A quiet truce has yet to descend on the iconic IT company, Infosys , despite the resignation of chief executive Vishal Sikka following a series of bruising battles with venerated founder and promoter, N. R. Narayanamurthy. Friction and uncertainty prevails for several reasons. First, Vishal Sikka remains in the company in executive vice chairman. Second, investors and shareholders are agitated over the enormous loss in wealth due to the steep fall in company share prices after Sikka’s resignation. And third, there is no clarity as yet over the next chief executive or even the prospects of a search committee for a new person to take over the reins of the company. The presence of U.B. Pravin Rao in Sikka’s place is not reassuring despite his being a long time presence in the company. 

The Infosys saga is being compared to a similar corporate dispute but involving a much larger industrial house, the Tatas.  It was less than a year ago that Tata Sons removed the first non-family member to be appointed chairman from the top post of the business house. In Infosys  similarly, it was the first non-promoter chief executive who had to resign due to persistent criticism from the promoters.  Interestingly, in both these cases the appointments had been made by the very same persons who later argued strongly for the exit of these individuals.

In the case of the Tatas, it was considered a legacy issue of an organization that had been set up at the turn of the century. The sweeping changes initiated by Cyrus Mistry after being made chairman were not palatable to those who had run this large business house for decades. Ultimately, an insider, the chief of TCS was appointed in his place, in the hope that an insider would follow the cultural norms of the organization.

There is a similar pattern to the ongoing war of attrition in Infosys. But with a significant difference. In the case of Tatas, most members of the company board supported Ratan Tata. In the case of Infosys, the board has not only come out strongly in defence of Vishal Sikka but actually castigated Narayanamurthy for this role. There is no doubt that Murthy is the most high profile and renowned of the seven founders of the iconic IT company. For the board to thus come out aggressively against him means that the provocation was considered beyond acceptable limits.

There are legacy issues as well in Infosys. The promoters were chagrined by the shifts in culture. The frugal lifestyle of the founder promoters had shifted to one where corporate jets were used while soaring salaries for the top executive and hefty severance packages for exiting employees became a norm. The biggest bugbear was the acquisition of a company with which Sikka was reported to have had ties a long time ago. In deference to criticism from Murthy, the board held back the severance package and set up an external committee to enquire into the corporate acquisition. But this was not enough for Murthy who continued a sustained attack via the media. The last straws were his inability to accept the committee’s decision that the acquisition was above board and a message hinting at Sikka’s lack of capability.

Along with Sikka’s resignation came a detailed statement by the Infosys board squarely placing the entire blame for the situation on Narayanamurthy. The fact is, that this is a major watershed in the annals of corporate India. This is the first time that a board has taken such a strong stance against a promoter. In similar situations abroad, boards have united to support management against promoters, but this has taken place for the first time in this country.

The question is, what is the way forward for the company as well as for the future of good corporate governance in the country. Infosys like other Indian IT companies, is already battling global headwinds that are not propitious. The main lure of Indian IT professionals was their low cost and this attraction may be lost if the Trump administration has its way. Another key issue of artificial intelligence taking away jobs is also looming large over the IT sector globally. To tackle this challenge, Sikka is reported to have created a new division and a new revenue stream for Infosys which was expanding rapidly. It seems there are no two opinions on the fact that he has left the company in a better financial condition than when he joined it.

His resignation, however, has meant that share value has fallen considerably at one fell blow. While the media highlights the losses to the wealthy promoters,  it is ultimately ordinary shareholders who are suffering huge losses on their investments. For Infosys, therefore, this bruising battle has taken a toll in many ways.

As for good corporate governance, an issue repeatedly highlighted by Narayanamurthy, it has to be seen how the role of promoters needs to be viewed in future. It cannot be argued that promoters of companies should not have a right to raise issues that are pertinent with the management and the board. But if they seek to have a say in every decision, it would be wise for them to remain on the boards of these concerns and ensure their views are taken into account. Staying out of the company and then taking the battle to the media, cannot be considered good corporate governance by any stretch of imagination. Also in case there is need to ensure that the management continues to follow the same culture of the company as laid down by the founders, then the selection of chief executives needs to be carried out with this aspect in mind. When Vishal Sikka was appointed, the selection was reportedly meant to transform the company to tackle the changes in an evolving global scenario. And for this purpose, Sikka was considered the right candidate. A doctorate in artificial intelligence surely had the right credentials for the top executive to deal with the issue of automation in the IT industry. 

