New system to identify people by their 'brainprints'

New system to identify people by their 'brainprints' 

Scientists have developed a new system that can identify people using their brain waves or 'brainprint' with 100 per cent accuracy, an advance that may be useful in high-security applications.

Researchers at Binghamton University in US recorded the brain activity of 50 people wearing an electroencephalogram (EEG) headset while they looked at a series of 500 images designed specifically to elicit unique responses from person to person - eg a slice of pizza, a boat, or the word "conundrum". They found that participants' brains reacted differently to each image, enough that a computer system was able to identify each volunteer's 'brainprint' with 100 per cent accuracy.  "When you take hundreds of these images, where every person is going to feel differently about each individual one, then you can be really accurate in identifying which person it was who looked at them just by their brain activity," said Assistant Professor Sarah Laszlo.  According to Laszlo, brain biometrics are appealing because they are cancellable and cannot be stolen by malicious means the way a finger or retina can.  The results suggest that brainwaves could be used by security systems to verify a person's identity. "If someone's fingerprint is stolen, that person can't just grow a new finger to replace the compromised fingerprint - the fingerprint for that person is compromised forever," said Laszlo.  "In the unlikely event that attackers were actually able to steal a brainprint from an authorised user, the authorised user could then 'reset' their brainprint," Laszlo said.  Zhanpeng Jin, assistant professor at Binghamton University, does not see this as the kind of system that would be mass-produced for low security applications, but it could have important security applications.  "We tend to see the applications of this system as being more along the lines of high-security physical locations, like the Pentagon or Air Force Labs, where there aren't that many users that are authorised to enter, and those users don't need to constantly be authorising the way that a consumer might need to authorise into their phone or computer," Jin said.  The study was published in The IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security journal.

Speech by the President of India at the inauguration of the Fourth Retreat of Judges of the Supreme Court National Judicial Academy

Speech by the President of India at the inauguration of the Fourth Retreat of Judges of the Supreme Court

National Judicial Academy, Bhopal

1. It is a privilege for me to be present amidst you this morning to inaugurate the Fourth Judges Retreat, 2016.

2. I understand the first such Retreat of Supreme Court Judges was held in 2005. The Second Retreat was held in 2007 and the Third Retreat in 2009. A wide array of seminal topics, such as, impact of contemporary developments on Rule of Law, Human Rights, Administration of Justice and Judicial Systems in India were discussed in those retreats.

3. This Retreat is happening after a gap of almost seven years. I congratulate the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India and other companion Judges for organizing such an event which will provide an open forum to discuss contemporary challenges that the country faces today along with global and transnational elements of legal disputes and adjudication. Discussion and reflection of this nature is important, as well as necessary, to enable us to keep pace with the times and be able to deliver fair and effective justice in a rapidly changing world. I hope these Retreats will be institutionalized and held regularly in the future.

Distinguished Judges, ladies and gentlemen,

4. Judiciary, which is one of the three important pillars of our democracy, is the final interpreter of the Constitution and laws. It helps maintaining the social order by swiftly and effectively dealing with those on the wrong side of the law. As an upholder of the Rule of Law and enforcer of the right to liberty, the role of the Judiciary is sacrosanct. The faith and confidence people have reposed in the Judiciary is testimony to the fact that the Judiciary has since 1950 responded to the need of the hour. For justice to have meaning to the people, it must be accessible, affordable and quick.

5. Maintaining “Rule of law” is the most important attribute of the judiciary in a democracy. The Constitution also recognises it and sets out the noble objective of securing justice to all the citizens of India, be it social, economical or political. In ancient times too, the rule of law had been activised and conceptualised as “Dharma-Dhru dharayate”, that is to sustain and hold together human society through norms which are moral and command the consensus of the good men in the whole community.

6. Access to justice for the poorest of the poor would ensure ‘Justice for all’. It is worth recollecting here what Mahatma Gandhi had once said and I quote: “My notion of democracy is that under it the weakest shall have the same opportunities as the strongest”.

