We are proud citizens of the world’s largest democracy. We love to roam

around the country, to speak freely, to live freely and to be protected by

the law; after all we have these rights. But, do we vote? It’s our duty. With the

elections in 5 states being the thought of the month, it will be interesting to note

the number of people who actually cast their votes and participate in the democ-

racy they boast of.

To choose representatives and to have gover-

nance in accordance with our demands and ex-

pectations, we have an opportunity to vote. We

have the right for which a part of the world is un-

dergoing struggle with immense loss of life and

property. But, do we care?

It‘s a fact that voting percentages have not im-

proved with the ageing of our democracy. Youth,

considered to be future of the nation turns out

to be the least interested voter section. It should

be known that hardly 15-20% of people in the

age of 18-19 are registered voters. Of the regis-

tered voters under age of 25, very few participate

in elections by giving a vote.

An irony is that illiterate or less literate people in

villages or towns take part in voting in big num-

bers and educated class of people resists coming out of their houses and stand-

ing in lines for voting. There is a class consciousness these days considering

voting something not meant for urban elites.

The ‘Whatever be’ and ‘I don’t care’ ideology of economically and socially well

off classes is alarming. Low voting percentages of Bombay and Bangaluru in the

general assembly elections should be taken as a matter of shame. People prefer

an outing, a movie, a get together or rest on the holiday than to go out to vote

to choose a government for five years.

For intellects that were impatiently waiting for the literacy rates to go up and

help the Indian democratic system get stronger, the trends unfortunately defies

this belief. In 1951, when the crude literacy rate stood at a meager 16.7%, the

voting percentage was at a fairly good mark with 61.2% in 1952. It came out to

be only 59.7% during general elections 2009 despite Indian literacy rate crossing

75% in 2011 census. The voting percentages reached their peak in general elec-

tions followed by emergency, when people busted out in big numbers.

In quest of reasons for this poor performance, one finds much inefficiency in

part of system in addition to people’s negli-

gence. The first-time voters find the voter regis-

tration process quite cumbersome and the

official working in these departments are still

traditional. While some voters do not find their

names in voting lists, many have repetitive en-

rolling of names. Terror threats and booth cap-

turing are also a major concern for people in

Naxlism affected states and these areas come

out to be least polled areas.

A disrespect and disbelief in political parties and

politicians is the chief reason for an individual to

believe ‘my vote can’t bring a change’. Political

parties so as the civil society have done little to

change this perception. On the other hand, po-

litical class has further weakened the electoral

system by votebank politics. With advent of technology we have also grown less

social in real lives and more on online social networks. Politics, which once used

to be most prominent topic of discussion within a group of people, now is con-

sidered a boring subject to be discussed on social networks and forums.

According to Chief election commissioner in a country like ours, compulsory vot-

ing is not feasible. There can’t be a mechanism possible for penalizing such a big

section of population. The success of recent mass protests in India indicated that

people come together at times of anger and grief. The only way to develop

democracy is to increase people's participation in the electoral process through

education and awareness. Ankit Dwivedi, Journo, 2nd Year

Why do We hesitate to vote

february 2012february 2012

2011 was a difficult year

for India. Economic crises,

socio economic tensions,

public protests against ris-

ing corruption, and un-

abated insurgency in

several states, all cast their

shadow on the nation dur-

ing the year. A ‘revolution

of rising expectations’, fos-

tered by the extraordinary

reach of the

electronic

media and the connectivity provided by new so-

cial networking platforms, kept the government

and public institutions on their toes.

India’s biggest challenge during 2012 is to

achieve and sustain a rapid rate of economic de-

velopment. Economic development comes from

having an economy that can produce the material output re-

quired to achieve desired consumption levels for the people

and one that can generate the productive jobs needed to sat-

isfy the aspirations of the workforce. To reach this level we will

have to ensure rapid growth accompanied by adequate job

creation. Rapid growth is also necessary to generate the rev-

enues we need to finance our social welfare plans for health,

education, and social justice programmes.

Economic development also has a global dimension. Even with

the best domestic effort our dependence on imported energy

and new energy-efficient technologies is expected to increase.

We need assured access to imported energy supplies and also

access to new technologies. This means we need sensible poli-

cies that can promote economic partnership with countries

that have energy resources and better technologies. We also

need a proactive foreign policy, protecting our access to such

resources and to foreign technology. Economic security is no

less important than territorial security.

Another challenge is that of removing widespread poverty and

disease. A very large section of our population still lives in ab-

solute poverty, and in a state of ill-health. This affects the over-

all development of the country adversely. There are many

steps we need to take to address these problems, but the most

important is to empower every citizen with the light of educa-

tion. Inclusive social, economic and political development re-

quires participatory efforts of all citizens, and meaningful

participation is possible only when illiteracy

and ignorance is replaced with education.

There is a silver lining behind all the problems

that India faces. Even as new wave of democ-

racy demanding the empowerment of ordi-

nary people is sweeping the world, India

stands tall as a functioning democracy. We

are a nation of over a billion people, plural,

secular, democratic – with all the great religions of the world

freely practiced here, with so many languages, so many castes

and communities – living together in an open society. This is

an achievement for which every Indian can be proud. Despite

grave provocations from extremists and terrorists, the people

of India have remained united. They have not lost faith in our

plural, secular and inclusive democracy.

The democratic structure of our society and polity provides the

foundation on which all our developmental efforts must be

based. The essence of democratic structure and functioning is

rule of law, under which all citizens are guaranteed equality

before law and equal protection of law. It is therefore essential

that as we take on the challenges before us during 2012, we

must be careful in preserving our most valuable asset-our

democracy.

a practical newsletter by the department of Journalism, maharaja agrasen College, university of delhi

InsIde

PAge 2 - Right infoRmation

about the Right

to infoRmation

PAge 3 - india Chasing the

olympiC dReam

PAge 4 - obama tRies to

outmanoeuvRe

outsouRCing

PAge 5 - Waiting foR a

healthy india

PAge 6 - 2011-the yeaR

that Was

PAge 7 - eleCtion

manifestos: do

they still

matteR

PAge 8 - an adventuRe

at nuh

India’s biggest

challenge during 2012 is

to achieve and

sustain a rapid rate of

economic development

Dr. Sunil Sondhi, Principal

The Year Ahead

delhi has something to cheer about

when it comes to road fatalities.

The lowest number of fatal accidents

and the deaths resulting in such

mishaps on the city roads took place in

2011.While 2017 accidents took place

in 2011, the number of those killed in

these mishaps was 2066. This is the

lowest fatal accident rate since 2005.

At national level, statistics of fatal acci-

dents over the last five years have

shown that while

there has been a

steady increase in

the number of lives

lost in road mishaps

across the nation.

Just a contrast to

the above cheerful

situation, Chennai

registers nearly 62%

increase in road fa-

talities. Eight dis-

tricts of the state,

representing 1/4th

of total number of

districts, account

for 45% of road accidents and fatalities.

Going by the data, the road accidents

and persons killed in the state during

2010-2011, those eight districts –Chen-

nai, Coimbatore, Kancheepuram,

Madurai, Salem, Tirpur, Vellore , and

Villupuram witnessed 29,710 accidents

in 2010 and 25,710 accidents in 2011

against the state’s total number of ac-

cidents of 64,996 and 55,592.