These qualifications, however, were not enough as the criticism is that he did not follow the path of  moderation which is at the core of the culture of Infosys. Since this issue has become paramount in the debate, it should have been considered as being of prime importance while appointing a successor to run the company. In fact, succession planning needs to be taken with greater seriousness in corporate India, given the weightage given to culture by many concerns. However, having made the appointment, the board should have supported Sikka in a more consistent manner rather than waiting for his departure to issue a statement critical of Narayanamurthy.  And the promoters need to be advised that  their advice can continue to be given but not while they remain aloof from the company. Promoters are not ordinary shareholders and as such have greater responsibility. Their words carry weightage with the media, shareholders and investors. It now devolves on them to take an active role in trying to revive the image of this iconic company which was once widely known for its excellent corporate governance.

(The Views are Personal)

Today, 1.2 billion adolescents stand at the crossroads between childhood and the adult world. Of those,  243 million live in India, representing a huge amount of untapped potential. India must ensure that we help create the conditions that would allow adolescents to fulfil their aspirations and to break the deeply entrenched vicious cycles of inequity and poverty.

Research has shown that adolescence is a critical stage in human development. When boys and girls enter adolescence, they are on the brink of maturity and adulthood, and at the same time undergoing several physiological and psychological changes that are influenced by social, cultural and gender norms and practices.  For example, cultural practices and gender norms often define the expectations from a girl as to who she should be when she grows up, what role she should play as a daughter, wife or a mother vs. what is expected from a boy.

These cultural practices and social expectations manifest in more than one ways, including girls dropping out of school, early marriage for both girls and boys, pressure to bear children at an early age; restriction of mobility due to concerns around girls’ safety and chastity, various forms of violence, as well as lack of opportunity to voice thoughts or opinions.  These expectations are exacerbated by adolescents’ inability to access critical services, like health, education, psycho-social support. 

In order to fulfil their potential, we must ensure that adolescents’ unique needs are met, and that they have a smooth transition to adulthood. While there is no quick fix for this complex problem, we know that a few things can work to improve adolescents’ lives.

Providing the much needed support: convergence of services as a solution? 

The concept of multi- sectoral collaboration and coordination is not new. The relevance and efficiency to undertake multi-sectoral collaboration has been well documented – for example, efforts to coordinate delivery of maternal, newborn and child health services by the Indian Government’s  -national and state level,  health and family welfare department and women & child development department; or, the coordination between women & child development department and ministry of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) to coordinate efforts of Self Help Groups (SHGs) of women.

In order to make the convergence of services more effective and scale-able, certain key issues need further discussions, debate and implementation.

Convergence of services: the essential ingredients for  success

Perspective building – shared vision, understanding and goals across sectors 

As the first step, convergence of services needs perspective building across relevant sectors that need to provide adolescent focussed services in a coordinated manner – i.e. Ministries or departments of Health and Family Welfare, Women and Child Development, Social Welfare, Human Resources Development (Education), Panchayati Raj Institution, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Most often than not, the goals and priorities for each of the ministries are set in isolation with a narrow perspective and understanding of adolescents’ needs.  The collaboration with other ministries or departments is then from a perspective of achieving a single ministry’s goals  i.e. from a health perspective alone, or education perspective alone. Such narrow perspective can exclude specific (and possibly large) population, or not take into account various underlying factors or causes that impede progress on certain indicators. For example, not addressing issues of early marriage and early pregnancies, can impact the goal of continuing education, or addressing issue of school drop outs can impact the health specific goals for adolescents.  Similarly, only addressing health issues through schools can leave out a large population of girls who have dropped out of school or never enrolled.  

Thus each of these Ministries or Departments should have a shared vision drawing from an indepth understanding of the unique needs and challeges faced by the adolescents, which should guide setting of the goals for their respective ministries.  This would further inform the implementation of the existing initiatives and schemes such as the Rashtriya Kishore Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK), Beti Padhao Beti Bachao, Apni Beti Apna Dhan, and leverage initiatives of each department to ensure strengthening of overall policies and programmatic approaches. 

Resource convergence – State and district level PIPs

With a shared common perspective, the relevant government departments need to develop common Project Implementation Plans (PIPs) at the state and district levels to ensure that the meagre resources allocated for adolescents under each department, are utilized in a thoughtful and strategic  manner. 

The resource convergence by developing state specific action plans or district level action plans should also bring in other actors such as Civil Society Organizations including NGOs, as well as private sector partners to ensure further leveraging of resources – financial, technical, and human resources.  The development of joint project implementation plans should also incorporate effective mechanisms for monitoring and tracking of activities, platforms for review and reflection using the evidence for mid-course correction, and not be used as a mechanism for resource or budget allocation only.    

Convergence at the points of service delivery: leveraging the existing platforms for systems level convergence at the institutional level – state, district, village or community level. 

