Sahara One's Commitment to Social Awareness

"Sahara One" is coming up with a new show - "GANGA KI DHEEJ", highlighting the plight of young unmarried girls in rural West Bengal. The show is set in a village called Kaliganj and has the distinction of hosting Mr. Kabir Bedi for the very first time on Indian Television. Kya Koi Pratha Kisi Ladki Ki Pavitrata ka Pramaan Ban Sakti Hai?

"SHORR" is a story of a mute woman and her struggle against the anachronistic customs and rituals practiced by the society. The story higlights indifferential and adverse treatment and social abondonment faced by a widow and her fight for self-realisation and dignified living.

"BITTO" is set against the backdrop of social discrimination in a village in Uttar Pradesh. It depicts the depradating tyranny and subjugation of lower castes by the higher castes.


For more information log on to : http://www.sahara-one.com/

The Deal that Passed the Bill

It is very interesting to notice the way events have shapped in the last few days. The Congress-led UPA government was not very certain about the safe passage of the Nuclear Civil Liability Bill in the Parliament. BJP support was a must. What do we do then?
In steps Pranab Mukherji, the crisis man for the Congress. He calls for a breakfast meeting. The Opposition led by BJP, which had been stalling the proceedings in the Lok Sabha and causing huge losses to the ex-chequer, very ironically attends the breakfast meeting. And the deal is struck. The civil no-fault liability is increased from Rs. 500 Crore to Rs. 1500 Crore. The BJP demand of not letting private players in is also acceeded to by the Congress. WHAT MORE DOES THE BJP WANT? NATIONAL INTERESTS ARE PROTECTED. And now the Congress is sure of safe passage of the Bill.
Now, on the other hand, Sohrabuddin Ghost has been haunting the BJP for quite some time. And the CBI steps up its effort. CBI gets Amit Shah Arrested and manages to keep him in custody for quite some time. Just when it was looking as if the the CBI was gaining substantial ground in implicating the accused, comes a rude set back..
CHARGES AGAINST MODI DROPPED FOR LACK OF EVIDENCE and ONE PRIME WITNESS IN AMIT SHAH CASE TRUNS HOSTILE.
I wonder what went wrong with the CBI or what went right with the BJP overnight. . .

Miscellany-at-Work

Today happens to be the day I was born twenty four years back. And as I pondered, over the last twenty and four years of my life, a very pertinent question crossed my head. What does it take to make ones life truly fulfilling?

          In his classic work Julius Caesar, Shakespeare talking about Brutus as distinct from all the conspirators conspiring to kill Caesar, attributes these lines to Brutus:

          "His life was gentle, and the elements
           So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up
          And say to all the world, 'This was a man!' "

          Well Shakespeare was not the first one to use the Expression “This was a Man” to describe a virtuous life.

Drayton must have been in an emphatic mood when he wrote the following lines which appeared in his 1598 Book “The Baron’s War”:

“He was a Man (then boldly dare to say),

In whose rich soul the virtues well did suit,

In whom so mix’d the elements all lay,

That none to one could sovereignty impute,

As all did govern, so did all obey,

He of a temper was so absolute,

As that it seem’d, when nature him began,

She meant to show all that might be in a Man”

These great qualities of head and heart, of valor and gentleness all in one seem to have been lost. These great qualities which have always seen the ascent of man. Jacob Bronowski in the last chapter of his masterly book “The Ascent of Man”, brings out a beautiful message when he says,

“The personal commitment of man to his skill,

the intellectual commitment, and

the emotional commitment,

working together as one,

has made the Ascent of Man”

          A good life is very difficult to measure. Even the most famous, the richest, the most successful artistes, musicians, painters, the statesmen, authors, all who have earned recognition in their respective fields do not find themselves immune from the ordinary frailties of human life. Perfection eludes us and keeps doing so consistently. Perfection is always a mirage, which can only be chased but can never be captured.

          Or is a life most fulfilled if it conforms to what Milton says in extraordinary book “The Paradise Lost”, if someone stays,

          “Unmoved, unshaken, unseduced, unterrified,

           His promises he kept, his love, his zeal,

           Nor number nor example with him wrought

 To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind.”

Is such a life so chaste and austere, so balanced and sober is a life truly fulfilled. The search for an answer, I believe, will always remain a pursuit. As Lord Cranworth once remarked, “There is no possibility of mistaking midnight for noon, but at what precise moment twilight becomes darkness is difficult to determine”

  

Walk in the Rain, Don't Just Get wet

If there is a single accident of birth that I have been proud of (apart from having such lovely parents), then it is the blessing of being born and brought up in as good and picturesque a place as Goa. And come rainy season and I often begin pining and my eyes grow thirsty to see tiny raindrops come down and wash the Goan Landscape and drape it with a beautiful and fresh layer of green, my nose longs to smell the fragrance of the earth when the first drops of rain trickle down its surface, my body yearns to get soaked in the divine showers.