There have been a number of fatalities

in the past year. On March 31, 2011,

two cricket enthusiasts from Delhi

Technical University met a tragic end in

West Delhi.

In another road tragedy Ayazuddin, son

of former Indian cricket captain Mo-

hammad Azharuddin died after being

critically injured in a road accident.

There are many reasons for such disas-

trous accidents to happen, rash driving

being one of them. Overtaking through

left side, riding without helmets and

speeding are

the main

causes for

most accidents

involving two

wheelers.

Avoiding alco-

hol before driv-

ing is surely

one way out. A

far more exten-

sive use of ran-

dom breath

testing accom-

panied by a

high level of

publicity will lead to decrease in num-

ber of accidents. Strategies that in-

crease the use of seat belts or child

restraints will result in fewer injuries.

Stricter enforcement of speed limits,

roadside guard rails and crash cushions

and safer design of the roads and road-

side environment will surely help in

bringing down the fatalities. Besides all

this there has to be awareness among

the public for their own safety.Shivani Bazaz, Journo, 1st Year

It is amazing how a movement in the 1990’s to bring

about transparency in village accounts has led to ar-

guably the most powerful legislation at the hands of the

common man. The Right to Information Act 2005 has

without doubt been the highlight of the first decade of

the 21st century for

India.

The Act was imple-

mented on October

13, 2005 and has

since been instru-

mental in revealing

scores of multi-mil-

lion scams and lash-

ing the executive

machinery to abide

by the law. The RTI

works towards em-

powering the com-

mon man with

information about

the working of the

government machin-

ery. The legislation

functions as the in-

termediary between the tax

payer and the means of expen-

diture adopted by the govern-

ment.Despite its mammoth

reputation, the utility of the Right to Information has

been shrouded with misconceptions. Further, a majority

of the educated are unaware of the remedies that can be

adopted with the help of a simple application costing no

more than `10.

Keeping in mind the vast utility and the even wider igno-

rance of this right, the Student Council, Maharaja Agrasen

College organized a talk on the Right to Information Act

2005 in the first week of February. The talk was aimed at

informing the students of their rights and the limitations

of the RTI Act. The session was conducted by Legal Re-

tainer Central Information Commission, Mr Kushagra

Mishra. An alumnus of Maharaja Agrasen College, Mr

Mishra pursued his Bachelors in Commerce from the col-

lege and studied Law from Law Faculty, University of

Delhi. He also com-

pleted his MBA from

the Indira Gandhi

National Open Uni-

versity.

He divided his talk

into three segments.

In the first portion

he elaborated on

the administrative

framework and the

information dispen-

sation mechanism,

right from the Public

Information Officer

up to the Central In-

formation Commis-

sion.

His second segment

revolved around the

details of the act, he men-

tioned the provisions under

which one can claim the right

over information. Mr Mishra

left no stone unturned and explained the exceptions as

well as the loop holes in the law. He shared his experi-

ences with the students and cited many examples he han-

dled. The third and conclusive faction of his talk was

exclusively for questions. The hall came to life and the

synergy that Mr Mishra shared with the audience was

commendable and all questions ranging from the RTI Act

to other general legal queries were answered with utmost

precision. The talk concluded with applauses and appre-

ciation from all quarters. Twesh Mishra, Journo, 2nd Year

2 february 2012february 2012

Right information about the Right to information

The cacophonous sounds created by the dirty utensils, the hands forever

drenched in water, the occasional festive reward of hand-me-down clothes,

the eager wait for the month end, the never ending money shortages-Kamla’s

life revolves around sweeping the floors and cleaning the dishes in the 7-8 odd

households she works in. From a small town of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, Kamla

came to Delhi in 1998 with her father. On being asked about why she left her

hometown, she retorts- “Gaon me kuch kaam nahi tha karne ke liye, isiliye bapu

yaha le aaye.”

Across India, poor migrants keep streaming into cities like Delhi, Mumbai and

some other big cities many of which are woefully mismanaged and ill-equipped

to handle the influx. Today, India has at least 41 cities with more than one million

people, up from 23 two decades ago.

Half a dozen others will soon join the megacity list. Urban experts say the risk is

now rising that some of these cities could face the same fate as Mumbai and

Kolkata, which became synonymous with poverty and decay in the 1970s and

1980s. Due to the rising migrant population in the cities, the natives of the place

have also started facing stiff competition in terms of fighting harder for a seat

in an educational institution or looking for a job. Most poor migrants coming

into the cities have led to over-crowding, congestion on streets, increased crime

rates, sprouting of a lot of slum areas in the big metropolitans.

The natives of the cities feel frustrated at the advent of the large migrant pop-

ulation everyday into the cities. They feel that the cities are incapable of holding

the current inflow of the migrant population. The cities are not at par in terms

of infrastructure and facilities like health, sanitation, transport, water and hous-

ing needs. On the other hand the rural poor have no other option but to turn to

the cities for income generation. Hence, a strong need to develop the rural areas

of villages and towns is felt to overcome and stop the shift of the people from

villages to cities.

As a solution to this impeding problem, means of generating employment the

rural backdrops of our country can be an effective measure to minimize the pres-

sure on metropolitan cities.

This development will help the poor to find basic infrastructure and employment

opportunities within the vicinity and will stop the process of migration and help

the cities and towns along with villages to prosper together and not one of them

will have to bear the brunt of over population and migration. It is the responsi-

bility of the state to ensure that all the citizens of our nation are provided equal

opportunities to flourish irrespective of demographic constraints.Surbhi Sharma, Journo, 2nd Year

Checking migration to metropolisGenerating employment for villagers is the best way out

Plight of the Indian Roads

the talk by mr. Kushagra mishra on the

Right to information act has certainly

set the standard for all future events.

The 21st century has led to an upsurge in the urge to be informedMalnutrition - For a country like India,

malnutrition is an evil which cannot be ig-

nored. In the 100 focus districts, 42 % of

children under five are underweight and

59% are under-nourished. The Central Gov-

ernment report also showed how child mal-

nutrition starts very early in life. There are

several reasons for malnutrition, the most

prominent reasons are poverty and illiter-

acy. Lack of education is also a prominent

factor, mothers are not aware of the reper-

cussions. 55% never went to school, 84%

don’t know about malnutrition. Only 55%

women took their children to a good doc-

tor. In order to combat such a persistant

hinderance to the development of the na-

tion, education and welfare schemes are

necessary. Ayush Keshri, Journo, 1st Year

social digest

Deforestation - India’s forest cover has

declined by 367 sq.km. between 2007 and

2009. As of 2010, the Food and Agriculture

Organization of United states estimates

India’s forest cover to be about 68 million

hectares i.e. about 20% of country area.

A) Increasing population - The increase in

population ultimately increases the pres-

sure on resources. What is truly required

from us is control in population and adap-

tation of family planning programmes in

urban and rural areas.

B) Pollution - Pollution is also leading to de-

cline in forests cover. The only solution to

tackle this menace is to adopt environment

friendly alternatives.

