Women account for just 22% of workforce

Rema Nagarajan | TIG 

Oslo: As more women come forward to expose incidents of sexual harassment at the workplace, the focus is back on the extremely poor work participation of women in India, just 22.5%, which makes places of work male-dominated spaces. Norway, a country with one of the highest work participation rates for women, about 69%, might have some useful pointers to offer on how to go about changing that. 
    According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), out of 131 countries for which data was available, India ranks 11th from the bottom in female labour force participation (FLFP). In fact, the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) data reveals falling FLFP from over 40% in the mid-1990s, to 29% in 2004-05, to 23% in 2009-10 and 22.5% by 2011-12. 
    In contrast, in just over 40 years, Norway, where the ideal of the housewife was strong in the 1950s and 1960s, has successfully pushed up women’s labour participation from just 44% to almost 70% currently, compared to 76% among men. Over 80% of mothers with small children are employed in Norway. 
    This remarkable transformation has been achieved through strong state-backed incentives, regulations, legislation and quotas. 
    Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the recent conference held in Oslo on Women Power and Politics, Arni Hole, director general of the ministry of children, equality and social inclusion in Norway, explained that the basic Norwegian principle was that no individual, especially a woman, should be forced to choose between family and career. 
    “It should be possible for men and women to have both career and family,” she said, elaborating how the government had expanded the early child care sector, creating thousands of new jobs, and freeing parents, especially women, from homes to do paid work. 
    All children over the age of one can be enrolled in kindergarten. And up to one year, parents get fully paid leave to look after the baby, which they can divide between themselves, with the father mandated to take a compulsory 10 weeks of that one year as paternal leave. 
    Not stopping at just providing an enabling environment, the government has also enacted laws to provide quotas for women. The Gender Equality Act of Norway requires 40% of each gender in all governmentappointed committees, councils, working groups and delegations since 1988. This has ensured a 47% share for women in governance today. Similarly, the Municipal Act of 1993 mandates that all elected municipal councils shall not have less than 40% of each gender. 
    Even the private sector cannot escape ensuring gender parity with a 2003 law making it compulsory for publicly listed companies to ensure 40% women on their boards. “At that time, most board members in Norway were men (just 6%were women). The initiative was controversial and many business leaders expressed strong opposition. Now, however, not only are more women serving on boards, but governance in Norwegian companies has also improved,” said Ingvild Naess Stub of the Norwegian Foreign Affairs ministry at the Oslo meet. With more women in high level boards and committees, Norway has found it easier to work on strategies and implement decisions to ensure gender equality, which is seen as work in progress as even today women are under-represented among CEOs of companies, in certain professions and in fulltime jobs. In contrast, in India, the proportion of women working seems to be dipping. Women constitute just over a fifth of the organised sector workforce. They are mostly to be found in the unorganized sector, marked by poor wages, poor quality of work and absence of social protection of any kind. 
    The proportion of women in private sector companies is 24.5% of the total workforce compared to just 17.9% of the public sector. In central government jobs, women accounted for 7.6% in 1991, which, almost two decades later, had touched just 10%.


Source:::: The Times of India, 29-11-2013, p.16,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/29&PageLabel=16&EntityId=Ar01602&ViewMode=HTML

‘Mistress in distress can’t invoke DV Act’

SC: Women Living In With Married Men Out Of Ambit

Dhananjay Mahapatra TNN 

New Delhi: Check the man’s marital status before going in for a live-in partnership was the loud signal from the Supreme Court, which ruled that the Domestic Violence Act could not be invoked by a woman in a live-in relationship with a married man, especially if she knew his marital status. A relationship between a woman and a married man could not be termed a ‘relationship in the nature of marriage’, the basic requirement for an aggrieved woman in a live-in relationship to take recourse to DV Act for action against her ‘erring’ partner, the court said. 
    After giving this interpretation to live-in relationship between a married man and an unmarried woman, a bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Pinaki Chandra Ghose said if a married man walked out of such a relationship, the woman was not entitled to seek maintenance under DV Act. On the contrary, it warned, the deserted woman ran a risk of being sued for damages by the man’s wife and children for alienating them from the husband/father’s love and care. 
    However, the bench was aware of the social reality of married men walking out of live-in relationships. Finding that in such situations, poor and illiterate women suffered the most, the court appealed to Parliament to take remedial measures through appropriate legislation. 
    One Indra Sarma had a live-in relationship with V K V Sarma, already married with two children. The man moved in with her, started a business enterprise with her and after several years, went back to his family. 
    After the live-in relationship ended, Indra moved a Bangalore court demanding from him a house, a monthly maintenance of Rs 25,000, reimbursement of her medical bills and Rs 3.5 lakh in damages. The trial court found the two lived together for 18 years. Finding the woman aggrieved, the magistrate directed the man to pay Rs 18,000 per month towards her maintenance under DV Act. The sessions court upheld the trial court decision. 
    However, the Karnataka HC set aside the order saying their relationship did not fall within the ambit of “relationship in the nature of marriage”. Upholding the HC order, Justices Radhakrishnan and Ghose said, “We are of the view that the appellant (Indra Sarma) having been fully aware of the fact that respondent (V K V Sarma) was a married person, could not have entered into a live-in relationship in the nature of marriage. 
    “Appellant’s and respondent’s relationship is, therefore, not a ‘relationship in the nature of marriage’ because it has no inherent or essential characteristic of a marriage, but a relationship other than ‘in the nature of marriage’ and the appellant’s status is lower than the status of a wife and that relationship would not fall within the definition of ‘domestic relationship’ under Section 2(f) of the DV Act. Consequently, any act, omission or commission or conduct of the respondent in connection with that type of relationship, would not amount to ‘domestic violence’ under Sec 3 of DV Act.” 
    However, the bench noticed the deficiency in law to address such relationships in which women, especially poor and illiterate, suffer the most when their partners — already married men — walk out. 
    The bench said, “We have, on facts, found that the appellant’s status was that of a mistress, who is in distress, a survivor of a live-in relationship which is of serious concern, especially when such persons are poor and illiterate, in the event of which vulnerability is more pronounced, which is a social reality. Children born out of such relationship also suffer most, which calls for bringing in remedial measures by Parliament...” 
    Despite the concern, the bench decided to go by the law.


