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And now the bad news! |
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JOBS AND CAREERS |
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Charity begins at home |
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By Anand Muttungal
THE social teachings of Jesus Christ have influenced millions around the world. Members of the Catholic Church have responded well to this clarion call to develop the world from a socio-economic point of view based on justice and peace.
The words of Christ teach us: "He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none, and he who has food let him do likewise." (Luke 3:11). In the Gospel of Mathew, Lord Jesus makes it clearer by saying, "I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me." His command to extend help to everyone is being observed strictly.
The Indian Catholic Church officially began to take up social development projects in 1962 through Carithas India, its social apostolate organisation. The Catholic Church extends assistance regardless of caste, class and creed. It is involved in humanitarian assistance in calamities, rehabilitation programmes, empowerment of women and children, restoration of human rights, economic empowerment programmes, gender equality programmes, natural and human resource management, education of technologies to farmers, and other social activities. The Church also has a large network of health services in rural areas.
Carithas India invests around Rs 70 crore every year, through various partners, of which 10 per cent is collected from Catholic lay members in India. However, economically poor Catholics are not given preference in these projects.
The dioceses and religious congregations through their own sources invest another Rs 30 crore. Each diocese and religious congregation sets apart around 500 personnel for this work. The whole idea of spending so much money and engaging so many hands is no doubt for the development of the country. A good gesture indeed!
I have travelled through many parts of the country and have conversed with as many people as possible. The plight of economically marginalised Christians, to my surprise, has not become any better, despite the fact that they constitute a large chunk of the Christian population. However, the social apostolate of the Church in India appears to be immune to this stark reality and has not come out with any concrete programme to uplift socially deprived Christians and bring them into the mainstream.
Can the Church wash off its responsibility towards the deprived section of our (Christian) community with the argument that we receive funds for non-religious works? Can it continue to ignore their plea for help to stand up and join the mainstream of life? How long will the Church shut its doors to them?
I recently refused to be a member of a church-run social work core group as the social development projects had no programme to cover my economically backward (Christian) brothers and sisters. My argument is simple: If the Church pumps in huge amounts of money and engages its trained manpower, especially those who have taken a vow to safeguard the interests of the Catholic Church, then a major share must be for the economically poor belonging to Lord Jesus. It should not be seen as charity, but their right as disciples of Christ Jesus.
I fight with tooth and nail against the Madhya Pradesh Government's proposal to bring about the Christian Property Regulation Act. I have conversed with hundreds of Catholic, non-Catholic and non-Christians on this matter. A majority of them support the bill because of insignificant care given by the Church to the economically poor Catholics and Christians. It is high time the Catholic Church in India brings out a clear policy on its social apostolate, preferential option to poor Catholics, Christians and lower middle class Catholics.
It's time we reflected on this great saying: Charity begins at home. |
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Success sutra |
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By I.M. Soni
IF your constant refrain is, "I can't. It can't be done. I do not have the luck except of the bad kind. Things always go the way opposite I want", then you are inflicting a psychological injury on your own self. You are crippling your chances of a bright career and life.
This negative trend gets so deeply sunk into your personality that failure, gloom and self-disapproval become an integral part of your whole being.
However, this need not be so. Negative can give way to positive. It is easy because both are required thought patterns. You are not born a negative. You can now become a positive. Learn from the photographer. He develops negatives into positives. Be your own photographer!
In simple words, the negative and destructive or disintegrating forces can be forced out, and replaced with new and constructive ones, which re-build your personality.
Negative thinking generates a circle that goes on re-cycling emotional toxins. Regrets, self-distrust, anticipation of failures, creeping tears build an invisible horror edifice of inside you.
Each time you become a little more like what you dread like being, you forge one more link to the vicious chain.
If it is true of negative thoughts, it is also true of positive ones. Positives begin to reverse the negatives, just as glimmers of light dispel thickness of darkness. One solid positive thought lays the foundation of a cheerful edifice.
The antidotes for poisons of failure and false ambition exist in one's own mind. Replace them.
Experiments made by Elmer C Gates have shown that depressing emotions generate injurious compounds. Agreeable emotions generate chemical compounds that stimulate cells to generate energy.
"For each bad emotion", says Gates, "there is a corresponding chemical change in the tissues of the body. Every good emotion makes a life-promoting change. Every thought, which enters the mind, is registered in the brain by a change in structure of its cells. The change is a physical change more or less permanent".
You can build your own mind by calling up pleasant memories and ideas. Summon feelings of benevolence and unselfishness. Heaven and hell exist in your own mind!
