David Stern Crockett June 16, 2009

David Stern Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was a celebrated 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician; referred to in popular culture as Davy Crockett and often by the epithet “King of the Wild Frontier.” He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas Revolution, and died at the Battle of the Alamo. His nickname was the stuff of legend, but in life he shunned the title “Davy” and referred to himself exclusively as “David.”[1][2]

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great (Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας or Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος,[1] Mégas Aléxandros; 356 BC – 323 BC),[2] also known as Alexander III of Macedon (Ἀλέξανδρος Γ’ ὁ Μακεδών) was an ancient Greek[3] King (basileus) of Macedon (336–323 BC). He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle. By the time of his death, he had conquered (see Wars of Alexander the Great) the Achaemenid Persian Empire, adding it to Macedon’s European territories; according to some modern writers, this was most of the world as known to the ancient Greeks.[4][5][n 1]

Christopher Columbus (c.1451 – May 20, 1506) was a Genoese navigator, colonizer and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean—funded by Queen Isabella of Spain—led to general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere. Although not the first to reach the Americas from Europe—he was preceded by the Norse, led by Leif Ericson, who built a temporary settlement 500 years earlier at L’Anse aux Meadows[1]— Columbus initiated widespread contact between Europeans and indigenous Americans. With his several attempts at establishing a settlement on the island of Hispaniola, he personally initiated the process of Spanish colonization which foreshadowed general European colonization of the “New World.” (The term “pre-Columbian” is usually used to refer to the peoples and cultures of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus and his European successors.)

His initial 1492 voyage came at a critical time of growing national imperialism and economic competition between developing nation states seeking wealth from the establishment of trade routes and colonies. In this sociopolitical climate, Columbus’s far-fetched scheme won the attention of Queen Isabella of Spain. Severely underestimating the circumference of the Earth, he estimated that a westward route from Iberia to the Indies would be shorter and more direct than the overland trade route through Arabia. If true, this would allow Spain entry into the lucrative spice trade — heretofore commanded by the Arabs and Italians. Following his plotted course, he instead landed within the Bahamas Archipelago at a locale he named San Salvador. Mistaking the North-American island for the East-Asian mainland, he referred to its inhabitants as “Indios”.

Academic consensus is that Columbus was born in Genoa, though there are other theories. The name Christopher Columbus is the Anglicisation of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. The original name in 15th century genoese language was Christoffa[2] Corombo[3] (pron. [kriˈʃtɔffa kuˈɹuŋbu]) The name is rendered in modern Italian as Cristoforo Colombo, in Portuguese as Cristóvão Colombo (formerly Christovam Colom), and in Spanish as Cristóbal Colón.

The anniversary of Columbus’s 1492 landing in the Americas is observed as Columbus Day on October 12 in Spain and throughout the Americas, except that in the United States it is observed on the second Monday in October.

George Washington

George Washington (February 22, 1732[1][2][3] – December 14, 1799) was the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and served as the first President of the United States of America (1789–1797).[4]

The Continental Congress appointed Washington commander-in-chief of the American revolutionary forces in 1775. The following year, he forced the British out of Boston, lost New York City, and crossed the Delaware River in New Jersey, defeating the surprised enemy units later that year. As a result of his strategy, Revolutionary forces captured the two main British combat armies at Saratoga and Yorktown. Negotiating with Congress, the colonial states, and French allies, he held together a tenuous army and a fragile nation amid the threats of disintegration and failure. Following the end of the war in 1783, Washington returned to private life and retired to his plantation at Mount Vernon, prompting an incredulous King George III to state, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”[5

Sikkim nuns on voters’ list

Sikkim nuns on voters’ list
 

A Buddhist nun in Gangtok on Tuesday. Picture by Prabin Khaling

Gangtok, April 28: For the first time, Buddhist nuns in Sikkim will vote in the Assembly election on Thursday.

The Sikkim Assembly is the only one in India to have one of its 32 seats reserved for the Buddhist clergy (Sangha). Monks and nuns registered in any of the 56 recognised monasteries of the 104 in the state are eligible to vote or contest the election.

This time, the Congress has fielded outgoing MLA Acharya Tshering Lama of East district’s Sumik Gumpha. The Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF)’s Phitook Teshring Lama of Namchi and the BJP’s Samdrup Dorjee Bhutia of Barmoik are also in the fray. The Sangha seat has 3,047 voters including 27 nuns. In 2004, Acharya had won by 750 votes.

On Thursday, Sikkim goes to simultaneous polls for the lone Lok Sabha seat as well.

