Pragati – Scholarship for Girls

To provide encouragement and support to Girl Child to pursue technical education “Pragati Scholarship” has been launched by the Government from the year 2014-15. The salient features of the “Pragati Scholarship” are as under: (i) Number of scholarship per annum: 4000 (ii) One Girl per family whose family income is less than Rs.6 Lakhs per annum (iii) The candidates will be selected on merit at the qualifying examination (iv) The candidates should have been admitted to 1st year of the Degree or diploma programme in any of the AICTE approved institute during the academic year 2014-15 through centralized admission process of the State /Central Government. (v) Amount of scholarship: Tuition Fee of Rs. 30000/- or at actual, whichever is less and Rs. 2000/- per month for 10 months as incidentals each year. At present, the Government does not propose to revise the eligibility criteria and other conditions of the “ Pragati Scholarship”.

National Mission ON Teachers and Teaching

The Government proposes to launch a new Scheme Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching. The programme envisions to focus holistically on whole sector of education without fragmenting it, based on levels and sectors and also to strengthen institutional mechanisms for strengthening vertical and lateral linkages. This would consolidate and strengthen on-going programmes related to teachers and teaching through effective coordination. It will also provide an integrated platform for building synergies among all the existing initiatives and will attempt to create a comprehensive vehicle for Teacher/Faculty related programmes and schemes. The programme envisages to augment capacity at individual level and also enhance institutional infrastructure to give impetus to training of teachers at pre service and in service level.

High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Finance during COP 20 in Lima

Intervention by Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change at the High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Finance during COP 20 in Lima

I commend the Government of Peru on the outstanding efforts to host this Conference and thank them for their warm hospitality. The fact that we have a high level dialogue on finance today points to the crucial importance that finance holds in moving forward on decisions on all other fronts in this COP – on adaptation, mitigation, technology, loss and damage for extreme events, and capacity building. On an optimistic note, I am glad to see some recent momentum building. We are glad to note that Parties have pledged to a total approaching US$10 billion in initial resources for the Climate Fund over the next few years. I need to bring to our attention, however, the fact that the size of public financial resources required is much, much bigger. Developing countries needs for mitigation and adaptation is being estimated in the range of USD 600 to 1500 billion a year. Mr. Chair, finance is a key enabler of ambition and action. If there is no clear roadmap in the provision of public resources by developed countries to provide new and additional financial resources approaching US$100 billion annually by 2020 and rising thereafter, then outcomes will be sub-optimal for a safer world. The need for Finance and technology support as a key element under the “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” cannot be overstated. The range of actions is not limited to mitigation alone, but also to all other areas, including adaptation. Let me give an example. The Adaptation Fund is doing an excellent job. But it has already run out of money. Mr. Chair, one possibility is for the GCF to finance the Adaptation Fund as an implementing entity. This one decision could be crucial and I recommend this to jump-start implementation on adaptation as an outcome of Lima. We need such initiatives and successes. But the GCF as funded cannot do everything given its limited size: REDD+, loss and damage, and enormous financial and technology needs for mitigation. That is why the need of quickly moving to the goal of US$100 billion annually by 2020 is so crucial for everything we are discussing at Lima and in the run-up to 2015 COP. Let me also suggest another way of enhancing global climate finance. In India, we have recently announced plans to scale up our actions for clean air, water, rivers, energy and habitations. Investors from developed countries stand to gain by utilizing these commercial opportunities. This will be beyond the resources from the US$100 billion in global public climate finance by 2020 that I have talked about as a minimum for global efforts. My argument is that developed countries need to think much more innovatively to collectively tap their financial markets, their long-term pension funds and bond markets, reducing costs and risks, and bring this financing and join our national efforts, as in other developing countries. This cannot be a substitute for predictable public climate finances of a sufficient size, but is a complementary way. Mr. Chair, “an army marches on its stomach”. Global climate action rests on the shoulders of the means of implementation, especially on finance and technology. We need to address these issues urgently in the months ahead, well before 2015 COP, if we want to do much better.

motivation

Whatever you think, that you will become; so take care about what you think. If you have to think, think good thoughts, great thoughts. Words are secondary.  Thoughts live; they travel far." - Swami Vivekananda  

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea.