7. An affordable judicial system is a must for a country having a section of population at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid. Article 39A of the Constitution provides that: “The State shall ensure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes in any other way, to ensure opportunities for securing justice are not denied by reason of economic or other disabilities”. Voluntary efforts by all concerned are required to make this provision a reality. Greater efforts are necessary towards legal literacy. Instilling positive values in our young lawyers is vital. The Legal Services Authorities Act was enacted in 1987 to give a statutory base to uniform legal aid programmes throughout the country. Successive Chief Justices of India have played key role in enforcing the Act and I appreciate their contribution. Provision of free legal service to the weaker sections would provide a strong impetus to the cause of ‘Justice for all’.

Distinguished Judges, ladies and gentlemen,

8. We have a written Constitution in India, which is a living document, not a relic cast in stone. It is a magna carta of socio-economic transformation. Justice P N Bhagwati, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India and one of the tallest legal luminaries that India produced, thus expounded on the need of national constitutions to evolve with times[1]:

“The principle of interpretation requires that a constitutional provision must be construed, not in a narrow and constricted sense, but in a wide and liberal manner so as to anticipate and take account of changing conditions and purposes so that constitutional provision does not get atrophied or fossilized but remains flexible enough to meet the newly emerging problems and challenges.”

9. The Apex Court of India has continuously been interpreting the mandate for good governance enshrined in the Constitution on the altar of contemporary situations and challenges facing the country, whether due to global winds of change or from within. This has not been merely an exercise in interpretation of laws or legal order, much less an exercise in edifying jurisprudence; it has captured the ethos of our developing society as it has evolved from the colonial shackles to a social order replete with the essence of human dignity, of aspirations of a populace maturing into a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic as mandated by the makers of our Constitution.

10. The Constitution of India invests our independent judiciary, especially the Apex Court with extensive jurisdiction over the acts of the legislature and the executive. Judicial review is part of the basic structure and cannot be altered even by amending the Constitution. It is the judiciary which ensures the effectiveness of Judicial Review. The independence and integrity of our judiciary is therefore of the highest importance not only to the judges but also to people at large who seek judicial redress against perceived legal injury or executive excess.

11. Given the circumstances of our developing country, our judiciary has enlarged the scope of justice. For the enforcement of fundamental rights, the Supreme Court through judicial innovation and activism has expanded the common law principle of ‘locus standi’. It has been made possible for courts to permit anyone with sufficient interest and acting bona fide to maintain an action for judicial redress, and to activate the judicial process. In the support of rights, courts have found a post card or newspaper article to be material enough to set-off judicial action. This has helped to bring justice closer to the common man.

12. At the same time, judicial activism should not lead to the dilution of separation of powers which is the Constitutional scheme. Each organ of our democracy must function within its own sphere and must not take over what is assigned to the others. The balance of power between the three organs of the state is enshrined in our Constitution. The Constitution is supreme. The equilibrium in the exercise of authority must be maintained at all times. The exercise of powers by the legislature and executive is subject to judicial review. However, the only check possible in the exercise of powers by the judiciary is self-imposed discipline and self-restraint by the judiciary itself.

Distinguished Judges, ladies and gentlemen,

13. Quick delivery of justice is sine qua non for efficient jurisprudence. Justice delayed is justice denied. Justice should be speedy, accessible and affordable. Our Courts are today overburdened on account of the large number of cases pending before them. There are over three crore cases pending in various courts throughout the country. Out of these about 38.5 lakh cases are pending in 24 High Courts. The pendency of cases in the High Courts has slightly declined from 41.5 lakh in 2014 to 38.5 lakh in 2015, but we still have a long way to go.

14. Pending cases must be quickly cleared through multi-dimensional efforts by effective use of statutory timelines and procedural norms in areas like process service, adjournments, and delivery of judgments. I am sure a paradigm shift in the way the public perceives the legal system will come through persistent efforts by Judges to clear case backlogs and reduce life cycles of cases. This must be taken as an opportunity to bring in innovation in speedy dispensation of justice. Use of IT and e-governance can make a positive impact in this regard.