Several existing platforms and service delivery channels at the state, district, village or community level can be further leveraged in a contextually relevant and holistic way:

Institutions for convergence of services: By way of examples, one could potentially look at – Health Centres Â– for providing general as well as sexual and reproductive health services as well as psycho- social support and counselling services to the adolescents; Anganwadi centres (AWC) – for providing comprehensive services including nutritional services through mid-day meals, or AWC as centre to bring adolescents together; Schools Â– for awareness raising, capacity building of school going adolescents on issues of health, gender equitable norms and behaviour, achieving their aspirations through continued education, violence prevention; Self Help Groups or SHGs Â– for reaching the women or mothers of the adolescents in the community, for raising their awareness on  the  harmful effects  of child marriage, early pregnancy, and promoting the importance of continued education for their daughters; Men’s groups for ensuring participation and support from men.

Service delivery agents:  Convergence of services and reaching the adolescents could also be undertaken along with and with support from -Front Line workers (ASHAs, AWW), teachers, community leaders, who are already reaching the community members and households.  

For example, in a recent discussion in Rajasthan, India, the state and district government officials, in support of a project PanKH (Promoting Adolescents Engagement Knowledge and Health), outlined several potential platforms of collaboration.  PanKH is a joint initiative of ICRW (International Center for Research on Women), and PRADAN the implementation organization.  The platforms discussed for collaboration included self help groups (SHGs), AWCs (Anganwadi centers) in Dholpur, Rajasthan, where the relevant government officials agreed to jointly host awareness and service provision activities to ensure comprehensive services and reach to the adolescents.

Use of data and research findings for decision making and enhancing program effectiveness

The convergence approach that brings different sectors and actors together will necessitate the development of common set of indicators that are shared across, based on the overarching common vision to help guide the indicator and milestone setting process.

With the technological advancements and reach across various levels and actors, there exists easy access to ‘real time data’ to help guide not only the planning processes but also periodic and frequent reviews to understand why and where services are being reached, or not!  This real time data analysis can then help inform the discussion on the gaps in providing these services – but in a constructive and supportive manner – to aid mid-course correction of the implementation activities and approaches.

Use of data for review, reflection and monitoring, will require joint and periodic reflection meetings across levels and government departments with the approach of solving problems and supportive supervision.

Thus a well conceptualized, and well implemented ‘convergence of services’ approach for adolescents, can go a long way in ensuring that we reach all adolescents with the appropriate, and timely services and support to help them achieve their aspirations and develop into mature and healthy adults.

(The article is authored by ICRW’s Regional Director (Asia)- Dr. Ravi Verma and Former COO-Madhu Deshmukh)

Glaciers in the Himalayas, which store large amounts of water in the form of glacial ice, have an intricate relationship with climate change. A new study in an important basin in the Indian Himalayas shows that low-altitude glaciers are more sensitive to climate change and have lost a significant amount of water in the past three decades.

An understanding of fresh water stored in the Himalayas is crucial for water resource management in the region, but it has been difficult to estimate the amounts of water stored in these glaciers. Researchers have now used a new technique to estimate mass of glaciers and a new model to estimate the volume loss over a long period. It combines satellite data of snowlines, a temperature-index melt model and the accumulation-area ratio method to estimate annual mass balance of glaciers in the basin as a whole.

The study, which covered 146 glaciers in the Chandra basin in western Himalayas, shows that these glaciers as a whole have lost 19 percent of the total basin volume during the period from 1984 to 2012. However, the loss of volume for small and low-altitude glaciers in the basin is as high as 67 percent in the same period.

The total surface area of the selected glaciers is about 660 square kilometers. The total ice volume estimated for these glaciers is 62 gigatonnes (with a margin of ± 16 gigatonnes). In total, the Chandra basin has experienced a water loss of 11.1 gigatonnes (with margin of ± 8 gigatonnes) from 1984 to 2012, which is about one-fifth of the total estimated volume.

“This is the first time, not only in India but globally, that we have an estimate of how much volume and mass of glaciers has been lost over a period of time in a large basin. This is the first reliable estimate of both how much water is stored and how much has been lost in the past 30 years,” Anil V Kulkarni, professor at the Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, who led the research team, told India Science Wire. 

The findings of the research have been published this week in journal Annals of Glaciology. The research team also included Sayli Atul Tawde of Center for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Govindasamy Bala of Interdisciplinary Centre for Water Research at IISc. 

Data about daily minimum, maximum air temperature and snowfall from 1984 to 2012 was obtained from Kaza weather station, located about 25 kilometers from the basin boundary. Other data such as temperature lapse rates and snow densities for calculating melt factors were are obtained the Patseo observatory of Snow Avalanche and Study Establishment.

Dr Kulkarni said the loss of volume in low-altitude glaciers seen was substantial and it suggested that small villages located in this valley might experience water scarcity because mountain communities depend on water supplies from low-altitude glaciers.

