Dance ... Kathak

Pandit Sunayana Hazarila the Kathak danseuse from Banaras gharana of Pandit Jankiprasad performed at IGIDR as part of SPIC-MCCAY on 28 March 2009. As per her introductory remarks, this dance form emerged the rendition of katha (story) in community forums and temples. The narrator also combined katha with movements of the face, and other body parts. Over time, it also moved into Mogul courts where emphasis on sensuous forms took roots; this being different from the notion of love depicting bhakti, say Radha-Krushna.

The evening was nice, made lively by the Tabla mastro Pandit A Mishra with his interactive sessions, his natkhat pan and the jugalbandi along with Sunayanaji's explanations. Both of them complemented the sound arrangement at IGIDR. Pandit Alka Gujjar with Veena and Pandit S Mishra in Harmonioum provided the perfect background. In the end, the dance by Sunayananji to the rendition of Lashkar na jaiyo (Do not go to war) by Pandit S Mishra in umpteen forms will keep echoing in our minds for a long time.

On a personal note, this was the first time that Nerika joined with us and she sat through the programme as also while giving company to the artists for dinner. We had a nice evening.

At the end the audience is left with the questions whether the ghongroo guides the tabla or the table guides the ghongroo. Either way, they are in awe! And, they want more.

Why Girls grow up with Girls?

In discussions about the problem of dowry leading to indebtedness and adverse social consequences one hears the remark “Why do people take dowry for their sons and then give it to their daughters? Or, is it that they have given it for their daughters and want to take it for their sons.”

While discussing gender in many a public forums/lectures when given a proposition that from those present if one takes all the females and males separately and then aggregates the total number of sisters and brothers including themselves then there would be more number of sisters among the females and more number of brothers among males the overwhelming response is that the proposition cannot be true.

Unfortunately, the proposition is true and the households of net dowry givers are different from net dowry takers. To prove the point, one gives a simple example. In single-child households the divide is complete – either it is a daughter or a son; in two-child households they are either both sisters or both brothers or a sister and a brother; it is only when one comes to three-child households that one observes that there could be a brother with two sisters or a sister with two brothers if they are not either all sisters or all brothers.

This gender divide in society, to begin with, is a statistical generality and it is unfortunate that common sense understanding as also public policy discourse misses this basic point. This gets further aggravated under son-preference.

Monkeying with Brain Activity Data

In The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation as taught by S N Goenka, William Hart discusses Lord Budddha's observation 2500 years ago of how in a body (including the brain) "Particles continuously arise and vanish, passing into and out of existence, like a flow of vibrations." Thus, the body as also the brain is always in a state of activity. Modern scientists agree to this. That this has not led them to get out of suffering is another matter. What is more, an experiment on brain activity in Monkeys has led to a debate on usage, interpretation and ownership rights of data.

The experiment was carried out in the Max Planc Institute for Biological Cybernatics (MPIBC) at the Physiology of Cognitive Processes Department headed by Professor Nikos K. Logothetis. Amir Shmuel (who was associated with the project as a post-doctoral scholar) and David A. Leopold (who was also earlier associated with the department/institute as a post-doctoral but not as part of this project) came together to write a paper Neuronal correlates of spontaneous fluctuations in fMRI signals in monkey visual cortex: Implications for functional connectivity at rest, Human Brain Mapping, 29 (7): 751-761 (2008).

In fact, the earlier abstract version which was orally presented in a conference did not have Leoplod as a co-author but included Logothetis and two of his other colleagues. Based on the presentation, the editor of Human Brain Mapping invited a paper for consideration in the special issue on 'Endogenous Brain Oscillations and Networks in Functional MRI'. At this stage, Logothetis was of the view that the data collected were not appropriate for this kind of work - the monkeys were exposed to a flickering screen and one cannot consider them to be at rest.

Meanwhile Shmuel got in touch with Leopold and they both wrote the paper. After six weeks of acceptance, Shmuel got in touch with Logothetis who declined to be associated with the work but also raised questions on the methodological aspects and propriety of data usage. On writing to the Max Plank Society (MPS), Professor Herbert Jäckle, a development biologist, acted as a mediator with both parties agreeing that Shmuel can use data for a project that he was associated with.

Logothetis, was however, of the view that the paper should not have been published and should be retracted because of methodological difficulties. See the response How not to study spontaneous activity, NeuroImage, 45 (4): 1080-1089 (2009).

The differences led the editors of Human Brain Mapping to come up with a policy on data usage and post a paper Protecting peer review: Correspondence chronology and ethical analysis regarding Logothetis vs. Shmuel and Leopold, Human Brain Mapping, 30 (2): 347-354 (2009).