Source::: The times of India, 29-11-2013,p.12,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/29&PageLabel=12&EntityId=Ar01200&ViewMode=HTML

Affidavits not needed to get certificates

Chittaranjan Tembhekar TNN 

Mumbai: You no longer need to file an affidavit on a stamp paper in order to obtain various certificates and documents from the state government. 
    The state has listed 61 certificates and documents —among them the domicile, income and marriage certificate—which people can now get simply by signing a self declaration form which is available online. An affidavit will not be needed even from those seeking a voter card in the absence of address proof. 
    Applicants will thus be able to save both time and money (Rs 50 to Rs 100) spent on preparing affidavits. 
    A resolution in this regard was issued in August, making Maharashtra the second state after Punjab to have taken such a step, and those applying either manually at state facilitation centres at district or municipal offices or at over 35 online service centres are benefiting from the move, officials said.

GOVT E-SERVICES

Caste certificates not exempt from new state rule

Less Money Now Spent On Getting Docus

Chittaranjan Tembhekar TNN 

Mumbai: The state government’s decision to do away with the requirement of affidavits for obtaining government certificates will come as a relief for many. Information technology secretary Rajesh Aggarwal said, “During the British era, the rulers didn’t trust us and started the system of affidavits, which continued till recently for almost all services. People had to run from pillar to post to find notary or gazette officers. Following the state decision to allow self-attestations instead of attestations from gazetted officers, we decided to do away with the affidavit system.” 
    If an applicant had to earlier spend a minimum of Rs 54 to get a certificate or a document, the expense he was now incurring was 50 per cent less, Aggarwal said. 
    Affidavits will, however, be required in the case of caste certificates because of certain issues involved, officials said. 


NO AFFIDAVIT NEEDED FOR... 
Domicile certificate | Income certificate | Resident certificate | Senior citizen certificate | Farmer or farm labourer certificate | Land ownership certificate | Economically weaker section certificate | No balance due certificate | Marriage certificate | Character certificate | Landless person’s certificate | NOCs such as for electricity supply | Common man’s insurance scheme enrollment | Birth and death certificate | Non creamy-layer certificate | Duplicate ration card | Voter card (in the absence of address proof) | Employment registration 


What is an affidavit? It is an undertaking given by a person on a stamp paper announcing that whatever information he/ she had provided to get certificates or avail services from the government is correct, and in case it is found false, he would be liable for prosecution and punishment under the law
Source:::: The Times of India, 28-11-2013, p.01,   http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/28&PageLabel=1&EntityId=Ar00107&ViewMode=HTML

Only 11% women MPs in LS

India Ranked A Poor 108th In Gender Parity In Parliament

Lubna Kably TNN 

    Women have a poor 11% representation in India’s Lok Sabha and 10.6% in Rajya Sabha, making India 108th among 188 countries covered in the annual analysis on statistics of women MPs conducted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). 
    The global average of women in Parliaments, as of November 2013, stood at 21.3% — a slight increase over the preceding two years (20.3% and 19.5%). IPU is an international organisation of Parliaments and works for establishment of representative democracies. Countries are ranked by IPU based on percentage of women in the lower house. The top three in the 2013 analysis were Rwanda, Andorra and Cuba. 
    India fared poorly even when compared with her immediate neighbours (see graphic). Here, Nepal, ranked at 24, led the pack, followed by China (55) and Pakistan (66). 
    With elections around the corner in India, several women’s groups have come together under the umbrella of ‘Time for 33% Coalition’ and are seeking passage of the women’s reservation bill during the winter session that begins shortly. The bill proposes to reserve 33% seats for women in Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies. Various similar bills, introduced since 1996, have lapsed. 
    According to Election Commission statistics, for the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, the number of elected women increased from 49 in 1999 to 59 in 2009, with 11% representation in the lower house. In 2009, the number of elected women over total seats was maximum in Punjab (30.8%), followed by Madhya Pradesh (20.7%) and Haryana (20.0%). Against this, the number of women voters in India has risen from 44.3% to 45.8%. 
    “The patriarchal hereditary nature of Indian politics requires intervention at many levels and in many forms. A 33% reservation, which is the minimum mass required, will be one of the most significant changes in helping women attain their right to participate in Indian democracy not just as voters but also as leaders,” stated Amitabh Kumar of Centre for Social Research. 
    “Even in highly patriarchal societies such as Afghanistan, a reservation mechanism is in place. Appropriate representation of women is possible only through a quota regime, and this in turn will bring more transparency, efficiency and even decency in Parliament’s functioning,” said Vibhuti Patel, economist and president of Women Power Connect. 
    Many EU countries such as Belgium, France and Germany, besides others — Egypt, Iraq, and Nepal — legislatively provide for quotas for women candidates. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China and Pakistan reserve seats for women in Parliament. Voluntary quotas adopted by political parties exist in countries such as Australia, Canada, Israel, the Netherlands and the UK. 
    “Although quotas remain contentious in some parts of the world, they remain key to progress on a fundamental component of democracy — gender parity in political representation,” stated IPU secretary general Anders B Johnsson. 
    Quotas need to be ambitious and women candidates should be placed in winnable positions on party lists, the IPU added. In the Indian scenario, where the ratio of women candidates winning their contested seats is not yet optimal, this is a suggestion that needs to be followed.

