Monday, January 5, 2015

NITI

National institute for transforming India (NITI) Aayog was initiated with 
cabinate resolution is Bharathiya approach to development which is transformed from government resoluted Planning commission to enhance cooperative governance between centre and state to ensure sustainable growth of economy.
SIMILAR ITIES BETWEEN PLANNING COMMISSION AND NITI Aayog:
A..COMPOSITION:
1. Government bodies are chaired by Prime minister.
2.The governing councils have chief ministers and lieutenant governors of Union territories.
3.The deputy chairman were appointed by Prime minister.
B..OBJECTIVES:
i. Develop mechanisms for village level plans and aggregate these plans progressively at national level.
ii. Recommends national agenda with assessment and factors which retard economic development.
iii. To make appropriate recommendations for facilitating its duties .
MAJOR DIFFERENCES :
a) Regional council of Aayog consists of PM,CM ,incontrast to Planning commission to resolve certain issues.
b) NITI has part time members where as Planning commission has full time members and experts from outside government.
c) participative development agenda stressing on empowerment and equality is the guiding principle behind NITI Aayog and ensures every individual enjoy and aspire to lead a better life.
d) The Aayog will serve as a think-tank for the government and will provide suggestions for the economy, including the private sector. 
e) The Aayog will also offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues to accelerate the implementation of the country's development agenda where as planning commission resoluted
to specialized sectoral area.
Above all ,Since 6 decades Planning commission was supreme body in Assessing and formulating plans resulted in balanced development of nation in diverse aspects.The composition of Planning commission has experts and full time experienced people even from
outside government will make organization more transparent and
accountable.So.better to reorgansise existed one rather than creating new one .

एक मिनट का मौन / एमानुएल ओर्तीज

(हिंदी अनुवाद- असद जैदी)