C) Urbanization - The pressure on rural

backdrops to compete with the urban infra-

structure needs to be regulated if develop-

ment is at the cost of the forests. Sushmita Pant, Journo, 1st Year

January 10th marked the end of the career of one of India’s most prolific

striker’s in the world scene, namely Bhaichung Bhutia. A crowd spawning over

35,000 people came to be witness to a spectacle that is seldom seen in Indian

Football. An international club of repute, Bayern Munich came to play a friendly

in New Delhi with most of its first team players. As recognition of the enormous

contribution of Bhaichung Bhutia towards football, Bayern Munich gifted him

with an honorary jersey of their club with the signatures of all their star players.

Having been Asian champions twice the football scene has seen a slow disinte-

gration. The lack of funds has been a major roadblock in the Indian Football

scene. This is due to the unwillingness of major sponsors to invest in football

due to the fact that India is largely a cricket crazy nation. Another reason for the

steady decline of Indian football can be attributed to the development of tal-

ented players at the grassroots.

The unavailability of any money in football tends to push away a player in the

hope for greener pastures. Also coaching, training and tournaments are way

below international standard, becoming the reason for the reduction in quality

players coming out of the talent pool. The depreciation of Indian football also

can be attributed to the rise of Cricket. India is a superpower in terms of Crick-

eting as a business and quite soon we can expect the bouncy pitches of Perth

to be reduced into the batting pitches of the Feroz Shah Kotla due to all the

money in Cricket being in India. Football has never been given a similar kind of

chance in India also due to the mindset of the common Indian man who is used

to seeing India perform poorly at the International stage in terms of the AFC

Asian Cup and the World Cup qualifiers. But in recent times the general popu-

lation has been witness to an improving football scene in India. Retired players

like Bhaichung Bhutia and I.M Vijayan have passed on the torch to younger play-

ers like Sunil Chettri and C.S Sabeeth. More and more sponsors are willing to in-

vest in football clubs in India and there has been a slow yet steady improvement

at the school and college level of football in India. To enhance the popularity of

Indian Football, the AIFF recently awarded Ten Sports with a contract to telecast

live matches of India’s premier league (I-League).

Some major areas where change would be favorable would be to provide more

and more international exposure to the players in the grassroot as well as senior

level. World class infrastructure could also tilt the balance in favor of Indian foot-

ball. Another area that could be worked upon would be the provision of stan-

dard coaching and training personnel.

Thus we can safely say that Indian Football may not be on terms with the Euro-

pean powerhouses at present but if all goes well then within the next decade

or two India would dominate the football world just as it does in the sport of

Cricket today. Shashank Nair, Journo, 1st Year

Indian Football: The Barren

goal PostAlightning quick pitch accompanied

by a not so fast, green lustrous

outfield was the most likable sight for

a Cricket fan till lunch on first day of the

Perth test until David Warner came to

bat post lunch.

India were wrapped up for a mere 165

and the Perth pitch was promising for

quickies.

But soon the reverie of the Indian pace

contingent-hoping

to bowl out the

A u s s i e s - e n d e d

with Warner find-

ing the fence fre-

quently.Let us

enjoy the Aussie

dominance which

we have seen in

past few weeks or

so.

Aussie cricketers

respect and wor-

ship Bradman more than any God they

do, well Michael Clarke declared the in-

nings when he was batting on 329 only

4 short of Bradman's 334.

Later, Clarke tried hiding his decision in

a win's perspective and said that it was

in the interest of team, those who

know the basics of cricket could judge

well enough (match had ended in 4

days only). These two examples are just

to add weight to the issue and the cur-

rent series is filled with such splendid

performances from Australian side and

dismal shows from Indian men.

This entire series has been a question-

raiser in much sense, why can’t we win

a test match in testing conditions, why

do we fail to face swinging and seaming

deliveries and is IPL making our team

lose the ability to perform well in tests?

Sunil Gavaskar pretty easily rejected

the IPL theory saying that if IPL was the

reason for players not performing well

how Warner could nudge the problems

away from him.

The current series has once again em-

phasized on the suggestions of serious

changes in the selection process and

domestic structure of the cricket in

country. Those

who doubt that

the country’s se-

lection process

has developed

some serious

flaws are getting

voices in their

support. If a

country can win

the World Cup

and lose the

winning streak

and become a minnow in only a span

of 8 months or so, this is threatening

for the development of that game in

country. Indians need to gather things

first and rethink on strategies and plan-

ning; they know they are one of the

best in the business and on their peaks

butcher would be an apt synonym for

them.

Australia meanwhile has made it clear

that they are out of their renovation

phase and they would be the prime

contenders 2015 World Cup, knowing

that they will play in their den.

Over all cricket fraternity and audience

are foreseeing a shift in the power and

Indians by failing to put up a bad show

have given a weight to their view.Abhishek Chaudhary, Journo, 3rd Year

no matter how big a player Sachin Tendulkar is, he

would not be able to represent India at the

Olympics: Dhanraj Pillay

Above mentioned quote clearly indicate the stature

of Olympics in sports arena. An event where athletes

are tested in almost all international disciplines and

those sports which are not there in the Olympics are

working feverishly day and night to get an Olympic

slot-Kabaddi is an exception.

India’s population is expected to overhaul the Chi-

nese population by 2020, but when you compare the

Olympic performance of both the nations, India lags

behind and the margin is unputdownable. It all

started for Indians in 1900 and since 1920 there has

always been an Indian participation in the Olympics.

Hockey-the national game- might have become a na-

tional shame these days with IHF (Indian Hockey Fed-

eration) and HI (Hockey India) fighting over the

representation issue and India failing to qualify for

the 2008 Olympics, but it was responsible for India’s

name on the medal list in 1928. What started in 1928

continued till 1956 without any contention. By 1980

India have won 11 Olympic medals from 12 Olympics

mostly because of the contributions from the Men’s

Hockey team, a rare one or two came from the indi-

viduals category.

In 2008, when the hopes of an Indian name in the

medal tally were nothing more than a reverie, Abhi-

nav Bindra shot at the gold in the ‘10 metre Air-Rifle’

event.

Interestingly, China debut on the medal front in 1984

and in 2008 Beijing Olympics they topped the medal

tally with 51 golds and overall 100 medals. Indians

were content with 3 medals, one gold and two

bronze.

Boxing was like a blessing in disguise for the Indian

contingent during the 2008 Olympics. Earlier an In-

dian boxer in the ring would lead to a big grin on the

opponents face. With people like Vijendra Singh,

Akhil Kumar and many others coming from the boxing

factory of Bhiwani, Indians are in with more than a

chance this time around and at-least 5 medals can

come from the ring. What makes us say is the rules

of boxing, once you make it to the semi-final line up,

a bronze gets assured.

Sushil Kumar won a bronze in Beijing- thanks to the

repechage facility of wrestling making India see a

wrestling medal after Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav.

Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav won in the Helsinki

Olympics in 1952 and nearly after 56 years the glory

of wrestling returned to India at the Olympics. Sushil

Kumar along with a few others would definitely like

to use the experience of mud on the mat (tradition-

ally wrestling in India is practiced on mud).

