. Indian officials half-joked, "They're afraid of you guys." The reason is closer home than the Chinese let on. Indian media reports, they say, prompt a viral backlash from China's own online denizens that might be just what the Chinese leadership wants to avoid. With 500 million voluble internet users in China, there ar...

This is with reference to the report MLA to gift `15 cr sari (January 19). Mr Pulaparthi Ramanjaneyulus idea sure is noble but perhaps the Goddess would be more thankful if that money is spent on the education of children or other welfare activity. Money spent on buying a gold sari is dead money. Many people will be able to benefit from his donation. P.N. Reddy Via e-mailTraffic messThis is with reference to the report Booming car count raises traffic chaos (January 19). The traffic system is disorganised in Hyderabad due to lack of road sense among the vehicle users. The police has tried many ways to streamline the traffic, but more needs to be done. Measures like imposition of heavy fines for traffic violations, cancellation of driving licences if more than three instances of violation are reported need to be implemented at the earliest. Dr Sai Kumar HyderabadProud achievementThis is with reference to report City expert to get UK medal (January 19). Congratulations to Prof. C....

With the BCCI selection committee announcing its 15-man squad for the 2011 cricket World Cup, Team India can gear up for the mega quadrennial event. On the face of it, the side appears to be well balanced. Comprising a good mix of experience and youth, it has several game-changers who can take away a match from any opposition. Factor in that most of India's matches will be played at home, and we are looking at a team that has the potential to go one better than 2003. Like the 1983 World Cup winning squad this team too has the characteristics of a cohesive unit and has had a fair amount of success playing together. Skipper M S Dhoni is endowed with an enviable batting line-up that boasts of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh. Though there is no specialist all-rounder - someone like Jacques Kallis - Sehwag, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh can all double up as useful bowlers. And on slow, spinning tracks they should be a handful for ...

The assassination of governor Salman Taseer in Islamabad on January 4 roused the world not only because the assassin, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, was his own protector but that he was a Barelvi. Why was the follower of a relatively moderate denomination so exercised over the governors critique of the anti-blasphemy laws? Equally shocking was the silence of civil society and the showering of rose petals by lawyers when Qadri was produced in court. Clearly Pakistans 10 years of anti-terror dalliance with the United States was beginning to radicalise the middle of Pakistani society. Many have studied Pakistans angst, the impulses that mould its nationalism and the role that it wishes to play in a resurgent Asia. What is often forgotten is that running through the history of post-Islam India have been the twin impulses of accommodation between Islam and the majority communitys faith which was diverse, civilisational and deeply grounded, as well as confrontation. Even at the pinnacle of Mugh...

Decision-making isn't a synonym for governance. Even so, it's a good pointer to a ruling dispensation's ability to be on its toes. On that score, data shows UPA-II fared badly in 2010. The cabinet's record on number of decisions taken in 2010 compared to earlier was below par. Between 2005-08 during the Congress-led coalition's first tenure, the cabinet took an average of 242.5 decisions yearly. The annual average since 2005 is 183. In 2010, however, the cabinet managed consensus on just 112 decisions, the lowest single-year figure since the UPA came to power. Amazingly, decision-making actually decelerated post-2009, when the Left was no longer around to ambush it! This can't but buttress public perceptions of a drift at the top. Some say coalition constraints have been hobbling governance, a view recently aired by Congress apologist Rahul Gandhi. Others claim governments tend to take it easy in the initial phase of their tenures. Still others point to ...