Throughout our life, we have met people who seem to have more intelligence than the rest of us. We term these people brilliant, smart or address them as genius. We may assume that their intelligence is God’s gift to them. Perhaps you are one of these gifted souls yourself.  Then there are others who find it hard to concentrate and perform well academically, struggle with assigned jobs, to learn new things, and perhaps wish that they were more like those geniuses.

A competitive society places a lot of importance on intelligence. Intelligent people are considered valuable everywhere. People who display lower levels of intelligence fear the consequences of not being able to keep up with the peers in their respective fields. When our children perform well academically, we proudly rejoice and share their performance with everyone around us. On the other hand, when the child is struggling academically, it causes much anxiety and worry to parents. 

Do you struggle academically and in your career? Do you  consider yourself dull and wished that your were smarter? Or do you just wish to do better at the tasks that you take up? The good news is that you are already a genius, just that you may or may not know it. Even top performers use only a small percentage of their brains, and it follows that each one of us has a potential within us to be a genius. It is a myth that geniuses are born that way. In reality, geniuses are the ones who have developed their inner capabilities more than others.

If you believe that your intelligence is static and cannot be enhanced,  consider this. The performance of  students who are otherwise brilliant suffer greatly after experiencing some traumatic event in their lives. The same students are not able to learn and retain like they used to. Sometimes, the drop in academic performance is so drastic, that a top student might get failing grades in school after experiencing the trauma, until the situation is correct by therapy. The same is true with adults as well. This suggests that clearly there is something more to performance besides raw intelligence and genetics. 

Why is it that some people perform higher than others?

The following observation from geography helps to understand this better. In the Indian subcontinent, many rivers originate in the Himalayas. Most of these rivers break up into smaller distributaries, until they get either land locked or dried up by the sun. The rivers that break up into smaller streams and distributaries never reach the ocean.  On the other hand, the river Ganges, which also starts in the Himalayas, continues to flow steadfastly south east  without breaking up, and is able to pour its waters into the Bay of Bengal. The fact that the Ganges flows without dividing herself is the dominant reason for her to be able to reach the ocean. 

The path of the river ganges.

Such is the case with the intelligence of the human mind. People who are able to focus their thoughts on a particular subject with undivided attention appear to be more intelligent than others. In reality the same potential exists in the rest of us as well.  Genius is less about the faculty of intelligence itself, and more about the ability to concentrate on a specific task without getting distracted.

Swami Vivekananda

As swami Vivekananda said:

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.”

Now the question is, why is it that some people are able to give undivided attention to what they take up, whereas some others are not able to?

There are two reasons for this:

1. A high goal that greatly inspires and motivates the individual
2. A mind that is free from distraction

 Let us take this up this up one by one:

1) A high goal that greatly inspires and motivates the individual 

Until and unless an individual selects a task that greatly inspires and motivates him, his full potential does not get unleashed. This is why it is extremely important to “follow your heart”. Selecting a field of work only because of the need to survive ensures that an individual forever remains only in survival mode. All of the potential of such a  person remain dormant.

Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was a mediocre student in school. He was a shy, soft-spoken individual who had no great spark of intelligence or leadership in him. All that changed when he suffered discrimination in Africa due to the color of his skin. He took upon himself the goal to correct the injustices that he faced. Highly inspired and motivated with this goal, this once shy man of mediocre abilities underwent a tremendous transformation. He grew by leaps and bounds, fought diligently and untiringly towards the goal of freedom for the entire nation, and in the process introduced some of the most brilliant and powerful ideas known to fight injustice in a peaceful manner. His leadership was par excellence. No one remembers the shy mediocre student,  all of us know him as a highly powerful and revered political leader who we lovingly call “Bapu” – The father of the nation. All of us can bring out the great potential sleeping within us, if only we find a high goal that deeply inspires us, like Mahatma Gandhi did.

