Putting agriculture as “one of the central elements” of the Plan would be a challenge. The 11th Plan is to start from April 1,2007. The next General Election is due in 2009. So, the 11th Plan document is both politics and economics! Readers can draw their own conclusions! Populist language abound in the document, at…
Food self sufficiency and food security
Has the government any clear vision? Let the government at least now onwards say clearly that the one common goal before Indian agriculture is to achieve food self sufficiency alone, before any other things are talked about. There has been of late much concern about the poor growth rate in agriculture. This has baffled everybody,…
Special Economic Zones
Something somewhere has gone wrong! Farmer’s interests to be safeguarded first. SEZs are now the buzzword that had created almost an earthquake of sorts! Everyone who is anyone in the government or outside in the corporate sector is pitiching for vast acres of land, prime agricultural land in most cases for what seems to be…
Dreams remain-Truth seekers defy conventional wisdom!
Truth seekers defy conventional wisdom! Truth seekers are two kinds. Those who advance knowledge and those who advance our morality! Truth seekers are the most god-given people. Or, the chosen people, we can say without any religious overtones! Just now I read about Francis Bacon, the founder of modern science. Born on January 22, 1561,…
A youth icon for modern times
How Winston Churchill was denied a unanimous honor by the famous Oxford Union Debating Society! Street fighting years An autobiography of the Sixties-by Tariq Ali,PP 381,2006,Seagull,Kolkatta This is by any account a great book. A book that is youth idealism personified. Tariq Ali, the author was a sort of hero to my own generation in…
Indian society is changing fast!
Yet, the Indian mindset, our mentality remains the same! Large scale Indian migrant population today. Large scale racist, religious abroad, violence against fellow Indians in the Indian states! Has the dominant Indian mindset changed? A caste society might become progressively a class society? Indians seem to be living blissfully unaware of the world outside, also…
Curriculum must evolve every generation!
Private schools vs. Govt schools Rich schools vs. poor schools English medium schools vs. mother tongue schools School education defines a country’s unique strengths and character! Teachers’ lives these days have become socially downgraded, poor pay, poor motivation and insecure future! Indian schools system must become internationally rated. Like the English and French schools. Towards…
Ethics in everyday life
There is so much is happening in the world, everyday in our lives that often raise so much concern and questions of right and wrong and yet we don’t seem to go beyond the daily news items. Life has become faster and so too our attention span. Yet, such questions don’t seem to go away….