Archive for July, 2005

Indian Life Sciences

Published
by
Anil
on July 31, 2005
in india, politics and technology
. 3 Comments

In its latest issue, the science journal Nature has produced a special Outlook section on the current state of science, and in particular life science research in India. The articles are uniformly well-written and objective with very little of the usual condescension shown by Western scientific establishments towards Indian science. Together, they give us an insight into how research is done in India and the many problems plaguing it. From a scientific culture which frowns upon independent thinking and instead rewards conformity and obedience to the lack of accountability and appropriate funding, from the lack of proper regulatory frameworks for critical areas like stem cell research and human clinical trials to the heart-warming stories of a handful of research institutes leading the way in life sciences the issues are many.

To name a few; India is still way behind in research spending as a percentage of GDP even when compared to other developing countries like China, Brazil or South Korea. Ayurveda is another crucial area where India is sitting on a goldmine of traditional medicine that could be a potential source for new drugs if only the traditional knowledge is subjected to rigorous scientific analysis. The education system also needs to be upgraded and revamped. The present emphasis on only the theoretical aspects of science should be changed and equal emphasis needs to be placed on the experimental aspects, which are what makes a good scientist in the long run. This is one crucial area, I feel, where science graduates from India in general are behind their Western counterparts. I am a product of the Indian scientific education and have experienced first-hand the deficiencies of the existing system. Most of the crucial experiments in Genetics and Molecular Biology were either demonstrated to us or worse only described. We rarely had hands-on experience over techniques which would be considered standard laboratory work elsewhere and this was in a central university where the standard is much much higher compared to state universities!

But do not despair yet. Things are slowly but surely moving ahead in the right direction. The success of independent research institutes like National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune and few others is reason enough to hope for more change. Scientists from these institutes regularly publish in high-impact, peer-reviewed international journals and their numbers are steadily increasing from year to year. Start-up biotech companies like Biocon, Avesthagen and established pharma companies like Dr. Reddy’s, and Ranbaxy are also growing in strength and stature. All that India needs now is good support and direction from the government in terms of funding, less bureaucratic hurdles, and last but not the least, for a critical mass of life-scientists to develop to give research the right push. This could usher in the next revolution, for after IT it might just be the turn of BT!

Dalit Blinded in Bihar

Published
by
Anil
on July 24, 2005
in india
. 1 Comment

The state of lawlessness in Bihar seems to have no bounds when one reads this. I wonder if India needs nuclear weapons and a seat in the Security Council when some basic human rights of her citizens cannot be protected.

Raj was not all evil

Published
by
Tushar
on July 22, 2005
in politics
. 4 Comments

lets face it…after all, the idea of India as a cultural and political concept only crystallised after the british came to India. If not for them we would still have been 560 separate states.
OK…I am not saying that the raj did no wrong…of course they did, but what they gave India- the civil service, english, concepts of democracy and nationalism- have given her the tools to build a prosperous country in the 21st century.

No Logo

Published
by
Anil
on July 18, 2005
in books, india, media and politics
. 5 Comments

Anyone who has read No Logo by Naomi Klein will not fail to be concerned about what is wrong with our world today. A world where corporate CEOs pay themselves millions of dollars for having successfully layed off hundreds and thousands of workers just to increase the company’s profits (and their’s in the bargain). A world in which through a curious role reversal politicians style themselves as corporate CEOs and their countries or states as huge companies to be run in the corporate style.

However, I feel that this thin veneer will start cracking soon. Especially in India where about 30% of the population still lives below the poverty line. Where the government gives approval to GM crops without resorting to proper testing. It is indeed a sad commentary on the state of our world where in the name of ‘good economics’ workers rights are simply ignored or even worse downright suppressed. Where protest as a means of expression of one’s concern is subverted by the state and classified as unlawful. Where export processing zones and free trade zones are in fact clever modern day slave labor zones. Where MNCs literally are a law unto themselves. Not respecting local people, traditions or environment. A prime example is the case of Ken Saro Wiva. He was a Nigerian activist spearheading a people’s movement against the environmental pollution caused by the petroleum giant Shell in the Ogoni river delta in Nigeria. He, along with eight others was brutally executed by the Nigerian government backed by Shell, in spite of fierce international protests, to quell the popular people’s movement. Even today Shell is continuing to pollute the Ogoni river delta with frequent oil spills and oil drilling. It remains a wonder that the Ogoni people still do not have basic amenities like electricity, safe drinking water while Shell (and the Nigerain government) make billions by selling the oil!

Why is this whole process not being given the right of place it deserves by the media? Is it because most of the media itself is owned by the very same global companies which are spearheading the move towards rampant globalisation? This is true in many cases. Viacom which owns MTV also has a stake or partly owns a lot of publishing and media companies. Indeed this is the age of mammoth companies.

But does this mean that we give up hope? Definitely not. No Logo, which criticizes so many brands and MNCs is in fact published by Random House, (which is owned by the same Viacom I mentioned before), showing that there is still space for public debate and critical commentary. In spite of so many double-standards, heartbreaks and clear inequity I feel that there is still hope. Because people are waking up. Slowly, but surely they are beginning to question the wisdom of creating corporations which have a bigger GDP than most countries, can and do fashion the economic policies of poorer nations to suit their needs. They are beginning to see the effects of the principle profits before humanity. They are beginning to feel the repercussions of bad management and corporate irresponsibility not just on their common environment but also on their personal spaces due to the relentless barrage of Utopian ads. Now, hopefully, the new world slogan will not be ‘Workers of the World Unite’ but ‘People of the World Unite’.