इससे पहले कि मैं यह कविता पढ़ना शुरू करूँ
मेरी गुज़ारिश है कि हम सब एक मिनट का मौन रखें
ग्यारह सितम्बर को वर्ल्ड ट्रेड सेंटर और पेंटागन में मरे लोगों की याद में
और फिर एक मिनट का मौन उन सब के लिए जिन्हें प्रतिशोध में
सताया गया, क़ैद किया गया
जो लापता हो गए जिन्हें यातनाएं दी गईं
जिनके साथ बलात्कार हुए एक मिनट का मौन
अफ़गानिस्तान के मज़लूमों और अमरीकी मज़लूमों के लिए
और अगर आप इज़ाजत दें तो
एक पूरे दिन का मौन
हज़ारों फिलस्तीनियों के लिए जिन्हें उनके वतन पर दशकों से काबिज़
इस्त्राइली फ़ौजों ने अमरीकी सरपरस्ती में मार डाला
छह महीने का मौन उन पन्द्रह लाख इराकियों के लिए, उन इराकी बच्चों के लिए,
जिन्हें मार डाला ग्यारह साल लम्बी घेराबन्दी, भूख और अमरीकी बमबारी ने
इससे पहले कि मैं यह कविता शुरू करूँ
दो महीने का मौन दक्षिण अफ़्रीका के अश्वेतों के लिए जिन्हें नस्लवादी शासन ने
अपने ही मुल्क में अजनबी बना दिया। नौ महीने का मौन
हिरोशिमा और नागासाकी के मृतकों के लिए, जहाँ मौत बरसी
चमड़ी, ज़मीन, फ़ौलाद और कंक्रीट की हर पर्त को उधेड़ती हुई,
जहाँ बचे रह गए लोग इस तरह चलते फिरते रहे जैसे कि जिंदा हों।
एक साल का मौन विएतनाम के लाखों मुर्दों के लिए --
कि विएतनाम किसी जंग का नहीं, एक मुल्क का नाम है --
एक साल का मौन कम्बोडिया और लाओस के मृतकों के लिए जो
एक गुप्त युद्ध का शिकार थे -- और ज़रा धीरे बोलिए,
हम नहीं चाहते कि उन्हें यह पता चले कि वे मर चुके हैं। दो महीने का मौन
कोलम्बिया के दीर्घकालीन मृतकों के लिए जिनके नाम
उनकी लाशों की तरह जमा होते रहे
फिर गुम हो गए और ज़बान से उतर गए।
इससे पहले कि मैं यह कविता शुरू करूँ।
एक घंटे का मौन एल सल्वादोर के लिए
एक दोपहर भर का मौन निकारागुआ के लिए
दो दिन का मौन ग्वातेमालावासिओं के लिए
जिन्हें अपनी ज़िन्दगी में चैन की एक घड़ी नसीब नहीं हुई।
४५ सेकिंड का मौन आकतिआल, चिआपास में मरे ४५ लोगों के लिए,
और पच्चीस साल का मौन उन करोड़ों गुलाम अफ्रीकियों के लिए
जिनकी क़ब्रें समुन्दर में हैं इतनी गहरी कि जितनी ऊंची कोई गगनचुम्बी इमारत भी न होगी।
उनकी पहचान के लिए कोई डीएनए टेस्ट नहीं होगा, दंत चिकित्सा के रिकॉर्ड नहीं खोले जाएंगे।
उन अश्वेतों के लिए जिनकी लाशें गूलर के पेड़ों से झूलती थीं
दक्षिण, उत्तर, पूर्व और पश्चिम
एक सदी का मौन
यहीं इसी अमरीका महाद्वीप के करोड़ों मूल बाशिन्दों के लिए
जिनकी ज़मीनें और ज़िन्दगियाँ उनसे छीन ली गईं
पिक्चर पोस्ट्कार्ड से मनोरम खित्तों में --
जैसे पाइन रिज वूंडेड नी, सैंड क्रीक, फ़ालन टिम्बर्स, या ट्रेल ऑफ टियर्स।
अब ये नाम हमारी चेतना के फ्रिजों पर चिपकी चुम्बकीय काव्य-पंक्तियाँ भर हैं।
तो आप को चाहिए खामोशी का एक लम्हा ?
जबकि हम बेआवाज़ हैं
हमारे मुँहों से खींच ली गई हैं ज़बानें
हमारी आखें सी दी गई हैं
खामोशी का एक लम्हा
जबकि सारे कवि दफनाए जा चुके हैं
मिट्टी हो चुके हैं सारे ढोल।
इससे पहले कि मैं यह कविता शुरू करूँ
आप चाहते हैं एक लम्हे का मौन
आपको ग़म है कि यह दुनिया अब शायद पहले जैसी नहीं रही रह जाएगी
इधर हम सब चाहते हैं कि यह पहले जैसी हर्गिज़ न रहे।
कम से कम वैसी जैसी यह अब तक चली आई है।