Devote time to these emotional gymnastics. At the end of a month you will find the change in yourself that will be apparent in your actions and thoughts.
Anger, for example, changes the chemical properties of the saliva to a poison dangerous to life. Sudden and violent emotions can weaken the heart in a few hours, and can cause imbecility, even death.
"Suppose half a dozen men are there in a room", says Professor Gates; "one of them feels depressed, another remorseful, another ill-tempered, another jealous, another cheerful, another benevolent. Samples of their perspiration are placed in the hands of the psychophysicist. Under his examination, they reveal all those emotional conditions distinctly and unmistakably.
Strong emotion causes vomiting. Extreme anger or fright may produce jaundice. A violent fit of rage has caused apoplexy and death. Indeed. A single night of mental agony has wrecked a life.
Use emotional chemistry to neutralise a thought with the opposite thought, just as an acid is neutralised by an alkaline antidote.
Harmony neutralises discord. The health thought will antidote the ailing, sick thought. You cannot smile and scowl at the same time.
Replace "I am ailing. I am dying" with "I am well and kicking. I am growing in vitality. Why should I nurse death thoughts?" Nothing exhausts life as hatred, jealousy and revenge.
Those who nurse these passions are worn out; look haggard, even before they have reached middle age. They are premature fossils of life.
If you have a fever, you go to a physician for an antidote, but when jealousy or hatred is raging within, you suffer until the fever gradually wears itself out, not knowing that by an application of love, which would quickly antidote it, you could easily have avoided suffering and the wear and tear of the system.
You cannot drive darkness out of a room. Let in the light and the darkness flees. The way to get rid of failure is to flood the mind with success.
Vijaya, a struggling journalist has acquired the habit of refreshing her mind even in the most trying and exacting conditions. Knowing the power of mental images to renew the mind, she has learned to eliminate all those that suggest dark, unfortunate images, by dwelling on their opposites -- those that bring beautiful, cheerful, uplifting, encouraging pictures to her mind.
Through the magic of chemistry, she has been able to maintain serenity and balance that endear her to all who know her.
In the past, you have been pilling one gloomy thought on another and have built a solid wall. Now, reverse the process.
As a starter, use Emil Coue's famous: "every day in every way, I am getting better and better". Such a positive affirmation repeated loudly echoes in your mind, driving out the doubts, your traitors.
You can adopt a multi-dimensional approach -- personal, significance, work, people, life.
If you look upon yourself as worthless, a waif afloat on the water of life, you will reflect it in your words and actions. If you exhibit a bright image, confident words and self-assured behaviour, it will manifest in your life.
Negative thinking hinges on a feeling of inferiority and worthlessness just as positive thinking on personal worth. It is important to have a feeling of personal significance. You are unique as individual.
Positive thinking is a way of looking at life. Sometimes, a negative approach springs from wanting to do things you are not fit enough to do. You misfire.
There must be self-acceptance in ample measure. Your real potential may be unexplored but you go about exploring what really does not belong to you. This happens when you try to be someone other than your own self.
A classmate of mine desperately tried to become like me. But his efforts were wasted because he was not trying to explore and realise his own potential. He was trying to imitate me. This happens to many because they nurse delusions about themselves either by overestimating or underestimating themselves.
How do you look at your work? Do you look upon it as a necessary evil? If so, then a current of gloom flows in your thinking. You go about life as a lost soul. But positive thinking and belief in self will keep the frustrations of failure out of your life and career. (Courtesy: The Tribune) |
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Unbelled CAT |
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By Sunit Dhawan
FACTS, they say, are stranger than fiction. Indeed. What else could be more ironical than the IIMs, which have long been regarded as the country's premier management institutes credited with producing world-class managers, having failed to manage their first-ever online Common Admission Test (CAT) conducted recently?
The IIMs had outsourced the job of conducting the online CAT to Prometric, a USA-based company that claims to be a "leading global provider of comprehensive testing and assessment services".
However, the test was a disaster with reports of thousands of candidates (almost 18 per cent of total examinees) from several cities not being able to take it due to technical snags in the computers at testing centres pouring in for several consecutive days.
A virus attack was blamed for the fiasco, with Conflicker and W32.Nimda being named the major troublemakers.
At the same time, the authorities of the hitherto prestigious IIMs came under fire from various quarters for botching up the maiden online CAT. They were accused of putting all responsibility on Prometric and doing little to ensure that a foolproof testing mechanism was actually in place.