Shooters would like to derive some inspirations from

Abhinav Bindra’s previous feat and recent perform-

ances from Gagan Narang and others have injected

enough impetus in the team to hit the bull’s eye. Dou-

ble and single trap shooting events may get an Indian

army men-Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has silver lin-

ing dreams from 2004 Athens Olympics and what

could be better than the repetition or a step ahead

from the previous experience.

Switching over to the court give us a greenish look,

yes the Olympics’ tennis event would be played on

grass courts of Royal England Club-a rare chance for

Olympics. And the world would patiently hold their

breath for sensational serves from Roger Federer and

smashing baseline strokes from Rafael Nadal but an

Indian fan would have his hopes relying on the Indian

Express of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati.

Though the duo is not certain about their future as a

doubles partners as they recently split for the current

professional season. But if they decide to do it once

more for the sake of the Tri-colour, it could well be an

icing on the cake for the Indian dreams, else Bopanna

and others might be good enough but certainly not

the best looking at the standards of the Olympics.

China and U.S will fight it for the top spot, Russians

may follow and other Asian nations like Korea Japan

and Australia-relying on his beloved Michael Phelps-

would make it to the top 10 in the chart. India peep-

ing from behind would hope to hit the double digit

mark. Inputs by : Ayushi Sareen, Journo, 2nd Year

Abhishek Chaudhary, Journo, 3rd Year

india Chasing the olympic dream

tigers in the Kangaroo’s pouch

3february 2012february 2012

india’s population is expected to

overhaul the Chinese population by

2020, but when you compare the

olympic performance of both the

nations, india lags behind

When Barack Obama assumed the Oval office, an omnipresent wave of op-

timism swept through the entire land of dreams, he arose like a Messiah

and promised hope for millions of those who were the causalities of recession.

The sluggish growth rate coupled with record levels of unemployment have left

the average Americans sulking. American lawmakers have also failed to come up

with an effective plan of action to tackle the debt crunch. Obama’s desperate

bailout packages have also failed to resurrect the falling crest of the United States.

The ‘housing’ sector has been one of the biggest victims of the falling purchasing

power of the Americans. A resurgent ‘Occupy Wall

Street’ movement against the ills of capitalism has

sent further shivers down the spines of Wall

Street Capitalists and Capitol Hill itself. However

it isn’t a total rip-off as Obama has tried to get the

economy back on track with exemplary valour.

Amid all this action, a significant development has

occurred. Some say that this is Obama’s way of

mixing legislating with populism. Obama has

maintained all along that he would show no

mercy while dealing with companies that ship jobs

out of America and his warnings have finally cat-

apulted in the form of an Anti-BPO bill.

The Anti- BPO Bill intends to put a brake on the

federal grants and tax concessions being given to

those companies who ship jobs out of America. The protectionist legislation aims

to discourage companies from outsourcing. The bill maintains that a call centre

will have to disclose its location to the customer and on customer’s request they

will also have to divert the call to a call centre based in the United States.

While this populist and protectionist legislation may appear like a ray of hope for

many in America but it has surely set the alarm bells ringing for many offshore

BPO havens, India being one of them. The Indian BPO industry is one of the

biggest in the world, valued at a staggering 11 billion dollars and employees thou-

sands of tech-professionals.

As lawmakers in America try to strangle outsourcing, it will be a great challenge

for the Indian BPO industry to climb past the hurdle and establish itself as the nu-

mero-uno tech-hub of the world so that Bangalore ceases to be called as the ‘Buf-

falo of the East’ and Buffalo assumes the title of ‘Bangalore of the West’.Saif Ahmad Khan, Journo, 1st Year

obama tries to outmanoeuvre

outsourcingThe time when whole world is

passing through economic prob-

lems, Iran-America relations have

reached at such level that their rela-

tions will haunt the world’s economy

in 2012.

America and other European countries

allege Iran of making atomic weapons

under the veil of peaceful use of

atomic energy . As a result of such al-

legations United Nations Security

Council, under the US hegemony, put

4 bound economic sanctions on Iran

.Despite this, Iran con-

tinues to run its nuclear

programme in the name

of electricity generations

and cancer therapy.

But the very recent hap-

penings have made the

situation more critical.

In the later part of De-

cember 2011, Iran hacked the com-

puter system of American Drone

RQ-170 Sentinel and abducted it in her

own territory.

Iran successfully tested a cruise missile

and claimed to have used an indige-

nous nuclear fluid pipe. Later it

warned the western powers of Block-

ing the Strait of Hormuz .It is an en-

trance to the golf in the naval area of

Iran. It is the world’s most important

choke point for oil shipments with 40%

of world’s oil supply.

The beneficiaries to it include India,

China, Greece, Spain, Italy etc. All

these countries are passing through

rough economic phase, so for them it

is like a horrible dream. It is necessary

to look at the possible political reasons

behind such non-negotiable stands of

both the countries-the general elec-

tions in Iran are just 3 months away

and USA will also get its new President

this year.

So this conflict between the Islamic

country and a capitalist country pro-

vides the fertile ground for Muhum-

mad Ahmadinijad and Barack Obama

to make it an issue to cash upon. The

Jewish is something which Obama

would not like to ignore.

And the unpopular regime

of Ahmadinijad would also

like to extract as much emo-

tional support as it can.

This conflict will also harm

the relations of Russia and

China with USA because

both of them have trade re-

lations with Iran. One more thing that

is certain 2012 is change of guard in

Syria, the key strategic partner of Iran.

And in case of American supported

regime in Syria, Iran no longer would

have easy access to allies Hezbollan

Militia in Lebanon and Hamas in Pales-

tine, and this might lead Iran towards

isolation. Economically also, it would

not prove out to be a healthy affair be-

cause much of its revenue comes from

the travelling cost of that route.

At present it is better to carve out a

middle path through negotiations oth-

erwise 2012 will turn out to be the

year of economic and military hard-

ships. Mohit Pasricha, Journo, 2nd Year

UsA, IRAn And 2012

It started for the people, functioned for the opulent and is now being controlled

by the masses. This is the journey of democracy since its conceptualization.

The Arab spring that began in December, 2010 took world by storm. The world

witnessed a revolution which would forever be recalled as an awakening of the

people against their governing systems. The demonstrations that followed lead

to a series of event that ultimately brought people’s rule in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya,

Yemen and civil uprising in Bahrain, Algeria, Kuwait, Morocco, Jordan and Oman.

These states lured for democratic setup.

The democracy as an entity has always had

a connation of a workable system for the

poor who otherwise have not been recog-

nized for ages. Democracy literally means

rule of the people. An incredible invention

of Greeks, democracy has evolved as the

most efficient means of governance in the

global front. World today embrace various

forms of democracy and thrives for a maxi-

mum participation from citizens. However

the present stage of democracy is quite different from what it was. Gone are the

days when citizens could take anything that came from their rules. Dictators are

now being countered by the people. Corrupts are being slacked. Ruthless are

being assassinated.

There is total antagonism for non-democratic setup today. The thirst for a better

world has also encouraged various powerful nation of the world to fight for the

cause of democracy along with people. Year 2011 was remarkable in the history

of world order. Wide spread protests and movements to overthrow autocracy, at

first in Tunisia and then in Egypt is the testimony to the will of the people. The

last in the series of event was the death of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Gravity of the issue established the fact that people will settle down for nothing

less than self-governance.