The new findings are consistent with other studies on Himalayan glaciers which report that high altitude glaciers are not losing ice and some of them like Karakoram are growing. “The glaciers in Chandra basin have a large amount of water stored in them and they are not in danger of vanishing anytime soon. But small and medium sized glaciers situated in the lower altitudes of this basin have lost almost 70 percent of their volume in the last 30 years,” Dr Kulkarni explained. This is important because most of the communities are not living along the big glaciers but along the small ones as weather is more conducive. 

Temperature is an influencing factor and there has not been a change in the pattern of snowfall or precipitation. It was in the 1980s that the temperature started to rise, leading to melting of some glaciers. The mass loss has gone up in last decade and this is consistent with the rise in temperature. 

The study also measured sensitivity of Chandra basin glaciers to temperature rise. “Sensitivity analysis suggests that a 20% increase in snowfall can offset changes in mass balance for a 1 degree temperature rise,” the study says.

The Chandra basin, located in Lahaul–Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh, has over 700 square kilometers of glaciated area with over 200 glaciers at different altitudes. The basin consists of valley and mountain-type glaciers. The melt water from Chandra basin joins water from the Bhaga basin to form Chandrabhaga, which becomes the river Chenab as it flows into Jammu and Kashmir and plains of Punjab. (India Science Wire)

Mr. Arun Jaitley, Minister of Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs, declared the launch of production of HAL designed 5.8 ton category Light Combat Helicopter and dedicated the HAL’s role changer design upgrade program of Hawk-i to the nation in HAL premises here today. Senior officials from Ministry of Defence, Indian Air Force and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Jaitely hailed HAL’s confidence in bringing Hawk-i and LCH indigenously. He said DPSU work culture and performance have highest standards of professionalism. “We are moving in the right direction in evolving ourselves into a major manufacturing hub. In this context today’s experience has been encouraging”, he said.

HAL’s Rotary Wing R&D Centre designed the LCH whereas Mission  & Combat System R&D Centre (MCSRDC) designed the Hawk-I in association with  the Aircraft Division.

The basic version of LCH has been cleared by CEMILAC. The DAC has accorded approval for procurement of 15 LCH from HAL under IDDM category. Accordingly, the production is launched today.

HAL designed the twin engine Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) of 5.8 Ton class featuring narrow fuselage and tandem configuration for pilot and co-pilot/ weapon system operator. The helicopter has indigenous state of the art technologies like integrated dynamic system, bearing less Tail Rotor, anti-resonance vibration isolation system, crash worthy landing gear, smart glass cockpit, hinge less main rotor, Armour Protection and stealth features from visual, aural, radar and IR signatures. The helicopter is equipped with 20mm Turret gun, 70 mm Rocket, Air to Air Missile, EO-Pod and Helmet pointing system. The helicopter can carry out operational roles under extreme weather conditions at different altitudes from sea level, hot weather desert, cold weather and Himalayan altitudes. The LCH has demonstrated capability to land and take off from Siachen Range with considerable load, fuel and weapons that are beyond any other combat helicopter.

HAL produced its 100^th Hawk jet trainer aircraft with designation as Hawk-i; (Hawk-India). HAL took up the indigenous role change development program to convert the jet trainer into a Combat-Ready platform. The aircraft is upgraded with indigenously designed avionics hardware, software and system architecture enhancing operational role from a trainer aircraft into a Combat-ready platform with improved quality and depth of training by Large Force Engagement (LFE) tactics through Electronic Virtual Training System (EVTS). Hawk-i is capable of delivering precision Munitions  including  Air to Ground and close combat weapons, self defence capabilities through Electronic Warfare (EW) systems, digital map generator and operational reliability through new Dual Hot stand-by Mission Computer Avionics architecture supported by indigenous high accuracy and high Altitude Radio Altimeter, IFF MKXII, Data Transfer system, CMDS and RWR. The aircraft was flown during 2017 Aero India at Bangalore with lot of appreciation from users. The integration of indigenous HUD, RLG based INS and Anti Airfield Missile is in advance stage.

Mr. Ashok Kumar Gupta, Secretary (Defence Production), outlined the contributions made by Defence PSUS. Mr. T. Suvarna Raju, CMD, HAL in his welcome address said maintaining its excellent track record HAL today has come-up with two new products that would strengthen India’s defence services.

After the Supreme Court declared ‘Right To Privacy’ a fundamental right, WikiLeaks alleged Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States might have breached private and sensitive data of Aadhaar Card.

WikiLeaks published a secret document revealing that CIA is using its US-based technology provider ‘Cross Match Technologies’ for cyber bullying and spying that may have stolen Indian Aadhaar Data.