15. Basic court infrastructure has improved over the past years. ICT enablement of courts through the eCourts Project has facilitated availability of court and case data through the National Judicial Data Grid so that litigants and lawyers benefit from the availability of case information online. I hope our Courts and Judges will continue to remain active supporters as well as beneficiaries of all efforts aimed at E-governance.

16. The pendency of cases is also dependent upon the number of vacancies in the courts. I am told that out of a sanctioned strength of 1065 judges in all the High Courts, the working strength of High Court judges throughout the country as on April 12, 2016 was only 636. This amounts to vacancy of 429 judges. Stated otherwise, our High Courts are working with about 60 per cent of the sanctioned capacity.

17. I take this opportunity to compliment the untiring efforts made by the Chief Justice of India to speedily fill up the vacancies in the High Courts and the Supreme Court. Since the assumption of work of Collegium from the first week of January, 2016 total 145appointments were made as on 12.4.2016. This shows the speed with which the collegium is now functioning and I request Honourable Judges to maintain this tempo.

18. Emerging nations like India are keen to incorporate international covenants and even customary international law into their municipal laws where there is no explicit contradiction. They, thereby, contribute towards the cooperation necessary and indeed inevitable, across different legal systems so as to ensure that society, the State and economy are not hampered by differences in legal systems. The inevitability of cooperation across nations and across legal systems demands understanding both from the Courts and legislature of the global village we live in.

Distinguished Judges, ladies and gentlemen,

19. The Supreme Court of India has earned a global reputation for its superior standards and lofty ideals. Landmark judgments passed by this Court have not only strengthened the legal and constitutional framework of our country but are widely cited by the Judiciary in many other countries seeking to build progressive jurisprudence. The Bench of the Supreme Court is known for its intellectual wisdom and legal scholarship. The Supreme Court has over the years been served by Judges who have provided intellectual depth, vigour and vitality necessary to create a world-class institution. I am confident this Court will always remain a sentinel of justice.

20. I thank you for your invitation to participate in the Retreat and formally inaugurate it

Arctic link to the monsoon

Arctic link to the monsoon

In the chill climes of polar waters, scientists are looking for specific oceanographic factors that could influence Indian monsoon.

IndARC, the country’s first moored-underwater observatory in the Arctic, had recently been deployed for the continuous monitoring of the oceanographic parameters from various depths. IndARC is expected to provide significant inputs in the understanding of the Arctic climate and its possible link to tropical processes, specifically the Indian monsoon. The observatory is presently anchored about 1100 km away from the North Pole at a depth of 192 metres.

The observatory carries with it an array of high-end oceanographic sensors strategically positioned at discrete depths in the water column.

The sensors are programmed to collect real-time data on seawater temperature, salinity, current and other vital parameters of the fjord (creek), explained K.P. Krishnan, the leader of the project, ‘long-term monitoring of Kongsfjorden for climate-change studies’.

Climate change is felt first and fastest in the Arctic. It manifests as rising temperatures, loss of sea-ice and the melting of ice sheets. Any change in the Arctic region can influence climate patterns, sea-level rise and biodiversity changes across the globe, he noted.

The deployment of IndARC won the researchers the National Geoscience Award 2014, which was presented recently. The Indian research team included R. Venkatesan, Arul Muthiah and B. Kesavakumar of the National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai.

The observatory will help overcome logistical constraints in reaching the location during the harsh Arctic winter and obtaining near-surface data for the collection of oceanographic data. It will also aid the continuous collection of data from depths very close to the water surface as well as at different discrete depths, he said.

The oceanographic data acquired though the observatory, besides providing for an increased understanding of the response of the Arctic to climatic variability, would also provide inputs in the understanding of the Arctic processes and their influence on the Indian monsoon system through climate modelling studies, explained Dr. Krishnan.