Source:::: The Times of India, 26-11-2013, p.06, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/26&PageLabel=9&EntityId=Ar00900&ViewMode=HTML

Going online saves state 50cr in 5 yrs

Mumbai: The state saved up to Rs 50 crore in the past five years by offering services over the internet. “E-service centres in villages and districts have reduced corruption in cash disbursement cases,” a government source said. “Also, elimination of agents and their fees has helped people save their money.” 
    In terms of e-transactions concerning government-sponsored schemes, the highest public response was for land record—or 7/12 extract— registrations and certificates, followed by other services such as income certificate, domicile certificate, utility services, bank transactions, ticketing and tax payments. 
    Government schemes for farmers and backward classes also saw sizeable transactions. In terms of total e-transactions nationally, state comes fourth after Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.


Source:::: The Times of India, 26-11-2013, p.06,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/26&PageLabel=6&EntityId=Ar00604&ViewMode=HTML

370 Indians to bag UK scholarships worth £1 mn

Mumbai: The British Council on Monday announced the largest-ever scholarship programme to be awarded to students in India. In a press conference held in the city, officials from the British Council said that this year, around 370 scholarships worth almost £1 million will be offered to students in the undergraduate and postgraduate courses in England, South Wales and Northern Ireland. 
    “We have some of the best universities in the world and are always open to the brightest and best students from India to come and study in the UK. And, owing to the increasing demand to the number of applications that come from India, we have also relaxed the visa norms for students,” said Andrew Soper, counsellor (Prosperity), British high Commission, New Delhi. He added that there are various options that students will be provided with in terms of visas for graduate entrepreneurs, too. 
    The conference will be followed by a day-long exhibition in the city on Tuesday, organised to provide information on undergraduate, postgraduate or research programmes in the UK and also give information to aspiring students and their parents on student life and culture. 
    This exhibition will see participation from 70 UK varsities and will also have a UK Visas and Immigration stall managed by the officers of the British deputy high commission, Mumbai, to assist visitors with all queries relating to student visa regulations and policies. The exhibition will be held at The Leela in Andheri (E) between 2 and 7pm on Tuesday, and is open to students and their parents.


Source:::: The Times of India, 26-11-2013, p.02,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/26&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Ar00207&ViewMode=HTML

28.26 LAKH CASES CLEARED IN A DAY BY LOK ADALATS

In an exercise unprecedented for its sheer scale, India’s creaking legal machinery swung into action on Saturday to dispose of more than 28 lakh cases in less than seven hours through lok adalats organised across the country.

This is only a fraction of pending cases — over 3 crore at last count — but represents a significant step in clearing the massive backlog, especially as it could now become an annual event.

Lok adalats are an alternative dispute resolution mechanism where parties are encouraged to amicably settle cases outside the formal court system. 

Source:::: Hindustan Times, p.01,  http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

Mumbai biggest cocaine market as synthetic drugs use rises in India

Deeptiman Tiwary TNN 

New Delhi: India is increasingly consuming more synthetic drugs such as cocaine, heroin, methaphetamine and mandrax than natural psychotropic substances such as cannabis andhashish. 
    In what could be a worrying sign for the nation’s health, economy and security, latest data on drugs seizure by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) shows that smuggling andconsumption of synthetic drugs, which are more addictive and injurious to health than natural ones, has been constantly rising whilethatof naturaloneshasbeen decreasing. 
    It has also been found that Punjab and Maharashtra, in particular Mumbai, lead the pack in smuggling and consumption of syntheticdrugs. 
    Analysis of data shows that between 2009 and 2012, smuggling and consumption of cocaine and ephedrine (used to make methamphetamine) increased by over 250% and that of methaqualone (mandrax) by over 4,200%. In the same period, use of ganja and hashish dropped by 64% and 23% respectively. Even morphine registered an increase of over 500% in the period. 
    Only opium among naturalextractssaw an increaseof around100%.However,opium islargely usedto manufacture heroin by treating it with acetic anhydride, a chemical that India manufactures in large quantities. “This is a very disturbing trend as synthetic drugs arefar moreharmful,” a senior NCBofficialsaid. 
    Mumbai is the biggest market for cocaine, accounting for 82% of all seizures last year. “Cocaine is extremely popular among the rich and mighty of the city. Its abuse is rampantin Bollywood andthe glamour industry,” an NCBofficer from Mumbaisaid.

Source:::: The Times of India, 25-11-2013, p.12, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/25&PageLabel=12&EntityId=Ar01207&ViewMode=HTML

Farmers protest ‘peace clause’ in food subsidy

TIMESNEWSNETWORK 

New Delhi: Even as commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma sought to push an interim solution or a “peace clause” that will prevent WTO members from seeking penalties from countries such as India for breach of subsidy cap, opposition parties and farmer groups have asked the government to reject the solution, arguing that it is not in the country’s interests. 
    At next week’s Bali ministerial, WTO members arelooking to let developing countries provide food subsidy by procuring grains atthe minimum support price andselling it atsubsidized rates through the public distribution system. Under the Agreement On Agriculture, such support cannot exceed 10% of the valueof goods,while India is close to hitting the ceiling.The peaceclauseis an interim solution thatwill allowcountries to go past the limit, without fearing any penalties, for four years.