Official Twitter account of WikiLeaks tweeted on Friday: Have CIA spies already stolen #India’s national ID card databse? #aadhaar #biometricarchive.is/R2Hdu#selectio…#modi   

According to WikiLeaks, CIA conducts covert operations under the name of ‘ExpressLane’ that secretly exfiltrate data collection, used to get access to biometric data. Reports claim that the office of technical services (OTS) is a wing of CIA equipped with the biometric collection system, meant to liaison with the services around the globe.

The government officials have refuted the allegations by the WikiLeaks by saying that the data repository is safe under UIDAI. “The reports do not have any basis in fact. Aadhaar data is safely encrypted and is not accessible to any other agency,” official said to The Times of India.

Cross Match Technologies Background

The ‘Cross Match Technologies’ was one of the first handlers and suppliers of biometric devices certified by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for the Aadhaar program in India. This company is specialised in developing biometric software for law enforcement and the intelligence community. It hit the headlines in the year 2011 when the Cross Match Technologies’ devices were used by the US Navy Seals to identify Osama Bin Laden during the operation at Abbotabad in Pakistan. 

Previous Companies Under Scanner

Earlier, the possibility of data leak is feared among many experts after UIDAI pooled in ‘L1 Identity Solutions’,’ Satyam-Morpho’ and ‘Accenture’ to roll out the biggest mass surveillance program. L1 Identity Solutions’ top brass are the former Director CIA George Tenet and former Homeland Security deputy secretary Adm James. With its headquarters in Connecticut, this company is one of the biggest defence contractors specialised in facial recognition and biometrics. L1 Identity Solutions and Accenture work in a close affinity to US intelligence agencies. Satyam Morpho has joined US in ‘smart border project’.

Data Leak Crisis Brawls with WikiLeaks Claims

With this accuse on CIA, WikiLeaks has strengthen the vulnerability of Aadhaar data leak. UIDAI has so far spent approximately 5982.62 crores for more than a billion enrolments of Aadhaar Cards. 1615.34 crores have been spent between the financial year 2015-2016. Centre for Internet and Society, Bengaluru-based organization (CIS) has learned that data of more than 130 million Aadhaar card holders has been leaked from four government websites. They are National Social Assistance Programme, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Chandranna Bima Scheme and Daily Online Payments Reports of NREGA. It also includes Bank details and other confidential details of millions of residents.

CIDR- One Database for a Billion data

Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) is a data management and storing agency in India which is initiated for the Aadhaar project. It is regulated by the statutory body of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). This centralised database is probably one of the biggest repositories on this planet.

In 2010, experts had claimed that more than a thousand government sites and portals were attacked more than 4000 times by China alone in one year. In April 2011, 77 million Sony Play stations and digital media delivery service Qriocity were hacked which resulted into a shutdown of the network for a week. The London School of Economics also reported that a central database of vulnerable to hacking and other terrorist and cyber crime activities. Recently Wannacry Ransomware virus hits the globe. More than 99 countries were affected. 

After the major blow to the Center on Right to Privacy front, five bench judges of SC will test the validity of Aadhaar on the yardstick of the privacy as fundamental right. As the cornerstone of the privacy are the fingerprints, Iris scan and the other biometric data, the Centre might be facing implications on the constitutionality of Aadhaar. 

The conviction and 20 year prison term slapped on Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for raping two women in 2002, has once again turned the spotlight on India’s numerous self-styled spiritual gurus and preachers. 

These days, gods seem to be in news for all the wrong reasons. From financial fraud to rape and even outright murders, their self-appointed leaders are grabbing national attention on a fairly regular basis. 

From time to time, one of these controversial gurus, one may have never heard of, but who have lakhs of followers is charged with a crime. These gurus maintain innocence despite compelling evidence, their followers allege conspiracy and sometimes even take up arms against the State. The gurus may eventually even go to jail, but the followers refuse to stop believing  in them.

A saga of this unfolded on November 19, 2014 when more than 6,000 followers of Sant Rampal Satlok laid siege of his fortified ashram in Hisar district of Haryana and by the end of the night, the controversial godman was arrested.

At least six persons lost their lives in the stand-off as Rampal eluded the police while many of his key aides and around 450 supporters were also arrested. 

On August 25, the country witnessed a similar chain of events when the flashy guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim SIngh was convicted in the rape of two women disciples in 2002 by a CBI court in Panchkula in Haryana.

Minutes after the court gave the verdict, hundreds of Dera Sacha Sauda chief’s followers went on a rampage setting fire to vehicles and railway stations and leaving a trail of destruction that killed 32 people and injured 350 people.