The further course of time is undefined. It is however largely predicted that the

authoritative and exploitative rulers will face tough time managing their subjects.

The torch bearers of democracy are underway and dictators are warned to mend

their ways.

Democracy is a never ending and continuously evolving process for better and

more representative world. It has proven its worth time and again. It harbingers

faith in social system. Each one of us has a say in deciding our representative and

the responsibility of our own action. It nurtures vision of a just and an equal

world. Democracy thus remains unparalleled and powerful of all existing world

governing systems. Shweta Kothari, Journo, 2nd Year

since its independence in 1947, Pak-

istan has spent several decades

under military rule (1958 - 1971, 1977

- 1988, and 1999 - 2008). The foremost

reason was the inept and corrupt civil-

ian governments and the prevailing

socio economic conditions. The his-

tory has repeated itself thrice. Of the

64 years of independence over 34

years has been under Military Regimes,

and the remaining 30 years of suppos-

edly civilian rule, the Army

of Pakistan has been call-

ing the shots.

The present ruling coali-

tion government of PPP

(Pakistan Peoples Party) is

headed by Mr. Asif Ali

Zardari the husband of the

slain former Prime Minis-

ter Ms Benazir Bhutto. He

is being assisted by a close

aide Mr. Yusuf Raza Gilani

who is the Prime Minister.

Their problems have been

compounded by the political situation

in neighboring Afghanistan, and in fact

there is a massive spill over of that sit-

uation into their soil due to geopolitical

factors. If one ponders through the list

of civilian rulers of Pakistan since inde-

pendence, just Mr. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,

his daughter Ms. Benazir Bhutto and

Mian Nawaz Sharif stand out. There

has been a massive rise in the spread

of terrorism within their country and

the present government has been

inept at handling this due to lack of po-

litical will. Both of them do not have

the personality or capability to handle

these intricate issues.

Of the other political personalities only

Mian Nawaz Sharif of PML (N) and

Tehrik E Insaaf party leader and former

legendary cricketer Mr. Imran Khan

standout. Massive turnouts at his po-

litical rallies have indicated that Mr.

Imran Khan has become quite popular

with the masses. He has a towering

personality and is well admired by the

populace for his cricketing

exploits which are legendary

and his contribution to the

cause of treatment of cancer

in Pakistan. His standout

project Shaukat Khanum

Memorial Cancer Hospital in

Lahore is well accepted by

all echelons of the society.

Coupled to this the vision

which he has expressed in

tackling the complex prob-

lems faced make a lot of log-

ical sense. He has analysed

the problems with surgical precision

and expressed a fierce determination

to provide effective solutions to these

complex issues. The only factor which

goes against him is lack of experience

in political and administrative affairs.

But given his past exploits in sporting

and philanthropic areas, coupled with

fierce determination and indomitable

will , he makes himself a frontrunner to

lead his country through this extremely

difficult phase . Who knows he may

even take Pakistan to a new destiny.Prerana Kapur, Journo, 2nd Year

Is a stable democracy possible in Pakistan?

Pakistan : A Fluid state

4 february 2012february 2012

democracy gets a makeover!

In a country where we stand high on morality, peo-

ple dying of cold on the streets is a sorry state. The

city has only 64 permanent and 54 temporary shel-

ters which can accommodate just over 14,000 peo-

ple. That means there are about 40,000 homeless

people on the streets left to fend for themselves

every night.

The Supreme Court issued a directive to the civic

authorities to prepare the night shelters for the

poor before the temperatures plummet to near

zero. But the authorities seem to be in no urgency

with an extreme slow pace of work. At the peak of

winter, around 4 people die of the winters everyday.

Keeping the conditions of the poor in the winters

in mind, a lot of NGOs and the government to-

gether are working towards making the lives on the

streets a little better. UP government approved

Rs10.84 crores for the homeless and the poor. The

money will be used to provide some relief and blan-

kets to those who cannot afford them. Also, Delhi

Urban Shelter Improvement Board [DUSIB] is build-

ing night shelters to provide refuge to the homeless

in this weather.

It’s initiatives like these which help the destitute

and needy in severe cold but one fact that cannot

be ignored is that the government needs to plan

and come up with facilities like permanent night

shelters and also set up temporary shelters to help

people survive the biting cold.

For India's homeless, many feel lives could easily be

saved if the authorities showed a little more

warmth. Mansi Negi, Journo, 1st Year

Care for the

shivering

Talking about the current scenario

of health in India, one can easily

say that India has come a long way in

tackling diseases. But the reality is that

we have been unable to control the

spread of some fatal diseases like Tu-

berculosis, Malaria etc. Acoording to

the recent datas, Tuberculosis is killing

around 1000 people everyday in India.

As per a report by a 16 member com-

mittee set up by the National Vector

Borne Disease Control Programme to

gauge India’s actual Malaria death bur-

den, the number has arrived to 40,297

as the average deaths per year.

The famous health magazine Lancet

published a report that malaria killed

about 46,800 Indians in 2010. It will be

interesting to note that India had

started a campaign to eliminate the

Anopheles mosquitoes and had suc-

ceded considerably. Lifestyle diseases

such as Diabetes, Hypertension are also

increasing. Dengue has also become a

great challenge for our country.

This troubling trend can be attributed

in part to substandard housing, inade-

quate water, sewage and waste man-

agement systems, a crumbling public

health infrastructure. When Identifying

the challenges for India’s health sector,

rural backdrops are the most adversely

affected. Further implementation of

schemes passed on paper is the need

of the hour. The health condition of the

villages in our country is improving but

the rate of evolution is not satisfactory.

There is a need to assure that the In-

dian populace is aware and catered to

in all aspects of medical assistance.

Despite all the odds a ray of hope ap-

pears when one considers the develop-

ment of medical science in India. The

availability of quality doctors and med-

ical assistance possible at some of the

cheapest rate in the world is the

strength of the health sector. India pro-

vides best-in-class treatment, in some

cases at less than one-tenth the cost in-

curred in the US. India’s private hospi-

tals excel in fields such as cardiology,

joint replacement, orthopaedic sur-

gery, gastroenterology, transplants,

urology etc.

Churning out the best of India’s poten-

tial towards medical assitance to the

rural poor should be a priority. A coun-

try of 1.2 Billion needs to identify the

flaws and continuously strive towards

the eradication of health hazards.

Inputs by : Deeksha Sarin, 1st Year

Compiled by : Prerana Kapur, Journo, 2nd Year

Waiting for a healthy india

as part of the college initiative to help the poor

and needy, the environment society of maharaja

agrasen College, maC-inseRCh organized a two

day camp to collect warm clothes and blankets

along with raising funds in association with the

delhi brotherhood society’s children division

Childline which aims at reaching out to the

marginalized children in need of protection and

care. the camp succeeded in collecting 15

packets of clothes and raising funds to help the

street urchins and daily wage laborers.

tackling pollution : the

need of the hour

In a country that is adamant to make a mark on the international scenario, an

issue that was previously never of much consideration has slowly but steadily

crept into relevance.