“This is the first time that we will exercise our franchise to select a monk who will represent us in the Assembly,” said Passang Dorjee Bhutia (27), a nun of Lhuntse Gumpha at Geyzing in West district. “Over the years, we have witnessed the polls with the lamas contesting as candidates of different political parties. This year, the elections hold more attraction for us as we, too, will participate in the process and cast our ballots.”

The list of 27 nuns includes Sonam Rinzing Bhutia (21) from the same monastery and Gozing Lama from the Aden Wolung Gumpha, also in Geyzing. “We are eagerly waiting to cast votes as there is a difference between watching the electoral process and participating in it,” Gozing said. “The contest over the Sangha seat is no less interesting as we see monks, both juniors and seniors, discussing the poll prospects and listening to the candidates canvassing,” the 31-year-old nun added.

According to the nun, the candidates for the Sangha seat have to campaign in the same manner like their counterparts in other constituencies. “Although it is an Assembly segment, the contestants have to seek votes throughout the state as the voters (Buddhist clergy) are not confined to a particular geographical location like in the other 31 seats,” she said.

The process of electing a Sangha candidate is interesting. “Unlike general voters who will cast their ballots in favour of a candidate of a particular constituency, voters of the Sangha seat, irrespective of the constituency they live in, will elect a representative through a separate electronic voting machine (EVM),” election office sources said.

According to the sources, three EVMs will be kept in every booth of the state. One is for the lone parliamentary constituency, the second is for the 31 Assembly segments and the third for the Sangha seat.

The Acharya, the sole Opposition member in the outgoing House, has come out with a number of issues to woo the voters. Once elected, he would take up the cause of separate representation for the clergy in Parliament and panchayats.

“We feel seats should be reserved for the monks in the two tiers of legislature, just like the Assembly. We also demand separate planning and budget allocation for the monks,” he said.

SDF president and chief minister Pawan Chamling is, however, confident that his party will win the Sangha seat. “We are sure to bag all the 32 seats, including the Sangha, this time. Our government had taken some unparalleled steps for development of projects meant for women and youth,” Chamling said.

NASSCOM

Maintaining close interaction with the Government of India in formulating National IT policies with specific focus on IT software and services maintaining a state of the art information database of IT software and services related activities for use of both the software developers as well as interested companies overseas. Encourage members to provide world-class quality products, services and solutions in India and overseas and help build brand equity for the Indian IT software and services industry. Taking effective steps to campaign against software piracy. Provide an ideal forum for overseas and domestic companies to explore the vast potential available for Joint Ventures, Strategic Alliances, Marketing Alliances, Joint Product Development, etc., by organising Business Meets with delegations of various countries. Work actively with Overseas Governments, Embassies to make the Visa and Work Permit Rules more “India Industry Friendly”. Disseminate various policies, market information and other relevant statistics by sending more than 200 circulars (annually) to all members. Involve membership participation in various forums of Nasscom on subjects such as HRD, Technology, Exports, Domestic Market, E-Governance, IT Enabled Services, IPR, Finance, Government Policies, Quality, etc.

NASSCOM is the global trade body with over 1200 members, of which over 250 are global companies from the US, UK, EU, Japan and China. NASSCOM’s member companies are in the business of software development, software services, software products, IT-enabled/BPO services and e-commerce. NASSCOM has been the strongest proponent of global free trade in India. NASSCOM strongly supports the elimination of the cap on H-1B visas in the United States as this protectionist anti free market legislation allows overpaid underskilled American nationals to hold jobs which are better and cheaply performed by Indian expatriates.

NASSCOM was set up in 1988 to facilitate business and trade in software and services and to encourage advancement of research in software technology. It is a not-for-profit organization, registered under the Indian Societies Act, 1860.

Currently, NASSCOM is headquartered in New Delhi, India with regional offices in the cities of Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune and Kolkata.

NASSCOM has been the strongest proponent of global free trade, and is committed to work proactively to encourage its members to adopt world class management practices, build and uphold highest standards in quality, security and innovation and remain competitive in today’s rapidly changing technology landscape.

NASSCOM’s Vision is to maintain India leadership position in the global offshore IT-BPO industry, to grow the market by enabling industry to tap into emerging opportunity areas and to strengthen the domestic market in India.

By 2010 India’s IT-BPO industry could potentially generate US$60 billion in export revenues, account for 8 percent of the GDP, pay for a massive infrastructure build-out, and sustain around 10 million jobs.

To achieve this, NASSCOM is constantly raising the bar across processes and quality standards – within its member companies and making them partners of choice for customers across the globe. It also enables the Indian IT-BPO industry to evolve in accordance with the rapidly changing technology landscape by adopting, implementing and often creating world class practices.