Max Plank Society thought that the institute has not been appropriately portrayed and their right to respond has been unfairly delayed. Thus they have uploaded to MPIBC site the one-page Preface - Letter to the Editors, a supporting document The other side of the coin: A factual analysis of the HBM editorial, and communications leading to The history of publication of the one-page letter. The editors of Human Brain Mapping (HBM) would be responding as indicated in the Nature News Society sues journal over right to reply.

This debate has raised a number of issues. The hierarchy between Principal Investigators and other younger colleagues. Data collection should follow certain accepted norms and this may require appropriate institutional set up. Once collected, researchers should have access to it. And, of course, the methodological issues.

There are instances in social sciences as well as health sciences where international agencies or well-endowed researchers in the developed countries take the help of colleagues in developing countries but do not involve them in the post-collection analysis and publication process. These have serious consequences on limiting career opportunities for those who collect data and as a result on the reliability of data. Creating a divide between those who collect data and those who interpret data (based on statistical tools and techniques) has another serious implication. The analysis of data may be superficial in terms of ground level understanding.

Recently I came across a very interesting anecdote. A researcher who had purchased some unit level secondary data and used it for some collaborative exercise with other colleagues. When the other colleagues used the data for a different purpose (which was illegal) the owner of the data (purchaser) considered it to be his/her right to demand and get authorship. Wait a minute, someone said that conflict of interest led to a co-operative outcome. Wow!

Gandhiji's Monkeys convey: "Please do not mess around with our data. It will lead to seeing evil, hearing evil and speaking evil." The 21st Century Monkeys of Gandhiji.

Brazilian lessons for India

In the evening of 18th March 2009 Professor Marcelo Medeiros, Senior Policy Specialist, International Poverty Center, Brazil, had a discussion with some of our colleagues at IGIDR. He has been around for about ten days and participated in Holi celebrations (taking those beautiful photographs) and interacting with many of us.

One of his first observations on India was that we are making the same mistakes that Brazil did during their initial years of liberalization based on Fund-Bank conditionality. There is growth, but it is concentrated and there is a strong case for distribution.

On the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) being operational he was of the view that it should be extended to urban areas, include all adult members of the household and extended to 200 days in a year. In fact, these seem to match with the demand to all political parties being put forth by the Right to Food Campaign.

He also opined that these wage-employment programmes should not be like digging and filling up holes. They should add value. The discussion also veered to how Right to Information (RTI) along with NREGA has helped in empowering the rural poor. Along with this wage-employment programme, I would like to add that there is the need for a comprehensive self-employment programme (as has been suggested by the Report of the Committee on Credit Related Issues under SGSY, Chairman R Radhakrishna, submitted to the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India) and a strong case for addressing the larger agrarian crisis.

He did mention that a large proportion of individuals/households in Brazil have an account in bank/post office with an id card. This helps in the direct transfer of welfare funds in a timely manner. This is similar to the Smart card experiment under NREGA. But, then we should have a common card for all purposes. Some political parties have put this in their agendas for the forthcoming elections in 2009.

On corruption and crimes he thought that India was much better. He referred to incidents of any entire Any Time Money (ATM) machine being taken away or waylaying of Trucks that carry goods (particularly medicines, as it is very costly). As a response to this the service providers have fitted these with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) so that they could be traced through satellites. In many cities of India, GPS are now being used by providers of some taxi services like MERU and MEGA CABS among others. Whether this has dented the incomes of the usual taxi drivers is to be seen.

Chalo Brazil!

Jan Manch 21 March 2009

I am posting the message from Secretariat - Right to Food Campaign

Jan Manch "Symposium" on Employment Guarantee and the Right To Information
(New Delhi 21st march, 2009)
Basics demands from Political Parties attached.


Dear Friends,

Greetings!

A Jan Manch on Employment Guarantee and the Right to Information will be held in New Delhi on 21 March 2009, in anticipation of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. At this Jan Manch, representatives of all political parties will be invited to present their party's position on these two crucial issues, and to respond to public demands or queries.

This event is being convened under the joint banner of Peoples Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG) and the National Campaign for Peoples Right to Information (NCPRI). A draft charter of basic demands on employment guarantee, and Right to Information is pasted below and attached too for your perusal. Please send any comments you may have to janmanch09@gmail.com.

This charter of demands will be sent to political parties, and circulated widely, in advance of the Jan Manch.