The standoff between the West and the East, to be precise between the devel-

oped and developing world on the critical issue of cutting down on greenhouse

gas emissions continues as witnessed at the recently concluded Durban summit.

initiative was taken by an event management firm ‘Midas’ who organized a pres-

entation on the theme of ‘Clean India’ in collaboration with the Union Ministry

of Tourism.

The technologically driven presentation held at India Gate was both soul stirring

and thought provoking. It raised some critical questions in the minds of all those

who were present to attend the august event.

The presentation aimed at bringing a change in the psychology and perception

of Indians on the issue of keeping

their country neat and clean. It fur-

ther aimed to strike a chord with the

masses by passing on the message

that a ‘clean India was the doorstep to

a shining India’.

Ironically the very Indians who spoil

the spiritual cleanliness of their own

country happen to be among the

more disciplined and well behaved lot

in foreign countries. This problem per-

sists because of a prejudice and that

is because of the conditions in which

we are brought up. When we see oth-

ers openly spitting and dumping things

on the road, we perceive it as a sort of

a right guaranteed to us. It was this outlook which the presentation aimed to dis-

mantle. The organizers explained that an aware younger generation is the key en-

tity to future clean India. If a person litters, a younger sibling or relative may undo

what those actions. If such happens regularly, the elder ones would be compelled

to realize their insensitivity towards the environment.

There are other reasons too for the awfully depredated state of cleanliness on

roads and public places in India. One is the administrative laxity or incompetence.

In India, people don’t shy away from spitting because they are sure of walking

away scot-free. Hardly any fines or penalties are imposed on such people.

One can keep educating people about the ill effects of greenhouse gas emissions

and advise them to utilise the public transport system for traveling shorter dis-

tances but cannot expect them to switch over unless one provides them with

world class public transport mechanisms like the Delhi Metro. Similarly, one can-

not expect people not to spit or litter if we do not devise a system which strictly

prohibits them.

The struggle for a clean India needs to be fought with an indomitable spirit by all

sections of society. In order to preserve the rich cultural heritage of our enor-

mously old nation, it is necessary for us to keep India clean.

Shakeb Wajeeh, Journo, 1st Year

The Honorable Supreme Court of India recently

said, "Our heart bleeds when we see homeless

persons sleeping without roof in this winter. You

can't permit your own children to die in winter”. The

court made the remark while referring to media re-

ports and photographs highlighting instances of

scores of people sleeping on the pavements outside

the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sci-

ences(AIIMS).

The aggravated fall in the temperature of Delhi or

any other state for that matter for the last several

days have all the more added to the woes of people.

Icy winds, cold and chilly nights have led to numer-

ous deaths. The death toll keeps on increasing by the

falling degree. No matter how hard the day passes

by but the nights are almost unbearably cold. Shiv-

ering in the middle of the night, with nothing to

cover the body with- is truly a sad state of affairs for

the poor stranded on the roads.

According to a recent Indian government committee

constituted to estimate poverty, nearly 380 million

people of India’s population is poor, and a lot many

unaccounted for- on the roads devoid of the bare ne-

cessities to sustain their life. As wintry nights settle

and frosty waves sweep Delhi, there are over 56,000

homeless people who struggle to battle the bone-

chilling winter. While cold waves are an annual fea-

ture, so are frozen bodies of homeless people.

With north India in the throes of a cold snap, many

are struggling to keep warm from the numbing cold.

Last year, over 200 people died in northern India be-

cause of the cold winter.

5february 2012february 2012

An Environmental Awareness

Presentation at India Gate

11 blue monks this year were

more successful in propagat-

ing their religion

than rectors of

any other reli-

gion. The Indian

cricket team after

a gap of 28 years

lifted the sculp-

ture worshiped by

almost every reli-

gion of the coun-

try. Team India

lead by Mahendra

Singh Dhoni won

the ICC cricket world cup

2011 by defeating Sri Lanka

in the finals at Wankhede

Stadium, Mumbai. Despite of

tough competition put for-

ward by some of

the best teams

across the world

like Australia,

Pakistan, South

Africa, the rela-

tively younger

team India per-

formed valiantly

and won the

world cup.The

team dedicated

the victory to

Sachin Tendulkar and suc-

cessfully made a billion

dreams come true.

The year 2011 was a landmark year if

not for the Indian politicians then defi-

nitely for Anna Hazare. According to

media houses across the world the

movement ‘India Against Corruption’

was the biggest

highlight for

the country this

year. Lead by

Kisan Babu Rao

Hazare and his

team the

movement was

against the pre-

vailing current

scenario of cor-

ruption in the

country. The movement unfolded in a

series of events drawing the attention

of every region of country and every

section of society.

The basic demand of the movement

was a strong Lokpal bill to be tabled in

the parliament. The movement even

witnessed phases of persuasion, allega-

tions and retaliations between govern-

ment and the Team Anna.

The first two phases of the movement

witnessed mass support and the popu-

larity of the

participants of

the movement

overcame all

expected pa-

rameters.

Allegations and

divisions within

Team Anna

soon became

highlights of

news.

The third phase of the movement with

a shifted venue at Mumbai lost it sup-

port at a mass level.The movement

democratically had some pros and cons

but it succeeded in sparking the discus-

sion against corruption from ‘SADAK to

SANSAD’.

indian economyThe Indian economy witnessed remark-

able transformations in this year alone.

The distancing of the Indian economy

from the world, mostly euro-centric

economic turmoil is enough to high-

light the crux of India’s economic pol-

icy. The Indian economy steadily

climbed to regain the 9% growth that it

once commanded but was restricted to

a near 8.5%.

Once a novelty for the Indian market,

FDI or Foreign Direct Investment was

the talk of the nation.

If statistics released by the Reserve

Bank of India are to be believed, a jump

of no less than 77% has been recorded

in the amount of money invested in the

Indian markets via FDI’s.

Rise of democracy in the middle eastThe self immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia soon engulfed a

cartel of dictator regimes in the

heart of the world. The Arab Spring

as it is popularly referred to rein-

stated fear among dictators across

the world. The fight for democracy

has run over 18 nationalities and

has caused over 32,000 casualties.

Noteble developments as a result

of the revolution were the resigna-

tion and eventual trial of Hosni

Mubarak in Egypt and the culmina-

tion of Mummar Gaddafi’s rule over Libya. Though the world is yet to witness the

fruits of this bloody revolution, it is for sure that democracy and equality are in-

dispensible entities for governments in the years to come.

Approximately an year

following the rupee

joining the club of elite

currencies that don a

symbol to represent

them, the Indian rupee

witnessed an all time low in compari-

son to the world scenario.

The rupee was devalued to the point of

`54.47 per $1.

The dreams of Indian economy sur-

passing the west in the years to come

seem to be put away in the cold vault

for now.

The sharp decline in the value of rupee

by an approximate 14% has wide rang-

ing implications ranging from slowed

down stock markets to decreased ex-

port of Indian goods.

The world’s largest census took place in the

world’s largest democracy in the year 2011, the

results were that the growth rate of population

for India in the last decade was 17.64% and fur-

ther Bihar (23.90%) exhibited the highest

decadal growth rate in rural population. It is in-

teresting to note that India’s population in

1901 was about 238.4 million, which has in-

creased by more than four times in 110 years

to reach a population of 1,210 million in 2011.