2) A mind that is free from distraction

As seen above in the example of the intellectual performance of people suffering after undergoing mental trauma, even people who are otherwise considered brilliant, perform poorly when the mind is distracted. Only when the mind is quietened does the intellect starts to perform to its full potential. An individual with a quiet mind is better able to make decisions that are in true alignment with his purpose, and thus increases his chances of success. Also a quiet mind conserves a lot of energy, as it is at peace. A quiet mind is more creative and intuitive. An agitated mind is more prone to negative emotions  such as anger, hatred, doubt, insecurity, unworthiness, etc, which wastes precious energy that would be otherwise channeled towards the task at hand. 

The other source of distraction come via our senses. It is not uncommon for a person’s intellectual performance to suffer when the mind is distracted thanks to  preoccupation with gratifying one of more of the senses – which is what happens when the mind deeply craves for anything. This is why people who experiencing a breakup of their relationship, or are addicted to alcohol or drugs perform well below their potential. Regular meditation reduces our cravings and aversions. It helps to cultivate a mind that is creative, intuitive, and free of distraction, which unleashes more of the power of your intellect to the tasks you undertake.

Your intelligence is not a fixed entity. You have enormous potential within you to enhance it.  Each one of us carries within us the seed of genius. Most of us preserve the seed as it, whereas some of us take that seed and grow it into a mighty tree  – and that makes all the difference in the world.  You are a genius. Once you know this and believe it completely, it is a only matter of time that the rest of the world will acknowledge it too.

Warren Buffet made largest donation of '14: Wealth-X

Billionaire investor Warren Buffet has made the largest philanthropic donation of this year, by giving USD 2.1 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the form of 16.6 million shares of his company, Berkshire Hathaway.

According to global wealth intelligence and prospecting company Wealth-X, Buffet topped the list of the 10 biggest single charitable donors of 2014.

Nicholas Woodman, GoPro Founder, CEO and Chairman was ranked second on the list as he along with his spouse donated USD 497.5 million to Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Eight of the top 10 donations of 2014 were made by American philanthropists. Hong Kong real estate tycoons Ronnie and Gerald Chan are the only non-Americans to appear on the list.

Ronnie and Gerald Chan were ranked third and fourth on the list. The billionaire brothers collectively gave a USD 350 million gift to Harvard University, the largest ever in the school's history.

Harvard also received a USD 150 million donation from hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin to support financial aid.

Griffin was ranked fifth on the coveted list.

Six of the top ten donations of 2014 were made to educational institutions, two were given to health causes and two went to philanthropic foundations, Wealth-X said.

Among other contributions, Gert Boyle's USD 100 million donation to Oregon Health & Science University was ranked 6th on the list followed by John Morgridge at the 7th place (USD 100 million to University of Wisconsin-Madison), John Jay Jordan at 8th rank (USD 75 million to University of Notre Dame).

The top ten largest philanthropic donations of 2014 also include, Edward Meyer at 9th rank (USD 75 million donation to Weill Cornell Medical College) and Charles Munger at the 10th place (USD 65 million to University of California Santa Barbara).

The Donated amounts mentioned in this report only took into account donations that have already been made, and do not include pledged amounts.

Wealth-X is the world's leading ultra high net worth (UHNW) intelligence and prospecting firm with the largest collection of curated research on UHNW individuals, defined as those with net assets of USD 30 million and above.

Questions for the new year What will be the challenges before a re-energised India in 2015?

Another new year is around the corner and it promises to be as unpredictable and uncertain as the year gone by. This is a good occasion on which to reflect on some major developments of the past year and identify what may preoccupy us most as a country in the coming year. Undoubtedly, the historic general elections in India that, for the first time since 1984, threw up a majority government must qualify as a potentially transformational event. This has reversed the mood of despondency and frustration that pervaded the country in the last two years of the previous government; it has also revived foreign interest in India as an economic opportunity.

India's credibility as a substantial power has revived and it can deal with its external environment with renewed strategic heft. The prime minister himself has contributed significantly to this change in mood and outlook by conveying a sense ofstrong leadership and clear direction. The coming year will be critical in determining whether these altered perceptions will be translated into substantive change. Failure to deliver real change may push India off the international radar screen once again even while disappointed expectations within the country may lead to domestic turmoil.

