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Recent virtual relationships, interactions shaped children's minds differently

By Harasankar Adhikari The world of children has been changed. Due to the concurrent pandemic, both the micro and macro worlds get a new shape and a new definition. It teaches a child to restrict one’s relationships within the family and outside, even after there is less threat of coronavirus infection in a new normal situation. Learning and maturation in childhood are virtually controlled and managed. It was/is fully friendless and peerless without school (an institution for children's psycho-social, moral, and educational development along with cultural attainment). They are more comfortable with games on their handset (cell phone/smartphone) than games on the playground. The last two years were remarkably impacted by the childhood process. Education, games, and peer relations, etc. were home-based via an on-line system. A child used to eat, play, sleep, and dream with a cell phone/smartphone. They are very smart with their smartphones. Their joy, sorrow, anger and happiness are

NEP: Education must shift away from knowledge, move to teaching students

Dr Anjusha Gawande* The Education sector in the globe is changing dramatically. Many manual jobs may be captured over by machines as a consequence of multiple spectacular advances in science and technology, including the machine learning, and artificial intelligence. A professional workforce, particularly one that includes mathematics, computer science, and data science, as well as multidisciplinary competencies in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, will be in incredibly popular. As a result, education must shift away from knowledge and toward teaching students, how to be creative and transdisciplinary, and how to innovate, adapt, and process information differently in innovative and rapidly changing sectors. The education development agenda at the global level is represented in Goal 4 (SDG4) of India's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted in 2015. Ministry of Education has announced the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) on 29.07.2020. In J

West Bengal police inaction in immoral trafficking case of a Muslim woman

Kirity Roy, Secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) writes to the Chairman, National Human Rights Commission, on Muslim woman victim trafficking, police inaction, and need immediate rescue: I am writing to inform you about a case of illegal trafficking and profuse police inaction regarding the same of a marginalized Muslim teenager named Anima Khatun (name changed), daughter of Mr. Osman Ali. The victim and her husband had been residents of the village Daribas, under Dinhata police station Cooch Behar district since their marriage in 2014. Six months following their marriage, Anima Khatun along with her husband, sister-in-law, sister-in-law's husband as well as her in-laws shifted to Delhi in search of work. They stayed there for 2 years after which they all came back to their native village. They stayed at their native residence for about one month and then they went back to Delhi. In Delhi, Anima was in touch with her family till the next six months, after which t

Parallel govts: How unity of various streams of freedom movements took shape in India

By Bharat Dogra In one of the most inspiring examples of highly courageous spontaneous actions based on the unity of people, parallel governments were formed by freedom fighters in several parts of India in the course of the Quit India Movement in 1942. Although generally four such leading efforts have been identified in Satara (Maharashtra), Talcher (Odisha), Tamluk (West Bengal) and Ballia (Uttar Pradesh), there were some other smaller efforts as well such as those in Bhagalpur (Bihar) and Gurpal (Balasore, Odisha). It is very interesting to see in most of these efforts (also very significant for understanding the freedom movement) that there was constant merging of the various streams of the freedom movement, with more militant activities openly taking place with the help of quickly mobilized militias and this being combined with various constructive programs emphasized by Mahatma Gandhi such as anti-liquor efforts and anti-untouchability movements. In addition we see actions in

Bangladesh sets shining example of communal peace, harmony in South Asia

By Dr. Abantika Kumari Bangladesh is made up of 160 million people who are multi-religious, multi-ethnic, and multi-lingual. The Constitution of Bangladesh guarantees all citizens the freedom to freely and peacefully practice their chosen religions. Religious minorities make up roughly 12% of Bangladesh's present population, according to conservative estimates . Hindus account for 10% of the population, Buddhists for 1%, Christians at 0.50 percent, and ethnic minorities for less than 1%. As an example of how people of different religions can live together, cooperate together, and simply be together, Bangladesh is regarded. Bangladesh is a country that values religious liberty, harmony, and tolerance. Bangladesh's population is made up of a diverse spectrum of religious groupings and ethnic groups. Such communities and groups live in harmony, putting aside their differences and learning to embrace and respect the diverse and diversified culture that has contributed to Bangladesh

Migrant problem during Covid and the role of equality for cohesive development

By IMPRI Team The covid-19 pandemic has deepened the pre-existing inequalities across socio-economic groups, the distressing images of migrants’ exposure remained attached in our minds but not a lot has changed in terms of data collection and policy making since then to understand the role of equality for cohesive development. Cohesive development also means that human beings should respect the boundaries of nature which they cross at their own peril and the peril of other living beings on earth. In lieu to this, The State of Development Discourses – #CohesiveDevelopment, #IMPRI Center for Human Dignity and Development (CHDD) , #IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute , New Delhi organized #WebPolicyTalk with Prof Amiya Kumar Bagchi, on The Role of Equality for Cohesive Development. The session is inaugurated by Ms Mahima Kapoor, researcher and assistant editor at IMPRI. Ms Mahima Kapoor extended her gratitude to the speaker, moderator and the discussant. The moderator for the eve

Supporting education of poor families: NGOs, kind hearted persons lack coordination

By NS Venkataraman* Nandini Voice for the Deprived, a not for profit organisation based in Chennai, conducted an opinion survey amongst the families belonging to lower income group, about the problems they face in educating their children at various levels. The findings of the study are given below: 1. There is high level of realisation amongst the parents in the poor families that the only way of ensuring bright future for the sons and daughters is to provide them the best of education and particularly in fields which have high prospects for well paid jobs. Such level of interest in educating the children amongst the low income families is a very significant and progressive development , that should be recognised by the society. 2. There is a general perspective that providing education to the children in private educational institutions could be far more advantageous than admitting them in government owned institutions . This view is further explained stating that ther

Shift societal focus to energy efficiency, demand side management

By Shankar Sharma* Yet another report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) has tried to direct our focus on energy efficiency. Some associated statements of huge relevance to India on the topic are: "The IEA said greater efficiency could be readily achieved with existing technologies and would pay back fully the investment through lower running costs, especially at today’s high energy prices. “Energy efficiency is a critical solution to so many of the world’s most urgent challenges. But inexplicably, government and business leaders are failing to sufficiently act on this." “We don’t need to wait. We need action because the greenest energy is the energy we don’t use.” "Energy efficiency advances have already had a huge effect on global emissions, with improvements since 2000 resulting in 8bn tonnes of CO2 emissions a year being avoided. This is close to the annual output of China, the world’s biggest polluter." Some of us here, back home, including Late Prof.

Political competition, greed hindering participation in our multi-party democracy

By Harasankar Adhikari People’s participation is the absolute method to ensure the progress of people by the people. Democracy and democratic rules are being enacted in India for this specific purpose. In India, democratic rights (mainly within the limit of only voters’ rights) have been established to form a democratic government by the elected representatives of a multi-party political system. The enactment of the Panchayat Raj Act has ensured people’s participation at the grass-root. The strengthening of local self-government is a major instrument. Is this enough for a democratic nation? Is it an effective measure to honour people? Locals serve as stooges for various political leaders in various hierarchies. They have no right to say the truth. When they want to speak out against malpractice or corruption, they are silenced or threatened by democratic leaders and their administration. Sometimes, they have fitted themselves within the system of corruption or malpractice.