2011 - The Year That WasYear RapJanuary 24 – Legendary singer of Hin-

dustani classical music, Bharat Ratna

Bhimsen Joshi dies in Pune.

April 24 – Spiritual leader & educator

Sri Sathya Sai Baba, died at Prashanti-

gram at Puttaparthi.

*

June 9 - M. F. Hussain, arguably India's

best-known artist, died in Royal Bromp-

ton Hospital in London, of a heart at-

tack at the age of 95.

*

June 11 – Senior journalist and Investi-

gations Editor with leading Mumbai

tabloid MiD DAY, J Dey was shot dead in

afternoon.

July 13 – 21 persons die as serial bomb

blasts rip through the Opera House, Za-

veri Bazaar, and Dadar West localities in

Mumbai.

*

August 14 - Veteran bollywood star and

Elvis Presley of India Shammi Kapoor

passed away.

*

September 7 - Bomb Blast in Delhi: At

least 10 people were dead and 65 were

brutally injured with the bomb blast in

the Delhi High Court premises.

*

September 18 - 116 people lose their

lives in Sikkim and other parts of North-

eastern states as an earthquake meas-

uring 6.9 on the Richter scale.

*

October 10 - Renowned ghazal singer

Jagjit Singh died at the Lilavati Hospital

in Mumbai.

*

November 23 - India’s leading Indus-

trial house Tata named Cyrus Pallonji

Mistry the successor to Tata Group

Chairman Ratan Tata.

*

December 4 – Legendary Indian actor

Padma Bhusan Dev Anand died.

December 9 - A fire broke out in the

AMRI Hospital in Kolkata in which 91

persons died.

*

December 29 - Rajya Sabha was ad-

journed sine die without voting on the

essential Lokpal Bill.Prashant Jha, Journo, 2nd Year

Twesh Mishra, Journo, 2nd Year

a 100 year young delhiNew Delhi completed 100

years as the capital of

India on December 12 this

year. Exactly a century

ago, King George V ad-

dressed a grand congrega-

tion of royalty and British

soldiers at the Delhi dur-

bar and proclaimed Delhi

as the capital of British

India. Photography and art

exhibitions reviving the

memories of British India

and the evolution of Delhi

as the capital of India

thronged venues across

the city.

Newspapers and maga-

zines published full fea-

tured issues on this theme and praises for Edwin Lutyens,

the architect of Delhi and his farsightedness were the

thought for the month of December.

fight for Corruption free nation

india Counts

Cheaper Rupee

World Cup 2011 : a billion

dreams Coming true

6 february 2012february 2012

This all began with Indira Gandhi’s famous ‘Roti, kapda, makaan’ (bread, cloth,

house). Similarly, a more recent ‘bijli, sadak, pani’ (power, roads, water), elec-

tion manifestoes have been an integral part of the elections campaign. It is a po-

litical party's agenda for action, a public declaration of

the directional changes, new policies and programmes

that the party plans to implement if voted to power. But

most importantly they are useful documents

and can help to hold parties accountable if they

get to run the government.

Parties do spend time and money to prepare

manifestoes and to publicize them. For anyone

interested in public change a election manifesto

is a great starting point to understand the full

canvas of national issues, a manifesto clarifies

the positions of a party. You can often find your-

self agreeing with some views of a party while

disagreeing with others. They are also informa-

tive of what’s missing.

A manifesto should matter to the party, the

competing parties and the voters. Indeed, it should be the basis for

assessing the worth and relevance of different parties. But

the reality is these manifestos do not receive the atten-

tion they deserve as statements of intent by the parties.

With elections in 5 states on the cards, we have the man-

ifestos of some parties making their appearance soon –

and vanishing from memory with equal speed.

Have these manifestoes became the last priority? Or is it

that we still fall prey to religion, caste, and minority, tem-

porary and temporal temptations. We voters generally lack the dissective faculties

to assess the relative merits/defects of the contending or contesting political par-

tyism.

If we closely read a manifesto, they provide a better idea of the issues and prob-

lems that face the country but today they are just ‘policy-lite’ documents. Also

The media treats the release of election manifestos as if they were a non-event,as

if these documents were ritual exercises in political rhetoric and the promises

contained in them nothing but irresponsible populism.

Manifestos will matter only when a party has an ideology and programmes that

are distinctly different from those of others. In this era of alliances and coalitions,

such distinctions are difficult to maintain and easily get blurred.

The pressure for well focused manifestos could have come from the voters. But

given the low levels of knowledge and awareness of

most people, it is unlikely that they will play this role.

The big and complex issues highlighted in a manifesto

may be beyond their comprehension and interest. That

is why manifestos are looked at only by a few intellectu-

als or some in the media.With trust in

politicians at a low ebb, putting for-

ward an election manifesto and being

held to account for its delivery is an es-

sential element in building trust be-

tween the elected and the elector.

Implementation of the election mani-

festos presented to the voters before

the elections must be made either constitutionally or

legally binding on the ruling political party/combina-

tion of ruling political parties which emerges victorious

and comes to power who must also be made accountable to the

public in general and the voters in particular. In other

words, what is now looked upon as a mere moral re-

sponsibility must be made legally enforceable. The

seemingly divine principle that if the party in power fails

to implement the promises, it is up to the people to vote

it out of office in the next elections should prevail rather

than where money, religion, ignorance and economic in-

security are all-pervasive!

The manifestos should be made legal documents and should be published in the

local dailies as well as official gazettes. An independent body should review the

progress made by the constituency and the promises made by the candidate

yearly. This would create more sense of awareness among the people. Election

manifestos deserve to be analyzed and debated by the media.

Rather than Presenting a “rosy picture” in the election manifesto tempting the

electorate with “cozy life” political parties need to be “realistic and pragmatic”,

while preparing their election manifestos and promise only what they can really

do. Nupur Sharma, Journo, 2nd Year

On January 13th 2012, India engineered a historical feat which many would

have termed as ‘impossible’ a couple of years back. The country of 1.2 bil-

lion successfully managed to astonish the whole world by not reporting a single

case of polio over the past twelve months. The World Health Organization hailed

India’s performance as ‘India’s greatest public health achievement.’

In the year 2006, India along with three other countries, namely, Nigeria,

Afghanistan and Pakistan, was included in the list of those countries who mis-

erably failed to curb the transmission of intrinsic polio virus.

The Government of India devised a host of initiatives and came up with spirited

strategies to curb this menace. Children under the age of five years were vacci-

nated at homes, railway stations, bus stands and in some cases even on foot-

paths to ensure their immunization from polio virus.

However, the crusade is far from over. India will have to continue its stellar per-

formance for two more years before it is declared as polio free. The challenges

ahead are complex and astronomical in number. India needs to be highly vigilant

and should stop importation of polio viruses from countries where polio con-

tinues to persist. The existing eradication programs need to be carried out with

the same indomitable spirit to arrive at the goal of a polio free India and to elim-

inate the possibility of resurfacing of the virus.