CRISPR-edited mushroom cleared

The engineered mushrooms do not brown easily when sliced. This can improve their shelf-life, thereby rendering them valuable commercially.

A species of genetically engineered mushroom has been freed of regulation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This means that it can be cultivated and sold without being overseen by the USDA, according to a news report published online in Nature recently. Though about 30 genetically modified organisms have been similarly freed by the USDA, the special thing about this mushroom species is that this is the first organism to have been edited using the tool CRISPR-Cas9, which has been making waves in the field of genome editing, lately.

Known as the common white button mushroom, this fungus species (Agaricus bisporus) was genetically engineered by Yinong Yang of Pennsylvania State University using CRISPR-Cas9. The engineered mushrooms do not brown easily when sliced. This can improve their shelf-life, thereby rendering them valuable commercially.

The browning of the mushroom is caused by the enzyme polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and the above effect may be got by removing the genes that code for this enzyme. By removing some base pairs from the mushroom’s genome, Dr Yang succeeded in getting rid of one of the six PPO genes which reduced the enzyme’s activity by 30 per cent.

This process did not introduce foreign DNA from other viruses and bacteria. This is perhaps the reason why the modified mushroom was given the green signal. Among the 30 plant species that have escaped the regulatory framework is a rose-coloured pineapple variety.

Cultivating genetically modified crops is a huge industry which may be undergoing a massive rethink involving a three-pronged argument, with the industry on side, the biologists on another and activists opposing it from the third. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine will meet on April 18 to discuss this issue and, among other things, bring out a report that will predict what kind of advances will be made in biotechnology products over the coming years. The report will also comment on regulatory processes.

There is a whole spectrum of rules and regulations in countries around the world when it comes to research in genetic engineering and implementation of the results of research outside the lab. A case in point is that of germline editing using CRISPR, in which area many countries have even banned research. With regard to genetically modified crops, the U.S. has been quite liberal and it is likely to become more so.

The organisms that have currently been given the green signal involve somewhat simple steps of editing such as knocking off a set of genes to create a desired effect. As the technology advances, more complex procedures will be initiated and so the whole process of regulating these products will need to be reviewed as and when that happens.


‪#‎WorldHemophiliaDay‬ being observed today
Medical fraternity, hospitals, blood bank units and people living with bleeding disorders are observing the World Hemophilia Day (WHD) in major cities of the world today, April 17.
The observance is being coordinated by the World Federation of Haemophilia (WFH) - an international non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with hemophilia.
According to WFH, globally, 1 in 1,000 people has a bleeding disorder and most are not diagnosed and do not receive treatment. "Together we can change that," urges WFH on the occasion of WHD.
The observance is mean to create awareness about the bleeding disorders and educate haemophiliacs and lobbies for improved medical treatment since 75% of people in the world with bleeding disorders do not know it and do not receive care, informs WFH that has official recognition from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Carbon sharing between trees

Carbon sharing between trees

Forest trees are even more interconnected than thought, suggests a new study, which showed that around 40 per cent of the carbon in fine roots of spruce trees came from neighbouring trees.

A chance discovery in a mixed forest in Switzerland reveals that tree-to-tree interaction in forests goes beyond mere competition for resources.

Forest trees are even more interconnected than thought, suggests a new study, which showed that around 40 per cent of the carbon in fine roots of spruce trees came from neighbouring trees. This level of sharing can be crucial for forests, especially under stress conditions like wildfires, say the authors in their paper published in Science recently.

Human-driven activities have been releasing vast amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere since industrialisation began two hundred years ago. Consequently, there is a lot of interest in understanding to what degree forests the largest terrestrial pool of biological carbon, are able to absorb this amount, thereby mitigating climate change, said Tamir Klein who studies eco-physiology at University of Basil, Switzerland, in an email interview sent to me.