Source:::: The Times of India, 25-11-2013, p.12,   http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/25&PageLabel=12&EntityId=Ar01210&ViewMode=HTML

Now, pay your college fees in bitcoins

Cypriot Univ Becomes World’s First To Accept Digital Currency Payments

Nicosia (Cyprus): Cyprus’ biggest private university said on Thursday it will start accepting the digital currency Bitcoin as an alternative way to pay tuition fees. 
    The country had been a hub for international banking before suffering a collapse in its financial system this year, leading the government to impose controls on the flow of capital as it accepted an international bailout. 
    But the University of Nicosia said the move to accept Bitcoin was unrelated to the controls. Rather, it was meant to help foreign students in countries where traditional banking transactions are either difficult or costly to pay for programmes such as online degrees. The university’s chief financial officer, Christos Vlachos, said the institution, which has about 8,500 students enrolled, is the first in the world to take Bitcoin payments. 
    Bitcoin is a cryptographybased digital currency that advocates say is counterfeitproof. Its value is determined by supply — which is limited by its design — and demand. 
    Among the various criticisms leveled at Bitcoin are that it is too prone to price swings against other currencies to be useful. Vlachos said payments are free of risk for the university since it immediately converts the digital currency to euros at the day’s exchange rate. 
    He said that the university is also offering a new masters’ degree in digital currency, a field he says is the monetary equivalent of the internet in its infancy. “It’s the gold of tomorrow,” Vlachos said. 
    Vlachos said the Cypriot government should set up a regulatory framework to attract digital currency trading companies and boost the bailed-out country’s foundering economy. 
    The university plans to encourage the Cyprus government to develop the country into a hub for Bitcoin trading, processing and banking. 
    Bitcoins are facing increased scrutiny after the recent arrest of Ross Ulbricht, a 29-year-old from San Francisco who allegedly masterminded the online drug emporium Silk Road. AGENCIES

‘GOLD OF TOMORROW’: The University of Nicosia is also offering a new master’s degree in digital currency, a field that can be called the monetary equivalent of the internet in its infancy

Source::: The Times of India, 22-11-2013, p.07,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/22&PageLabel=19&EntityId=Ar01900&ViewMode=HTML

Primary education extended till Std VIII     The state government has restructured the school system extending primary education till standard VIII.      A notification issued on Thursday states that the new education cycle will be applicable from the 2014-15 academic year. The changes are being made under the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act. At present, primary education is imparted up to standard VII.      N U Raurale, joint secretary, state education department, said, “This pattern is followed by almost all boards in the country, except for a few states in south India. However, with the RTE Act in force, every state will have to change.”      Since the Act covers children in the age group of 6-14 years, it was necessary that class VIII be included in primary education. The challenge for the state government would be to provide extra classrooms at those schools which run only primary section. Raurale said, “We are already in the process of identifying such schools and making arrangements to provide extra class rooms. We still have time in hand and by beginning of the next academic year, we will have the required infrastructure in place.”      Matin Mujawar, an education expert, said, “The other challenge is going to be for primary teachers who would now have to equip themselves for teaching students of class VIII.” The state education department has, however, said that classes IX and X would remain in the category of secondary education. TNN

Source::: The Times of India, 22-11-2013, p.07,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/22&PageLabel=7&EntityId=Ar00700&ViewMode=HTML

Paltry 10% conviction rate falls further to 7%

Police Force Understaffed By 14%, Says White Paper

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

    The already abysmal conviction rate for violent crimes in Mumbai has dipped further while its police force remains understaffed, reveals a new report, lending explanations for the feeling of unsafeness in the city. 
    Conviction of criminals for violent crimes—including murder, rape and kidnapping-—decreased from 10% in 2011 to 7% in 2012. While this drop occurred, the incidence of heinous crimes continued rising. Nearly 300 women were sexually assaulted in 2012-13, a 57% increase over the previous year, 
says a white paper on the state of policing and law and order by the voluntary organisation Praja Foundation. 
    The report, released on Thursday, says that the police are currently understaffed by 14%. Among the ranks of police sub-inspectors (PSI) and assistant police inspectors (API)—who usually investigate serious crimes—the shortfall is even greater at 58%. “PSIs and APIs are trained to investigate such crimes. With such a major shortage, it is little wonder that chargesheets are not being filed and crimes not properly investigated,” said Praja’s project director Milind Mhaske. As against the sanctioned 3,125, the force today has only 1,319 PSIs. 
    Experts note that lack of punishment emboldens criminals and occasions a decline in safety. 
    “It is a dangerous trend when a city has no assurance of punishment for a person with criminal intent. In our democratic processes, penalty is solely dependent on framing of charges, investigation and trial. The lack of police personnel encourages serious crimes,” said Nitai Mehta, founder trustee of Praja. Mehta added that conviction is also affected by other factors, such as poor collection of evidence, hostile witnesses, long delays and inadequacies of public prosecutors. 
    Human rights lawyer Mihir Desai believes investigations are not being done scientifically. “The police arrest and charge people since there is pressure to show that they have solved a case. But often the evidence does not stand in court,” he explained. 
    Mounds of cases are pending in the city at different stages. Of the 13,349 cases taken up for investigation here in 2012, 46% were pending. And of the 52,442 cases tried the same year, 9% reached completion. Desai points out that complainants often lose interest or are unable to appear in court at later stages of cases. 
    The report, which analysed law and order on a host of parameters, shows up North central Mumbai-—from Bandra to Vile Parle—as the most unsafe and notorious for house breakins, chain snatchings and vehicle thefts. It iterates the need for long-pending police reforms: “There is a need to strengthen and, where necessary, create infrastructure for continuous training, forensic labs, crime mapping and crime forecasting.” 
    Lawyer Y P Singh believes systemic hurdles are to blame for the poor conviction rate. “Earlier, public prosecutors were under police administration, so the coordination between the two was better. Since the prosecution became independent, it dented the performance of both.” 
Times View: The latest statistics confirm the yawning gap between crime and conviction rates. It’s this gap that encourages criminals and contributes to crime. The refusal to employ modern investigative tools fuels this problem as much as shoddy prosecution work in court and, very often, the investigator’s lackadaisical approach or bias. There needs to be an overhaul of the system, in terms of both logistics and mindset.