This has become a truly hackneyed story. Every few years, a ‘godman’, who is never heard of, but has thousands of fanatical devotees, is charged with crime from financial fraud to sexual molestation to outright murder,

The guru goes into hiding, his followers scream conspiracy and sometimes are even ready to take arms against the State. Finally, the guru surrenders and put in jail. But the faith of his followers remains unshaken.  We wonder-just who are these ‘godmen’. And what is forcing people to fanatically follow these ‘godmen’, when common sense and logic should command them to do the exact opposite. 

Mankind’s propensity to believe in a God or higher power is well known. According to evolutionary psychologists, this propensity can be linked to the unique ability of human beings to attribute design or reason to things, even where there may be none.  With society being in constant flux in the last many decades due to socio-economic factors, the need to rely on a higher power seems to have increased. 

In a country of a million gods and thousands of identities, the changing landscape has had a huge cultural and psychological implications. Rootless individuals seeking to make sense of their world may drift to alcohol, drugs or psychiatrists to find answer.In India, most seem to have drifted to the godmen.

It is not difficult to understand why India has had a long history of gurus or spiritual guides-the learned master who attain higher knowledge. In recent times, the tradition seemed to have metamorphosed into an industry, with the so called godmen exploiting weaknesses of existing institutions like family, religion and society to their advantage and offering instantaneous miracles and quick-fix solutions to cure the dissonance caused by modern life. 

So what accounts for India’s enduring relationship with the gurus. For one, in a fast-urbanising country, with ambition and confusion, gurus are like placebos for the uncertain masses. People flock to them, thinking that they can help give them big breaks in their lives. 

India has always had gurus for a long as one can remember, There are global godmen like Maharshi Mahesh Yogi to the Beatles turned for spiritual salvation in the 1960s. And there are godmen for the rich and poor with huge followings. The origin of godmen and their popularity today can be traced back to guru-shishya tradition. Some godmen come from established school of spirituality but often they don’t belong to any religious order. 

Well known author and journalist Khushwant SIngh in his book ‘Gods and Godmen of India’ writes: “India has been in the Godmen business longer and produce more of them than anywhere else in the world.”  Singh’s final chapter is titled ” God save us from godmen’. The one thing he finds in common with anyone of the powerful guru-teachers in India is that, they are all fantastically wealthy. Our godmen are not committed to poverty.” says Singh. 

The self-styled godmen or women have made a mockery of faith and have lavish life style. From Swami Sachidanand, Radha Maa, Trikal Bhawant, Asaram Bapu (now in Jodhpur Central Jail after being charged with raping a 16-year old girl), Swami Amrita Chaitanya, and the list is endless. 

Will Rahim’s sentence in Rohtak’s Sunaria district jail end the blind faith of thousands of people on the self-proclaimed godmen in India or will these so called gurus continue to thrive is a question to ponder.  

(The View are Personal.)

Close to half the number of abortions performed globally every year between 2010 and 2014 were unsafe. Simply put, the number is a whopping 25 million unsafe abortions constituting about 45% of all abortions The majority of unsafe abortions, or 97%, occurred in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, according to a new study by the World Health Organisation and the Guttmacher Institute published in The Lancet.

When abortions are performed in accordance with WHO guidelines and standards, the risk of severe complications or death is negligible. 

Approximately 55% of all abortions from 2010 to 2014 were conducted safely, which means they were performed by a trained health worker using a WHO-recommended method appropriate to the pregnancy duration.

Almost one-third (31%) of abortions were “less safe,” meaning they were either performed by a trained provider using an unsafe or outdated method such as “sharp curettage”, or by an untrained person albeit using a safe method like misoprostol, a drug that can be used for many medical purposes, including to induce an abortion.

About 14% were “least safe” abortions provided by untrained persons using dangerous methods, such as introduction of foreign objects and use of herbal concoctions. Deaths from complications of unsafe abortion were high in regions where most abortions happened in the least safe circumstances.

Complications from “least-safe” abortions can include incomplete abortion (failure to remove all of the pregnancy tissue from the uterus), haemorrhage, vaginal, cervical and uterine injury, and infections.

“Increased efforts are needed, especially in developing regions, to ensure access to contraception and safe abortion,” says Dr Bela Ganatra, lead author of the study and a scientist in the WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research.

“When women and girls cannot access effective contraception and safe abortion services, there are serious consequences for their own health and that of their families. This should not happen.  But despite recent advances in technology and evidence, too many unsafe abortions still occur, and too many women continue to suffer and die,’’ she says.

The new Lancet study provides estimates on safe and unsafe abortions globally. For the first time, it includes sub-classifications within the unsafe abortion category as less safe or least safe. The distinction allows for a more nuanced understanding of the different circumstances of abortions among women who are unable to access safe abortions from a trained provider.