क्योंकि यह कविता 9/11 के बारे में नहीं है
यह 9/10 के बारे में है
यह 9/9 के बारे में है
9/8 और 9/7 के बारे में है
यह कविता 1492 के बारे में है।[1]
यह कविता उन चीज़ों के बारे में है जो ऐसी कविता का कारण बनती हैं।
और अगर यह कविता 9/11 के बारे में है, तो फिर :
यह सितम्बर 9, 1971 के चीले देश के बारे में है,
यह सितम्बर 12, 1977 दक्षिण अफ़्रीका और स्टीवेन बीको के बारे में है,
यह 13 सितम्बर 1971 और एटिका जेल, न्यू यॉर्क में बंद हमारे भाइयों के बारे में है।
यह कविता सोमालिया, सितम्बर 14, 1992 के बारे में है।
यह कविता हर उस तारीख के बारे में है जो धुल-पुँछ रही है कर मिट जाया करती है।
यह कविता उन 110 कहानियों के बारे में है जो कभी कही नहीं गईं, 110 कहानियाँ
इतिहास की पाठ्यपुस्तकों में जिनका कोई ज़िक्र नहीं पाया जाता,
जिनके लिए सीएनएन, बीबीसी, न्यू यॉर्क टाइम्स और न्यूज़वीक में कोई गुंजाइश नहीं निकलती।
यह कविता इसी कार्यक्रम में रुकावट डालने के लिए है।
आपको फिर भी अपने मृतकों की याद में एक लम्हे का मौन चाहिए ?
हम आपको दे सकते हैं जीवन भर का खालीपन :
बिना निशान की क़ब्रें
हमेशा के लिए खो चुकी भाषाएँ
जड़ों से उखड़े हुए दरख्त, जड़ों से उखड़े हुए इतिहास
अनाम बच्चों के चेहरों से झांकती मुर्दा टकटकी
इस कविता को शुरू करने से पहले हम हमेशा के लिए ख़ामोश हो सकते हैं
या इतना कि हम धूल से ढँक जाएँ
फिर भी आप चाहेंगे कि
हमारी ओर से कुछ और मौन।
अगर आपको चाहिए एक लम्हा मौन
तो रोक दो तेल के पम्प
बन्द कर दो इंजन और टेलिविज़न
डुबा दो समुद्री सैर वाले जहाज़
फोड़ दो अपने स्टॉक मार्केट
बुझा दो ये तमाम रंगीन बत्तियां
डिलीट कर दो सरे इंस्टेंट मैसेज
उतार दो पटरियों से अपनी रेलें और लाइट रेल ट्रांजिट।
अगर आपको चाहिए एक लम्हा मौन, तो टैको बैल[2] की खिड़की पर ईंट मारो,
और वहां के मज़दूरोंका खोया हुआ वेतन वापस दो। ध्वस्त कर दो तमाम शराब की दुकानें,
सारे के सारे टाउन हाउस, व्हाइट हाउस, जेल हाउस, पेंटहाउस और प्लेबॉय।
अगर आपको चाहिए एक लम्हा मौन
तो रहो मौन ''सुपर बॉल'' इतवार के दिन[3]
फ़ोर्थ ऑफ़ जुलाई के रोज़[4]
डेटन की विराट 13-घंटे वाली सेल के दिन[5]
या अगली दफ़े जब कमरे में हमारे हसीं लोग जमा हों
और आपका गोरा अपराधबोध आपको सताने लगे।
अगर आपको चाहिए एक लम्हा मौन
तो अभी है वह लम्हा
इस कविता के शुरू होने से पहले।
( 11 सितम्बर, 2002 )
फ़ुटनोट :
[1] 1492 के साल कोलम्बस अमरीकी महाद्वीप पर उतरा था।
[2] टैको बैल : अमरीका की एक बड़ी फास्ट फ़ूड चेन है।
[3] ''सुपर बॉल'' सन्डे : अमरीकी फुटबॉल की राष्ट्रीय चैम्पियनशिप के फाइनल का दिन।
इस दिन अमरीका में गैर-सरकारी तौर पर राष्ट्रीय छुट्टी हो जाती है।
[4] फ़ोर्थ ऑफ़ जुलाई : अमरीका का ''स्वतंत्रता दिवस'' और राष्ट्रीय छुट्टी का दिन। 4 जुलाई 1776 को अमरीका में ,''डिक्लरेशन ऑफ इंडिपेंडेंस'' पारित किया गया था।
[5] डेटन : मिनिओपोलिस नामक अमरीकी शहर का मशहूर डिपार्टमेंटल स्टोर।
एमानुएल ओर्तीज़: मेक्सिको-पुएर्तो रीको मूल के युवा अमरीकी कवि हैं। वह एक कवि-संगठनकर्ता हैं और आदि-अमरीकी बाशिन्दों, विभिन्न प्रवासी समुदायों और अल्पसंख्यक अधिकारों के लिए सक्रिय कई प्रगतिशील संगठनों से जुड़े हैं।