Source::: The Times of India, 22-11-2013, p.02,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/22&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Ar00200&ViewMode=HTML

UGC invites suggestions to amend 1956 Act

Pallavi Smart

     

With the University Grants Commission (UGC) forming an expert committee to decide on amendments to the UGC Act, 1956, the body has appealed to all stakeholders — varsity heads, educational institute heads, teachers, students and parents — to send in suggestions, a move that has been welcomed by city academicians. The notice about the amendment was issued on Oct 1 this year, in which UGC secretary Akhilesh Gupta stated, “The UGC has constituted an expert committee under the chairmanship of R P Agrawal, Former Secretary of Higher Education in the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, to take a comprehensive look into the existing provisions of the UGC Act, 1956 and suggest amendments.  The committee has decided to invite views and suggestions of stakeholders including vice-chancellors, faculty and non-faculty members, parents and members of the public before finalising its recommendations for the consideration of the GoI.” A senior UGC official said, “It is important to amend the Act considering changing times. Increasing importance of technology and introduction of open learning are new ways of education, that need to be channelised.”  Dr W N Gade, Vice Chancellor of the University of Pune, said, “The Act has been formed more than 50 years ago. Though it must have had undergone certain amendments, times have changed. Some clauses which were progressive then, could have limitations now. To avoid rigidity or provide more liberal conditions for the current education policy, this is a positive move.” He added, “Ideally for policy changes, the regular procedure involves the formation of a draft by an expert committee and then suggestions from stakeholders. However, asking for suggestion before is a welcome move as well, as it will help get a more informed and studied opinion.” President of the Principals’ Association from the city Dr Nandkumar Nikam said, “From 1956 to 2013, education has become a service sector. There has been a long-pending demand about amendments in this Act to maintain education standards what is now a global village.  Inviting public opinion before the expert committee recommendations is rather revolutionary, as suggestions will provide the committee with different angles before they proceed with their brainstorming.”

http://www.punemirror.in/article/2/2013110820131108004710578fe4c0b63/UGC-invites-suggestions-to-amend-1956-Act.html

THE ONLINE LEARNING REVOLUTION

OPEN ONLINE COURSES CAN BE VALUABLE ADDITIONS T0 WORKPLACE LEARNING, SAYS SUNDER RAMACHANDRAN

    Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have revolutionised the world of education and most learning and development professionals have started taking note of it.While there is in-principle acceptance of MOOCs as an important tool for professional development and executive education, there is a lack of clarity on how it can be integrated into workplace learning in India. 
    The Indian education system traditionally has been content-rich but interaction-poor; so, careful orchestration is required for an employee to adapt to this new way of learning needs. Here are some recommendations to integrate MOOCs within your organisation: 
1. UP-SKILL YOUR TRAINING / L&D TEAM 
Any new platform or way of working needs evangelism. L&D personnel should champion this at the workplace. It becomes critical that they are up-to-speed on the latest in the world of MOOCs, emerging methodologies and challenges. It makes sense for the L&D folks to complete a couple of MOOCs before they start propagating it within their organisations. There are a few websites that are great for curated resources on MOOCs, reviews, case studies, etc. 
2. CREATE AWARENESS 
This is a big next step and would probably consume most of your time. It’s important that employees are educated on MOOCs and their benefits.You can start by creating a short 30-minute starter module. During this session, get your employees to experience learning sites to gain first-hand knowledge. While there are several MOOC websites, limit your campaign to about two or three sites as too many resources at the start could overwhelm employees. It’s best to allow them to get started and let employees figure out more platforms as they progress.
3. ASK LEADERS TO ENDORSE IT Treat the MOOC integration campaign as any other serious learning solution. Every L&D professional knows that leadership endorsement can be a make or break factor. Get your leaders to talk about MOOCs and encourage employees to participate and adopt it. Ask your CEO to share their views on MOOCs in R&R forums and monthly events. It makes a big difference when your CEO says,“Go try this and it will blow your mind.”If you have an enterprise social network, you can ask employees to share what courses they are taking. 
4. CURATE AND RECOMMEND COURSESIt’s important to be a bit directional at the start of the campaign as employees are still figuring out the MOOC mechanics. Research courses and make recommendations to all employee groups. As adoption levels increase, this can and should get totally crowdsourced with time. Think of an ideal state as one where your enterprise social network becomes an indispensable part of learning. One employee asks recommendations for learning a particular skill/knowledge module and another employee recommends.This takes time and continuous effort; so the L&D team must be prepared to play this in the long haul. 
5. PUSH VIA LMS AND BLEND 
This is something you can consider if tracking and reporting are key expectations. Employees can be scheduled for MOOCs via the Learning Management System (LMS) and then self-report post completion.You could also consider a MOOC with some offline interaction to increase adoption and arrest dropout rates. 
6.INCORPORATE MOOCs AS A PART OF THE CONTINUING EDUCATION POLICY Most signature tracks on sites cost anywhere between $39 - $49.This may not be a huge investment but telling employees that even this will get reimbursed is ‘putting your money where your mouth is’.This is also a great way of demonstrating an organisation’s commitment to continuing education beyond the stipulated AICTE-approved courses that most Indian organisations limit employees to. 
7. CREATE A R&R FRAMEWORK FOR SUCCESSFUL MOOC COMPLETION All L&D professionals know that ‘what gets rewarded gets 
repeated’. It’s a good investment to start rewarding employees who have successfully completed signature tracks on MOOCs. Get your top leaders to hand them certificates and a ‘thank you’card at the reward forums.What you are rewarding is learning agility and a commitment to lifelong learning. These are skills that all organisations will pay a premium for. 
    It’s important to remember that integrating any new learning solution is less of a technology but more of a culture/behaviour issue.You can always buy the technology but behaviours and cultures need to be built. 
- The author is senior manager – training,Jardine Lloyd Thompson India