While investigating the responses of trees to elevated CO2, Klein and team stumbled upon this discovery. To track the flow of carbon, they had used a tall canopy crane to label five 40-metre-tall Norway spruce trees with stable carbon isotope 13. Five unlabelled spruce trees were used as control. The labelled and unlabelled trees were then measured for C-13 from “tip to toe” - canopy twigs, stems, and fine roots. This was also done for neighbouring unlabelled non-spruce trees. Their methodology ensured no label transfer to other trees. However, the team noticed something unexpected. “We discovered that labelled carbon does find its way to other trees, albeit in the root zone,” said Klein.

In fact, the numbers revealed that roots of neighbouring trees, species no bar, shared an almost similar isotopic signature. The scientists strongly suspect that this interaction is mediated by networks of symbiotic fungi called mycorrhiza which connect the roots of different trees. “Mycorrhizal networks are very common in most forests across biomes and climates. In spruce forests they are so common that they are considered a substantial carbon sink,” said Klein.

Much about the magnitude, direction and the regulation of these transfers is yet unclear. Since all the trees in the study were healthy, and stress-free the authors acknowledged the possibility that the labelled trees were transferring its excess carbon below ground and, in turn, triggering mycorrhizal growth and activity. However, this level of carbon sharing capabilities among neighbouring trees may have implications for forests under stress. “We hypothesise that under stress conditions, trees which are connected to each other through the “right” mycorrhiza species (a multi-host mycorrhiza) might have some advantage over trees which have to withstand as individuals,” said Klein.

What ails India’s urban governance?

An edited excerpt from an essay published in ‘The Making of Vibrant Cities: A Collection of Essays Compiled by Mumbai First’

The horrific flooding in Chennai in 2015, Delhi’s newly acquired status as the world’s most polluted city, Mumbai’s forever-potted roads, and the eye-popping rise in the number of rape cases from 165 to 643 and of molestation from 483 to 1,675 over the last four years— these are outcomes of weak urban governance.

So, it is pertinent to examine what constitutes weak urban governance. It essentially refers to institutional defragmentation, whereby multiple agencies often have overlapping roles, are run by officials who are not accountable to citizens, and the absence of a single individual accountable to the polity.

In India, while on paper, mayors are deemed accountable for cities, in spirit it is the chief minister. Cities are controlled by armies of bureaucrats and the chief minister, while the mayor has little to do. On the other hand, the world’s major cities, like London, New York, Paris, and Shanghai, are all run by powerful mayors. This makes it necessary to study the causes for urban paralysis.

An analysis suggests four reasons underpin this phenomenon.

First, urban areas are not large enough for them to determine the fate of a general election. Consequently, successive central governments have little or no incentive to focus on urban governance reforms.

For example, with an urban population of a little over 377 million of the total 1.2 billion in 2011, urban India elected roughly 177 members of Parliament, or one-third of the total 543 in the 2014 General Election.

Second, urban dwellers are not sufficiently represented in the sanctums of decision-making. Delimitation, that is, allotment of the number of seats in the House of the People (Lok Sabha) to the states, and the total number of existing seats in the Legislative Assemblies was last done on the basis of Census 1971. According to the 84th and 87th Constitutional Amendments, this allocation will only be altered based on the first Census after 2026.

Such insufficient representation has prevented urban areas from receiving the focus and the funds they require.

Third, the economic might of cities makes them appealing to the political classes. This increases their tendency to continue to wrest control of cities. For example, just the fifty-four metropolitan cities and their hinterlands accounted for 40% of India’s GDP and 45% of its consuming class households in 2012. As is known, it is in cities that business thrives, trade flourishes, jobs are created, and innovation takes place.

Control over cities provides political parties with significant leverage that can be traded to raise funds which, in turn, are used to fight elections in rural India. The state units of the ruling parties facilitate such arbitrage by throwing in infrastructure projects, like shiny airports, expressways, and permissions for skyscrapers that pander to the rich in cities.

Fourth, and most important of all, is the lack of human resource capacity in the country spanning the political class, the intelligentsia, the bureaucracy and the private sector. Severe talent shortage was underscored as the main reason for the slow pace of reform by the erstwhile Planning Commission. And a telling example of this is visible in the ongoing debate on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill.