The Jan Manch will be held on the lawns of Constitution Club (Rafi Marg) in New Delhi, from 10 am to 4 pm. About 5,000 participants are expected to attend from all over the country.

You are cordially invited to participate. If you are coming in a group, please inform the organizers in advance by sending a line tojanmanch09@gmail.com.

All participants are expected to make their own arrangements for travel. We shall help you finding lodging facilities if you inform us in advance (by 18th march, 2009). Subsidized food shall be arranged.


In solidarity,

Jan Manch 09

(Annie Raja, Dithi Bhattacharya, Jean Drze, Nikhil Dey, Radhika Menon, Ramit Basu)


Employment Guarantee: Demands from Political Parties*
The main demands on Employment Guarantee that were agreed upon for inclusion in the charter were as follows:

1. Expansion of the scope of the Employment Guarantee Act (EGA), including:
(a) Individual entitlements: Expansion of the work guarantee from 100 days per household per year to at least 100 days per adult per year.
(b) Enactment of an Urban Employment Guarantee Act.

2. Expansion of the list of permissible works to include rural public services as well as construction and maintenance of rural infrastructure (within the mandatory 60:40 ratio).

3. Reverse the recent freeze on NREGA wages by the Central Government and ensure linking of minimum wages to the Consumer Price Index.

4. Protection of all organizers and activists involved in the implementation of NREGA, including social audits, and investigation of recent incidents of violence against them.

5. Putting in place effective grievance redressal mechanisms.

6. Strengthening of the operational framework for NREGA, including:
Conversion of the Operational Guidelines into mandatory Rules.
Establishment of PRIs where none exist (e.g. Jharkhand).

7. Increase in financial outlays to 2% of GDP, and raising of the allocation for administrative expenses from 4% to 6% of NREGA expenditure. This would help in ensuring guaranteed minimum standards for all mandatory worksite facilities (including crche and drinking water) and minimum transparency measures.

8. Reservation of 50% of all posts in the NREGA machinery (POs, GRSs etc.) for women. Separate Job Cards for widows, separated women and other single women irrespective of their living arrangements.

* Prepared for a Jan Manch to be held in New Delhi on 21 March 2009, in anticipation of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. This Jan Manch is being convened under the joint banner of Peoples Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG) and the National Campaign for Peoples Right to Information (NCPRI). The demands are based on a preparatory meeting held on 26 February 2009, and follow-up consultations.


Right To Information
The main demands on Right to Information that were agreed upon for inclusion in the charter were as follows:

1. The RTI law carries a strong mandate of the people and should not be amended in any way. Most measures to strengthen it can be undertaken through rules and administrative measures to strengthen implementation.

2. Set up a National Council for the Right to Information (along the lines of the NREGA council), to monitor the implementation of the RTI Act.

3. Set up statutory public grievance commissions across the country, which have powers to redress grievances and to punish errant officials.

4. Make the selection of information commissioners transparent and participatory.

5. Formulate model rules that can be adopted by all states.

6. Ensure Mandatory disclosure under section 4 (suo moto) disclosures, and strengthen this process, including disclosures of all financial transactions.

7. Strengthen information commissions and make them independent by directly voting their budgets and giving them financial and administrative autonomy.

8. Set up Feed Back mechanism regarding applications filed for information from Panchayat up to state to monitor implementation and address weaknesses.

9. Budget for Training of Government Personnel in RTI implementation in the Centre and the State.

10. Budget allocation and ensure spending for spreading awareness through radio and TV to facilitate peoples use of RTI to prevent Corruption and ensure accountability.

11. To ensure transparency of the corporate and private sector, in particular financial matters that affect the larger public interest.


Secretariat - Right to Food Campaign
C/o PHRN
5 A, Jungi House,
Shahpur Jat, New Delhi 110049.
India
website: www.righttofoodindia.org

Holi 2009

This year's holi was different. We got non-toxic food grade colours and over the years more and more people would use such colours. Neri enjoyed the day. She was allowed to play in water, dry colour as also jump in mud with her friends which would not be the case everyday. One thing that we missed was the music on campus. The highlight though was a Brazilian visitor enjoying the merry making and taking photographs.

Rudra Veena Rendition

The rendition of Rudra Veena rendition by Ustad Baha'ud'din Mohiuddin Dagar on 6th March 2009 evening as part of Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth (SPIC-MACAY) programme at Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) was really a very classic experience. I am not a student of music but there are a few moments that I would like to mention. There was a time when I felt as if 'Oum' was vibrating all over. At another point, one felt that the music calls for Shiva's Tandava. These may be my own feeling but I loved the experience.