This casual and complacent approach adopted by the management of the IIMs caused irrecoverable loss to the reputation of the elite institutes, apart from playing havoc with the dreams of thousands of aspiring managers.
Experts point out that a simple step like conducting a rehearsal of the exam would have exposed the glitches in the system well in time to rectify the same. Some maintain that regimes like biometric identification, apart from online video and audio screening, also burdened the systems.
Expressing concern over the issue, Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said the organisers should have been more careful with the manner in which the test was conducted. The government has also sought a factual report regarding the matter.
Dr Nasib Singh Gill, Professor and Head, Department of Computer Science and Applications at Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, asserts that merely engaging an overseas company for conducting a test was not enough and the IIM authorities should have adopted a more proactive stance.
"We have been successfully conducting a statewide online test for entrance to the MCA course. Such initial hiccups cannot be ruled out, but a more rigorous regime to test the testing mechanism was definitely required," he maintains.
Dr Gill further points out that instead of outsourcing the task of conducting the exam to a US firm, the authorities concerned should have explored the Indian companies as many of them are not only fully competent, but also well-versed with the ground realities prevailing here.
As of now, the authorities concerned have decided to extend the time frame for the conduct of online CAT, which was already spread over a period of 10 days as compared to the single-day exams conducted till last year, so that the candidates left out due to the snag can get a fair chance.
Such knee-jerk reactions are obviously not enough to contain the damage already done to the psyches and preparedness of thousands of CAT aspirants and to the prestige of the top B-schools of the country across the globe.
What can be done to contain the damage so that the students' faith in the elite management schools is restored is the question the managers of the IIMs should be asking themselves.
Hiding behind the lame excuses of server failures due to virus onslaught or other such things simply won't do. Nobody is going to buy such explanations from the IIM bosses, especially in this era of Internet and frequent online exams. In fact, thousands of Indian students take online tests like Graduate Record Examination (GRE), Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) as a matter of routine.
These tests are given 30-40 times a year on pre-determined dates at over 4,000 secure Internet-based centres across the globe and technical glitches have been virtually unheard of in these exams.
The online tests have several benefits as well. First and foremost, the test is conducted at a location closer to the candidates' place. Precious time, money and energy of the candidates are thus saved. Then, the chances of impersonation or paper leak are also minimised.
Aman Mittal, Assistant Director, Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar, states that the concept of established institutions going in for new ideas like online tests is a welcome change.
"However, the available IT infrastructure is still not adequate to the desired level," he says, adding that conducting full-scale trial runs, stress-testing the software and taking corrective measures would go a long way in eliminating such glitches.
Education experts admit that it is not an easy task to launch a mega computer-based testing operation of this scale that involves training, equipping and coordinating activities among a large number of dispersed players.
IT experts opine that a standard anti-virus programme should be installed in every computer and the back-up systems used for the entire 10-day exercise. The second task is to equip the centers with multiple levels of back-up systems.
There should be two levels of server back up with automatic switchover to the other server in case there is any glitch in the original one.
All in all, it is high time that the persons at the helm of affairs take stock of the situation and besides chalking out a damage-control plan to minimise the impact of the CATastrophe, they should put on their thinking caps and devise some sound strategy to ensure that such debacles do not happen in future. (Courtesy: Jobs and Careers, The Tribune, Chandigarh) |
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White Revolution II |
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By Kanchan Vasdev
WHILE the first phase of the historic White Revolution made India the world leader in milk production, the second phase is expected to transform the country into a global giant in the production of dairy products.
Consequently, dairy technology is coming up in a big way and is all set to open up more employment avenues for upcoming professionals.
Professionally qualified human resource is very important for the proper growth and development of the dairy industry. Human resource needed in dairy industry include senior managers, technical managers, technical supervisors and middle level supervisors. Majority of milk plants in private and cooperative sector have a dearth of professionally qualified manpower.
The concept of dairy technology was popularised in India by Anand Milk Union Limited (AMUL) in 1946, giving impetus for imparting education in dairy technology. The National Dairy Institute in Karnal was the first to introduce a course in dairy technology in India. Rapid development in the industry is a boon for dairy technologists as it also generates employment opportunities in dairy equipment manufacturing and technical consultancy.
Of late, with the Government of India starting its Operation Flood and formation of the National Dairy Development Board, there is a huge demand for industry-ready dairy technologists to take charge of designing, development and execution of the projects essential for smooth running of the dairy plants in this field. A career in dairy technology also opens up job profiles in a dairy equipment manufacturing plant.