Unpredictable voting behaviour Multiple factors that mattered June 14, 2009

STUDY of voting behaviour in India has grown into a big industry which employs not only its best intellectual talent, including media persons, psephologists, political commentators and social scientists but also marketing and advertising experts. However, the results of election 2004 have eloquently demonstrated their shortcomings in reading the mind of the voters.

It is, therefore, time for professional pollsters as well as politicians to draw appropriate lessons from the recent elections and to revise their theories, analytical tools and strategies. The foremost lesson is that the Indian reality is too complex to be comprehended in a single formula.

Anti-incumbency factor has certainly become an important influence on the response of the voters. This factor cannot be ruled out in the defeat of the NDA, TDP in Andhra, Congress in Karnataka, Kerala and Punjab, the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and the INLD in Haryana. But there are notable exceptions where this factor was neutralised by other factors, for instance in West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Bihar, UP, Delhi, Himachal and Maharashtra.

Even where ani-incumbency factor worked, some other factors added to the disillusionment of the voters. Demand for a separate state was an emotive issue that contributed to the rout of the TDP in the Telangana region of Andhra. Moreover, the IT revolution that brought the state on the cyber map of the world, bypassed its rural and farming population. The reaction of this population has been described as the revolt of the impoverished Bharat against the prosperous India. This phenomenon is generalised to explain the reaction of the vast majority of Indian people to the NDA campaign on the slogans of shining India and feel good.

It is true that the campaign was mainly targeted at English knowing, cable-TV viewers, offline and internet user urban middle class where outsourcing computer software, professional services and centres of big business have opened up new vistas of opportunity and high income jobs. The BJP message did reach this segment of population through SMS, recorded appeal of Vajpayee on telephone and TV ads. But it could not reach the countryside where the BJP slogans were not even translated in Hindi.

But again the principal metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata remained immune from the propaganda of the BJP. In each place, other countervailing factors worked.

The BJP cited impressive statistical evidence, including 10 per cent rate of growth in the last quarter of 2003, which is perhaps highest in the world, unprecedented $ 120 billion stock of foreign exchange and highest Sensex index, to prove that India was really shining.

High growth rate is no doubt a matter for pride for a country. But if in the process inequalities grow and basic necessities are denied to teeming millions, growth causes more pain than pride. Equally impressive statistics were cited by the opposition about rising unemployment, declining social services and suicide deaths of the farmers to prove that India was not shining for the bulk of its population. Such inequalities increased not merely between urban and rural population but also within each of them.

But above all it is multiple diversity of the country and the ability of ideologies and strategies of the parties to adjust themselves to it that determine their prospects of coming to power or losing it. The BJP which had started as a party of a uniform homogenised and extremist concept of nationalism but, in its urge for power it tried to accommodate all types of diversities based on caste, region, religion and ideology.

It realised, before its rivals did, the reality of caste in Indian society. It tried to woo even those castes which were so far beyond its reach. It made special efforts to win over tribesmen in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. It elevated an unknown scheduled caste leader Bangaroo Laxman to the post of its president; though he became a victim of Tehelka scam. It took the risk of supporting an unpredictable Mayawati as Chief Minister of UP and invited her to campaign for it in the election to the Gujarat assembly.

Another departure from a concept of homogenised nationalism was recognition of the fact, as Advani put it, that regional aspirations cannot be overlooked and ignored. The party “establised links with different regional political parties to cement the federal structure” which “the Congress had weakened”. From a votary of strong Centre, the BJP came to believe in more powers to the State and had accommodated regional parties which had demanded autonomy like the Akali Dal, the National Conference and at one time all the Dravidian parties. Vajpayee admitted that the party used to have faith in unitary form of Constitution which it “gave up in favour of federalism”

Its ideological flexibility extended not only to cover regional nationalism but also from the Shiv Sena to the socialists as also to apolitical and non-ideological personalities. The party started with militaristic chauvinist postures with nuclear explosion and threats of Aar Par action against Pakistan. But it soon discovered that it earned more dividends in terms of international goodwill by a peace initiative towards Pakistan. The response of popular opinion within the country to it was unexpectedly very warm. In a characteristic Vajpayee style, he tried to sell to his countrymen the U turn in his Pakistan policy.

Armed with the certificates from Pakistan, where Vajpayee was hailed as a man of peace, the BJP made another bold bid of entering a field which so far was forbidden for it; by trying to woo Muslims of India.