One of the biggest indirect tax reforms since Independence, the bill is designed to create a harmonized tax structure by subsuming several local body taxes, like the entertainment tax, advertisement tax, entry tax, and luxury tax.

But the Bill remains completely silent on sharing the GST with local bodies as proposed by the 13th Finance Commission. If passed in its current form, this legislative lacuna will further cripple the financial independence of urban local bodies (ULBs). They will lose their own source revenue streams without adequate legal provisions in place to mandate steady compensation.

Consequently, ULBs will be increasingly beholden to state governments for grants in lieu of the local taxes that constitute a significant share of their revenues. Take the example of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. It collects about Rs.7,500 crore annually as entry tax.

In Gujarat, the grants-in-lieu introduced in 2007 have not been adjusted for inflation since they were introduced. This has reduced the value of funds to less than half over an eight-year period. But sadly enough, no political party or member of Parliament has questioned this omission, suggesting either ignorance or indifference or perhaps both.

Outlined below is a 10 Point Urban Reform Programme that has the ability to transform urban India, and visibly enhance the quality of life for its citizens. However, to achieve such an outcome, these reforms need to be implemented as much in spirit as in letter—a significant departure from the current incrementalist approach.

1. Reform the 74th Constitutional Amendment to empower city governments, bolster the metropolitan system of government, and move to a system of a directly elected mayor.

2. Fix governance at the Centre and in the states to reduce fragmentation and facilitate alignment of functions.

3. Make the office of the mayor politically relevant to create a culture of meritocracy and performance.

4. Build world-class institutions to catalyse capacity at scale.

5. Establish a National Urban Finance Corporation of India to fund urban infrastructure projects.

6. Set up the regulatory architecture required to facilitate efficient and effective urban services delivery.

7. Reform the civil service, and establish executive agencies to hollow out inefficiencies.

8. Revitalize the role of the State Finance Commissions to bolster municipal finances.

9. Introduce state-specific laws on land use and transport to override legislative vacuum.

10. Deepen citizen engagement in cities to drive change across localities.

A Mandal moment in Dalit politics?

Celebrating BR Ambedkar not only put the spotlight on the man, but also on Dalit politics—not just what it constitutes, but also its visibly altering contours

Last week India, politicians in particular, embraced B.R. Ambedkar afresh—the occasion was the 125th anniversary of the Dalit icon who is often described as the principal author of the Indian Constitution. In the process they put the spotlight on not just the man, but also on Dalit politics—not just what it constitutes, but also its visibly altering contours.

Yes, a lot of the political attention has to do with vote bank politics. But that is how traditional politicians think. What is more relevant is how the environment enabling the historic oppression and suppression of Dalit aspirations is changing and in the process also altering their conventional relationship with politicians of all hue. It is creating an unprecedented opportunity for Dalits to aspire legitimately.

For want of a better term, it is very akin to the Mandal moment for Other Backward Classes (implementation of the recommendations of the Mandal Commission for the first time gave a national identity to OBCs, triggering a radical makeover of Indian politics by partially dismantling the hegemony of the upper castes in north India). In the case of Dalits, they always had a national identity—unfortunately, social and economic oppression ensured they always stayed disenfranchised.

What seems to have been set in motion is a reworking of these circumstances, largely because the Dalit community is empowering and articulating itself in a way we could never have imagined earlier. It is no coincidence that on the eve of Ambedkar’s birth anniversary, Maharashtra, ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criminalized social boycott after the state assembly passed the Prohibition of Social Boycott Bill. The new law for the first time makes it illegal for extra-judicial bodies like community panchayats, the self-government body at the grassroots, to practice social discrimination. The BJP is obviously confident that the pros outweigh the cons—fear of a political backlash.

What is feeding this change? A host of things actually, like it always is.

The most important factor is that literacy levels among Scheduled Castes (SCs) have undergone a profound transformation in the last two decades and more. Denying Dalits literacy was a key means of their social and economic suppression; access to education obviously means many more doors have opened up for this community.