The study also looks at the contexts that commonly result in women seeking unsafe abortions, including countries’ laws and policies on abortion, the financial cost of accessing safe abortion services, the availability of safe abortion services and trained health providers, and societal attitudes toward abortion and gender equality.

In countries where abortion is completely banned or permitted only to save the woman’s life or preserve her physical health, only 1 in 4 abortions were safe; whereas, in countries where abortion is legal on broader grounds, nearly 9 in 10 abortions were done safely. Restricting access to abortions does not reduce the number of abortions.

Most abortions that take place in Western and Northern Europe and North America are safe. These regions also have some of the lowest abortion rates. Most countries in these regions also have relatively permissive laws on abortion; high levels of contraceptive use, economic development, and gender equality; as well as high-quality health services – all factors that contribute to making abortion safer.

“Like many other common medical procedures, abortion is very safe when done in accordance with recommended medical guidelines and that is important to bear in mind,” says Dr Gilda Sedgh, co-author of the study and principal research scientist, Guttmacher Institute.

“In the high-income countries of North America and Western and Northern Europe, where abortion is broadly legal and health systems are strong, the incidence of unsafe abortions is the lowest globally.”

Among developing regions, the proportion of abortions that were safe in Eastern Asia (including China) was similar to developed regions.  In south-central Asia, however, less than 1 in 2 abortions were safe. Outside of Southern Africa, less than 1 in 4 abortions in Africa were safe. Of those unsafe abortions, the majority were characterized as “least safe.”

In Latin America, only 1 in 4 abortions were safe, though  the majority were categorized as “less safe,” as it is increasingly common for women in the region to obtain and self-administer medicines like misoprostol outside of formal health systems. This has meant that this region has seen fewer deaths and fewer severe complications from unsafe abortions. Nevertheless, this type of informal self-use of medication abortion that women have to resort to secretly does not meet WHO’s safe abortion standards.   

Unsafe abortion occurs when a pregnancy is terminated either by persons lacking the necessary skills/information or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards, or both.

To prevent unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions, countries must make supportive policies and financial commitments to provide comprehensive sexuality education; a wide range of contraceptive methods, including emergency contraception; accurate family planning counselling; and access to safe, legal abortion, said a statement issued by WHO. 

Provision of safe, legal abortion is essential to fulfilling the global commitment to the Sustainable Development Goal of universal access to sexual and reproductive health (target 3.7). WHO provides global technical and policy guidance on the use of contraception to prevent unintended pregnancy, on safe abortion, and the treatment of complications from unsafe abortion, the WHO statement said.

Earlier this year, WHO and the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs launched a new, open-access database of laws, policies and health standards on abortion in countries worldwide. The database aims to promote greater transparency of abortion laws and policies, as well as to improve countries’ accountability for the protection of women and girls’ health and human rights.

In a major diplomatic-political development, Doklam Standoff seems to come to an end after three months in Sikkim region as indicated by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday. It announced that India and China are gradually disengaging their troops from the site of Doklam. MEA calls it ‘expeditious disengagement’.
“..expeditious disengagment of broder personnel at the face-off site at Doklam has been agreed to and is on-going”, said a press statement from the MEA.
This big move comes ahead of the BRICS Summit, which will be attended by the leaders from five countries including Narendra Modi. The summit will take place between 3-5 September in Xiamen in China. Modi met Xi Jinping in Hamburg on the occasion of G20 summit amidst the standoff.
The MEA press statement is said that during bilateral communications, “we were able to express our views and concerns and interests”. It was on the basis of these communications, according to the statement, that the agreement to disengagement was reached.
According to Reuters, the Beijing foreign ministry said that Indian forces have already withdrawn to the “Indian side of the border”. Chinese foreign Minister Hua Chunying said that China will continue to exerciseits territorial sovereignty in accordance with historical conventions’.
The people’s daily China also tweeted, “China, India agree to end 2-month-long standoff in #Doklam: China confirms India has withdrawn troops”.

New Delhi: CBI Special court pronounced 20 years imprisonment to Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim. Total sentence of 20 years is the divided quantum of 10-10 years for each two rape cases of Dera Sadhvis; both the sentence of 376 and 506 would run consecutively, not concurrently. 
A special court was set-up in the Rohtak jail. The Court also fined the convicted Dera chief Rs 30 Lakh (15 lakhs each for both the victims) for three separate offences.CBI court allotted ten minutes each to both the sides to put forth their arguments. The prosecution demands maximum punishment for the rape convict. CBI judge Jagdeep Singh arrived at the makeshift court via chopper. Defense Lawyer argued that Ram Rahim Singh is social worker who has worked for welfare of people, so judge should take a lenient view. Defense also argued for leniency on the health grounds.The arguments for the quantum of sentence began at Rohtak’s Sonaria jail. Media reports said that Ram Rahim Singh broke down during the quantum of punishment was being read out, pleaded the judge with folded hands.#RamRahim has been lodged in the cell no 1997 of the Rohtak Jail. NDTV reported that Ram Rahim joins a growing number of rape convicts in Haryana jails, which throw some serious statistics.Haryana has the second-highest number of convicts lodged in the district jails.No of deaths of peers of Baba in jail as Haryana jails has 1,003 male convicts in the age group of 50 and above, according to the 2015 data.Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar said, “Law and order situation will not be allowed to be disturbed”.  