Source:::: The Times of India, 20-11-2013, p.39,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/20&PageLabel=39&EntityId=Ar03900&ViewMode=HTML

Researchers identify new type of boredom

Feeling Helpless & Depressed? You Could Be Suffering From 5th Kind Of Ennui, Says Study

Berlin: Being bored just became interesting, with scientists identifying a new type of boredom to describe this emotion. Researchers identified the new type of tedium as ‘apathetic boredom’, an especially unpleasant form of the emotion that resembles learned helplessness or depression. 
    The study is among the first to quantifiably investigate different types of boredom. The study builds on preliminary research done by Dr Thomas Goetz of the University of Konstanz and colleague Anne Frenzel in 2006 in which they differentiated between four types of boredom according to the levels of arousal (ranging from calm to fidgety) and how positive or negative boredom is experienced (so-called valence). 
    These were indifferent boredom (relaxed, withdrawn, indifferent), calibrating boredom (uncertain, receptive to change/distraction), searching boredom (restless, active pursuit of change/distraction) and reactant boredom (high reactant, motivated to leave a situation for specific alternatives). 
    The researchers have now identified another boredom subtype, namely apathetic boredom that resembles learned helplessness or depression. It is associated withlow arousal levels and high levels of aversion. 
    Goetz and researchers conducted two real-time experience studies over two weeks among 63 German university students and 80 German high school learners. 
    Participants had to complete digital questionnaires through the course of a day on a Personal Digital Assistant device about their activities and experiences. 
    Because of the assumed link between boredom and depression, the research group found it alarming that apathetic boredom was reported relatively frequently by 36% of the high school students sampled. The findings showed that the five boredom types do not just depend on the intensity of the boredom being felt, but mainly on the real-life situation in which it is experienced. 
    Another interesting realisation is that people do not just randomly experience the different boredom types over time, but that they tend to experience one type. 
    “We therefore speculate that experiencing specific boredom types might, to some degree, be due to personality-specific dispositions,” said Goetz. The study has been published in Springer’s journal Motivation and Emotion. PTI 
THE BIG YAWN Not all boredom is the same, says a new study Experts already knew about 4 types of boredom 
Indifferent boredom Relaxed, withdrawn, indifferent — typical coach potato boredom 
Calibrating boredom Uncertain, receptive to change/distraction 
Searching boredom Restless, active pursuit of change/distraction 
Reactant boredom High reactant, motivated to leave a situation for specific alternatives Now researchers have identified a fifth type Apathetic boredomIt’s the most troublesome of all. People exhibiting apathetic boredom are withdrawn, avoid social contact, and are likely to suffer from depression

Source:::: The Times of India, 20-11-2013, p.17,   http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/20&PageLabel=17&EntityId=Ar01700&ViewMode=HTML

New rule lowers HRA exemption claim limit

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

    If you are a salaried taxpayer claiming HRA (house rent allowance) deduction, watch out. The central government has lowered the exemption limit for reporting the rent received. Salaried taxpayers claiming HRA exemption and paying a rent of over Rs 1 lakh per year have to give landlord’s PAN (permanent account number). Till now, if the total rent paid was less than Rs 15,000 a month there was no need to submit the landlord’s PAN details. The new rule effectively lowers the rent limit from Rs 15,000 a month to Rs 8,333 per month for claiming HRA exemption without making any disclosures. 
    “Further, if annual rent paid by the employee exceeds Rs 1,00,000 per annum, it is mandatory for the employee to report PAN of the landlord to the employer,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes said in its latest circular. “In case the landlord does not have a PAN, a declaration to this effect from the landlord along with the name and address of the landlord should be filed by the employee,” it said. 
    Though incurring actual expenditure on payment of rent is a pre-requisite for claiming deduction under section 10(13A) of the I-Tax Act, it has been decided as an administrative measure that salaried employees drawing HRA up to Rs 3,000 per month will be exempted from production of rent receipt. 
    The new rule is aimed at people claiming HRA exemption for living in their own house. “It has to be noted that only the expenditure actually incurred on payment of rent in respect of residential accommodation occupied by the assessee subject to the limits laid down in Rule 2A, qualifies for exemption from income-tax,” CBDT said in its circular. 
    Thus, HRA granted to an employee who is residing in a house/flat owned by him is not exempt from income-tax. “The disbursing authorities should satisfy themselves in this regard by insisting on production of evidence of actual payment of rent before excluding the house rent allowance or any portion thereof from the total income of the employee,” CBDT said.