For the last two years Bombay (what’s in the name, Roses by any name would still smell the same) has been my abode. Bombay is a strange city. But the most apt description would be that of Suketu Mehta. He calls it the “Maximum City”. I realized very soon that there are more reasons to love the city than there are to hate it. And one reason, and a big one, has to be the rains on the Marine Drive.

I am eagerly awaiting the rains this time. The ocean kissing the shores of Marine Drive swells up in its pristine glory. The waves are fast and furious. The noisy cars and the dust and heat and all that we hate the city for, suddenly seems to go into oblivion. I can sit for hours together on the Marine Drive in the rains and experience the bliss of solitude. But this time around, I do have someone special with me who will join me on the Marine Drive. But that doesn’t matter; the two of us can be on the drive lost in OUR solitude.

       “What is this Life, if full of care,

        We have No time to Stand and Stare” – W. H. Davies

In fact, it’s not just the rains but every season has its own charm and mood. As John Ruskin said “Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.”

It’s still a few more days for the rains to reach Bombay but its worth the wait. . .

SHOW ME THE MONEY

THE Swiss Banks have unanimously agreed to tax the money kept deposited with them by Indians and release the proceeds to the Indian Revenue Authorities. This move is being proposed as an alternative to the disclosure of details of Indians holding Swiss Bank Accounts and the enormous amount of Money lying therein. For years now, the Global Community has been mounting pressure upon the Swiss Government to dilute its disclosure policies in order to allow governments all over the world track down this fugitive money.

It is very ridiculously surprising how the US Government succeeds in getting access to close to 5000 Swiss Bank Accounts held by US Citizens, while India still does not manage to move the Singapore administration to come to its aid, despite estimates that Indian Citizens have the highest mount of Black Money stored up with the Swiss Banks. The Swiss Banks have been making Disclosure to the US Government. The banks have further paid a huge penalty of about 750 million dollars. These disclosures come in the wake of stern action by the U.S. Government which threatened to arrest Swiss Officials in US if Disclosures are not made. The US has agreed that further arrest and prosecution of its officers will be deferred during such time that the Bank is continuing its disclosures.

It is interesting to highlight the case of Mr. Hasan Ali Khan, a stud-farm owner from Pune. As on 8th December, 2006, he had a credit of more than eight billion US dollars equivalent to about Rupees 36000 crores, in the UBS bank, Zurich. He has been a stupendous defaulter in paying Income-tax to the Indian Authorities. Investigations which began in the year 2007 have disclosed that his account started with an initial deposit of US dollars 1.5 million in the year 1982. He was introduced to the UBS Bank by the notorious Adnan Khashoggi, a friend of an equally notorious Chandraswamy. Initial deposit was then transferred to Zurich, where by 1997 it had grown to 6.5 billion US dollars. In the next four months it rose to a little more than 8 billion dollars. Hasan Ali Khan was thus making deposits in this account of approximately 3500 crores a year. His last deposit in the bank is expressly marked with the legend “Arms sale”.

What is astonishing that this influential offender has never been arrested. It speaks volumes of his powerful connections. There is also reason to believe that he has other conspirators, two of them are Tapurias of Calcutta. The case was being treated as a simple case of tax evasion but in 2007, fortunately for the Enforcement authorities asked for assistance from the Swiss under the Mutual Assistance arrangement existing between the two countries. The Swiss complained that the Indian authorities had enclosed with their request some forged documents and also wanted to know whether the Indian investigation was into an offence of money laundering. An affirmative answer from would have brought about the necessary disclosure of persons involved in this stupendous fiscal scam. Since April, 2007 till today the Indian Government has not responded to the Swiss query. It should be plain to every one that at the highest level this investigation is sought to be frustrated because the persons involved are too powerful and the disclosure of their names would shake up the government and destroy its credibility.

How does the government propose to justify this delay and its slack and half-hearted approach in getting access to the huge quantum of national wealth locked up in safe heavens like the Swiss Banks? Don’t the tax payers have a right to be given an explanation? There are so many deserving and industrious youngsters and poor senior salaried individuals who continue to get dejected and burdened by the heavy tax rates while the Hasan Ali Khan’s continue to make hay?

It is estimated that there is as much as about 1500 billion US dollars which are locked up in these banks. This amount, if retrieved, would wipe out our national debt, domestic and foreign and allow this country to have tax free budgets for many years. What stops the Indian Authorities from anointing itself with this great acclaim?

Nani Palkhivala aptly quipped that “No policy can ever fail, if wisely conceived and honestly implemented.” We are still waiting for one such policy on Black Money.

Surrogacy- Need for Regulation

“Better late than Never”, they say. The completion of the draft “Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, 2010” by the 12-member committee headed by Dr. P. M. Bhargava under the Indian Council of Medical Research comes as welcome respite. If this Bill is passed by the Indian Parliament and if it goes on to become a Law, it will be the first of its kind in India to regulate Assisted Reproductive Technology. Although Indian Council of Medical Research (IMCR) had framed guidelines, these guidelines lacked the necessary force and were silent on many important aspects.