The Raj and Modern India

Published
by
Anil
on July 10, 2005
in india and politics
. 0 Comments

The Indian PM Dr. Manmohan Singh thinks that the British Raj did a lot of good to India by giving her “free press, constitutional government, professional service, modern universities and research laboratories”. This was in a speech he gave at the Oxford University on Friday while accepting his honorary degree.

With this he might just have sparked off a new controversy. The BJP is already demanding an apology. It is worth mentioning here that one of BJP’s parent organizations-the RSS did not do anything for the freedom struggle, choosing instead to criticize the Congress Party and Mahatma Gandhi for their policies at every juncture. It is indeed amusing to hear this demand of BJP’s.

However, coming back to Singh’s statements, one cannot dismiss them outright, afterall he is the first Indian Prime Minister to publicly state that colonialism did some good for India. I agree partially. The British did unwittingly help in modernizing India, in some respects. But one should not forget that they did it for their own convenience. In addition, they did destroy India in innumerable ways, economically, socially and politically. The costs and scars of which India still bears today.

Economically, they used India as factory for raw materials, looting her for everything she had and then reselling the finished goods made from those raw materials at a premium. Good capitalism one might say but that did destroy the traditional cottage industries and small farmers of India thereby increasing the poverty levels as also the power of the rich landlords over them.

Socially, the British did not do a thing to change the caste system. On the contrary they encouraged it subtly by reinforcing the existing system. The upper castes did well under them, retaining their privileges as well as their control over the lower castes. And that evil still riddles India where the feeling of superiorty still pervades through the Brahmins and other higher castes. The emergence of the Hindu right is in part a reaction of the upper castes against their losing the upper hand over the dalits or harijans as slowly but surely the latter get empowered through education, helped in no small part by reservations.

Politically, the British drove a deep wedge between Hindus and Muslims in keeping with their (sic) ‘Divide and Rule’ policy. India has still not recovered from that. For the most part Hindus and Muslims had peacefully coexisted in India even under Mughal rule (except during Aurangzeb’s reign). It was in British interests to divide India and in the end they achieved it causing in the process untold suffering and misery to millions.

All this is just one little window into the immense suffering Colonialism has caused to India. According to some estimates the British robbed India to the tune of several trillion dollars! So to talk about British rule being good for India is to ignore what history tells us, by history I do not mean the one written by the neo-colonialists. I firmly believe that India would still have developed and modernized without the British. For progress in the end is inevitable.

P2P Dead?

Published
by
Anil
on July 4, 2005
in politics and technology
. 0 Comments

With the recent US Supreme Court ruling that companies offering file sharing software can be held accountable for copyright infringement it looks like the record and studio companies have finally gotten one up over the so-called illegal downloaders. This is in complete contrast to the landmark ruling in the case of Sony Betamax where the same court had ruled that companies that sell products which can be put to potentially illegal use cannot be held responsible.

Is is the end of the beginning then for file-sharing software? But this would be speaking too soon for file-sharing does have some very good arguments in its favor. For example, it can be used as a sort of ‘try-before-you-buy’ model where users listen and see a music/video before they actually buy it.

As for the oft-repeated argument of RIAA and others that free downloading has resulted in lower CD sales over the past few years, it has never been proved substantially to be the case. No study has categorically proven that illegal downloading is the main cause for the drop in CD sales.

Only time will tell how this ruling will affect the online landscape of free sharing of films and music. But my gut feeling is that perhaps the golden-age of easy free downloads is coming to an end.

Live 8

Published
by
Anil
on July 3, 2005
in politics
. 0 Comments

The musicians have played and left. But will it make any difference to the situation in Africa? Judging from past experiences probably not. Yes, Bob Geldof and others have put Africa and poverty in focus again. But for how long? In one week, two weeks or in a month Live 8 will just be a pleasant memory. I don’t think Bush or Blair or any of the other G8 leaders will be moved to cancel African debt just because some pop and rock stars came together and played music in front of a few millions. Most people attending those concerts were probably there in the first place to see their stars play and not to make a statement about poverty.

There was a lot of criticism about the concerts itself. The initial line up was overwhelmingly white and African artists or venues were glaringly absent. Johannesburg and Cornwall (for African artists) were added at the last minute. There are also rumors that each celebrity performing will be given $17,000 worth of designer jeans, jewelry and other luxurious goodies!

But in spite of all the cynicism and criticism I do hope that Live 8 is successful in achieving it’s objectives for if not anything hope still remains in this world. Hope that we the common people have the power in us to change the unjust policies of our leaders, to make them see the light and undo the wrongs wherein in the 21st century 30,000 people still die of hunger in Africa everyday…everyday, where a child dies every 3 seconds because the leaders of the developed world just do not care what happens to the non-whites. Only time will tell if they heeded this collective plea for justice.