*Figures based on estimates of

Indian Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization

Subhagata Bhatacharya, Journo, 1st Year

Saif Khan, Journo, 1st Year

a polio free nation

India’s growth story ever since de-

regulation in 1991 has been both

awe-inspiring and meteoric. Within a

period of decade post-globalization,

India along with China was labeled as

‘superpowers’ in the making. However,

two decades have now passed and

things seem widely improved but the

year 2011 saw a slight dip in the growth

rate of India Inc. The

slow down in the Ameri-

can economy as well as

some of the members of

the European Union has

wide ranging implica-

tions on dependent

economies around the

world. A major challenge

for the Indian economy is

the need to generate a

self sustainable economy

and mobilizing the markets to sustain

in the world of crumbling economies.

The government is trying it’s level best

to encourage the government owned

and semi- government companies to

invest more and more but how far it

will help to improve the economy is a

big question. There are umpteen rea-

sons behind the slowing down of the

growth process in India. The first and

the most evident one is policy paralysis,

leading industry players were the first

ones who brought up this issue. To

overcome the problem of policy paral-

ysis, all parties need to be fully commit-

ted to getting the Indian Economy back

on track and for this purpose; a broad

consensus needs to be evolved among

all the stakeholders on key reform is-

sues. Another major headache for the

Indian Economy has been inflation or

price rise. One reason for this has been

the imbalance in demand-supply pro-

portions. Several corporations indulge

in hoarding to artificially force the

prices up in order to register higher

profits. The Government needs to

crackdown upon all those who indulge

in hoarding to keep the prices in check.

Yes, currently the In-

dian economy is un-

dergoing a rosy

phase and inflation

has come down but

a major challenge is

to regulate the enti-

ties so that it does

not overshadow

growth and other

progressive develop-

ments. Secondly, the

Government needs to build an investor

friendly environment, to pave way for

entry of new firms in the industry to in-

crease supply and bring the spiraling

prices down.

India’s industrial output in November

managed to defy all economists by

bouncing back and recording a growth

of 5.9% which is indicative of the fact

that consumer demand hasn’t ceased

to exit despite record interest rate in-

creases by the Central Bank. India is

very much on the path towards inclu-

sive growth and if we are able to resur-

rect certain faulty sectors within a

feasible period of time, the Indian

economy will very soon become an

even more powerful force to reckon

with.Subhagata Bhatacharya, Journo, 1st Year

With elections in 5 states on the

cards, we have the manifestos of

some parties making their

appearance soon and vanishing from

memory with equal speed.

7february 2012february 2012

Indian economy : Hopes and

Challenges

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1001998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Polio in India

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Ca

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election Manifestos: do They still Matter

Editor, Zee News Mr. Satish K Singh pre-

ferred an informal discussion and provided

valuable insight as well as guided the stu-

dents on the current scenario of the Indian

media industry. He insisted students to be

aware of current affairs and to have a core

subject of which they attain indepth

knowledge prior to entering the media in-

dustry.

*

Continuing on the special lecture series,

Resident Editor, The Pioneer, Mr Siddharth

Mishra talked about the changing media

scenario and media censorship. He fo-

cused his lecture on the relevance of re-

sponsible journalism and the need for the

regulation of the media industry to pre-

vent it from self annihilation. The students

appreciated the way he presented the re-

alities of the contemporary media.

*

As another addition to the special lecture

series, Mr. Ashwini Kumar, Entertainment

Head, Zee News suggested the advent of

responsible entertainment journalism in

the coming years. He emphasized on the

relevance of morals and ethics while con-

sidering issues that are to be broadcasted

on the television screen.

*

The College celebrated its annual fest, Yu-

vaan a 2 day event which began on 11th

March. This event was a grand success

with students from various colleges partic-

ipating throughout the two days. Debate,

photography, dance, poetry and the fash-

ion show were some of the major compe-

titions. The fest culminated with an

exhilarating performance by Radix the

band.

*

MAC-INSERCH the environment society of

the College was initiated with a tree plan-

tation drive in the college campus. The so-

ciety has been active all year round and

was also successful in organizing a clothes

donation camp in college to assist needy

in the tormenting winter season.

*

Three companies interviewed more than

150 final year students from various

courses through the MAC Placement Cell.

More than 50 students got offer letters

with salary packages ranging from 2.5 to

4.2 lakhs. Dr. Arun Julka, coordinator

Placement Cell would be conducting an-

other such session in February.Barkha Sethi, Journo, 1st year

MAC - InFO

Hardly 100 kilometers from arguably the most progressive

city of a potential world super power, a clearly reciprocal

reality subsists. Barauji, a small village on of Haryana bor-

dering NCR exemplifies the harshest reality of our coun-

try. A stroll around the village is sufficient to identify acute

scarcity of any amenities for

the populace. The district is

clearly dependent on Nuh

the district headquarters of

the Mewat district for all

government and medical re-

quirements. The distance

that one has to travel for ei-

ther medical assistance or

for secondary education has

further stunned the growth

of the area in concern. The

locals were perplexed by the

sudden interest in their lives

by the youngsters that hailed from developed cities. The

young boys were quick to express joy or dissatisfaction,

the girls were further elusive of all interactions. The only

conversation that they indulged in can be surmised with

carefully crafted words and awkward reluctance. The one

Hindi-medium Government School of

Barauji for two villages – Gehbar and

Barauji provides free education till jun-

ior secondary i.e., class eighth. Due to

the absence of the higher school in the

locality the parents send the boys to

Nuh for further education, but same is

not the case of the girls. They are com-

pletely devoid of education after class

eighth. The inability to travel distances

and the oppressive attitude of the men

can be held responsible for the de-

plorable condition of women in the

area.

An adventure cum educational camp was

organized by Maharaja Agrasen College to

the Aravalli Hills, Haryana. The trip aimed

at grooming the students and introducing

them to the rigorous lifestyle adopted

when camping outdoors. The trip was ini-

tiated and was conducted under the su-

pervision of Principal Dr. Sunil Sondhi. The

highlight of the camp besides the adven-

ture activities was introducing students to

the rural backdrops of one of the most

under developed districts in the country.

The camp initiated at Nuh with a group of

59 students and some teachers setting up

their tents under the constant guidance of

Dr. Sondhi. The students were then di-

vided into groups of 10 and at a time 3

groups went together for rock climbing

while the others indulged in trekking. Pro-

fessional rock climbing instructors pro-

vided certified mountaineering

equipments to the students and educated

them on their

usage and safety

measures. A steep

rocky path was cho-

sen to put the ad-

venturers to test.

The groups that

were trekking were

lead by a septuage-

narian local guide

who seemed to

have photographed

every nook and cor-

ner of the moun-

tainous region with

his memory. The

trip to Nuh was a memorable ex-

cursion with all the elements of

the perfect adventure.

A 100 Kilometers from Modernization

An AdVenTURe AT nUH

8 february 2012february 2012

Principal, Dr. Sondhi instructing the students prior to the trekking and

rock climbing expedition

Teachers, Staffers and some locals at the base camp after the trekking session

Rock climbing (above) and returning to the base camp (right)

Dr. Ragi, Interacting with the local school children

Views expressed in the articles are the independent opinions of the writers

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