Source:::: The Times of India, 19-11-2013, p.15,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/19&PageLabel=15&EntityId=Ar01507&ViewMode=HTML

Sex after false promise of marriage leads cases of rape in Maharashtra

V Narayan TNN 

    Sex after a false promise of marriage is the leading category of rape in the state, as per a CID report. While 760 cases were registered in 2011, 880 were filed last year, an increase of 15.8%. Property dispute is the second leading cause, with cases rising from 17 to 28 in the years under consideration—a 64.7% rise. The third is job inducement, with 15 cases filed in each of both years. Other categories include rape committed before murder, with robbery, with dacoity, and in revenge. 
    The police say that in a majority of rape cases, the accused is closely known to the survivor. An example of rape related to a romantic relationship is a case registered by the Bandra 
police in February. It was filed by a 24-year-old corporate communications executive of a multinational company against its managing director. The woman and the accused were in a relationship for a few months. She filed the case when the accused refused to marry her and wed another woman. She also alleged that the managing director had threatened to post objectionable pictures of her on the internet. 
    “Sexual desire may not be an extension of love, but an act of carnal pleasure... and has been predatory since the Stone Age. Success is seen as a victory similar to conquest of land, earning money or establishing a superior power equation,” psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty told TOI. “Rapists are largely psychopathic personalities and have no remorse or guilt.”

Source:::: The Times of India, 18-11-2013, p.02,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/18&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Ar00200&ViewMode=HTML

Need parenting help? Call a coach

Shobita Dhar TNN 

    How do you deal with a rebellious kid? Do threats work or inducements? When should you have your first talk about sex? Is there a way to explain divorce to a child? 
    For answers to these and many other tough questions, an increasing number of newage parents are turning to coaches. This new breed of consultants, or parenting coaches, provides advice once sought primarily from mothers, grandmothers, friendly neighbours and gurus like Dr Benjamin Spock. “Parents no longer have the support system their parents had. The responsibility of bringing up the child falls squarely on one adult, usually the mother,” says Sonal Kothari, 42, who organizes Positive Parenting workshops in Bangalore. A molecular biologistturned-parenting coach who has lived in the US and Japan for long, Kothari moved back to India four years ago with her husband and two children. She is a certified PET (Parent Effectiveness Training) trainer and her clients are mostly techies who have lived abroad. She says that the demand for her classes, which cost Rs 8,000 for a module of eight sessions, is rising steadily. 

‘It’s all about listening to kids’ 
    Struggling parents can now turn to parenting coaches to deal with kids and their tantrums. Sushant Kalra gave up his job as a financial consultant to start the Parwarish Institute of Parenting in Delhi. His school organizes three to four workshops every week.“We grew up with an authoritative style of parenting. Now, it’s all about listening to your child,” says Kalra, who is pursuing a diploma in early childhood care and education from IGNOU. 
    Coaches range from moms whose only expertise is that they have brought up their own children to experts trained in the fundamentals of behavioural science and child psychology. 
    Dr Garima Shivhare, who teaches at a medical college in Chitrakoot, MP, and has a threeyear-old daughter, is taking a 12-session course that costs Rs 15,000 because she wants to be ready for any parenting eventuality. She attends the sessions, organized by Parwarish, on Skype. 
    Kothari has an interesting take on why parenting is so challenging today. “Your child needs to be social, good at studies as well as sports and well-versed in arts,” she says. This means tiger moms and dads are constantly looking for tips to improve their child’s skills and behaviour. 
    Lalita Iyer, a blogger and author of a parenting book, is dismissive of such workshops because she believes what they actually teach parents is how to manipulate choices for the child so that the desired outcome is what the parent wants. “For instance, if the child won’t eat his cereal, I don’t really see the point in asking him whether he would like it in a blue bowl or a green bowl. You are trying to project that you are giving a child choice, but at the end of the day, you are getting him to do what you want him to do.” 
    Esha Puri, 33, would disagree. She says her Skype sessions helped her tackle a difficult situation with her 11-year-old. Her child came back home within a few months of joining a boarding school and refused to go back. Although Puri was angry, her trainer advised her to have an honest talk with her daughter and find out the reason for her reluctance. It turned out the child was ashamed of facing her classmates after “running away from school”. Simple advice but it worked. “Sometimes, all one needs is an outsider to tell you what you probably already know.” 
    And nowhere do parents need more handholding than on how to talk about the birds and bees. The ‘children and sexuality’ workshop organized by Geniekids, a Bangalore-based learning centre for children, attracts many upper middle-class IT professionals. 
    The need for advice seems to stem from a desire to do a good job rather than just muddle through. While a workshop is no guarantee that one will crack the parenting code, coaches say it can make what is hard work somewhat easier.

Source:::: The Times of India, 13-11-2013, p.15,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/13&PageLabel=17&EntityId=Ar00307&DataChunk=Ar01701&ViewMode=HTML

Policemen welcome FIR order

Bharti Jain & Deeptiman Tiwary TNN 

New Delhi: Though senior IPS officials on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court order mandating registration of FIRs in cognizable offences, saying it would help police records reflect the actual incidence of crime, the more pragmatic voices doubted if the police, with their limited manpower and resources, could handle the deluge of FIRs it would entail. 
    A senior home ministry official said the apex court had only endorsed what was already there in the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). “The CrPC has provisions that require an FIR to be registered in all cognizable offences. However, this was not being implemented, as police, in order to show minimal rise in crime within their jurisdiction, often under-reported criminal activity,” the official said. 
    “The SC ruling aims to eliminate this tendency… police officers will now be under obligation to register FIR for every cognizable crime committed, or else face action. This will ensure that a true picture emerges of criminal activity in a given area,” the official said. 
    He added that recording of increased levels of crime may serve as a sound basis for the police to seek more manpower and resources. 
    However, police officers on the ground did not seem to share this optimism, and pointed to the “practical difficulties” in implementing the order. A Mumbai police officer said, “The order, as reflected in the media, demands immediate registration of FIR in all cognizable cases. This means even a theft of Rs 500 is to be dealt with an FIR. We are looking at a 10-fold increase in the number of FIRs in such a scenario,” he said.

