June 2014
The
decline of institutions
On the
first day as the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi said, “I want the
credibility of the Indian institutions and the respect of the constitutional
organisation to be increased.” Time and again, a few statesmen and also the
media have voiced concern about the steady decline of our great institutions
and expressed the need to restore their credibility. A democracy as we all know
can survive and flourish only when its institutions are protected and function
independently.
The spotlight
of the June issue of One India One People is on the significance of some of our
important institutions and their steep decline. We talk about the most vital
organ in a country’s body, the Parliament: It’s glorious past; how the norms
and protocols of the august house started bending and breaking that has had a
debilitating impact on it. The second most important institutions are the
defence mechanisms, the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. Their reputation has
been tarnished of late by charges of corruption and lack of trust in
leadership. The credibilility of
important establishments such as the Central Bureau of Investigation, the
Comptroller General of India and the Central Vigilance Commission too has taken
a beating in the last decade.. Cricket is religion in our country and the Board
of Control for Cricket in India was appointed to safeguard its sanctity. But it
has been dogged by corruption scandals and controversies concluding its mighty
fall. Premier education institutes such
as the IITs and IIMs too have not been spared by critics who have questioned
the quality of education imparted in these institutes.
While
speaking about the growth of these institutions and their achievements in the
past, the writers point out the reasons for the decline of the institutions and
what needs to be done to restore their glory.
In the
lead article, ‘Can the downslide in the temple of democracy be reversed?’, Dr. P M Kamath has
written about how the Indian Parliament has witnessed a steady decline
in the standards of working in the past decade. There is an urgent need to
arrest this downtrend and restore the sanctity of the temple of democracy, he
says.
The
writer is Former Professor of Politics, University of Bombay; currently, Director,
VPM’s Centre for International Studies (Regd), Mumbai and Adjunct Professor,
Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, Manipal University,
Manipal. His book on India-China Relations for Asian Century (Gyan, 2011) deals
with some issues raised in this article.
In the
article, ‘India’s defence mechanism under attack’, Lt. Gen.(Dr.) D.B. Shekatkar PVSM, AVSM, VSM (retd.), says the most
important challenge to the top leadership is and will always remain, how to
keep the defence forces isolated, untouched, unpolluted and uninfluenced from
overall national environment of corruption.
The
writer has served in Indian Army for four decades. He has participated in
Indo-Pak war in 1965 and 1971. During Kargil war in 1999 he was incharge of
entire China front in Arunachal Pradesh. He has served extensively in North
East combating insurgency in Assam,
Nagland, Manipur and other areas.
In,
‘Restoring the credibility of CBI and CAG’ N. Vittal proposes measures to restore the credibility of the Central
Bureau of Investigation and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, which
has taken a severe beating in the last few years because of its brazen misuse
by the UPA II government.
The
writer is a former Central Vigilance Commissioner.
In the
write up, ‘Cricket isn’t at the heart of BCCI’, Venkat Ananth wonders aloud whether the richest cricket body in
the world is capable of reforming itself to safeguard the sport it governs.
The
writer is a freelance journalist based in New Delhi.
The
article, ‘Shaping the IITs and destiny of India’, Kinkini Dasgupta Misra tells us what could be done to
foster creativity, innovation and excellence in shaping the institutes and how
IITs could drive India’s social, economic, and technological transformation.
The
writer is a Scientist-F at Vigyan Prasar (under the Department of Science and
Technology, Govt. of India, New Delhi.
The
write up, ‘To live happily ever after’, Dr. Harish Shetty says,
marriages like any institution are in an
exciting flux, coloured by the issues, idiosyncrasies and innovations of our
era. They are no longer the goal of women or even men. In the changing script,
a million variations in marriage may exist, but as long as two people find
balance, life moves peacefully at a different pace during different times.
The writer is a Psychiatrist and a Counsellor. He can be
reached at mindmoodsandmagic.blogspot.in. All the names in the article have
been changed to protect identities.
In,
‘Sir J.J. School of Art: Unfolding a legacy’,
Dr.
Manisha Patil says it is time for India’s premier art institute, which
produced some of the best talent in the field of art, to shed its colonial
baggage and reinvent itself.
The
writer is an artist and art historian. She is also a professor of Art History
at Sir JJ School of Art, Mumbai.
Know India Better
Warangal, Amazing
Gateways to a Glorious Past
From ruined temples to huge manmade lakes and from
dying art to long hanging bridges, the district of Warangal in Andhra Pradesh
has something to offer to every tourist and traveler. Rangan Datta with his text and photographs
takes through the fort, temple, paintings and art.
A mathematics teacher by profession, the writer is a
regular contributor in the travel columns of leading newspapers. To know more,
visit his website www.rangan-datta.info and blog www.rangandatta.wordpress.com
Face To Face
“I
express myself through poetry, literature and films”
Gulzar a poet,
lyricist, dialogue-writer and director has been bestowed the Dadasaheb Phalke
Award this year for his lifetime contribution to Indian cinema. The 79-year-old
soft-spoken, fair and handsome poet has directed a wide variety of films
ranging from Mere Apne to Koshish, Khushboo, Mausam
Angoor, Libaas and Maachis,
is the 45th recipient of the award. As Gulzar walks down memory lane, he tells Shoma A Chatterji, how he became a
poet, and then a lyricist and filmmaker.
The Youth Voice section, ‘Are the rich in India under taxed?’
is by Shinzani
Jain a 3rd year BSL LLB
student at ILS Law College, Pune. She is a volunteer at the Academy of
Political and Social Studies. Shinzani likes to read, write and research and is
interested in politics and journalism.
In our features section, ‘Values are the soul of ethics’, Dr.
Ravindra Kumar emphasises the importance of values in our life.
‘Monika’s garden of hope’
Megan Mylan’s
documentary, ‘After My Garden Grows’ has a universal appeal as it tells the
story of an adolescent girl from India`s hinterland – a school dropout who
nurtures her garden to make a living while also learning about property and inheritance rights, health and
nutrition.
The article has been
sourced from Women’s Feature Services.
Cultural
Kaleidoscope is on ‘Manipuri – An
ethereal dance’ which is characterised by fluid movements, where each movement appears to
flow into another. The dance has extremely graceful movements of the wrists and
palms, and the footwork is predominantly on toes lending the dance its renowned
ethereal quality, writes Dr. Kanak Rele.
Book
Review
Three
Judges And Their Times
Contributed by Ajay
Dandekar a Social Scientist.
In Great Indians
We have
profiled
An
institution in himself (1914-1984)
A
thorough role model (1927-2014)
Lt Col
R Vishwanathan VrC
The
valiant Colonel (1960- 1999)
And
also read our regular columns and other features. To book a copy, email to oiopfoundation@gmai.com/oiop@vsnl.net or call Nagesh Bangera, OIOP Subscription-in-charge at 022- 2353 44 00.
We
look forward to your feedback.