The scope: With the introduction of modern technologies in milk production and processing, the concept of liquid milk marketing has witnessed a paradigm shift towards value added dairy products, says Dr O.P. Parmar, director extension education, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana. Most of the 678 milk plants in the country are dealing with standardisation and packaging of liquid milk, milk powder and ghee. Some are producing varieties of ice cream, paneer, skim milk and whey for production of high value medicinal products like casein and whey protein. Other products like diet ice creams, desserts, mozzarella and processed cheese and probiotic milk products have now caught the fancy of consumers and producers are trying to be in sync with the demand.
Milk production in the country is increasing by 4 per cent every year and contributing more than 1 crore to the growth of GDP. "The dairy sector is likely to generate 1 lakh jobs every year. A survey in Punjab indicates that there is an immediate requirement of about 150 dairy technology graduates for managing different milk plants and other activities of teaching and research," says Dr Parmar. Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, where there is no dairy education institute, would require nearly 500 graduates. Dairy technologist are much in demand in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada and Middle East.
Back to basics: The basic qualification to enroll in a dairy technology programme is 10+2 with chemistry, physics and mathematics. "We want students to come equipped with the knowledge of math and physics as the courses would be dealing with engineering and other principles of physics," says Dr Parmar.
Opportunities are aplenty in this field. The Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation as well as private sector organisations like Nestle, Reliance, Wokhardt, Milkfood, Ceepham, Milk Specialties Limited, Supreme Agro Foods, Jagatjit Industries and other medium scale plants have vast expansion programmes in milk processing. "Graduates can easily land up with a job with an annual pay package between Rs 3 and 4 lakh," says Dr Parmar.
Traditionally, dairy technology was a part of veterinary and animal husbandry courses. These courses were and still are offered by agricultural universities as a part of bachelor of veterinary science and animal husbandry. (Courtesy: The Tribune) |
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Where faith healers thrive |
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By Afsana Rashid
SRINAGAR: Hundreds of families turn to faith healers in Srinagar for solutions to their problems, especially psychiatric ones.
A few years ago, 40-year-old Hajra was branded a 'lunatic' by her family, as she couldn't cope with certain problems in her life. "My husband and children gave up on me, but my mother didn't. She took me to a faith healer. After several visits, I recovered," says Hajra, a resident of Budgam.
Adds Hajra's teenage son Aquib Ahmad: "We thought nothing was going to work for her. She used to take a a lot of medicines and spent most of her time sleeping. She still has certain symptoms of her previous illness, such as talking loudly to herself. But, thankfully she is better now."
Miles away in the old city, Naseema Bano (53) says that her 20-year-old niece had fallen prey to black magic and was possessed. "Her strange behaviour worried us. We consulted several doctors, but everything failed. Finally, one of our neighbors suggested a faith healer (Jal Sahib). We approached him. He visited my brother-in-law's place, stayed there for a night and recited hymns. The next morning, my niece was alright," she says.
"Faith healers do have a role in healing, depending on the nature of illness. They help in treatment, subject to it being done humanely," says Dr. Hameedullah Shah, Head of Department, Psychiatry Government Medical College, Srinagar.
He adds: "The concept of the supernatural is so deep-rooted in our society that it is difficult to challenge it. However, people are realizing that these problems are diseases and not supernatural issues. The number of people visiting faith healers might see a decline in the future."
'I get between 500-1,500 patients every month. Even doctors come to see me," says 80-year-old Ghulam Mohammad Mir, a faith healer. Mir alias 'Mam Sahib' and locally known as 'Babba' says he has been in the 'profession' for more than 16 years and claims to have treated several people. He says he is often approached by people with psychiatric problems. "Such patients are usually 'possessed' by supernatural forces. With the help of special prayers, I treat them and set them free."
Mir claims to treat his patients by offering them water to drink and giving them a piece of wood (chandan) to burn. He believes a lot in the common feast (bandhaar). Mir was a businessman dealing in foodgrains and dry fruits before he turned a 'spiritual' healer. He owned a shop at Batmaloo, Srinagar.
Leading psychiatrist Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad Margoob says faith reinforces immunity. A spiritual component, according to him, is essential for any healing. "Even WHO and other credible organisations emphasise on healing through spirituality. Unfortunately, it has been hijacked by those who are not remotely connected to it."
"There are imposters who fleece people and create more problems, especially in rural areas. There have been cases where patients have gone to faith healers, only to return back to physicians," Dr. Margoob said.
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