There is a humungous demand for surrogate mothers in India. There are various reasons for such demand. The main reasons being the fact that Surrogates can be found at almost 1/4th the price which surrogates in other countries charge and secondly, that Assisted Reproductive Technology sector in India is still unregulated. Some of the recent events have highlighted the importance of a legislation to govern Assisted Reproductive Technology sector.

Israeli Gay Father Dan Goldberg was stranded in Mumbai for three months with his twin babies born of a surrogate Indian mother after the Israeli Interior Ministry refused to grant Passport and Israeli Citizenship for his twin babies. Mr. Dan Goldberg finally received a positive response from the Interior Ministry of Israel which granted Passports to his twin babies to return home. Earlier a family Court in Israel had disallowed paternity tests from being conducted to ascertain the fatherhood of Mr. Dan Goldberg. However, the paternity test which was subsequently performed after intense diplomatic pressure established fatherhood of Mr. Dan Goldberg.

In another episode, a German couple Jan Balaz and Susan Anna Lohlad, after two years of legal battle, were finally allowed to take their surrogate sons Nicholas and Leonard, born to Indian Surrogate Mother, back home, after the German Authorities granted Visas to the babies. Earlier German Authorities had refused citizenship to the babies on the ground that the German Laws did not recognize Surrogacy. The babies were born in 2008 and were without a citizenship for two years.

In India Gay Marriages are still not legal. As on today, Gay and Lesbian relationships have only been decriminalized. However they have not been legalized, as under the present laws the Definition of Couple is “persons living together and having sexual relation that is legal in India. Gay and Lesbian Couples, both Indian and Foreign cannot have children born with the help of Indian Surrogate Mother, till gay and lesbian relationships are legalized in India.

The Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, 2010, contemplates that the Foreigners coming to India to rent a Womb will have to produce two documents- (a) Confirming that the country of their residence recognizes Surrogacy as Legal, and (b) undertaking that the country will give citizenship to children born of such surrogacy. A Local Guardian will have to be appointed for the Surrogate Mother. If the Parents fail to take delivery of the Children within one month of their birth, then the Surrogate mother will be legally obliged to hand over the child to any adoption agency. In such cases the baby will get Indian Citizenship.

Many childless couples who avail the services of a Surrogate Mother sign a contract with the surrogate mother. But even then, the sanctity of such a contract remains doubtful. So do the rights of the Surrogate mother over the baby she carries.

Issues like death of Surrogate Mother during pregnancy remains unclear. And, the real problem arises after the birth of the baby. In the absence of any clear laws on the issue, foreigners are unable to get legal assistance when it comes to taking their child back to their home country.

With the completion of the draft “Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, 2010”, it is hoped that Surrogacy will be addressed at last.

THE EARTH HOUR - 27th March, 2010 - Let it be a new beginning

This Weeks “The Economist” features an Opinion on ‘Climate Science’ and its uncertainties. We cannot discount the size of the catastrophe that awaits us. However, the uncertainties of the reports that have been coming from various agencies employed with the task of analyzing and predicting the trends of climate change coupled with the fact that the World is going through or just about recovering from a deep recession has given the governments around the globe, some or the other reason to play down the issue or to buy some time.
I agree with the author of the opinion, that rather than seeking certainty in knowing where we all are headed, we would do much better if we were to zero down on some kind of an action plan which is wisely conceived and honestly implemented। The reason being, the mere uncertainty of these reports and studies, is reason enough for us to prepare ourselves and guard against any impending catastrophes। It does not harm us in any way to make a beginning towards improving the Climate and lowering those much hyped Carbon Level.
Please engage into some sort of action in every way you can. And do plant a tree for each year you live. That’s our only way out. The greener our planet is the better equipped we are to face the gigantic task that lies ahead. I know I am being rhetorical, but lets conserve energy in every possible way and be sensitive towards the needs of nature if we are to expect the nature to be sensitive to our needs.
Lets not wait for the Government or the Administration to take up this task. The Copenhagen Conference failed. And the administrative efforts are always going to remain on paper. It might take a good three of four decades for the Leaders and Parliamentarians to get convinced of the gravity of the Catastrophe. I know each one of you is far better equipped to decide how and when you are going to act. 27th March, 2010, from 8:30 to 9:30 pm is going to be the Earth Hour. During this One Hour the major cities in India are going to plunge into darkness. All the major establishments have also joined in. They are going to turn off all electrical devices and lights to show their solidarity.
This year many iconic monuments have also joined in. These include Eiffel Tower, Paris, Grand Palace, Bangkok, Sky Tower, Auckland, Red Fort, Delhi, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy, Opera House, Sydney, etc. Last year’s Earth Hour saved substantial quantum of energy.
The Earth Hour is a Symbolic gesture aimed at making people realize and think. But the task which is sought to be achieved requires sustained efforts by as many people as there can be.
I request all of you to join in and also to make an Informed Choice- A Choice between Creation and Destruction. “The Price of Discipline is much less than the Pain of Regret”.