According to the Census of India, effective literacy among SCs rose from 37.41% in 1991 to 66.10% in 2011. A visual of literacy levels captured in the adjoining infographic reveals that in 2001, the dominant colour was red (states with effective literacy less than 60%); in 2011, this level of literacy for SCs had shrunk, surviving only in three states—Rajasthan, Bihar and Jharkhand. Even more transformative is the story of SC women: in 1991, a little over one in five were literate, and in 2011 the proportion is nearly three in five women.

Click here for enlarge

At the same time, Census 2011 showed us that India has also materially transformed. The trading up series thatMint published (http://www.livemint.com/trading-up ) revealed the people who were walking are now cycling, those using two wheelers have graduated to cars; those drawing water from a pond now draw from a well, while those drawing water from a single community tap now get piped water at their homes and so on.

The decline in poverty levels to a record 22% and a drop in malnutrition levels (as captured in the recently released NFHS-4 survey reveals) only reaffirmed the altering material circumstances of India’s populace in general.

And of course another causal factor is the enhanced connectivity in the country, triggering a massive migration of people. Anecdotally we know that for example people from the North East, Odisha and West Bengal are now easily visible in Southern India and vice versa.

For Dalits, the movement to urban pockets is not only an economic opportunity, but the associated anonymity leaves them less vulnerable to social prejudice (the ghastly practice of untouchability so poignantly described by Ambedkar is included in a selection of his writingscompiled by a colleague and published in Mint last week.

It is in this backdrop that we need to view the new law passed by Maharashtra and also the Stand Up India scheme just launched by the National Democratic Alliance. What the latter does is to earmark financial assistance to aspiring entrepreneurs among SCs, scheduled tribes and women. Under the scheme, 125,000 bank branches will provide loans of between Rs.10 lakh and Rs.1 crore to about 250,000 beneficiaries. This is over and above the Mudra Bank launched to target loans to small enterprise owners.

Take all this together and what do we have. Like the rest of India, the aspirations of Dalits too are on fire. And for the first time they have a relatively favourable enabling circumstance to realize these aspirations. It is an incredible constellation of events, which lays the basis for the reordering of the Dalit polity, which to date has been a victim of vote bank politics. At the least, we can expect that the Dalit vote can no longer be taken for granted.

Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar-A profile

Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar-A profile

Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar was born on 14th April, 1891 in Mahu in Madhya Pradesh. He was the fourteenth child of his parents. The life of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar was marked by struggles but he proved that every hurdle in life can be surmounted with talent and firm determination. The biggest barrier in his life was the caste system adopted by the Hindu society according to which the family he was born in was considered 'untouchable'.

In the year 1908, young Bhimrao passed the Matriculation examination from Bombay University with flying colours. Four years later he graduated in Political Science and Economics from Bombay University and got a job in Baroda. Around the same time his father passed away. Although he was going through a bad time, Bhimrao decided to accept the opportunity to go to USA for further studies at Columbia University for which he was awarded a scholarship by the Maharaja of Baroda. Bhimrao remained abroad from 1913 to 1917 and again from 1920 to 1923. During this period he had established himself as an eminent intellectual. Columbia University had awarded him the PhD for his thesis, which was later published in a book form under the title "The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India". But his first published article was "Castes in India - Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development". During his sojourn in London from 1920 to 1923, he also completed his thesis titled "The Problem of the Rupee for which he was awarded the degree of DSc. Before his departure for London he had taught at a College in Bombay and also brought out Marathi weekly whose title was 'Mook Nayak' (meaning 'Dumb Hero').