No one expects that substantive change will come in the shape of big bang reforms. However, the changes must be significant enough to justify continued optimism about India's prospects. The display of strong leadership must be matched by systemic changes. For example, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is an admirable initiative, but will run out of momentum if structural changes do not follow. We need better and more efficient waste-management systems; we need municipalities that deliver public services and impose penalties for littering. A large number of toilets are being built both through public funding as also part of the corporate social responsibility projects of public sector undertakings. In the absence of quality control and proper arrangements for maintenance they are likely to become symbols of tokenism. It was recently reported that about 25 per cent of toilets built in the initial rush are already non-functional.

The energy domain has witnessed substantive change. Diesel has been de-controlled and the direct benefit scheme, through Aadhaar and inclusive banking, are important steps. They are being applied to LPG supplies and hopefully, may be extended to kerosene.

However, energy governance continues to be fragmented with multiple agencies pursuing their own narrow interests in their respective silos. This prevents the country from formulating and implementing an internally consistent and comprehensive energy strategy encompassing different fuel sources and their inter se pricing. While ensuring adequate energy supplies to drive a renewed growth push particularly in manufacturing, some thought has to be given to the longer-term challenge of sustaining accelerated growth.

Our economic structure continues to mimic the energy-intensive and wasteful patterns of production and consumption spawned by an industrialised West that experienced growth in an era of energy and resource abundance. In an increasingly energy- and resource-constrained world we cannot aspire to the lifestyles and consumption patterns of the West. Even a fraction of the car ownership density of the West would demand fuel and land for highways and parking that is way beyond reach. The citizen's right to mobility must be delivered through efficient and affordable public transport, not through enabling car or even two-wheeler ownership. The policy implications of this are obvious. We must discourage private vehicle ownership through progressively higher taxation and use the funds to invest in public transport.

Agriculture is another sector that is crying out for fundamental reforms. The Green Revolution of the late 1960s and 1970s was based on the use of hybrid cereal seeds, with the intensive use of inputs like water, chemical fertilisers and pesticides. The focus was on crop yields, not the farmer's viability. This strategy helped to generate high crop yields and enabled food security over the next few decades. Unfortunately, this strategy has now run out of steam. Prolonged use of chemical fertilisers has diminished the natural fertility of soil, while increasing requirement of water has led to the alarming drop in groundwater levels across the country. The use of toxic pesticides has not only led to contaminated food chains, but also caused adverse health effects on farmers and their families who rarely wear protective gear while spraying these pesticides. The time has come to shift towards more water-frugal agricultural practices and to rely on crop rotation and organic pesticides to ensure high yields. The focus must shift from raising crop yields to making the farmer economically viable. This may require a judicious combination of animal husbandry, horticulture and other farm-related income generating activities that give the farmer both a more predictable income as well as insurance against the failure of one or another crop. These new practices have been tried and tested in Andhra Pradesh and some other states and have yielded excellent results. They need to be upscaled.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already made his mark on the foreign policy front. His instincts are sound and the initiatives he has taken so far bear the stamp of a leader with an eye for perceiving and confidently grasping an opportunity that presents itself. The invitation to South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) heads of state and government at his swearing-in ceremony, the visits to India's hitherto neglected neighbours and the latest invitation to United States PresidentBarack Obama as chief guest for the next Republic Day are all sophisticated moves of an accomplished tactician. But these moves need to be fitted into a larger strategic vision about the future of India. How does the rapidly transforming international landscape shape India's external environment and is India able, in some way, to alter that landscape to its own advantage? How must India deal with the collateral fallout from the Ukraine crisis that has locked Russia and China into a more enduring strategic embrace than we are comfortable with? Will India be reconciled to the growing power asymmetry with China, or is it determined to shrink if not eliminate that asymmetry? If the latter, what does that mean for choices we make at home, and what we do in relationships with both friends and adversaries? What does the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the neighbouring Gulf region mean for a secular India, and what do we do to ensure that the virus of sectarianism does not infect our own vulnerable population? These are challenges that demand clear-headed reflection and longer-term responses. Tactical deftness must serve a compelling vision of the kind of country India wishes to become in 10, 20 or 30 years from now, and what kind of society it wishes to bequeath to succeeding generations. These are the issues that await an answer in the new year.