With the EPS and OPS factions having merged, it lacks a majority on the floor of the Tamil Nadu assembly. Upheaval in ruling AIADMK in Chennai shows no signs of abating.

With the death of chief minister Jayalalithaa about nine months back, the ruling AIADMK is facing a crisis which was only to be expected. The upheaval shows no signs of abating despite the factions headed by chief minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami and newly appointed deputy chief minister O Paneerselvam respectively having merged, thanks to the intervention of BJP leaders. 

The prospects of a stable political environment with a powerful leader at the helm of affairs in the southern state has been belied amid efforts by the third faction of V K Sasikala and her nephew T T K Dhinakaran seeking to oust Palaniswami. At the same time the efforts of the factions headed by EPS and OPS as Palaniswami and Paneerselvam are popularly known has been to ensure that one does not get the better of the other. 

If EPS is the chief minister, OPS as the former chief minister becomes the coordinator of the AIADMK. A necessary and crucial precondition for the merger was isolating Sasikala, a close aide of the Jayalalithaa serving a four year sentence in a Bengaluru jail in connection with a disproportionate assets case. 

This has palpably weakened the position of EPS having the portends of setting the stage for a snap election. However, none of the legislators want a snap poll with nearly four years remaining for their five-year term to expire in 2021. Seeing the back of Sasikala might not easy as convening the general council meeting of the AIADMK is bound to take some time. 

What is crucial and cannot be lost sight of is that the EPS and OPS factions together lack the crucial majority in the assembly having a strength of 233 out of 234 as the late Jayalalithaa or ‘Amma’s’ seat has not yet been filled. 

The AIADMK chief whip in the assembly S Rajendran, who is with the Palaniswami faction, has recommended that the Speaker disqualify the 19 MLAs in the Dhinakaran camp, who withdrew their support to the chief minister last Tuesday.

In a bid to keep his flock of legislators away from prying eyes, Dhinakaran has taken them to neighbouring Puducherry, a union territory, and lodged them in a resort there to ensure they are not lured by the alleged money power as evidenced in Tamil Nadu politics. 

Simultaneously, the opposition DMK has urged Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, holding additional charge of Tamil Nadu, to call for a floor test in the assembly. It is also somewhat jarring that whenever there is a constitutional crisis in Tamil Nadu, Rao, who is Governor of Maharashtra has to come rushing down to Chennai from Mumbai. 

It is widely felt that considering the importance of Tamil Nadu, the southern state should have a full time Governor so that its constitutional head is free of other encumbrances. 

Impartial observers believe in the prevailing uncertainty it might be advisable to allow matters to take its own course. If a rival faction is keen on moving a motion of no confidence against the Palaniswamy government, it should be left to the assembly to decide. 

On its part the ruling BJP at the Centre is keen on enlarging its footprint in Tamil Nadu hoping that the AIADMK becomes part of the NDA. The Lotus party also wants to rope in cine star Rajnikant who appears inclined to finally enter politics in the run up to the 2019 general elections. 

Rajnikant’s fans were already testing the waters having held a rally in Trichy on August 21. It was meant to persuade the 67-year-old super star to join politics at the earliest. The congregation underlined Rajnikant’s plans revolving around good governance, eradicating poverty and linking of peninsular rivers. Rajnikant himself was conspicuously absent.  

BJP president Amit Shah is keenly eyeing Tamil Nadu which contributes a sizeable 39 seats to the Lok Sabha as he has fixed an ambitious target of at least 350 seats on its own in the 2019 general elections. In the last general elections three years back the BJP secured a majority on its own for the first time in the Lok Sabha with a tally of 282 and along with its allies in the NDA crossed the rubicon of 300 managing  a comfortable 340 odd seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha.. 

With the advent of Modi and Shah on the national scene more than 36 months back, the BJP has grown from strength to strength with the saffron colour becoming dominant across the country’s map at the cost of the Congress and certain regional parties. 

With assembly elections due in Karnataka next year, BJP strategists are currently focussing on regaining power in that state where it had ruled with B S Yedurappa at the helm of affairs. For the last five years the Congress has been in power in Bengaluru with Siddaramaiah as chief minister.