FATCA

Fatca is an american anti tax evasion act. It makes it mandatory for foreign financial institutions to provide information about clients who could be subject to American tax laws, and failure will do so will result in a 30% withholding tax in all payments from the US.
This required registering with the US's Internal Revenue Service through a web based platform. Since Indian companies too have substantial dealing with the US, despite the absence of an Intergovernmental agreement, they have been asked to comply.
Earlier, tax information was shared on "request", which was both slow and easy for tax evasion.
Problems with FATCA:
1. The extra territoriality of FATCA has been subject to criticism.
2. It imposes additional costs it imposes on companies which require segregating of american and non american accounts, along with other compliance standards like payment details etc.
Advantage of FATCA:
It may bring in a new global standard and increased emphasis on tax evasion.
This is already been done as FATCA may be subsumed in another scheme by OECD which is supported by India. Such global standards may lower costs for tax compliance for companies.
Thus, countering tax evasion is a global concern but mutually agreed set of standards are required which do not place additional burden of institutions.

An Account og Niyamgiri / Ashish Kothari

Till last week, I’d never visited Niyamgiri, scene of the iconic fight between the Dongria Kondh tribal group and Vedanta, a powerful multinational corporation bent on mining in the area. So why have I titled this ‘revisiting Niyamgiri’? Partly because I’ve read so much about it, heard so much from colleagues, that I feel like I’ve been there before. In a struggle that the global media likened to David versus Goliath, the corporation was sent packing — this is the stuff of legends. But legends can be simplistic, so the second reason for the title is that when I did actually go to Niyamgiri last week, it was with the purpose of going beyond the narrative of the anti-mining struggle; of revisiting the legend itself.
The Dongria Kondh in southwestern Odisha is one of India’s so-called “particularly vulnerable tribal groups.” They retain world views and practices that go back millennia, and embody forms of knowledge and relationships with nature that have been lost to many of the so-called “civilised” peoples. They typify everything that the Indian state and urban educated folks would call “backward”: absence of literacy, simple levels of technology, shifting cultivation, animism, lack of schools and hospitals,kaccha paths to their villages, no electricity, and so on. And yet, defying all the stereotypes that go with this characterisation, they — at least for the time being — have triumphed over a private corporation with all the “civilised” powers at its command. (We heard that Vedanta continues to hope for a reversal of the decision to disallow it from mining in the area, especially now that an even more corporate-friendly government than the Congress is in Delhi.) The Dongria Kondh are, however, alert, and absolutely sure they will not allow any incursion by the company.
I went to Niyamgiri with some colleagues to understand the views of the Dongria Kondh on development and well-being. They had rejected mining, but were they rejecting the notion of development itself? Were they saying they were happy as they were? Did they reject everything coming from “outside,” or did they want some of it — government schemes for instance? Were there differing views within the community?
Walking to a number of Dongria Kondh villages and talking to some of the movement leaders, we got a sense of the powerful spiritual and rational basis for the rejection of mining. The rules laid down by Niyam Raja, the spiritual source of the territory, included the protection of forests and rivers, common custodianship of resources rather than individual property, and sharing of labour and its fruits. In such a situation, major incursions like mining and big roads and factories were simply taboo. Leaders like Laddo Sikaka and Dadhi Pusika were also clear that they did not want Niyamgiri to go the way towns like Muniguda and Bhubaneshwar did, where the water cannot be drunk and the air cannot be breathed without falling sick, where houses have to be locked when people go out, and where women face harassment on a daily basis. Building roads through the territory, they knew, would only bring exploitative forces in. And having realised that getting individual plots under the Forest Rights Act could encourage individualisation and more deforestation, the community has demanded that the entire territory be recognised as a habitat right under the Act, with a single title in the name of Niyam Raja.
Kinds of incursions
Unfortunately, however, such incursions have already been made, some rather insidious. Under its well-intentioned but blatantly inappropriate “welfare” schemes, the state had sought to bring the benefits of “civilisation” to the tribe. Schools hardly functioned in the few villages that had them, so Adivasi children were brought to ashramshalas or boarding schools where the education is in Odia (the Dongria Kondh speak Kui language). Adivasi culture is sought to be replaced by the dominant mainstream one. A well-known educational institution in Bhubaneshwar, which counts many political and scientific celebrities amongst its backers, has brought thousands of Adivasi children from across Odisha to give them education; that it has significant funding from corporations that want to establish mines and industries in Adivasi areas has led activists to wonder whether it is education or brainwashing that is taking place.
Closely following on the heels of the state has been the market. Till recently, the Dongria Kondh economy was almost completely non-monetised. There is now an increasing “need” for money as whatever little the Adivasis have to buy has become more expensive. Items that they bring to sell are often sold at well-below market rates. Typical of Adivasis in India, the encounter with the market is almost always to their disadvantage.
Finally, there are the incursions of the police and other security forces. The area is supposed to have Naxalite activity, which has given the state a reason to periodically send in patrols. Both Adivasi leaders and their supporters have been interrogated, framed with charges, including terrorism, searched, and made to feel unwelcome in their own home.
The Dongria Kondh are aware of these issues, but there is some ambiguity on how to deal with them. The increasing use of rather incongruous looking metal roofs on their houses (the walls were still mud), is symptomatic of a level of confusion. They complained that such roofs make their houses very hot in summer. Why, then, did they change from the traditional thatch roofs? “Because the government was giving us the metal roofs.” This was the same response given for why white rice was being eaten when they had their own nutritious local millets and other grains. Our question on whether the increasing entry of money as a medium of exchange could be problematic was left unanswered. Several Dongria Kondh families continue to send their children to mainstream schools in the desperate hope that their children will have a brighter future. Many of them do say, however, that they would prefer schools in their own villages, with Dongria Kondh teachers using Kui language, and with incorporation of forest-field-based learning.
The complete narrative
A positive development from the anti-mining stir is the creation of the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, which unites all the Dongria Kondh settlements. The Samiti is taking up other issues too, such as a movement against illegal liquor brewing. This is a ready platform to take up other thorny issues the tribe face.
There is no way that with a limited set of interactions, we could do justice to the complex questions we had set out to ask. But we got sufficient glimpses to convince us that Niyamgiri, both as a place and as a narrative, needs to be revisited. Enabling the Dongria Kondh to decide their own future, based on their understanding of their past and present, requires deep empathy and understanding from anyone outside of them who genuinely cares. The David versus Goliath narrative is powerful, and will sustain and inspire, but it is not complete. The market and the state have inextricably entered their lives. It will need a caring partnership between the Dongria Kondh, civil society organisations and the government to figure out how to navigate the very difficult terrain they face ahead of them, and for them to continue inspiring and teaching the rest of the world how to live lives finely tuned to nature.

(Ashish Kothari is with Kalpavriksh, Pune.)

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/revisiting-the-legend-of-niyamgiri/article6746783.ece