By the time he returned to India in April 1923, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar had equipped himself fully to wage war against the practice of untouchability on behalf of the untouchable and the downtrodden. Meanwhile the political situation in India had undergone substantial changes and the freedom struggle in the country had made significant progress. While Bhimrao was an ardent patriot on one hand, he was the saviour of the oppressed, women and poor on the other. He fought for them throughout his life. In 1923, he set up the 'Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha (Outcastes Welfare Association), which was devoted to spreading education and culture amongst the downtrodden, improving the economic status and raising matters concerning their problems in the proper forums to focus attention on them and finding solutions to the same. The problems of the downtrodden were centuries old and difficult to overcome. Their entry into temples was forbidden. They could not draw water from public wells and ponds. Their admission in schools was prohibited. In 1927, he led the Mahad March at the Chowdar Tank at Colaba, near Bombay, to give the untouchables the right to draw water from the public tank where he burnt copies of the 'Manusmriti' publicly. This marked the beginning of the anticaste and ant-priest movement. The temple entry movement launched by Dr. Ambedkar in 1930 at Kalaram temple, Nasik is another landmark in the struggle for human rights and social justice. 2 In the meantime, Ramsay McDonald announced the 'Communal Award' as a result of which in several communities including the 'depressed classes' were given the right to have separate electorates. This was a part of the overall design of the British to divide and rule. Gandhiji wanted to defeat this design and went on a fast unto death to oppose it. On 24th September 1932, Dr. Ambedkar and Gandhiji reached an understanding, which became the famous Poona Pact. According to this Pact, in addition to the agreement on electoral constituencies, reservations were provided for untouchables in Government jobs and legislative assemblies. The provision of separate electorate was dispensed with. The Pact carved out a clear and definite position for the downtrodden on the political scene of the country. It opened up opportunities of education and government service for them and also gave them a right to vote. Dr. Ambedkar attended all the three Round Table Conferences in London and each time, forcefully projected his views in the interest of the 'untouchable'. He exhorted the downtrodden sections to raise their living standards and to acquire as much political power as possible. He was of the view that there was no future for untouchables in the Hindu religion and they should change their religion if need be. In 1935, he publicly proclaimed," I was born a Hindu because I had no control over this but I shall not die a Hindu. After a while Dr. Ambedkar, organised the Independent Labour Party, participated in the provincial elections and was elected to the Bombay Legislative Assembly. During these days he stressed the need for abolition of the 'Jagirdari' system, pleaded for workers Fight to strike and addressed a large number of meetings and conferences in Bombay Presidency. In 1939, during the Second World War, he called upon Indians to join the Army in large numbers to defeat Nazism, which he said, was another name for Fascism. In 1947, when India became independent, the first Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, invited Dr. Ambedkar, who had been elected as a Member of the Constituent Assembly from Bengal, to join his Cabinet as a Law Minister. Dr. Ambedkar had differences of opinion with the Government over the Hindu Code Bill, which led to his resignation as Law Minister. The Constituent Assembly entrusted the job of drafting the Constitution to a committee and Dr. Ambedkar was elected as Chairman of this Drafting Committee. While he was busy with drafting the Constitution, India faced several crises. The country saw partition and Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. In the beginning of 1948, Dr. Ambedkar completed the draft of the Constitution and presented it in the Constituent Assembly. In November 1949, this draft was adopted with very few amendments. Many provisions have been made in the Constitution to ensure social justice for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes. Dr. Ambedkar was of the opinion that traditional religious values should be given up and new ideas adopted. He laid special emphasis on dignity, unity, freedom and rights for all citizens as enshrined in the Constitution. 3 Ambedkar advocated democracy in every field: social, economic and political. For him social Justice meant maximum happiness to the maximum number of people. On 24th May, 1956, on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti, he declared in Bombay, that he would adopt Buddhism in October. On October 14, 1956 he embraced Buddhism along with many of his followers. The same year he completed his last writing 'Buddha and His Dharma'. Dr. Ambedkar's patriotism started with the upliftment of the downtrodden and the poor. He fought for their equality and rights. His ideas about patriotism were not only confined to the abolition of colonialism, but he also wanted freedom for every individual. For him freedom without equality, democracy and equality without freedom could lead to absolute dictatorship. On 6th December, 1956, Baba Saheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar attained 'Mahaparinirvan'.