While the BJP achieved notable gains, as discussed above, in other fields, its policy towards Muslims was badly handicapped by the ideological and political baggage that it was not able to shed.

The BJP leaders were wooing Muslims on the plea that the government led by it has improved Indo-Pak relations. In its election campaign in the Muslim areas of UP, it displayed portraits of Pakistan President General Musharraf and of its Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali hugging Vajpayee to appeal for Muslim votes. Whatever positive impact of improvement in Indo-Pak relations on Hindu-Muslim relations may be, the synonymity of the two, presumed by the BJP leaders, implies that Muslims of India are influenced by Pakistan. In fact, it may be truer to say that Hindu suspicion about the loyalty of Muslims is influenced by improvement in Indo-Pak relations.

It needs to be remembered that the BJP-RSS have not been against the way Muslims worship or their theological beliefs but because they were supposed to be not patriotic enough to treat India as a holy or sacred land and that they were not sufficiently anti-Pakistan. The traditional view of the BJP-RSS is that Hinduism or Hindutva is not a religion but a nation (rashtra). It is a religionised version of Indian nationalism of which most revered goddess is Bharat Mata.

It is not merely better arithmetic calculation that brought Congress-led alliance to power. It is also ideological victory of pluralism as against uniformity that has triumphed. The battle of secularism versus communalism is only a part of it

communalism and regionalism

Communalism implies the politics of conflict between communities. In earlier lessons you
must have come across communalism as posing a problem in bringing about national unity
in the country. Communalists misuse their religion to achieve political goals. They consider
their religion to be superior and adopt an intolerant attitude towards people of other
religions. Communalism today has increased in politics. Its roots can be traced back to
the British period. During this period systematic steps were taken to create disharmony
between people of different communities, so that Indians remained divided and unable
to challenge British Clolonial rule. But even after independence communal forces are still
active, creating problems for the government and the society.
Regionalism is another unpleasant feature of our political system. Regionalism arises, when
people of a particular region develop intense attachment towards their own region at the
cost of national concerns. To develop regional consciousness is not wrong in itself but
when such tendencies’give rise to ideas of separatism from the Indian Union, it adversely
affects national interest. A feeling of neglect often causes separatist feelings. The central
government ought to give adequate attention to all the States and refrain from.interfering
in the affairs of the States. In fact the Centre should respect the identity of each State and
at the same time develop a co-operative attitude towards them.
In this lesson, you will study the twin problem of communalism and regionalism and the
steps taken to do away with them.

Fundamental Rights & Directive Principles of State Policy

The Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties are sections of the Constitution of India that prescribe the fundamental obligations of the State° to its citizens and the duties of the citizens to the State. These sections comprise a constitutional bill of rights for government policy-making and the behaviour and conduct of citizens. These sections are considered vital elements of the constitution, which was developed between 1947 and 1949 by the Constituent Assembly of India.

The Fundamental Rights are defined as the basic human rights of all citizens. These rights, defined in Part III of the Constitution, apply irrespective of race, place of birth, religion, caste, creed or gender. They are enforceable by the courts, subject to specific restrictions.

The Directive Principles of State Policy are guidelines for the framing of laws by the government. These provisions—set out in Part IV of the Constitution—are not enforceable by the courts, but the principles on which they are based are fundamental guidelines for governance that the State is expected to apply in framing and passing laws.

The Fundamental Duties are defined as the moral obligations of all citizens to help promote a spirit of patriotism and to uphold the unity of India. These duties—set out in Part IV–A of the constitution—concern individuals and the nation. Like the Directive Principles, they are not legally enforceable.

Sources of the Indian Constitution

 Sources of the Indian Constitution

1) Government of India Act 1935 – The federal scheme, Office of the Governor, Role of federal judiciary, Emergency provisions

2) UK Constitution – Law making procedures, Parliamentary Government, Rule of Law, Single citizenship, Cabinet system

3) US Constitution – Fundamental Rights, Independent judiciary, Judicial review, Procedure for the removal of the judges of the Supreme court and High courts, Role of Vice President

4) Canadian Constitution – Federal system, Federation with strong centre, Residuary powers in the centre

5) Irish Constitution – Directive Principles of State Policy, The method of the presidential election, Nominating members of Rajya Sabha

6) Weimar Constitution of Germany – Emergency powers to be enjoyed by the Union, Suspension of Fundamental Rights during emergency 

7) Australian Constitution – Principle of co-operative federalism, Freedom of inter-state trade, commerce and intercourse, Idea of concurrent list

8) Constitution of South Africa – Procedure for amendment of the Constitution, Election of members of the Rajya Sabha