Source:::: The Times of India, 13-11-2013, p.11,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/13&PageLabel=15&EntityId=Ar01500&ViewMode=HTML

15-yr-old Pune girl wins Google doodle contest

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

New Delhi: A 15-year-old girl from Pune has won the Doodle4Google contest of 2013 with a doodle titled Sky’s The Limit for Indian Women. Gayatri Ketharaman’s winning doodle will feature on Google India’s homepage on November 14. 
    Google holds the doodle contest for school kids in India every year on a particular theme and features the winning entry on its homepage on Children’s Day.
    For 2013, the theme was ‘celebrating the Indian women’. Google India managing director Rajan Anandan said the company received over 1.5 lakh entries this year. 
    Ketharaman, a student of Class X0 in Pune, has been taking part in the contest for last four year. She came close to winning in 2011 when her doodle on ‘India’s gift to the world’ was among the shortlisted entries. But this year she finally succeeded with a doodle that celebrates the Indian woman and her life. 
    “It took me around a week to complete the doodle once I started working on it. But before that, I spent several weeks thinking about the theme and how best I can represent the ideas I had in my mind about Indian women,” Ketharaman told TOI. “My doodle attempts to show different qualities of Indian women,” she added.


Source:::: The Times of India, 13-11-2013, p.11,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/13&PageLabel=13&EntityId=Ar01302&ViewMode=HTML

UGC invites research proposals from teachers under Minor Research Project

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has invited proposals from teachers across the country to provide financial support under the ‘Minor Research Project for Teachers’ proposal. Only permanent teachers working in any college or institution are eligible for funding under the project.

Teachers who are beneficiaries of Minor Research Projects Scheme, who have submitted the final report of the project but have not completed a gap of one year are not eligible to apply under the scheme.

UGC has also asked the teachers who are already receiving fellowships or funding under any scheme of the UGC or any other agency not to apply for the project. The commission has also asked the colleges to make adequate arrangement in specialised areas of research while forwarding the research proposals.

The last date for submitting proposals is 31^st December, 2013.

DISGRACE: INDIANS IN CHAINS

The Global Slavery Index 2013 has revealed that about 14 million people are trapped in some form of slavery in India. A look at some of the lives scarred by that experience

Young girls sold into slavery, their salaries paid to their handlers; boys promised jobs in factories and pushed into low-paying or no-paying menial tasks; families indebted and then forced into bonded manual labour: This is the picture of modern slavery in India.

RAJ K RAJ/HTPreeti at a transitory rehabilitation centre. She was brought here after being rescued three months ago from her employer’s house in Delhi.

Krishna*, for instance, left his home in a UP village for a factory job in the city and ended up an unpaid domestic help in Gurgaon. He is 17. Preeti*, 18, was hired as a maid and forced to work from dawn to midnight in Delhi and made to sleep outside the house.

Last month, when Australia-based human rights group Walk Free released its Global Slavery Index 2013, the random incidents emerged as tabulated data. And the facts thrown up are shameful for the world in general, and for India in particular.

About 30 million people are enslaved worldwide — half of them are in India.

States such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar emerge as major culprits, with high levels of hereditary forms of debt bondage in rural areas, and of human trafficking.

In terms of the prevalence of slavery (as a proportion of the population), India ranks fourth, behind Mauritania, Haiti and Pakistan, in that order.

Modern slavery is defined as the denial of freedom and the exploitation of a person for profit or for sex, usually through violence, coercion or deception.

‘Slaves’ could be entire generations of families working in marble quarries or brick kilns to pay off debts, young girls brought from the north-eastern states to serve in brothels in big cities, or boys put to work in sweat shops.

A common response to the findings is the question ‘How can people be treated like slaves in this age?’. Yet, in Delhi alone, three recent instances of the torture of domestic help have left many fumbling for answers.

According to the Walk Free report, “Poverty and India’s caste system are significant contributing factors to its modern slavery problem”.

Despite being banned by the Supreme Court in 2006, child labour continues to be widespread due to weak enforcement. India has 12.26 million working children, aged 5-14, according to the 2001 Census, with the majority of those children coming from Uttar Pradesh.

Child marriage and forced marriage are another grave form of exploitation, one that is prevalent in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes’ (UNODC) 2013 India Assessment Report. “With skewed sex ratios, it is impossible to find a bride for each man and ‘importing a bride’ has become the only solution,” said the UNODC report. Punjab (893 females per 1,000 males) and Haryana (877 females per 1,000 males) have the lowest sex ratios in the country.

Ruchira Gupta, president of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, an NGO that fights sex trafficking, is not surprised by the findings. “South Asia is the epicentre of bonded labour and slavery. But the issue does not get attention because its victims are considered disposable,” she says. “Stricter laws are the need of the hour.”

* Some names have been changed to protect identities

GRIM REALITY

Modern slavery includes debt bondage, forced marriage, exploitation of children and human trafficking 72.14% of the world’s 29.8 million modern-day slaves are in Asia 3 mn sex workers exist in India, according to the UNDP Many of India’s enslaved have not been moved from one place to another. They are enslaved in their own villages.

Source:::: Hindustan Times (Mumbai), 10 Nov 2013, p. 07,  http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx