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Showing posts from October, 2018

Wasting food? India ranks 100th among 119 countries in Hunger Index

By Moin Qazi* India produces enough food to meet the needs of its entire population, and has at its disposal arable land that has the potential to produce food surplus for export. Yet, it is unable to feed millions of its people, especially women and children. India ranks 100th among 119 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2017, where it has consistently ranked poorly. Indeed, the world’s zero-hunger goal appears to be slipping further into the future rather than getting ever closer. Imagine a land mass greater than China. Now imagine that land is only used to produce food. Then suppose all the crops and produce from those 2.5bn acres are not eaten and left to rot. Imagine all of that – and you get an idea of the amount of food the world wastes every year. It is almost a third of the world’s . In terms of weight, it adds up to around 1.3bn tonnes. The case for action becomes even stronger when we consider that 1 in 9 people are malnourished worldwide. Despite the fact that every

Stop tree felling, debris dumping, untreated sewage discharge in Vishwamitri

Several senior environmentalists and academics* of Vadodara have written an open letter to the Municipal Commissioner, Vadodara Municipal Corporation – copies of which have been sent to the secretary, Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change, and Gujarat chief secretary and other senior officials of Gujarat government looking after environment and urban development departments – to immediately stop demolition, tree felling and clearing of vegetation, dumping of debris, discharge of untreated sewage, dredging, digging, filling, levelling, construction, etc. along the city’s Vishwamitri river and its environs. Seeking to thoroughly relook the “development” works going on in and around Vadodara city, the letter says that the activities around the river are in violation of the Gujarat High Court Order dated February 2, 2002, interim order of the National Green Tribunal dated May 25, 2016; and the order of the Supreme Court dated February 22, 2017. Accusing the administrat

Repositioning SHGs is core to India’s approach to women's empowerment

By Moin Qazi* The empowerment of rural women and girls is essential to building a prosperous equitable and peaceful future for all on a healthy planet. – UN Secretary-General, António Guterres Gender inequality is not only a pressing moral and social issue but also a critical economic challenge. India has a larger relative economic value at stake from advancing gender equality than any of the 10 regions analyzed in a McKinsey Global Institute report, “The Power of Parity: How Advancing Women’s Equality Can add $12 Trillion to Global Growth”. The report says that if all countries were to match the momentum towards gender parity of the fastest-improving countries in their region, $12 trillion a year could be added to global GDP. India could add $700 billion of additional GDP in 2025, boosting the annual GDP growth by 1.4 percentage points. Empowering women is the solution to many problems. Societies that take the effort to empower women show better development indices, are better governe

Ode to Indian village postman, receded into far horizons of rural landscape

By Moin Qazi* "Wait Mr. Postman Please Mr. Postman, look and see Oh yeah If there’s a letter in your bag for me…." These lyrics sung way back in the ’70s by the Carpenters immortalized the humble postman and his role in a lovesick teenager’s life. Closer to home, Rajesh Khanna did pretty much the same in “Palkon ki chhaon mein” (‘In the Shade of the Eyelids’), as he sang “Dakiya dak laya” (‘Come, the mailman has brought the mail’). These films and songs reflected a reality many middle-aged Indians were familiar with — the ineffectual man in khaki, his pants clipped firmly at the bottom to keep the well-starched fabric from getting smudged by the greased cycle chain, pedalling his bicycle and putting letters and postcards into the letterbox. Come rain or sun, the postman would trudge on foot with his bag full of letters or cover difficult terrains on his bicycle. In an Indian village a postman was much more than just a letter deliverer. He enjoyed a unique status unrivalled by

Girishbhai's ‘home-office’ was open to everybody: slum dwellers to rural folk

By Fr Cedric Prakash sj* This is a personal tribute to Girish Patel, doyen of the human rights movement in Gujarat, who died in Ahmedabad on October 6, 2018. It is hard to say goodbye to someone who has been so very special; someone who has meant so much to me and many others too. I can hardly believe that you are no more, Girishbhai; I find it difficult to come to grips with this painful reality. Since I awoke this morning and learnt from several of my friends and contacts in Ahmedabad that you had said “goodbye”, I have been overwhelmed with emotion! There are innumerable memories of you that have been racing through; warm memories of you: as a person and a professional, which I will always cherish. You epitomized human rights and you championed the rights of the poor, the marginalised, the downtrodden, and the excluded. Your tremendous concern for them has had a profound impact on my life. You ALWAYS took sides Girishbhai and you never had a modicum of regret for it. All who knew yo

Disclosure of Defence Forces’ Joint Operational Doctrines in 7-year old RTI case sought

By Venkatesh Nayak*  Earlier this week, the Central Information Commission (CIC) directed the HQ, Integrated Defence Staff (HQ-IDS), Union Ministry of Defence to disclose the following Joint Operational Doctrines under The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act): 1) Joint Doctrine for Perception Management and Psychological Operations; and 2) Joint Doctrine for Land and Air Operations. Readers may remember that in June 2010, the then Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Chief Marshal P. V. Naik, had released these operational doctrines . However, the text of these doctrines was not available in the public domain. Now after seven years, since I sought the information under the RTI Act, the CIC has directed the HQ-IDS to make the complete text of these doctrines public within 15 days. Unlike military strategies and tactics, military doctrines should be publicly accessible Official records containing details of military strategy and tactics are usually

A mud-walled cottage, Sevagram’s Bapu Kuti a symbol of Gandhi’s simplicity

By Moin Qazi* Eighty kilometres to the east of Nagpur in central India lies Bapu Kuti, a historic site in Sewagram, the ‘village of service’, which is nestled in the serene rustic surroundings of the Wardha district. This dwelling was the residential abode of Mahatma Gandhi from 1936 to 1948 and was the epicentre of the Indian freedom movement. During the 12 years Gandhi lived here, Wardha became the de facto nationalist capital of India. A motley array of foreign delegations—politicians, pacifists, religious leaders and do-gooders of all complexions—regularly found their way to Sewagram. In July 1942 the Quit India resolution was passed at Sewagram and in 1946, Gandhi left Sewagram, never to return. By 1931 Gandhi was already famous. He had travelled to Europe, where he had drawn eager crowds and journalists, and where he had met a roster of the famous and powerful that included the British king, Benito Mussolini, Charlie Chaplin and Romain Rolland. Gandhi wrote to Jamnalal Bajaj that